Dragon and Phoenix
Chapter 7: The Truth
Cio San's eyes grew bigger but he didn't dare to say anything.
“Not only understand where the book is, but I am the rightful owner of the book. Know that my real name is Kam Ki Hiang!”
For a long time he was silent, and then he continued,
“Before fighting with Thio-thaytemuhu, I asked him for conditions. That if I am able to defeat him, then the position as Chairman Bu Tong-pay must be given to me. He just smiled and agreed. And instead, I proposed myself, that if I lose, I would
destroyed all my martial arts and spent a lifetime serving Bu Tong-pay.”
“When I heard I was dead, many silat figures who had grudges against me went up to Bu Tong-san to ask directly to Thio-thaytemuhu, if I was really dead. They know that Thio-thaytemuh will not lie and his words are golden.”
“Thio-thaytemuhu never lied in the slightest, when he said that Kam Ki Hiang is dead. Indeed, actually Kam Ki Hiang who was arrogant with his silat was dead. The current one is A Liang the cook.”
“ mixes the science of Bu Tong-pay with the instructions of the devil in the book.”
“I thought it was just a coincidence that you could create those moves. But after a long time I thought, I felt that the knowledge in the book I studied actually had the same source as the sciences of Bu Tong-pay, so it has some similarities.”
“You are a very talented little boy, Cio San..” His speech was not continued because A Liang was now coughing.
“Please continue down this valley, hopefully we can soon escape the pursuit of Bu Tong-pay's students. You have to live on, Cio San. So you can clear our names of this great slander. I'm sure your parents' death also had something to do with these events.”
“Iya, Lopek. Teecu will keep trying.... Lopek rest for a while storing energy in a teecu sling..”
Although his strength was increasingly drained by walking non-stop while holding A Liang, the current Cio San was no longer quickly exhausted and exhausted. His nearly 3 months of training on top of Bu Tong-san's peak, could already make him called a talented young swordsman, even though he was only a dozen years old.
He kept walking down the precipitous forest. His mind glared and kept thinking. About his fate, and Lau-ciangbunjin who might have been killed. Also about the great sacrifice A Liang saved himself.
He did not feel like he was walking until almost morning. He rested for a while and checked A Liang's condition. He held the pulse of A Liang's hand. It turned out that the pulse had stopped beating. Can't believe it, he tried again. This time it held A Liang's chest to check his heartbeat. Apparently there was no beating there. A Liang is dead.
I want it to feel like Cio San yelled to let go of all his suffering. But he held back, knowing his screams might be heard by his pursuers. He could only shed tears profusely, restraining the heartache.
He understood that A Liang had sacrificed greatly for him, and also to keep A Liang's oath itself.
If a swordsman vows not to use his silat again forever, then the promise must be held despite the life of the stakes. That was why A Liang could only dodge the blows and rattles of Bu Tong-pay's disciples, without being able to retaliate or even fend them off. And if he wanted to, with his knowledge, he could have defeated or even killed them all.
He remembered all the kindness and sincerity of A Liang. Only he and Beng Liong wanted to be friendly with her. In a college as big as Bu Tong-pay that contained nearly a thousand people, perhaps only the temperature, Tan Hoat, A Liang, and Beng Liong were good to him. He also remembered the merit and kindness of Lau-ciangbunjin, the Chief Bu Tong-pay. Only these people are good to him. Now they're all gone. Only Beng Liong remained. It was also possible that Beng Liong was hostile now because of this recent event.
Cio San continued on his way in grief. He did not want to leave A Liang's body alone in the forest. He decided to take the body to a safe place. Then he will bury it solemnly.
He kept walking and walking. I don't know how long it's been, I don't know how far. His strength had been drained, his consciousness had begun to diminish. Step by step he walked. In this kind of darkness, where would you go? He only knew that he had to keep going, keep going through this forest. I don't know where it'll get.
Suddenly, his steps fell and he fell. In the dark, amid the diminished consciousness, as well as the nearly exhausted energy, Cio San fell. He no longer knew where he had fallen. Cio San lost consciousness.
When he woke up, everything still looked dark. Cio San doesn't know where he is. He waited a moment for his consciousness to recover perfectly. His body hurts all. He remained silent for a long time. Trying to get chi all over her body. His body began to feel fresh. Slowly his consciousness recovered completely. Cio San was now aware that half of his body was submerged in the water. Now he is on the river bank. Why is everything dark. Has he become blind now? He panicked, but tried to stay
quieter. He looked to the left and to the right to see if he was really blind.
He saw a spot of light not far from where he was lying. He then went to that point by crawling. It was so dark that he had to be careful. Moreover, the footing is very slippery because it is
rocks and river water.
Finally he managed to also reach the source of that light point. The river flow out through it. The point of light is the tunnel where the flow of river water comes out.
Cio San is relieved. It turns out he didn't go blind.
The human eye instinctively adapts to darkness. So too with Cio San's eyes. He finally began to see a little in the darkness. He was in a cave in the bowels of the earth. Somehow he could be in there. Perhaps he fell in the river, and the river brought him into the bowels of the earth. He doesn't know for sure.
Suddenly he remembered A Liang's body he carried. What happened to the body? Cio San ventured to find A Liang's body.
Not long after he finally found A Liang's body. He carried the body into the water tunnel hole, so he could see clearly using the light coming from it. It turns out A Liang's body is already damaged. Part of his body was crushed.
What the hell is going on?
