Mutiara Hitam looked enthusiastic.
"Her name is Puteri Maya, who reportedly vanished along with her escort troops. It seems Elder Brother Talibu had made preparations, and naturally, the child was instructed to have the guards escort her to find Father and Mother at Go-bi-san Peak!" Tang Hauw Lam nodded repeatedly.
"There can be no other assumption; it must be so. It seems certain that our niece was escorted by the troops to Go-bi-san Peak. If that is true, our niece is safe, and she will even inherit the formidable skills of Gak-hu and Gak-bo."
However, Mutiara Hitam furrowed her brows and shook her head.
"I am still worried. Father and Mother never told anyone where their place of seclusion is. I doubt whether those escort troops will succeed in finding their hermitage. It would be best if we followed them. If Maya has already arrived there, all the better, and we can pay our respects to Father and Mother, whom we have not seen for over a decade. I miss them dearly."
"Very well, that would be best. It will also be useful experience for our disciples,"
The heroic couple, along with their two disciples, then departed the Khitan region, heading west toward the Go-bi-san Mountains, which covered a vast area. Along the journey to Go-bi-san, they encountered regions where war was raging, and they constantly avoided the inter-tribal conflicts, where the Yucen people were growing increasingly strong alongside the Mongols, who were also spreading their influence in the north and east. We have long left Puteri Maya, who managed to escape the clutches of the demonic pair from India when Nila Dewi was still paralyzed by a pressure point strike and Mahendra was fighting desperately against Menteri Kam Liong.
This little girl quickly fled westward, her hands still bound, entering a vast and wild forest. Only when her legs could no longer carry her and her breath was nearly spent did she collapse, rolling onto the grass, panting heavily. She then approached a large rock, sought out a sharp edge, and began rubbing the rope binding her hands against the sharp stone edge. Her wrists felt hot from the friction, but finally, the binding rope snapped, and she was free! Fearing that the two demonic individuals might pursue her, Maya immediately jumped up and ran again, continuing west, deeper into the forest. The forest was wide and wild, filled with giant trees and massive rocks.
Maya only dared to stop briefly for a drink if she passed a stream, then continued running aimlessly, just wanting to get as far away as possible from those two terrifying demonic individuals. She ran continuously in the forest for nearly a day until she finally emerged onto a vast grassland. She kept running until she reached a rocky area at the foot of a mountain. Suddenly, she heard the sound of many people laughing. Maya was startled and stood bewildered, searching for a place to hide, then ran, intending to conceal herself behind the rocky mountainside. However, suddenly, many shadows flashed past, and she felt gusts of wind sweeping by as the figures streaked past, followed by sounds of laughter, and before she knew it, she was surrounded by several strange people!
Maya stared wide-eyed, filled with fear, because these people were stranger and more frightening than the demonic pair from India! They consisted of men and women, some young, some old, and there were even a few children, but their faces were generally ugly and terrifying! Many of the men had unevenly shaved heads, or if they had hair, it was matted together like a fiber broom covered in mud! Their faces were constantly contorted in grins, like a group of mischievous brats; their upper bodies were bare, and their stomachs were generally bloated, even though some of their bodies were skinny and dry, like children suffering from worms! Their trousers were made of leather, shapeless, and the parts reaching their knees were torn. The women were even more horrifying.
Some covered their upper bodies, but many left their torsos completely bare, so their long breasts hung down like papayas. Their hair was disheveled and looked extremely dirty. Their lower bodies were covered by cloth down to the knees, also made from tree bark and animal hides. Some even wore necklaces made of... ordinary pebbles! The children only wore loincloths; it was hard to distinguish boys from girls because their hair was braided and crossed from side to side—very funny, yet terrifying, like being inside a lunatic asylum! They surrounded Maya, leaping, dancing, and running around her, making strange noises, but she managed to catch some words in the Khitan language.
"Chase...! Catch...!"
They laughed, and some pointed fingers at Maya while circling the little girl. Maya was utterly confused, not knowing what to do. At that moment, the small children outside the circle also cheered, and Maya heard the voices again.
"Chase and catch!" In fact, several strange old men and women came running over like small children, laughing joyfully.
"Join...! Join...!"
They also joined the circle and cheered.
"Chase! Catch!" Finally, from their movements and those few words of the Khitan language, Maya understood that they were inviting her to play "cat-and-mouse"—she was the cat and had to catch one of them. If someone was caught, that person would take her place as the cat. A children's game! Although she was extremely surprised why old men and women, uncles and aunts of that age still enjoyed playing like this, she immediately tried to catch one of them, the nearest woman. She lunged, utilizing her *Gin-kang*.
"Whoosh!"
Missed! Maya could hardly believe it. The woman possessed movements that were extraordinarily fast and light; even at such close range, Maya failed to catch her because the woman had leaped to the left and continued running around her, laughing, just like the others! Ah, she truly never expected that among this group of lunatics, someone would possess such tremendous agility! She then lunged toward a bald man, but again she was shocked because this man, too, managed to leap and evade with lightning speed!
Maya grew frustrated and tried to catch everyone surrounding her, but even the old grandmothers possessed incredibly fast movements, leaving her amazed and bewildered! Apparently, she was among a horde of lunatics who possessed exceptional *Gin-kang*! Being cheered at and laughed at, anger rose in Maya's heart. Yet, no matter how hard she tried to catch them, her hands always grasped only air. *Damn it*, she thought, *if I can't catch anyone, will I be the hungry cat forever?* An idea struck her.