Death Flute
Bamboo Wisma

PROLOGUES

The man was running at incredible speed. His face was pale, revealing fatigue and fear. Both of his hands hugged a bundle he guarded very carefully. He did not stop even though his legs felt very painful like being stabbed. His heart was pounding, a mixture between tired and anxious.

The bundle in his hand moved slightly. He hugged her tighter.

“You're safe with me,” muttered as he sped up his run. The Bamboo Forest was not far away anymore.

His feet had just stepped on the ground of the Bamboo Forest when something flashed. The black shadow that moves so. And stopped in front of him, blocking his steps.

The man stopped, gasping. Sweat dripped down his chin. His eyes are wild. “Who are you? He told you to?” he was mixed with worry.

“Deliver that bundle.”

“Step first my corpse!”

Determinedly, the man carrying the bundle attacked first. Attacks blindly. He has a high silat science and will be easy to move if only he is not too tired and the bundle does not hinder it.

His black-clad pursuer had the science of lightening an extraordinary body. It tickles and strikes back. The forest that is usually always calm is now like the wind*****pick due to the great fight. The sound of the bushes of blows makes deaf ears that hear, if indeed anyone hears.

That great battle lasted for quite some time. But the longer it is, the more clearly it appears who is superior. The man began to be desperate and could only fend off or dodge.

BUKS! A kick lodged in his back. He fell down and spouted fresh blood.

The assailant attacked and hit him again, this time on the shoulder. He's back on his feet. But not once did he loosen his embrace on the bundle. The attacker hit him back. This time it was so hard on his jaw. And he couldn't hold on anymore. He was silent, too, not moving.

The assailant leaned over and pulled the bundle. But apparently the man's embrace was so tight that he could not remove the bundle from his hand. The assailant raised his hand about to hit the package.

But the sound of crying. The attacker stopped his movement. Hand vibrates. And he stood up. Then flashed away.

Apparently the man is not dead. He could not walk because his leg was broken. “Wisma Bamboo... Wisma Bamboo...,” murmur half unconscious. He also crawled.

Not far away he crawled, and that was when a woman searching for wood came.

“Gosh!” the woman shouted surprised.

“Ba... take it... to Wisma... Bamboo...!” The man begged.

The woman approached half in fear. With trembling hands he took the bundle in the blood-soaked hand.

With great difficulty the man took something from behind his shirt. Something glittering was extended to the woman who could only turn her head in fear while clutching the bundle tightly. “I... this... hers...., giver..an her father....!”

That man was also killed.

***

The atmosphere in the Bamboo Forest which was usually peaceful and calm, was now frenzied by the sound of the extremely heavy rain that flushed the earth. Lightning snatched and booming, as if competing with each other to hit whatever was there. The sound of rain hitting the ground was deafening. Slim bamboo stems move violently in the wind, the leaves rub against each other in the rain. The sky was pitch-black, only occasionally lit by a sinister flash of lightning.

In the middle of the Bamboo Forest there is a spacious and beautiful residence called Wisma Bambu. The place is inhabited by a number of residents with a family as the employer. The situation there was quiet, no activity whatsoever was taking place. Sure oes. With this kind of weather, who would want to do activities other than roll themselves in the warmth of a bed and a thick, comfortable blanket? No one wants to miss the night by wandering outside the home—including the night guards. They prefer to stay in their rooms.

But right in front of the Bamboo Guesthouse, a boy was sitting while wrinkling his body. The boy looked cold and suffering. His thin body was only wrapped in a thin, drenched piece of shabby clothing. His head was covered by a caping that had been hollow here and there.

The boy was about ten years old. The parasites were quite handsome, yet his pair of eyes seemed uninspired and almost empty. The look on his face was stiff and petrified, making him look more mature than his actual age.

He felt exhausted after running through the rain since from in front of the Bamboo Forest earlier. I don't know why he came to Wisma Bambu just because of the obscure words spoken by his mother shortly before his death due to a very severe fever. Maybe because in this world he has no family so he risked his fate by coming to this place.

She was cold but dared not come in or knock on the door. He waited at the gate and hoped that someone would come to open the door for him. But hope remains hope. In times of heavy rain like today, where would anyone want to go out of the house?

The boy had been sitting there for a long time, but the rain never stopped. The boy could not hold himself anymore. He collapsed.

* * *

Two servants of Wisma Bambu came out of the room while yawning widely. It was still very early in the morning. The rain had just subsided, and the sun was already rising in the eastern horizon. The weather was so beautiful and clean that morning, it was as if the power of last night's rain had washed the sky clean and made it look as new as when it was first created.

“Huaaah! Last night it rained heavily, huh?” said one of the servants as he spread his hands in satisfaction.

His friend nodded. “Luck has now stopped altogether,” he said.

They stepped towards the gate to open it and began to do their job of sweeping the outer courtyard. It's a mess. The bamboo leaves must be scattered everywhere the former rain.

When the gate opened, they were shocked. There was a young boy lying unconscious and looking very weak. The two maids jumped up and checked on the boy.

“A Sam, this boy is still breathing. Quickly tell the Big Master and Madam!” one of the waiters.

A Sam ran inside without much talking.

A Sam was soon followed by two adults and two young children who were still wearing sleeping clothes. The two adults immediately knelt down and checked on the boy.

The man checked the boy's pulse, then shook his head. “He has a high fever,” he said.

The woman beside him looked at him. “Then how?”

“We take it in,” break up the man while lifting the boy's body carefully. He took the boy into the house and entered a room. Others followed him.

The man ordered his servant to replace the boy's clothes with dry and clean clothes. He began busy concocting medicine to relieve the boy's fever. His wife led their curious children out of the room.

