Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Abducted by Iron Hand Gang, Observing Fortified City and Suksmabhuta Sword Art

When I am still thinking about the current predicament,  from the two ends of the narrow alley appeared a number of people and they surrounded me . Five people in the north and five people in the south . Their bodies were clothed in cloth like the monks, but their heads were not bald . Their hairs are all curled up like I am now and not like priests whose sash has a certain color, their sash is a different color and each is not the same with one another . There are various colors like gray, green, blue, red, and black, various, but the average color is already dull, because the type of fabric and method of dyeing them seems deliberately made dull .  

What should I do? Do I have to jump on the roof, bounce, and disappear? Do I have to paralyzed them? But by choosing one of these two ways I will not achieve my intention, which is to investigate everything that has to do with the flying knife user . Also, I think by observing the reason why I am currently being surrounded, I can conclude that of course, whoever was in the back of the shop that the flying knife user had met knew of my existence . This could mean that the person I followed knew that I had followed him, but I believed in other possibilities, namely that someone else was following him . But I don’t know yet whether the one who followed him is his friend or his opponents! 

Returning to the bustling world after 25 years disappeared, and in the age of 100 years to boot, resulted in me moving like a blind person sensing their surroundings . My martial arts is high, but my knowledge of the current affairs of the world is lacking and it has influenced  decision making capability . I let myself be surrounded . Someone immediately said .  

“Parents! Don’t fight, if you don’t want to harm yourself! ” 

So I did not fight back, not because I felt that I would be defeated, but because his words contained a message: They know my strengths, but if I want to get more information, I shouldn’t make them enemies .  

“Come with us and act like us!” 

It turns out they clench their hands like they are actually praying and their mouths humming unrecognizable words like those who pray to the god . The eyes of the man who spoke to me signaled that I should follow their attitude and steps . I followed the attitude of those who stepped out of the hallway as if they are worshiping and praying . So many schools of thought developed between the teachings of Hinduism and Buddhism itself, and it made me unable to understand what they were saying , the meaning of their praying like act, and it is because I did not understand the language . I really think this is actually a pretense of prayer, and no one would suspect him because so many streams of trust spread throughout Yawabumi .  

While I am pretending I observed Mantyasih which is with people . The roads which were constructed through making the ground leveled and hardened with elephant footsteps on a stone slab . The human crowd parted when the group passed by, without suspecting something unusual happened . In other parts of the city, I saw groups that worshiped and prayed in the same way or in other ways . This group who surrounded and held me murmured who knows what, like a prayer, but I did not know them . Is there a new religion during my 25 years of disappearance? (TL: two different schools of thought from the same teaching are considered two different religions, for example Shiva and Visnu are two different religions under one Teaching of Hindu . )

As far as I know during my era, any schools of thought can always be associated with Hinduism or Buddhism, or both, it precisely happened to Shiva-Mahayana . In every religion there are schools of thought and from every school of thought born sects which are divided into the recognizable and the non-recognizable sects, each of which is very likely to merge as a new school of thought . The new School of thought sometimes contains elements that can still be recognized from the original religion and the source school of thought, that there is more than one religion and one thousand and one schools of thought which they refers to,but there are also those that can no longer be recognized in the name of efforts to purify them . But in terms of this group’s behavior, I can’t say anything . Because this trip almost explored the entire city, I was able to recognize the city planning which refers to the fortified city layout . Three royal highways from west to east and three from south to north at the same time became a way to divide the residential areas . There are twelve gates that are placed with waterways, ponds and underground roads . Each road has a width of at least four danda (TL: danda=one stick, I don’t know how long that stick is LOL) and eight danda for the royal highways . As I recall, this also applies to roads in the countryside, the shepherd area, the harbor, and the cemetery (TL: In hindu tradition, the dead people are usually cremated, this word refers to the place used in the process of cremation, it’s not the same exact location as the cemetery . ) . Small paths in the village, where the waterways for rice fields and forests are made are four dandas, while the path for elephants and along the fields are only two dandas . In this city there is also a road for carriages, five aratni wide(TL: Aratni (अरत्नि) . —A measurement of length equal to a cubit, or the length from the elbow to the tip of the hand . ), a four-aratni cattle road, while for humans and pets there are at least two aratni . I noticed that the royal palace was built in the ninth section to the north of the heart of the residential area, facing east, from east to north there is the residence for teachers and priests, including places for sacrifices and water sources, and the residence of his advisers . From east to south, you can see the elephant cage and gunpowder storage . Still in the east there is a Kshatriyas caste settlement, and somewhat outside is a settlement of vendors of perfume,flower liquids and herbs, as well as makers of items for bathing . People were passing by, but I had to pay attention to city planning which I thought would be useful if I had to move alone in this city one day .  