It turns out that when they fell from the top of the cliff, the body of A Liang was the one who accidentally saved Cio San. The body became a kind of shield that guarded Cio San from the river rocks. It was also the body that might have kept Cio San from drowning.
Real lucky. Cio San's decision to continue carrying A Liang's body turned out to bring good to himself. That is, if people do something full of sincerity, then there is only a good reply.
He then remembered that in his pocket there was a fire stone given by A Liang. Once searched, it turns out the stone is still there, but wet. Suddenly it appeared in his mind to check the clothes bag on A Liang's body as well. After searching, he found a knife. The knife had a sheath made of animal skin.
“How noble is Liang-lopek,” thought Cio San. ”Even when he died, he still gave me help.” Indeed, as a cook, A Liang always carries a firestone and a knife.
Cio San then placed the knife and fire stone in a dry place. The width of the tunnel is quite large. And there are some parts that are completely dry and not flowed by the river.
So he decided to rest for a while. The incident that had just happened was indeed very draining of energy and mind.
Long he slept well. As soon as he woke up, he thought about burying A Liang's body. Cio San was looking for a slightly flaccid footing that could be dug into A Liang's grave. He circled for a long time but could not find it. With a heavy heart he decided to just burn A Liang's body. But after thinking, he was worried that the smoke was filling the cave and could not get out. He continued to twist his mind how to take care of the corpse of the person he respected so much.
Because it was still confused, for a while Cio San tried to forget about it. He then checked the flint he had been drying. It seems to be getting dry. He then tried to make a fire. Cio San walked around the tunnel looking for wood that might be washed away by the river.
You're lucky, not long after, the wood was found. Even a lot. Some are dry, some are wet. The branches he gathered somewhere. Carefully Cio San tried to make a fire.
For a long time he tried to finally the flint splashed as well. Then he threw it into the wood and it worked. Goa is pretty bright now. Cio San then looked around him. Looking at the walls of the cave.It turns out that the wall is filled with plants such as moss and fungus. Cio San approached the plant and checked if the moss and fungus were edible. Her pleasure reading a book turned out to be sweet. His knowledge of plants turned out to be very useful now.
From A Liang's cookbook, Cio San learned how to distinguish poisonous mushrooms from non-toxic ones. This way he even tried while staying at the top of Bu Tong-san while serving his sentence.
He picked a variety of mushrooms that grew there. Some mushrooms are known to him. Some are poisonous and some are non-toxic. Each is a group by itself. If he finds a mushroom he has never known. He conducted a trial to find out the type of fungus.
According to the book he read, the way to find out the content of toxins in a mushroom is to soak it in water for some time. If then the fungus is purplish-colored, then the fungus is poisonous. If not, then the mushrooms are safe.
That is, Cio San finally found food. Using some rocks as well as wooden branches, Cio San ended up baking the mushrooms. It also tastes good after eating.
After being full, Cio San rested for a while. It felt so fresh and like it was gaining new strength. He began to think again about how to bury A Liang.
“Perhaps if I continue to trace the beginning of the flow of this river, I can find a way out.”
He lit a fire which he used as a lamp. Then down that river. He wanted to find where the water was. The road was long. Even about a burn of hio (about 15 minutes), he has not found the source of the water.
“Long is also this tunnel,” thought.
But along the way, he found that his footing was not only hard rocks, but there was also land.
“Hmmm..the area covered by this land can be used as a cemetery Liang-lopek. Thank goodness.”
Despite finding a good place for A Liang's grave, Cio San decided to continue down the road. Until about a drink of new tea he finally heard a loud noise. Cio San rushed towards the sound, it turned out that the sound came from the pounding of the waterfall.
"Ah, it turns out there is a waterfall that emerged from the wall of the cave. Lovely once.”
“Perhaps from inside this waterfall I can enter into this tunnel.”
Cio San then checked the waterfall. Although not big enough, the waterfall is quite heavy. Cio San then checked the hole where the waterfall came out. It turned out to be enough for an adult to pass, but by lying down.
“How could I possibly resist the force of the waterfall by lying down? Swimming was obviously impossible, as the hole was not wide enough as I stretched out my hands. What a miracle, I and A Liang's body can pass through this hole and get here.”
If you can swim, of course, it takes a very strong energy, because the push of water is very powerful. Cio San placed his hand on the waterfall, trying to feel the force of the water.
“Wah, what a terrible waterfall this. Its strength might even be able to break the coconut fruit if the fruit is crushed under it,” thought Cio San.
Somewhat disappointed also Cio San saw the fact, that he could not go out past the source of the waterfall. He looked around, trying to find another place he could use as a way out.
But after a long search, he ended up desperate as well. There was a lingering fear in him that he might have to stay in the cave. “But it seems that it's better than living constantly being chased by people.”
Thinking like that, his fear slowly disappeared.
Cio San then returned to where he laid A Liang's body. He took the body to the place where he had found the land area. He then dug up the ground and buried A Liang's body.
“Thank you, Lopek. Although teecu would love to call you ‘Tuhu’, but you will definitely be angry if teecu call Temperature. Your friendship is so sincere, you are also a true man who holds a promise until death. All the help, kindness, and everything you taught teecu, I will never forget.”
After praying for a long time, Cio San rode three times. His eyes were wet considering the figure of A Liang. Indeed their friendship is only a moment, but enough to give a very deep mark for Cio San.
He is alone now. He sat back where he was cooking. Because only from there is a little light coming in from the outside. But the light slowly dimmed. Looks like night has come. Once again Cio San
grilling mushrooms for dinner. After eating, he fell asleep.