Early in the morning, Lan Ming helped Ying prepare her merchandise for the market. As usual, moving the medium-sized wooden boxes filled with vegetables was his routine whenever he assisted Ying. Sometimes Lan Ming would also tend the stall all day if he wasn't working on cutting wood.
Lan Ming went to the market with his mother using an old bicycle, with boxes of vegetables on each side of the bike to be sold at the market. Meanwhile, Ying would sit behind him, riding pillion.
Upon arrival at the market, Lan Ming would unload the wooden boxes and arrange the vegetables on a small table, which was Ying's stall. Then he would wait, accompanying Ying in selling until the evening.
"Lan Ming, are you selling today?" Suddenly, someone greeted Lan Ming and approached him.
Lan Ming turned to the source of the voice and found a figure in red, looking very familiar to him.
"Pit Hong!" he called out excitedly.
The person addressed smiled brightly. It seemed that Pit Hong was blessed with a smile that never faded from his face.
"Nice to meet you again. It seems you are selling today. Would you like to join me in watching a performance? Today, people from my tribe are performing in this market. Would you like to come and see it with me?" Pit Hong offered.
Lan Ming hadn't answered yet, but Ying immediately agreed. And this clearly made Lan Ming feel uneasy, leaving the old woman to tend to her stall alone.
"Go ahead, dear. Let me take care of this stall. Enjoy the show with Pit Hong. He's your new friend; appreciate him," Ying pushed Lan Ming away from her stall.
Reluctantly, Lan Ming eventually agreed. Especially when Ying told him to go. Although he felt uneasy, he complied.
Pit Hong smiled, then approached Ying and saluted the old woman. He made a gesture as if touching his forehead to the back of Ying's hand.
Ying, seemingly understanding the meaning of the gesture made by Pit Hong, then said, "Pit Hong, I ask you to take care of Lan Ming, I entrust him to you."
Those words shocked Lan Ming, as Ying seemed to be saying farewell. And Pit Hong himself was surprised too. But he tried to stay calm and immediately intended to take Lan Ming away to the show so they wouldn't linger.
---
"Why did your mother suddenly speak like that earlier, Lan Ming?" Pit Hong asked cautiously.
Lan Ming shook his head. "I don't know, since last night my mother has been talking about something strange. I can only hope that nothing bad happens to her."
"Let's hope for the best."
"Of course."
Finally, Lan Ming and Pit Hong arrived at their destination. They stopped right in front of a crowd of people. People were gathered around a simple small stage that had been decorated.
"Are we going to watch a play?" Lan Ming asked curiously.
Pit Hong nodded. On his head was always a simple black hat with a unique shape that caught Lan Ming's eye.
The performance they watched managed to make Lan Ming laugh uncontrollably. Apparently, the comedy show succeeded in making all the butterflies in Lan Ming's stomach dance happily, making his stomach tickle.
"You seem to really enjoy it. I'm grateful. Wasn't it hilarious? Especially when the character Si Kancil almost got slaughtered by the Farmer for being caught stealing cucumbers? Ha... ha... ha... just remembering it almost takes my breath away," Pit Hong himself felt delighted after watching the performance.
"Of course. Take me to watch shows like this again next time. It's really enjoyable." Pit Hong might have felt happy for a moment, but suddenly his happiness turned into terror. Especially when one of the actors got injured when attacked by a strange creature.
"GRAOOOR!" The roar of a tiger was heard. The tiger creature, disguised itself near the stage, camouflaging as one of the decorations. The creature had the form of a tiger but resembled a living wooden statue. Due to its appearance, many people didn't realize its presence.
After attacking one actor, the tiger creature went berserk, attacking people nearby and injuring them all.
Pit Hong looked beside him and couldn't find the man anymore. When he looked back at the creature, he found Lan Ming throwing a kick towards the tiger creature.
Initially, Pit Hong was worried, but he chose to stay silent and just observe the fight. For a moment, he began to think that Lan Ming was not an ordinary human. He realized that Lan Ming's kick felt very sharp. Indeed, the tiger creature was wounded. The creature was filled with evil energy, and an ordinary human would not be able to touch or even attack it barehanded.
Human energy is considered weak when fighting demons. That's why hardly any human can truly fight a demon barehanded. Humans who can fight demons typically use weapons enchanted with spells. So, with this simple conclusion, Pit Hong realized that Lan Ming was not a human.
But Pit Hong chose not to question what kind of creature Lan Ming was. He intended to continue helping him. Because he believed that Lan Ming was not evil. Good energy clearly filled Lan Ming's body, and that made Pit Hong trust to stand by Lan Ming's side.
When Lan Ming was about to attack the tiger creature again, Pit Hong ran towards it, grabbed one of its legs, and spun it with all his might.
The tiger creature roared in pain, and Lan Ming took advantage of the opportunity by punching the tiger creature, making it bounce far away. But with its sharp claws, the creature managed to hold its weight. The tiger creature then tried to lunge at Lan Ming.
CRACK
A machete was thrust right in front of the tiger's head. The tiger's head was now split in two, revealing its pinkish brain inside. In contrast to its outer body that looked like wood, the tiger creature still had soft parts inside its body.
Although the machete managed to hit its opponent, the tiger creature wouldn't be easily defeated. Slowly, the wounded parts began to close again. The blackish fluid, which was the tiger creature's blood, turned into thousands of sharp black crystals and attacked directly towards Pit Hong and Lan Ming.