The man checked the boy again, afraid in case he found any abnormalities. So far, the boy is okay.

By noon, the boy was beginning to wake up. At first, he saw some people before him but his gaze was still blurred. With his eyes closed, he could see the people clearly.

A man of manly and authoritative maturity, a beautiful and tender adult woman, a boy who was the same age as himself, as well as a small and sweet daughter. They all looked at him with friendly looks mixed with relief.

The boy looked at himself. She lay on a nice bed, wearing clothes she had never thought of wearing before. The boy was shocked and got up in a hurry. But his head hurt a lot and everything seemed to be going round and round.

Unable to bear it, he held his head. “Aduh!” his moans.

“Don't get up first, son,” said the adult woman while holding her arm and guiding her back to lie down. His voice was friendly and softly soothing.

“You are at Wisma Bambu,” replied the adult man. “I'm Luo Siu Man, this is my wife Yi Lan, and they are my children, Luo Sen Khang and Luo Ting Ting.”

“What's your name, Son?” ask Madam Luo. “And, why arrived at the Bamboo Forest?”

The boy gulped his saliva, then started telling me, “My name is Chien Wan. I live in a village near the Bamboo Forest with my mother. My mother had a fever and died a few days ago. I don't have anybody. Then I...” The boy was sad.

Master and Madam Luo looked at.

“Then, where are you going?” ask Mr. Luo.

“I don't know, Mr...”.

Back Master and Madam Luo looked at.

“Dad, just tell him to stay here!” cetus Sen Khang.

Master Luo looked at her son while raising her eyebrows. “Live here?”

Sen Khang nodded. “He can be my friend and Ting Ting. After all, he can help in the kitchen.”

Mr. Luo turned to his wife. “What do you think?”

Madam Luo nodded happily. “I think Sen Khang's proposal is good too. We do not need a new servant, but this child can accompany Sen Khang to practice.”

Mr. Luo thought about it. He looked at Chien Wan's face with interest. The thin and pale child, which somehow elicited a deep feeling within him. The empty pair of eyes stunned her by reminding her of someone. His heart melted with affection.

Chien Wan looked down. He did not dare to expect to be accepted to live there. Right now, his fate no longer belonged to him but to his helper.

Master Luo nodded. “Alright, he can stay here,” his break. Then he turned his head and looked kindly at Chien Wan. “How, Chien Wan? Will you stay here?”

Chien Wan looked at Mister Luo with gratitude. “Of course, Sir. Thank you, very good sir,” he said softly.

Master Luo laughed.

Shortly after, a waiter brought the medicine in a bowl. Madam Luo picked up the medicine bowl then started to help Chien Wan sit down to drink the medicine.

Chien Wan was a bit uneasy, so he refused. “Let me drink alone, Mistress.”

Madam Luo smiled understandingly, then handed her the bowl. “Pelan-pelan alone, Chien Wan,” he said because he knew the medicine was still hot and it was very bitter.

Witnessed by the Luo family, Chien Wan gulped his medicine slowly. The medicine was extremely bitter, yet Chien Wan seemed to feel nothing.

Ting Ting shuddered in horror. “Ih! The medicine must be bitter!” yells.

Mr. Luo and his wife laughed.

“Ting Ting, the elixir is of course bitter,” said Mr. Luo patiently.

“Didn't you feel bitter?” sen Khang asked Chien Wan. He was surprised because Chien Wan did not show any expression on his face when taking the medicine earlier.

Chien Wan shook her head.

Secretly this matter made Master and Madam Luo startled. Chien Wan is usually very sensitive to taste. But even a medicine as stingy as this did not make Chien Wan grimace.

“Try showing your tongue, Chien Wan,” Lord Luo's orders.

Chien Wan hesitated for a moment before sticking her tongue out.

Master Luo watched the pink-colored tongue closely. It seemed ordinary, like a tongue in general, until finally Mr. Luo found that in the top layer of the tongue there appeared to be a very thin and translucent membrane.

“Enough, Chien Wan.”

Chien Wan retracted her tongue.

“Since when have you not felt anything on your tongue?” ask Mr. Luo.

“I couldn't feel anything long ago, Sir. I can't taste anything. Until now I do not know what is sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and others,” explained Chien Wan plain.

Master and Madam Luo looked at. A very strange case. They have not heard of a similar case so far.

Chien Wan waited in a panic. Not because of his strangeness, they did not accept it. He bit his lips while waiting for a decision.

Master and Madam Luo got up. “You rest until your fever is gone. Later there will be a waiter delivering food for you,”, Ms. Luo said as she stroked Chien Wan's hair at a glance.

Chien Wan nodded with a feeling of relief and moved. “Thank you, Mistress.”

“If your fever is gone, you can start helping in the kitchen. Or else you accompany Sen Khang in training,” Mr Luo added.

“Good, Mr.”

Master and Madam Luo left the room. Sen Khang and Ting Ting remained there to chat.

“Chien Wan, how old are you?” ask Sen Khang.

“I ten years.”

“Oh, I also ten years!” sen Khang Excited excited. “That means we're the same age. If Ting Ting, he's seven.”

Chien Wan looked at Ting Ting who looked so beautiful and cute. Ting Ting was wearing clothes made of pink silk. Her hair was decorated with red ribbons and beautiful hairpicks. Chien Wan had never seen such a beautiful girl.

Sen Khang wore dark blue, silver-striped clothing. His hair was tied with a silver-colored rope resembling the loops of a noble son. Sen Khang is handsome and always smiling. He is also friendly and kind. Chien Wan likes it.

At that time they do not know that in the future, they will experience events that will change their lives drastically. That someday their lives will be filled with true friendship, love stories, and brotherhood. And also tragedy.

Seriate