"Pak Jaya, Tok Silihan, thank you for willing to meet me. I know you guys must be very busy today. I apologized for the inconvenience caused." Arash shook Pak Jaya's hand, who just entered with an apologetic smile.

 

It was already around nine in the morning. Tok Silihan had been lazing around Arash's place after he gave a final body check-up to him to make sure he was okay. The faint bruises over his knee were totally gone, and he felt as good as new! Remarkably, it was even better than before he had his first knee injury. He immediately asked a favor from Tok Silihan to meet the current village representative to discuss an issue, which was the reason he came to the settlement.

 

Behind him, Tok Silihan had been lazing around on the mengkuang mat while picking his nose with a boring look like he owned the place. He glanced with a disinterested look at Pak Jaya once, and return to his own cup of warm Milo¹a sweet coco-malt beverage by Nestle loved by the majority of Malaysian. The distinct taste is different as compared to other countries. Mrs. Mooncat had tried the ones in Indonesia and the ones from Thailand, and each ‘Milo’ didn’t taste the same. It turned out Nestle adjusted the taste of Milo to fit the locals of an area.. Arash had been sitting cross-legged just beside Tok Silihan and was offering him a cup of warm 3-in-1 Milo with a fawning look before Pak Jaya's arrival. However, he shoved the Milo into Tok Silihan's hands so that he could respectfully stood up to invite Pak Jaya into the haya. Seeing that the Spiritual Healer's face had turned a shade darker, Pak Jaya quickly asked Arash to sit back.

 

"Sit, sit. Don't trouble yourself. I heard from Tok Batin that you have a problem that you need to discuss with us? We will do whatever we can to help out." Pak Jaya tried his best to contain his expression when he saw how these two men were behaving in front of him. Their level of familiarity was akin to a bias grandfather who only favors this one grandson of his while being incredibly mean to others. However, he realized that Arash didn't purposely try to suck up to the old man. He was just a nice person who treated everyone warmly, especially the older ones.

 

His theory had been proven when he saw Arash took another empty cup and made another cup of warm Milo for him too!

 

This person is such a nice fellow! Pak Jaya felt like crying inside as his eyes slightly misted. Little him had been given the same level of respect as the exalted Spiritual Healer in front of them.

 

Is was true that in his community, any guest should be celebrated and treated with respect. Still, it has never been the other way around. This man was soft-spoken, eloquent, and very polite in his ways.

 

"I'm sorry if this is not to your liking, but I only had these.. basic drinks to serve to you." Arash had just boiled a small batch of water to keep inside his thermos. It was the best time to serve the elders around him. He was glad there were not that many since he didn't have that many 3-in-1s.

 

"Pray tell what's your problem." Pak Jaya spoke after gulping the warm beverage.

 

"I would like to tell both of you respected elders a story. It is a story about my wife."

 

While Pak Jaya showed a confused look, Tok Silihan maintained his bored face. Still, his ears perked up and started to listen carefully.

 

"Roughly a month ago, I got a message from my wife at noon. She told me she got lost and asked me to return immediately to tend to the children. I was confused at that time, since it was noon, the time for her to fetch our eldest from kindergarten by car. In the beginning, I thought she had lost her way by making a wrong turn somewhere, which was very unlikely since she had been driving the same route everyday. But she got lost after she stepped out of the grocery store in the middle of the town! She even parked the car in front of the store with our kids being left inside."

 

"That is impossible!" Pak Jaya exclaimed.

 

Tok Silihan narrowed his eyes as he tried to rummage his old memory. He felt that he had heard the same story a long time ago but couldn't seem to recall clearly.

 

"I was sad to hear that Mr. Arash, but I can't seem to link your story to the kind of help that we can provide, Mr. Arash. What kind of help can we possibly provide for you?"

 

"The story did not end there. Although my wife was trapped in an unknown place, she could still stay in contact with me, albeit just barely. She told me she is currently in a rainforest such as these, inside a small cave. So, it got me thinking, what if there are some caves around these areas that I didn't know of? I hope to ask for help from everyone to chart out the location of local caves around the area and, if possible, check each one of them. I'll hire as many as I can to check for the shortest amount of time. Just name me your price. I'll try my best to provide payment in any form you like, even if you don't want cash." Arash look had become sorrowful as he was thinking about his wife's plight, alone and scared in a darkened forest. It made his eyes turned slightly red.

 

Both elders were quiet as they ruminated over the information given by Arash.

 

After a while, Pak Jaya answered, "Of course we can help check all the caves around the area, but is there a significance to do this? How can it be possible for your wife to shop in town and appear in an area deep in the forest? I do hope you will consider this and won't put too high hopes.." Pity radiated from Pak Jaya's eyes. There should only be two possibilities here. One, this fellow's wife had been abducted and locked up somewhere akin to a cave; two, which was more likely, the wife had lied to this pitiful fellow and might have run away from home. Both conditions had very slim possibilities to be found.

