The Fragrant Wood Swordsman
pk 01 part 8

Prince Yung Lo or more correctly called the Young King Yung Lo who controlled the defense area in Peking, did not want to accept the appointment of his nephew to be the successor emperor of his father. He felt more worthy and more meritorious. Therefore, Yung Lo brought an army and stormed south, to Nanking. It was a civil war.

Civil wars have always been terrible, in which there have been suicides among brothers themselves, between nations themselves. The people were divided and hit each other. All this happened only because of the actions of the boss who fought over the position. In order to achieve personal ideals, the people are used as bait, guise, shield and weapon. Though when the ideals have been achieved then his personal drunk glory, luxury and pleasure, usually people are forgotten just like that!

In any part of the world, whenever there is war, it is the people who suffer the most. In this murky time there are people who use the opportunity to vent their evil passions. Robberies, kidnappings and slanders that ended the implementation of the law of the jungle sprang up everywhere.

It is common that in every face of an event, people's opinions vary. Because each person's head contains a different opinion, even the opposite, then this is the cause of the conflict and eventually lead to division and commotion.

Also in the martial world there was also a split as a result of opposing opinions on the civil war that arose in the fledgling kingdom of Beng. Some are pro north (King Muda Yung Lo), but some are pro south (Emperor Hui To). Between them there was a war of their own.

However, there are also many groups or martial figures who resign and do not want to interfere in all the conflicts and wars. Among these were Kun-lun-pai led by tosu-tosu who insinuated that conflict and war between the countrymen would be bad.

Thian Seng Cinjin, a hundred-year-old tosu who is currently the chairman of Kun-lun-pai, it has issued a strict ban on all children of Kun-lun-pai's students to engage in the civil war. Even this chairman has called all the figures of Kun-lun-pai to be invited to gather at the summit of Kun-lun which became the center of this association and together do semedhi as an exercise and as a concern, he said, and in addition to this, the chairman deepened their knowledge of the lessons in Religion To (Taoism).

"Good disciples of Kun-lun-pai" Thian Seng Cinjin said as he looked at his disciples sitting cross-legged around him. "In the circumstances as it is today, take a good look at the fifty-seventh lesson." Then this grandfather hummed reading the contents of the lesson that contained meaning in once.

"With justice, the state can be governed.

With a plan, war can be fought.

But only by self-restraint (not acting),

the world can be won!

How do we know that?

Because of this:

The more prohibitions, the more people suffer.

The more weapons are used, the more chaos there is.

The more laws are enacted, the more violations occur.

The more intelligence, the more strange actions.

We are self-restrained (inaction), people are turning towards good.

We like calm, peaceful and peaceful people.

We do not act, people prosper.

We do not want, the people are unpretentious and honest.”

Furthermore, in a patient voice Thian Seng Cinjin also gave encouragement to Kun-lun-pai's students, as well, asserting that as Taoists and brave and wise Kun-lun-pai disciples they must submit all events to the power of nature based on reasonableness. Will only move to face and cope with the situation as a result. It is never the cause of tension. This is only easily achieved by being silent and not interfering in matters that are not personal.

Because of this stance, Thian Seng Cinjin forbade his students from engaging in civil war, because once they intervened, they would further dilute the atmosphere and increase slaughter between the countrymen.

All the chatter and conversation that took place in the spacious study was listened to attentively by a boy who was working on cleaning the windows and doors with a yellow cloth. This boy was about twelve years old, handsome-looking and modestly dressed, from a rough cloth. What is interesting in this child is his pair of eyes, because the eyes are very sharp, with bright eye seeds rarely move, imagine a deep mind, a broad and understanding view.

The boy who became a lackey (servant) in the great temple of Kun-lun-pai was named Cia Keng Hong, and it had been two years that he was in the temple. He was an orphan, because his family, his fathers and his brothers, had all been killed when the civil war began to break out.

His late father was a thungcu (lurah) in the hamlet of Kwi-bun and the Cia family was exterminated when a band of robbers who emerged during this civil war invaded and robbed and exterminated the entire population of Kwi-bunbun. Because this hamlet lurah put up a fight, then all his family was exterminated.

Keng Hong who at that time happened to be herding buffalo with a servant outside the hamlet, survived and was free from the disaster. In this commotion appeared Kiang Tojin, tosu who became the chief disciple of Thian Seng Cinjin.

Tosu is traveling across the region in carrying out his duties as a warrior sekailigus spreader Agama To. Seeing the vile deeds of the robbers in the hamlet of Kwi-bun, he quickly used his cleverness to help the population and then managed to drive away the robbers.

Kiang Tojin, who is very interested in seeing Keng Hong, takes the boy to Kun-lun-san and works as a lackey there. Actually, Keng Hong wants to be a student of Kun-lun-pai, but this boy does not want to be a tokong (prospective tosu). At that time, Kun-lun-pai's student had to be a candidate who held a firm rule, that is, every Kun-lun-pai disciple must be a tosu candidate.

Because of this rejection, Keng Hong who already did not have a family worked as a lackey. He was diligent, all the work he held, whatever was necessary, without being ordered immediately to do. Filling water places, cleaning temples, sweeping floors and gardens, caring for flowers, even herding buffalo belonging to the temple used to paddy fields, all he did diligently and diligently.

At night, because the tosuers who loved him allowed him to, he entered the library room and read the books. Since childhood, at his father's house, Keng Hong has studied literature according to the wishes of his father who wants to see him become a scholar in order to gain a high position.

The books on pagan philosophy, Taoist lessons, as well as the basic lessons of Kun-lun silat, all he read. Of course since there was no teacher, he could only read without being able to clearly capture the essence of the sari.

His craft and his quiet nature make the tosu like him. Even Thian Seng Cinjin himself who saw the good qualities of this child, praised him and secretly felt disappointed why this well-talented child did not like being a tosu candidate.

On the other hand, Keng Hong was most reluctant and afraid to see Thian Seng Cinjin. He saw something strange and full of prestige in this old tosu self, both his movements, he said, from his voice and especially from the sight of his calm eyes full of patience and as if he could see the contents of his heart.