Ice Island Palace Chapter 28

"And we promise, if we lose, we will return this place to you and leave without any further fuss."

"How easily you speak, Mahendra. This place is indeed ours; we found it, cleaned it, and repaired it. If we lose, we wager a disciple, but if you lose, you must also sacrifice something."

"What?"

Nila Dewi shrieked.

"Do you demand our lives?"

"Fool! We are not bloodthirsty like you. If you lose, you must forge a pair of swords for us, a pair of swords made from the metal I found in the mountains during my journey from the west long ago. Only you seem capable of forging swords from that metal for us, because all the blacksmiths we met declared themselves incapable."

Mahendra laughed.

"Wow, that metal is amazing, even more interesting! Very well, that wager pleases us. Now, how shall this match be arranged?"

Mutiara Hitam smiled. She knew these two people were extremely formidable, and although her husband possessed high-level skills, she worried that he might accidentally injure or kill an opponent. She did not want this, not only because she did not wish to sow enmity with these Indians, but also because she needed their expertise.

"We are not enemies, and this match is a wagered contest, so it must successfully determine the winner and loser in one go. From our side, I myself will step forward as the champion, and I will face your champion with bare hands!"

Mahendra and Nila Dewi exchanged glances. They were aware of Mutiara Hitam's prowess, but if she only advanced with bare hands... Mahendra winked at Nila Dewi, then drew a pair of curved daggers that emitted a glittering light, leaping forward.

"I am the champion of our side, Mutiara Hitam! Do you dare face my pair of weapons with bare hands?"

"A brave person does not retract their promise. I will face you with bare hands, Mahendra. Now, prepare yourself!"

Mutiara Hitam leaped onto a rock in front of the cave, and they faced each other. The tall, thin, dark-skinned Indian man bent both his knees, lowering himself, and spread his arms wide. He gripped the daggers tightly with the blades facing outward. As he shook his daggers, the sunlight hitting the surface of the blades shone forward, dazzling the eyes.

"A fine pair of weapons!"

Mutiara Hitam praised, but she had already charged forward with a devastating strike. Mahendra quickly dodged, and while tilting his body, his left dagger parried the opponent's arm and his right dagger slashed toward her neck! However, Mutiara Hitam's agile movement allowed her to easily evade. Nila Dewi stood watching with furrowed brows, full of attention.

Tang Hauw Lam held the hands of his two disciples to prevent them from leaving and being captured by the opponents, but he watched with a calm expression because his heart held complete faith in his wife's skill. When his wife stepped forward and challenged the opponent with bare hands, he knew that she wanted to defeat the opponent without injuring him. And this was exactly right, because in terms of bare-handed martial arts, he had to admit he was far inferior to his wife. If he had stepped forward and used his saber, he would only have been able to defeat Mahendra by injuring him! Furthermore, his wife had long been frustrated that the metal, shaped like two white balls, which they had obtained on the peak of the western mountain, had yet to be successfully forged into swords!

This happened several years ago when he and his wife were traveling from west to east. They had just descended the slopes of Mount Yolmu-lungma, the highest peak of the Himalaya Mountains, down to the south of the border between Nepal and India, and then continued east along the coast of the Brahma Putera River. When they arrived at the border of Yunan and began to climb the remaining foothills of the Himalaya Mountains at night, they suddenly saw a greenish light fall from the sky, and a booming sound was heard not far ahead. Mutiara Hitam and her husband quickly headed to that spot, and from a distance, they saw a white light on the rice fields, and the ground from which the white light appeared emitted smoke and hot air! "That must be what they call a star stone!"

Mutiara Hitam said.

"Just falling from the sky like that? Truly extraordinary!"

Tang Hauw Lam said, and neither of them dared to carelessly approach the ground emitting the light.

It was only the next morning that they stealthily approached the quiet spot, and there they found two round, white metal objects that were still warm. They were delighted and kept the two metal stones, and when they were in Tiong-goan, they met with sword experts with the intention of having a pair of swords made from the metal stones. However, all the sword experts were unable to process the two metal stones. After a month of being burned, they remained hard! This was why the appearance of the two disciples of the Naragita priest delighted Mutiara Hitam and her husband. These two Indians were disciples of one of the sacred sword experts, and it seemed that only people like them would be capable of forging a pair of swords from those two metal stones for them.

