It was a rather chilly afternoon, as it had been raining heavily since midday. Although the rain had subsided, the grass was still wet, and the ground on the hillside was muddy and slippery.
A handsome young man, with shoulder-length hair and a white shirt that reached his sleeves, wore white trousers with a black cloth belt. His headband was also made of white cloth. He wrapped his wrists in rolls of black cloth, and behind his back slung a tiger-headed sword. A black rope wound from each scabbard around his sword, looping from the right side of his neck to the left side of his waist.
Whistling, the young man seemed to be having fun playing on the slide on the slippery hillside. He suddenly stopped playing when his ears caught a loud noise in the valley, a sound like a woman's cries for help and the struggles of a woman. As he looked ahead, he saw a village in the valley. His eyes widened as, in front of a house, he saw a girl being forcibly pulled onto a horse by five men.
The young man stomped furiously and soared like an eagle, suddenly standing tall in front of the five men who were forcibly dragging a girl.
"Wow... so there's a thief this late at night! In the day he steals clotheslines, in the evening he steals women, and at night he steals chickens! Ha... ha... ha!" The young man casually joked, occasionally scratching his neck, and sneered at the five men with menacing faces in front of him.
This naturally infuriated the five men.
"Hey... crazy young man! Don't interfere, get out of here!" shouted one of the five men in front of him. Again, the young man just laughed and scratched his neck.
"Interfere how? If there's a thief, he should be caught and beaten!" The handsome young man laughed again.
"Bastard! Let's teach that crazy young man a lesson!" One of the five men shouted, then two of his companions advanced, wielding machetes, ready to attack. Meanwhile, the young man about to be attacked appeared calm, even smiling.
Two saber slashes roared toward the young man. Jumping forward with a somersault, the young man suddenly appeared behind the two men attacking him. His lightning-like movement startled the two attackers, as their saber slashes missed their target. Still in shock, the two men felt the back of their shirt collars being pulled, and then their faces collided as they were slammed by the young man, none other than Dezo Wilis, the Tiger Warrior.
Still staggering, the two men were struck in the chest by Dezo's palm, sending them hurtling forward and plummeting into the rice paddy in front of the house. Clutching their chests, they crawled through the flooded mud.
"Ha... ha... ha...! Thieves like you are truly fit to be used as buffaloes to plow the fields!" Dezo laughed out loud as he watched the two men he had hit crawling like buffalo in a rice paddy.
"You bastards! Have a taste of this!" A fierce-looking man launched an attack at Dezo from behind. He flicked to the side again, slashing his machete at nothing, sending his body lurching forward. Dezo easily struck him in the buttocks with his left leg, sending the man tumbling to the ground beside his friend, who was already crawling in the rice paddy.
Two more people launched attacks from opposite directions on the left and right sides of where Dezo was standing, this time their machete attacks did not slash but stabbed, Dezo's body lightly shot several spears upwards and with both of his feet he again managed to hit the heads of the two people who attacked him, without mercy the two people staggered, their heads felt dizzy from the collision, Dezo who was now standing straight on the ground wanted to hit them with both of his palms, but he stopped when he saw the two people sitting on their knees begging for mercy, then they ran away in a panic followed by his three friends who had been thrown into the rice fields.
Amidst Dezo's fight with the five men who were attempting to take Seruni, villagers gathered to watch and support the warrior. Dezo realized that the area was now crowded with people, some of whom were carrying a middle-aged man to the porch of a house. This man was none other than Karim, Seruni's father, who had nearly been taken by five envoys from Adipati Gopal.
Dezo immediately followed Karim to the porch where he was being carried. He examined the middle-aged man, bending down as Karim lay on a bench.
"Hmm... Thank goodness, uncle, there are no serious internal injuries. It's just a sprained tendon in his leg. Hold on a little, uncle," Dezo said, tugging on Karim's leg. Karim winced slightly in pain, and then felt his leg recover.
"Thank you, sir, warrior, for saving my daughter." Karim said, suddenly rising from his bed and prostrating himself. Dezo quickly pulled Karim and supported him to sit beside him, as he didn't want to be treated like that.
"May I ask what exactly happened, uncle? That your daughter was forcibly taken away by those five bastards?" Dezo asked.
"Those five men were envoys from Adipati Gopal, the leader of this region. A few days ago, Adipati wanted to propose to my daughter, but our family refused to accept his proposal. Adipati Gopal is an evil and cruel leader, and he already has nine wives. When we refused his proposal, his envoys immediately forced our daughter to him," Karim said.
"What a jerk! That Adipati!" Dezo growled.
"Then why didn't any of you help this uncle?" Dezo continued, turning to the residents who were crowded in front of and around the veranda of the house. The villagers who were asked remained silent and lowered their heads.
"I'm sorry, sir, no one dares to oppose the Duke and his men, because so far, many of the villagers have died if they dare to resist and oppose his will," Karim replied on behalf of the villagers.
Before Dezo could say anything else, a beautiful girl suddenly emerged from the house, carrying two cups of warm tea on a woven bamboo tray. The girl headed towards where Karim and Dezo were sitting. Upon arriving at the couch where Karim and Dezo were sitting, she bowed and placed the tray containing the two cups of tea down.