“Bring back any wounded Black Flag. Shoot those who are dying. Allah has been merciful.”
Soldiers and villagers cheered.
“Victory is ours! We’ll expel the Black Flags from our valley, Che’ Wong.”
“This is great news for the White Cranes, your lordship.”
“Che’ Wong, it’s the least I can do. You risked your life to save mine.”
“The Black Flag is my enemy too.”
“Honoured Father, Che’ Musa Talib is alive!” Ibrahim announced.
Several soldiers staggered in under the weight of the fat trader, who was lying on a makeshift carrier.
“Praise be to His Most Compassionate! Your unworthy slave lives to attend the wedding of your heroic son-in-law and daughter!”
“You ox! I thought you’d gone off to your Creator when I left you lying in that lallang patch!” Tai-kor Wong laughed.
“I was shot in the leg, but I did not lose the use of my head. So I just lay where I fell, and the Black Flags ignored me. But my lord, I didn’t forget to pray to His Most Compassionate to protect my friends.”
“While you were praying, Che’ Wong was like a brother to me. He risked his life to save mine. Che’ Wong, my blood brother!”
Datuk Long Mahmud clasped Tai-kor Wong’s hand. It took everyone by surprise for he was a reserved man. The person most surprised naturally was Tai-kor Wong himself. He bowed again and again, modestly disclaiming any extraordinary effort on his part.
“Your Lordship, thank you, thank you!”
“Tonight we celebrate our victory and friendship! Tomorrow I will expel the Black Flags and you, Che’ Wong, will go with Musa to the land by the Bandong River and select a site of ... let’s say ... one thousand acres to build your house.”
“I ... I don’t know what to say.”
“No need to say anything. We’re brothers now, and I will be a White Crane too.”
“Is everyone in the family safe, my lord?” Musa called out from his stretcher, gesturing impatiently to the men to put him down, which they promptly did, glad to be relieved of their load.
“Thanks be to Allah! Everyone is safe. The Black Flags failed to enter the women’s apartments. And Musa, one hundred acres of land is yours for praying for my safety.”
“Thank you, my lord! Your unworthy slave pledges his loyalty to you forever!”
“My lord! We’ve caught a Black Flag!”
The captain of the army knelt before the Datuk. “Three hundred men dead. One hundred of them are Black Flags. We killed another sixty-one who were dying. Then we found this dog hiding in the lallang.”
He pushed the Black Flag forward. The young man, aged sixteen or seventeen, lay on the ground, bleeding from several knife wounds and a gunshot wound in his shoulder. He made no answer when the captain questioned him. Enraged, the Malay captain caught hold of his queue and pulled him to his feet. He drew out his kris.
“Answer! You dog!”
“Wait!” Tai-kor Wong intervened. “With your lordship’s permission, allow me to question this dog in his own tongue.”
“Proceed.”
“Listen carefully, dog,” Tai-kor Wong said in Cantonese. “These Malays are worse than the Manchu dogs back home. They whip their enemies with a bamboo dipped in the juice of a poisonous plant. First you’ll itch as if bitten by a thousand ants. Then you’ll burn with a thousand fires, and your flesh will rot away. They will not send you to your ancestors straightaway unless you tell them why the Black Flags attacked them. Speak and I’ll see to it that you will not be whipped with this poisonous bamboo.”
The wounded man blurted, “They raped our women! We want to avenge the honour of our women!”
“What did he say?”
Before Tai-kor Wong could answer the Datuk, Ah Fook came running into the compound with several White Crane miners.
“Tai-kor! Our men raped some Hakka women. And the Black Flags attacked our village and burned everything! Lee Peng Yam and several elders have been killed! The rest have scattered or are dying!”
At this, Tai-kor Wong turned and killed the wounded man with a thrust of his dagger.