Ice Island Palace Chapter 19

A pair of a man and a woman, both in their forties, ran as fast as flying across the grasslands in the Khitan region. The man was tall and thin, with a handsome and imposing face, a short, tapered beard, and a mustache hanging on either side of his lips. His clothing was simple, and his hair was tied back with a yellow handkerchief. This man's face was always smiling, and his eyes shone brightly, full of joy and humor. As for the woman, she had a beautiful and formidable face, her gaze reflecting such determination that anyone meeting her for the first time would surely feel submissive and fearful. Neither of them carried weapons, but judging by their bearing and movements, there was no doubt that they were people of high martial skill.

This assumption was entirely correct, for they were a married couple whose names, when mentioned, would make figures of the *kang-ouw* stare wide-eyed, and cause figures of the dark world to tremble. The man was the hero nicknamed Pek-kong-to (The White Light Saber), Tang Hauw Lam, while the woman was his wife, who was even more famous and feared, for she was none other than Kam Kwi Lan, Si Mutiara Hitam (The Black Pearl), daughter of the Suling Emas (Golden Flute)! Since marrying Tang Hauw Lam, the humorous young man she chose from among many suitors (read the story THE BLACK PEARL), Mutiara Hitam and her husband had gone wandering. Just as suspected by Mutiara Hitam's half-brother, Minister Kam Liong, this couple, who loved to wander, had explored various lands, far to the north and west.

They crossed the extremely dangerous Himalaya Mountains, visited the western world, and lived among strange peoples with skin as black as charcoal, brownish, and some whose skin was white as snow with pupils colored blue, brown, or green, and hair the color of blood red, golden yellow, or bluish white! Naturally, the couple's travels over more than a decade not only added to their experience but also deepened their martial skills. This loving and harmonious couple lived happily, but only one thing occasionally made them muse and sigh deeply: after more than a decade of marriage, they still had no offspring! This disappointment sometimes caused Mutiara Hitam, the formidable heroine who never retreated when facing even the fiercest opponent, to shed tears at night!

No matter how beautiful the western world beyond the Himalaya Mountains was, the couple eventually longed for their homeland. So, they returned east through the strange, perilous, and extremely difficult-to-pass Himalaya Mountains. The journey took months, and even though this couple were tenacious and strong, tempered individuals, the journey was truly difficult, fraught with strange and terrifying mortal dangers. They encountered many strange and large wild animals, there were snow-dwelling wild men in the Himalaya Mountains, enormous, twice or even three times the size of humans. There were also giant birds not found elsewhere, groups of people who were still naked, unfamiliar with civilization, so that if Mutiara Hitam and her husband had not possessed high martial skills, they would surely have fallen victim to those horrifying mortal dangers.

After returning to their homeland, the couple continued their love of wandering, traveling far south, even hiring a boat one day to explore the islands in the southern sea! It was during this voyage that they saw a large boat being hijacked by Japanese pirates. They arrived too late but managed to save two children, a boy and a girl, who had been thrown into the sea by the pirates. The children were only about six years old when they rescued them, and the couple, who had no offspring, took them as disciples. The boy was named Can Ji Kun, while the girl was named Ok Yan Hwa.

From that moment on, the two children were always taken along on their travels, only occasionally did the four of them stay atop a mountain peak for one or two years, before leaving that place again, as the couple, who had the blood of wanderers, never felt comfortable staying in one place for too long. Thus, when they heard about the turmoil happening in the north, Mutiara Hitam became worried about the fate of her twin sister's kingdom, Queen Talibu in Khitan, and the four of them departed for the northern region. That morning, Mutiara Hitam and her husband were running very fast in the Khitan region. When they reached the edge of a forest, they stopped, and Pek-kong-to, Tang Hauw Lam, turned back and shouted with a loud, echoing voice, having exerted his *khi-kang*.

"Ji Kun.... ! Yan Hwa....! Hurry and catch up here!"

Mutiara Hitam said, sighing deeply.

"Our two young ones ceaselessly compete and race, just like a dog and a cat! Why do they never seem to get along?"

Her husband laughed, and when he laughed, Tang Hauw Lam still looked like a young man!

"Ha-ha-ha, why worry? That is actually very good, because competition breeds progress! So, it would be best if we train them separately; let me train Ji Kun and you train Yan Hwa. That way, the rivalry between them will intensify, and they will race to defeat each other, thus achieving rapid progress."

Mutiara Hitam frowned.

