Both the Kin Kingdom's forces and the Sung troops, who considered them rebels, had difficulty eradicating this group. Each time they were attacked, the group scattered and hid in the Ceng-lio ng-san mountains, conducting guerrilla resistance that disrupted the troops trying to wipe them out.
Gui Kong Sek was a highly skilled Butong-pai martial arts master with a gallant character. In his free time, when there were no battles, he could isolate himself in a cave for meditation.
Once in the cave, no one was allowed to disturb him unless there was a significant event, and he could sustain several days of meditation in it.
One day, Gui Kong Seng finished his meditation after five days in the cave, and all members of Ceng-liong-pang were surprised to see their leader so quiet, unlike usual. Moreover, for days, the leader hadn't held meetings with his disciples and subordinates to discuss strategy.
One day, the leader summoned his disciples and subordinates, and with a calm and authoritative voice, he said to them, "We have been misguided. During my meditation, I contemplated all that we have done and felt a great mistake. We should emulate the late General Gak Hui, who was loyal to the emperor until death. We too should be loyal to the Sung government and emperor, thus we must prevent any rebellion against the Sung Kingdom! We must assist the kingdom in eradicating the rebels!"
Of course, all the disciples and subordinates were astounded by this change. The Leader, who lived alone without a family, seemed to change drastically!
"However, pangcu," said one of his subordinates. "Does this mean that we no longer oppose the Kin race?"
"It all depends on the government's decision. If the Sung Kingdom opposes Kin, we should also oppose them. But if the Sung Kingdom makes peace with Kin, we certainly can't oppose it. In short, we must work for the Sung Kingdom and not oppose its politics and founding principles!"
He then dismissed the meeting and, of course, this decision caused a great commotion among the members of the Ceng-liong-pang. Until now, this association was respected by friends and foes as a very vigorous fighter, and now suddenly the leader was turning direction to the opposite route!
And the surprise increased into curiosity when two weeks later, the group received a visit from the town's heroes, the aides of Prime Minister Jin Kui, discussing the annihilation of the rebels!
This of course made the members of the Ceng-liong-pang very curious, especially two subordinates of Hui Kong Sek. They were suspicious and intended to investigate. However, that night, these two subordinates were found dead in the leader's room who immediately summoned all members and pointed to the corpses of his two subordinates and said,
"Look, they intended to betray and kill me! But they failed and were killed by me. Let them be an example to you all. Whoever wants to betray will face the same fate! Now, who else wants to oppose my decision that from now on we will be loyal to the Sung Kingdom and eradicate the rebels?"
All members became frightened and no one dared to oppose. Not only that. After Gui Kong Sek allied with the trusted people of Minister Jin Kui, envoys from the Kin Kingdom began to arrive!
And thanks to Gui Kong Sek's help, many resistance groups could be eradicated. Their nests were raided under the guidance of the Ceng-liong-pang leader, even the Ceng-lio ng-pang members were forced to join the raids.
One day, Tiong Li, who was traveling to find Princess Sung Hiang Bwee, arrived in the Ceng-liong-pang territory. While he was walking alone, he was no longer disguised as a beggar since leaving the king's city, suddenly more than twenty people appeared blocking him. Initially, he thought they were robbers, but seeing their decent clothes, he thought they were a group of fighters. Tiong Li calmly faced a tall, thin man who seemed to be the leader of this group of people.
"Fellow friends, what is your purpose in blocking my journey?"
Suddenly one of them exclaimed,
"I recognize this man. His picture is everywhere. He is Tan Tiong Li, the rebel who kidnapped the princess of the palace!"
"Capture him!"
"Don't let this rebel escape!"
The people yelled and drew their weapons, surrounding Tiong Li.
Tiong Li tried to calm them,
"Friends, please don't be hasty. It's true that my name is Tan Tiong Li and it's true that my picture is posted on notice boards everywhere, but all of that is mere slander. I am not a rebel and I did not kidnap the palace princess."
"Lies!"
"Has a thief ever admitted his crime?" "Attack him! Kill him!"
The people were no longer controllable, they all attacked Tiong Li in a crowd. The young man dodged all those attacks, his body flashed and as soon as he moved his hands and feet, the attackers flung away like dried leaves blown by the wind!
The tall and skinny man himself used his sword to stab Tiong Li's chest, but Tiong Li easily jumped to the side and before the skinny man could attack again, a strike made him fall weakly and unable to get up again.
Tiong Li continued to rampage and in a short time, all the people, totaling twenty-three, had all fallen! He had no intention of killing, so they only suffered dislocated or struck tendons, no one was seriously injured or dead.
Tiong Li approached the tall, skinny man and with one tap of his hand, he released his nerve points, then asked,
"Who are you really and why are you opposing me? I see you're not robbers."