Across the east to south I saw a warehouse for goods, a state registry store, a financial inspection office, a residence of workers . From south to west a warehouse of forest products and weapons storage can be seen, outside, rice traders from the city, factory officials, military officers, cook food vendors such as wine and meat, entertainers and dancers, those from the Vaishya caste were placed in the south . Also in the south are the stables of horses, cows, chariots, carriages, and the workshops of blacksmiths . On the outside, at the western end, weavers, yarn spinners, tanners, bamboo craftsmen,equipment experts, war weapons, and shields, Shudras are also stationed there .  [1]

I tried hard to record everything I saw in my head, which for 25 years had only dealt with the darkness of the cave . Of course my experience 25 years earlier, when resigning from the pugilistic world by melting into the world of common people was still very helpful,  the medicine storage building is usually located between the north-west part and livestock farms and horse stables always in the north-east part . The statues of the watchdog gods, the king’s statue, adjacent to the metalworkers’ and jeweler’s settlements, as well as those belonging to the Brahmin caste, were all stationed in the north .  

All of this is in accordance with Arthasastra, the book on state administration, written by Kautilya in India more than a thousand years from my present lifetime . Even the placement of trade unions and foreigners is located inland fenced in non-residential areas, according to the Arthasastra’s suggestion regarding a fortified city . So the rapid development of Buddha Mahayana in Yawabumi does not mean any Hindu decline . So that’s why in the city there are temples of Aparajita, Apratihata, Jayanta, as well as the temples of Shiva, Vaishrawana, Aswin, Sri, and Madira (TL: Hindus temples . ) . In every corner there are also guardian gods according to their region . Mixed incense smoke and incense smelled everywhere .  

I pay attention to the shops, almost all of them sell durable materials, ranging from sugars, salts, medicines, perfumes, dried vegetables, animal foods, dried meats, dried grass, woods, metals, leathers, charcoals, tendons, poisons, ox horns, tree barks, strong woods, weapons, shields, and stones . Because the group almost went around the city, I knew all the city gates in accordance with the names of Brahma, Indra, Yama and Senapati . Outside the city, at a distance of one hundred dhanuse from the moat, a hermitage, holy places, shrubs and water structures, were seen with statues of guardian deities . I continued to move while observing . In the north and east apparently the incinerator was provided to the best among varnas, while in the south for lower varnas . As I recall, violations of this distinction will be fined with violence . This means that the brahmins really are still in power .  

But what caught my attention was the residence of the candalas[2] and heretics who were stationed on the edge of the Cremation area . From afar it can be seen children running between worn-out shack houses . Some children even fight each other . Hmmm . What makes a person a brahmacari or a candala?

Then I was led into a long hallway . On either side of me walls are made of piles of square stones . I was still busy with my own thoughts when from behind the wall, from both left and right, a number of people dressed in white who immediately rushed to us . These invaders were all armed with white long straight swords that glittered like silver . The battle took place so fast that it was difficult for the naked eye to follow . Their numbers were balanced, so that the fight was one on one . My nose immediately smelled the sweet scent that reminded me of the Pendekar Melati (TL: Pendekar is a term for warrior in general, usually for those of the orthodox faction and the loose faction) . Seeing their moves I recognized their swordsmanship as the swordsman of that woman . Agile, straightforward, but does not lose the refinement of swordsmanship that can only be played by women, because it was created in accordance with the power of the woman’s own body, known as Suksmabhuta Sword Art which is very old, but of course Pendekar Melati has learned it completely .  