"Hmm, I doubt whether that method will bring good results. I fear they might drag us into their competition and squabbles!"

"He-heh-heh! We get dragged in and squabble? Don't worry, my wife, no matter what, how could I ever win against you?"

Mutiara Hitam looked at her husband and couldn't help but laugh too. Living beside her husband, who always had a humorous nature, how could she ever feel bored or sad?

"Have it your way, but you must also pass on the skills I possess to Ji Kun."

"Of course.... of course....! Don't worry, both of them will later be known as the disciples of Mutiara Hitam! The inherited skills of the Suling Emas family must not cease just like that!"

At that moment, two black dots appeared, and they were indeed the two children, a boy and a girl, running as fast as they could to that spot. Just as the heroic couple suspected, the two children were not just running, but racing, trying to reach their masters first! When they arrived, Ji Kun won by a few meters, a fact that Yan Hwa received with a sulky face, although, just like Ji Kun, her breath was ragged, barely coming one by one! "We have entered the Khitan region; war is happening everywhere. Do not stray too far from us!"

Mutiara Hitam admonished her two disciples.

They then continued their journey into the Khitan region, and one can imagine how saddened Mutiara Hitam was to witness the ruined state of Khitan. Especially when she heard that the Khitan Kingdom had been destroyed, and most importantly, when she heard that the King and Queen of Khitan had fallen in battle, Mutiara Hitam could not contain her sorrow and ran to a secluded spot to weep! Her two disciples tried to follow, but they were held back by their *suhu*, who understood that at a time like that, his wife did not want to be disturbed by anyone. Furthermore, it was taboo for his wife to be seen crying by others. After letting his wife weep alone in the secluded spot for some time and instructing his two disciples not to leave, Tang Hauw Lam approached his wife. He slowly sat down near his wife, who was still sobbing, and spoke gently.

"Kwi Lan, stop your crying. According to old beliefs, the spirits of the deceased will become restless if mourned by the beloved close family! King Talibu and his wife fell as formidable King and Queen. Have you forgotten the story told by the Khitan people earlier? They died with weapons in hand, defending the kingdom with their last drop of blood! How magnificent and mighty your twin sister was! I am truly immensely impressed, and I too wish I could end my life like that someday! Their spirits surely found a fitting place for brave people like them, do you now wish to disturb and make them restless with your tears?"

Hearing her husband's words, Mutiara Hitam stopped crying. However, when she turned to look at her husband's face, which was usually cheerful but now looked gloomy, his eyes, usually bright, now sad and full of pity for her, she choked up and threw herself onto her husband's chest, crying again. Tang Hauw Lam embraced his wife's body, stroked her hair, and patted her shoulder.

"Hmm, calm down.... calm down, my wife. Look.... you are making me shed tears too! Ah, how embarrassing if the hero nicknamed Pek-kong-to turns into a whiny man!"

Mutiara Hitam stopped crying, holding hands with her husband as if, in her suffering state, she sought the strength of her husband, then, while gazing into the distance, she clenched her left fist and said,

"I must avenge their deaths! Those damned Yucen people!"

"Whoa-whoa-whoa, calm your heart, my wife, and use your wisdom and rational thought, do not let it be muddied by the desire for vengeance. Your sister and her husband fell in war; it is impossible to know who killed them. Falling in war is different from being murdered individually, so it is impossible to talk about resentment and revenge. Must we oppose the entire Yucen people and try to kill them all? How narrow-minded that would be, truly inconsistent with our spirit of heroism! Our stance is to oppose human evil. In war, how can we talk about the evil of a nation? Those who fight are only fulfilling their duty, just like your sister and her husband. And since long ago, you stated that you did not like to involve yourself in matters of kingdoms and governments, correct?"

Mutiara Hitam remembered, and her anger subsided.

"It is strange, why did Father and Mother remain silent and not appear to help Elder Sister Talibu?"

She said softly.

"I think I can guess the stance of Ga-hu and Gak-bo (Father-in-law and Mother-in-law). They are people who have isolated themselves, not interfering in worldly affairs, especially matters of the kingdom. If they interfered now, wouldn't their efforts to purify themselves be in vain? Furthermore, the kingdom was entrusted to your late sister, King Talibu, so all matters of the kingdom, its progress, decline, rise, and fall, were her responsibility. And we must remember that everything has been willed by Thian. A kingdom, just like a human, has a time to be born and a time to die. The important thing we must investigate is, what about the fate of your sister's child? Didn't the Khitan people say they had a daughter?"

"True!"