Mua Kong hopped on the horse and gallop away into the wilderness. Seeing his Lord sped off like his Lord is running towards the end of the earth, Yee Len nudged his horse to move faster. The subordinate follow the master out of the city into the heavily wooded mountains.Every time when Mua Kong go on a spree trip, he never take the same route and make sure he covers paths that often less traveled by people. He has good memories like his mother and remember what areas he traveled before. He hope that if continues to traveled incognito, maybe he would find Hli Ja or a clue would lead him to her.
To this day, Mua Kong has not find a clue to Hli Ja. If she was truly in the hand of the enemy, would they keep her alive? Why haven"t they use her to threat him already? And if she is alive, why hasn"t she come to him or was she in a situation that she couldn"t come?
"Hli Ja, did you truly forget about me? Are you well somewhere in this realm?" Many thoughts pa.s.sed through Mua Kong"s mind as the wind rushed past him. The thought of her name always soften his eyes but sadness always followed quickly.
That night, the master and subordinate camped in the wood. Yee Len hunted and smoked a rabbit for his Lord and him, but like always, Mua Kong doesn"t have much appet.i.te.
Seeing Mua Kong barely touched his food, Yee Len nervously spoke, "My Lord, you need to nourish your body. At this rate, I"m afraid you may not make it to the end of the year. What if Her highness, comes back and you aren"t here to welcome her?" He doesn"t know if Her Highness will ever come back, but if a little hope would help, he"s willing to use that little hope to help his Lord feel better.
Mua Kong didn"t talk. He remained silent looking at the fire pit before leaning back onto the tree and looked up at the night skies.
The next morning, the sun rose early, the skies was calm and birds chirped from trees all around. The master and subordinate packed their things and left their camping spot. They hopped onto their horse and took off.
Every time when Mua Kong rides the horse, he always takes off with an empty stoic expression as if he either is chasing after something he can"t reach or running away away from something he can"t face.
Yee Len followed as close as he possibly could, not wanting to lose sight of his Lord. When the Queen picked him up many years ago, gave him name and raised him, he had promised that he would take care of the baby in the Queen"s belly. He has always stayed by his Lord"s side since the birth of his Lordship.
If something were to happened to his Lord, how will he face the Queen in the after world?
His Queen and Her Highness have so much resemblance, the kindness through their actions, the respectful words through their articulated words and patience they carried are so much alike. He came to respect and admire Her Highness just the same way he came to respect the Queen.
But the heavens truly is cruel as they always take the best people away. The Queen was taken and now Her Highness is probably taken too. Yee Len can"t help but feel sad and sorry for both Mua Kong and the King.
Later in the afternoon, the master and subordinate arrived in a bustling town. They got off the horse and walked through the market streets. Yee Len was eyeing for a restaurant to stop for some food and tea as they had traveled all morning without food.
They came across a restaurant the seemed to have a full house. It must be a popular place since the restaurant also have tables and chairs outside in front of the restaurant.
Yee Len, turned to his Lord, "My Lord, let"s have some food and drinks here." Mua Kong knew that although he has no appet.i.te for food, his subordinate still needs food. He nodded his head and proceeded to sit on one of the tables in front of the restaurant.
Seeing his Lord sat on the table, Yee Len was happy. He quickly followed and yelled for the server.
The server quickly ran over to their table and asked for their order. Yee Len asked for some teas and then ordered a few dishes.
Not long later, the server brought in the tea set, a kettle and two cups. After the server sat the tea set on the table, Yee Leng proceeded to pour the tea for his Lord and himself.
Mua Kong sat looking at all the people pa.s.sing by not paying attention to what"s happening around him until Yee Len handed him the tea cup. "Here, My Lord, have some tea." As he reached over to sit the cup in front of Mua Kong.
"Mm.." Mua Kong nodded. He reached for the tea cup and took a small sip. The master and subordinate sat drinking their tea while they observed the busy street and all the people that past by.
Soon, a boy around 10-11 years of age walked by carrying a big bag on his back and went inside the store across the street.
After a while, the server brought food out to Yee Len and Mua Kong. At the same time, the boy came out from the shop and his bag got smaller. The boy ran across to the restaurant and shouted, "Mister, the same as usual."
The server looked over and replied, "Oh Pao Hua. Haven"t seen you around lately. Wait a little bit." The server went back to the kitchen.