The style of this swordsmanship is the subtlety and extraordinary speed that makes the opponent not even aware of how his life has floated away . So the higher the martial arts that enemy uses, the more they will be tormented by the pressure of Suksmabhuta Sword Art which is almost incomparable . In the pugilistic world of Yawabumi, techniques that equal to the strength of Suksmabhuta Sword Art are the Light Dragon Swords Art that I relied on before learning the Mirror Shadow Art and Formless Art, the style of the Golden Dragon Sword which is only controlled by the heirs of the Golden Dragon from China, and ofcouse theSuksmabhuta Sword Art itself, which can only be mastered by women, the legacy of the ancestors in Yawabumi to protect women from all forms of violence done by men .  

I once felt the greatness of Suksmabhuta’s Sword Art when Pendekar Melati fought me . Now the Sword Art is adapting to be used  as the swordsmanship that can be used in a fight like this, a fight which involves a lot of people, so that it may be used differently by its users as a team . The people who led me are using the Iron Fist Style . Their handrails clashed against the swords, sparks can be seen from their fight . But they were immediately confused by the change of opponents who exchanged very quickly . Every new opponent uses a surprising new style in a very unusual way in this narrow space . The invaders never stepped on the ground, they used the wall as a footing, so they could bounce back and forth with like lightning and as fast as light, or stay stuck to wall like a lizard, but the sword rotated like a shield of light and pierced in such a way that the tip was like a Selaksa (TL: OK, I don’t know what that is . ) .  

I am 100 years old, but my eyes are very well trained in martial arts battles, so that even though the eyes of ordinary people will not be able to follow them I can even enjoy them as if they are moving very slowly . So I saw how the wielders of Suksmabhuta Sword Art were playing with their opponents . When the foot is still against the wall someone pats the opponent’s cheeks with the flat side of the sword, but then the tip of the sword immediately penetrates their heart but then the attackers retract their sword immediately after attacking . In another battle a white shadow jumped to the top of the opponent’s head and when it bounced back a thin hole was created in that person’s head, it is as this as a sword . And thus, almost every fight ended in the most efficient way so that no one was defeated with suffering .  

Even though they flashed like a shadow, because the martial arts were not as high as  Pendekar Melati’s, I am still able to observe them clearly . They are all beautiful young women . Their eyes are jammed with thick eyebrows, and the only things that can be seen are those eyes and eyebrows, because almost all of their bodies from top to bottom are covered in white cloth . Even so the white cloth they wear does not tightly wrap the body, on the other hand they are loose enough to allow them to fight easily, and because of that, it shows some of their body parts which is sometimes visible and sometimes does not . (TL: wth do you mean by that author?) . A layman in martial arts certainly will not see anything . Suksmabhuta Sword Art has achieved the extreme, this where the sword style gets its name . The Sword Art user will immediately attack if there are eyes who see that which cannot be seen .  

I was still standing in the alley when the last figure slipped down the wall . Ten mighty women sheathed their swords back after cleaning their blood with the cloth of their victims . The leader bowed her head reverently .  

“We are palace secret guards, the king’s personal bodyguards, apologize for the inconvenience . We don’t know who you are Sir, but we have a duty to protect anyone who is threatened by the Iron Hand Gang . They have long sold their servitude for gold pieces, to the wicked ministers who undermine the authority of the state . Now you must come with us, to be confronted with the secret service officers . ” 

Listening to that sentence I feel relieved . My disguise was not revealed . If hiding in a cave for 25 years is still being discovered and disguising still exposed, can I face myself? I don’t think I would be able to live in peace for the rest of this life, if I couldn’t expose what happened behind the assassins’ invasion at that cave . The cave that I thought would be my home forever and ever until I left this world, but the reality was to leave because a lot of people were not too patient waiting for me to die soon . “Fine,” I said, harboring the desire to investigate .  

I must be careful, because a high level martial arts doesn’t mean it is useful in dealing with cunning tricks in games of power .

NOTE:

[1] Caste or originally known as Varna literally means type, order, colour or class  and was a framework for grouping people into classes, first used in Vedic Indian society . It is referred to frequently in the ancient Indian texts . The four classes were the Brahmins (priestly people), the Kshatriyas (also called Rajanyas, who were rulers, administrators and warriors), the Vaishyas (artisans, merchants, tradesmen and farmers), and Shudras (labouring classes) . The varna categorisation implicitly had a fifth element, being those people deemed to be entirely outside its scope, such as tribal people and the untouchables . (source: wikipedia)

[2] Candala is the informal fifth caste . The Candala people are the outcast of society .