 

Tok Silihan held up his hand to quieten down Pak Jaya. "Do you have a map? Show me the location where she had disappeared."

 

"I do, I do!" Arash scrambled to his backpack to retrieve and spread a new modern-looking map on the mengkuang mat beside Tok Silihan. He made a circle on three locations.

 

"This is the place my wife, Hana disappeared from, at the front entrance of a minimart. This is this settlement. This is where we lived." He showed the central locations to both elders.

 

"Hmm... I'm not familiar with all these new landmarks. Jaya, where is this place actually?" Tok Silihan asked Pak Jaya while tapping with his index finger on the minimart location circled by Arash.

 

"You've been away for far too long this time, Exalted Elder. This place is just west of our village, around two-days’ walk. The last time you're here, no development had been made. This new town is just around seven to ten years old and is the nearest to our community. Thankfully, the efforts of your little Rami²Name of Tok Batin Silihan’s son. The name of a tree which could be made into hemp (a kind of rope). tens of years ago have been fruitful as our localities had been gazetted as ‘virgin forest reserve.’  This means hunting and logging have been banned for outsiders. Didn’t you remember?"

 

Tok Silihan scratched his itchy head absentmindedly and blushed a little. "Stop nagging like an old man. I did remember all of that, just need a little reminder."

 

"So, did you see anything unusual from these locations, Tok Silihan? Look closely for me, please." Arash eagerly moved behind Tok Silihan and started to give him repeated light taps with both fists on his shoulders with a fawning look. This was a blatant attempt to flatter the old man, which earned Pak Jaya's disbelieving look, especially when the Spirit Healer seemed to be enjoying it.

 

"Hmm, hmm.. Left a little. Right, right, that part. Increase your strength, you wimp. Ahh~ good job. Well, since you asked in such a polite manner, I'll look into it. Give me some time. I need to contact a descendant of mine to cross-check something. Prepare some fragrant rice and chicken masak merah as payment, alright. Those are really good."

 

Tok Silihan turned to Pak Jaya, "Did you say the brat Ramlee³Name of Tok Batin Silihan’s descendant (male). This is a modern name, which indicated that the descendant had migrated out of the village and entered civilization as he received formal education. Ramlee is also the name of a legendary talented entertainer in Malaysia from the 60s (Mrs. Mooncat loved his songs). is in the Department of Lands or something something before? I remembered you edify him quite fiercely." Tok Silihan rolled his eyes with a disinterested look.

 

"Yes, yes. That's the one." Pak Jaya sweated a little and gave a fake laugh. He stopped acting when he saw the Spiritual Healer didn't even smile.

 

"Call him back immediately. Tell him, it's my order."

 

"But, but... He's not in this region actually. I'm not sure can he make it in such a rush appointment.."

 

"No buts."

 

"Ahh... Tok Silihan, no rush. I'll take some leave to come again soon. At the moment, I really need to head back as soon as possible to take care of my kids. Maybe I can even bring them here when it is safe," Arash quickly placated the elder. He really can't stay any longer.

 

"I see. If that's the case, I won't force you. Hm.. how about two weeks from now? Come back here. I'll wait for you. In the meantime, I'll arrange for the scouts we have to check all available caves around this area."

 

"Thank you so much, Tok Silihan!"Arash took both of Tok Silihan gnarly hands and shook it enthusiastically, making the old man smirked. He then shook Pak Jaya's hands too in merriment.

 

Pak Jaya was speechless with the current development. He could smell extreme favoritism at this moment. In the village records, the Spiritual Healer had never stayed in the village for more than five days before returning into the depth of the forest, fuming with anger, every single time. Right now, he even promised this fellow he'd conscript everyone to check all caves and force one of his exemplary descendant home for his sake. The world was going to end soon~

 

"What are you waiting for? You already got what you want. Pack up and go back now. Don't leave your friends behind. I still hated outsiders, you know. You guys smelled funny."

 

Pak Jaya and Arash, "..."

 

...

 

Tok Silihan returned Arash's enthusiastic waves with a short wave of his own, a small smile attached to his thin lips. To others, that doting smile looked ever so sinister as it invoked shivers among the Bateq people. The Spiritual Healer had never actually smiled sincerely before, as his face was always adorned with an ever-present scowl. He did produce a couple of evil grins when he was distraught or annoyed, which usually followed by the hangings of people on large trees around the village.