The match between Mutiara Hitam and Mahendra continued fiercely. Mahendra's martial arts were extremely strange; the movement of his pair of daggers was so fast that they looked like two glittering scrolls of light rolling like waves trying to swallow Mutiara Hitam's body, and every attack contained extremely strong *sin-kang*. Yet, Mutiara Hitam faced him with astonishing composure. She performed various formidable and high-level bare-handed martial arts. First, she performed *Siang-tok-ciang* (Fragrant Poison Hand) to pressure the Indian elder, but this Indian master proved to be an expert against poisonous strikes, so Mutiara Hitam completely changed her technique. Protecting her body from the opponent's pair of daggers was easy for her.

The opponent's movements were too clumsy and slow for her, so with her agility, it was easy for her to evade. The problem was how she should defeat this opponent using bare-handed martial arts. Suddenly, this powerful female pendekar let out a piercing shriek that shook the opponent's heart, a high-pitched flute-like sound—this was the *Kim-kong-sim-im* *khi-kang* inherited from her father, Suling Emas (Golden Flute). While her opponent was startled and exerted his *sin-kang* to counter the movement of this miraculous sound, Mutiara Hitam had already charged him and performed a martial art style of unusual and devastating power! She performed the bare-handed martial art she had obtained from her mother, Queen Yalina.

This art was the *Ilmu Silat Cap-sha-sin-kun* (Thirteen Divine Martial Arts), which consisted of only thirteen stances, yet these thirteen stances were the chosen ones among all bare-handed martial arts and were deadly stances that were difficult to counter! Mahendra began to groan and became confused, his movements chaotic when powerful winds swept violently from Mutiara Hitam's body and hands. The female pendekar had only performed one stance, the one called *Soan-hong-ci-tian* (Whirlwind Emitting Lightning). Her body flickered and spun like a top, and from the rotation of her body, her hands and feet sometimes struck out unexpectedly!

"Ciaaatttt!"

Mutiara Hitam cried out, her left hand, with two fingers spread, swept in to clamp Mahendra's left dagger.

The Indian master was extremely shocked. Even though only two small, delicate fingers threatened his dagger, he knew that those fingers contained *sin-kang* that made their grip as strong as steel, and there was a danger of his dagger being seized. Quickly, he raised his hand upward. Mutiara Hitam laughed, and Mahendra was startled, quickly trying to dodge but too late. He had been lured into bending his arm to protect the dagger, but Mutiara Hitam's fingers had instead struck his elbow joint, instantly paralyzing his left arm, and before he knew how it happened, his left dagger had transferred to Mutiara Hitam's right hand, which swiftly snatched it the moment his arm was paralyzed by the strike.

"Excellent! You are formidable, Mutiara Hitam, but I have not lost yet!"

Mahendra roared and now charged even more fiercely with his right dagger. Mutiara Hitam tossed the confiscated dagger to her husband, who received it and examined it with admiration because the dagger was made of a strange and extremely strong metal.

"Mahendra, prepare yourself to admit Mutiara Hitam's superiority and forge a pair of swords to pay your wager!"

Mutiara Hitam cried out, and now the powerful woman charged her opponent with movements that truly confused Mahendra. The woman's body vanished, and all that was visible was a white shadow, like a cloud playing around, yet containing swirling winds that caused Mahendra's body to spin along without him being able to prevent it. That was the *Khong-in-loh-hwa* (Empty Cloud Shedding Flowers) stance from the thirteen divine martial arts! Mahendra tried to defend himself, but his body spun faster and faster, and he could no longer control it. Suddenly, his right dagger was also snatched away, and his knee was kicked, causing him to fall to his knees in front of Mutiara Hitam!

"I admit defeat, Mutiara Hitam!"

The dark-skinned elder said, full of admiration. Nila Dewi, who had followed the match closely, understood that she was also no match for Mutiara Hitam, so she stepped forward and said,

"We did not have the pleasure of gaining a disciple with good bones, nor did we enjoy the victory of the match. Let us enjoy the forging of swords with this strange material. Bring out your metal, Mutiara Hitam, we will compete with each other to forge the finest swords for you."

Tang Hauw Lam took out the two white metal balls from a bundle and handed the two metal objects to Nila Dewi and Mahendra. When the two people received and examined the metal, their eyes widened, and they made a gesture like people respectfully worshipping. Mahendra's mouth whispered softly,

"Oh, God.... this is.... *besi bintang putih*....!"

Nila Dewi also stared wide-eyed, her face slightly pale, and she said,

"Extraordinary.... and we.... have the honor of forging swords.... from this noble and sacred metal....!"

Mutiara Hitam had been watching with full attention and admiration, then she said,

"Are you saying that you can forge a pair of swords from these two metal balls?"