The tall, skinny man understood that he was facing a young man with great power. "We are members of Ceng-lio ng-pang."
"Hemmm..!" Tiong Li furrowed his eyebrows in surprise. "Isn't it according to my understanding that Ceng-Iio ng-pang is an association of patriot fighters who oppose the Kin invaders? Why attack me who is framed by Prime Minister Jin Kui?"
The tall, skinny man sighed deeply,
"It's all on the orders of pangcu. I don't know what happened, our pangcu has completely changed. Not only is he in contact with the envoys of Prime Minister Jin Kui, but also with the envoys from the Kin Kingdom!"
"Ah......!" Tiong Li was very shocked. "What happened?"
The tall, skinny man was an older student and he himself didn't agree with his master's actions, let alone after both his uncles died by their own master. Now, meeting a powerful young man who was opposed by Prime Minister Jin Kui, he hoped that this young man could uncover the secret behind their leader's change of stance.
"It happened a few months ago, After emerging from his meditation place, pangcu changed completely. He forbade us to conduct attacks against the Kin troops, and not long after he received an envoy from Minister Jin Kui, and an envoy from the Kin troops. And then he even forced us to oppose the fighters he called rebels that should be eradicated."
"What's the reason?"
"He said we should follow in the footsteps of the late General Gak Hui who was loyal to the emperor until death. We should not oppose the Emperor's wisdom and if the Emperor turns to the Kin invaders, we too must follow in the Emperor's footsteps. With this stance, he helped the Sung troops to exterminate the fighters. This greatly saddens us all but we are powerless, tai-hiap."
"Ah, it's really suspicious!" said Tiong Li. "Perhaps your leader is threatened and coerced. I must investigate this matter!" The tall, skinny man then prostrated himself at Tiong Li's feet and this action was followed by all his subordinates.
"We will be very grateful if taihiap would like to investigate. Our two uncles who wanted to investigate the matter were even killed by our own leader."
"Don't worry, I will investigate it. There must be a reason that made your leader change his stance so suddenly like that. Well, bring me to meet him!"
Those twenty-three people then bustled to escort Tiong Li to their nest. Their arrival was greeted by the other members who numbered approximately two hundred people, and when they heard that the young man was Tan Tiong Li who was wanted by the government, and heard that the young man wanted to investigate their leader who had changed his stance, most of them felt very happy. There were indeed several people among them who sided with the leader, but their number was small and they were told to be quiet by the members who wanted Tiong Li to investigate their leader's change of stance. They then escorted Tiong Li to meet Gui Kong Sek, their leader.
Gui Kong Sek was chatting with a guest, an envoy from the Kin troops who had come here. This guest was an envoy of Great General Wu Chu named Un Ci Siang, a man with a tall, large body like a giant and seemed very strong! As soon as they heard the noisy sound outside, the leader of Ceng-lio ng-pang and his guest immediately ran out.
They saw the members marching, escorting a handsome young man. Seeing this young man, Gui Kong Sek bulged his eyes and shouted as he pointed his finger at Tiong Li.
"He is that rebel, the kidnapper of the emperor's daughter! Capture him!"
But none of his subordinates moved, and Tiong Li, with a smile, stepped forward to approach Gui Kong Sek.
"Your subordinates will not capture me, pangcu. They even trust me to talk to you. I hope you will answer all my questions honestly."
Gui Kong Sek furrowed his eyebrows.
"Talk to you? What else to talk about!? You are a damned rebel!"
"I am not a rebel nor a princess kidnapper. You should know this well if you have indeed allied with Prime Minister Jin Kui. Pangcu, I represent the members of Ceng-lio ng-pang to ask you. Why have you changed your stance as a fighter? You are allied with Prime Minister Jin Kui and you are friendly with the Kin people who you should be opposing. What does all this mean?"
Glossary
- Kerajaan Kin - The Kingdom of Kin, one of the ruling dynasties in the story.
- Sung - Another ruling dynasty in the story, often in opposition to the Kin.
- Ceng-lio ng-san - A mountain range, serving as the hideout for the rebel group.
- Gui Kong Sek - Name of a character, a martial arts master.
- Butong-pai - A style of martial arts practiced by Gui Kong Sek.
- Ceng-liong-pang - The rebel group that Gui Kong Sek leads.
- Jenderal Gak Hui - A late general who was loyal to the emperor until death.
- Jin Kui - The Prime Minister of the Sung dynasty.
- Hui Kong Sek - Another character in the story, subordinate of Gui Kong Sek.
- Wu Chu - A Great General, represented by his envoy Un Ci Siang.
- Un Ci Siang - An envoy representing Great General Wu Chu.
- Tan Tiong Li - The protagonist of the story, wrongfully accused of kidnapping the princess.