 

He walked back without a word into his own haya, deep in thoughts. The villagers around him, including the other six elders, did not dare to disturb his train of thoughts as they just followed him quietly like meek little lambs. Once he entered his own haya, the other villagers naturally dispersed, leaving a few young ones. They were awaiting his instructions if he ever required anything. They swapped their positions every 4-6 hours and always stayed on alert to receive any instructions from the exalted elder. This time, it will be unusually long since Tok Silihan had promised to wait for Arash for at least two weeks. Many elders wore a smile on their faces since they knew this was the time to seek guidance from the Spiritual Healer in many aspects.

 

Tok Silihan sat on his own beautifully-decorated mengkuang mat and pondered deeply. Truthfully, last night, he had tried to enter Arash's abode to invite him to join the celebration thrown by his people in honor of his arrival. There was so much python meat around, cooked in several traditional ways using the Bateq people's secret recipes. He had to bring the boy along to let him taste the delicacy made by his own people. He was a little annoyed when he noticed that the boy had already slept so soon. That boy had even snored so loud. Hence, his first action was to rouse the boy up and force him to follow him to the celebration.

 

However, as he took the first step to enter Arash's haya, his sensitive hearing could hear a faint susurration of voice from Arash's sleeping position. It was something he had never heard before, but it had a repelling power over him!

 

As he forced himself to take another two steps, the unseen repel force turned into a mental attack!

 

A malevolent being was trying to invade his mind! He could feel it!

 

The attack was so sudden and sharp, he wasn’t prepared in the slightest. Hence, the first few attacks had injured him mentally before he could put his guard up. Through the fresh mental gap, the attack seeped in directly into his soul!

 

He could hear a woman’s sweet yet sinister voice seeped into his mind, trying to take over his control! Whoever or whatever she was, the being was very powerful!

 

Tok Silihan was losing his control!

 

Sweat beaded through Tok Silihan's face as he tried his hardest not to succumb to the baleful corruption to his mind. He felt as if his body was not his own, as it was being restricted from any kind of movement. The voice was forcing him for allegiance. Although he didn’t know what the language was, he could feel it within his soul! The voice was trying to rob the freedom of his soul!

 

Tok Silihan immediately sat cross-legged just a few paces away from the snoring Arash. He forcefully circulates his remaining internal energy to prevent himself from being petrified as he invoked the connection between him and the deity of the Forest for assistance. He had to continuously chant for the half of the night when the sweet voice suddenly disappeared.

 

 He quickly scrambled up and moved outside of Arash’s haya, giving himself a fair bit of distance for precaution.

 

What was that?!

 

Did this boy harbor a demoness within him?! Hmmpph... Luckily this old man still have some tricks to defeat it.

 

He paced back and forth outside of Arash’s haya while being observed by his people with a quizzical expression. They had been waiting for the Exalted Elder for hours to start the celebration. After considering the pros and cons, Tok Silihan joined the others and left an order for Arash not to be disturbed by anyone until he woke up by himself tomorrow.

 

I’ll have another look at that boy tomorrow. He should now be safe as I had defeated the demoness.

 

Tok Silihan had been totally distracted during the celebration and nearly hadn't even eaten anything at all. He waited until Arash was awake and immediately headed over to see the boy. The most bizarre thing was, the malevolent sweet voice never appeared again, and Arash himself didn't seem affected by it. The old man scanned Arash's body thoroughly to properly scrutinize at Arash's condition. He especially checked for Arash's mental health to see any injuries, but surprisingly, nothing different cropped up. In fact, the brat was as healthy as a donkey thanks to his efforts.

 

 

The curiosity clouding his mind was the reason why he offered to see the boy again in two weeks’ time. He really needed to know Arash’s relation with the malevolent demoness’ voice...

 

I will naturally understand everything in two weeks later…

 

Tok Silihan stood up after making up his mind. He needed to whip up these villagers into shape since he had so much free time now.

 

...

 

Authors’ Note:

 

1. Milo = a sweet coco-malt beverage by Nestle loved by the majority of Malaysian. The distinct taste is different as compared to other countries. Mrs. Mooncat had tried the ones in Indonesia and the ones from Thailand, and each ‘Milo’ didn’t taste the same. It turned out Nestle adjusted the taste of Milo to fit the locals of an area.
2. Rami = Name of Tok Batin Silihan’s son. The name of a tree which could be made into hemp (a kind of rope).
3. Ramlee = Name of Tok Batin Silihan’s descendant (male). This is a modern name, which indicated that the descendant had migrated out of the village and entered civilization as he received formal education. Ramlee is also the name of a legendary talented entertainer in Malaysia from the 60s (Mrs. Mooncat loved his songs).

Additional info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._Ramlee

P. Ramlee’s voice and his wife, Saloma: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rAbt2ozrgE