My Unconventional Lover: Seeing A Different World

152 The Most Wicked Mind

(Tom’s PoV)

I watched as both of the women were hiding in the corner, and somehow there were two children with them. I guessed they were Arum’s children. All of them were shaking badly while hiding their faces. The pound on the door was getting louder and louder, but Jaka had not returned.

Where did he go to get those items?

Actually, I was more than enough to take care of that Kuyang. I had the power as the Guardian of Death Volcano, dealing with the Kuyang should be easy. I didn’t need those items to deal with it, but I remembered my task was to stabilize the situation.

If I were to take care of it without teaching them how to do it by themselves, by the time I returned to Satu Village, the same thing would happen to them over and over again. I needed to teach them how to defend themselves against Kuyang.

The methods of dealing with them were varied based on the origins of people. Even the name was different in some provinces in Indonesia. Where I lived, Kuyang was called ‘Pokpok’ or ‘Ponggo’. My childhood was filled with the memory of my mother forbade me to play until dusk because she said Pokpok was going around to catch children and eat them.

Well, it was true. At that time, people were scared to get out of home after dusk. Doors and windows were tightly closed and onions and garlics would be found in some spots in my house. My mother even prepared broomsticks near her. Luckily, the men were not useless. They all agreed to search for the culprit when she was out looking for victims.

All men who had pregnant wife at home would stay at home and guard their wife, while the others would go out and search every house for the headless body. When they couldn’t find the culprit in the houses, they searched among the woods, especially under banana trees. It took them three days to finally had a clue about who the Pokpok was.

So, they watched her activity closely and secretly, observed any weird behaviour she might show during the day, and when the dusk came around, some men followed her.

.....

Their suspicion became stronger when they saw her didn’t head to her house, but to her small cottage in the middle of her family’s garden, surrounded by many crop plants and vegetables. There were even a huge area of banana trees behind the cottage.

The men hid themselves behind the castor trees that were arranged in neat position as hedgerow. They waited and waited, and finally a head with its inner organs flew out from the house. They clenched their fists as they waited until the head went far away. After that, they went inside the house.

Indeed, there was a headless body inside. Anger and disgusts mixed inside their mind but they managed to control themselves. What they did made me speechless, though. If I had not known that the one they were doing it was Kuyang, Pokpok, or whatever she was called, that had committed crimes by killing some poor pregnant women out there, I would say these men had the most wicked mind ever. Cruel, ruthless, and sadistic were the right words to describe them.

What did they do? They put sand, broken glasses, limes’ juices, and broomsticks inside the body. Then, they put the body inside a sack and brought it with them.

The end result, every body could guess it.

Anyway, to protect one’s self against Kuyang, the basic ingredients were the same, but the method was probably a bit different. I had heard about how pregnant women would carry garlic and lime with them whenever they went out. Also, some of them would put onions and garlics in several spots in their houses. They said ghosts and Kuyangs hated the smell. Anything pungent would drive them away.

Some said to put broomstick across the door before we went to sleep. Some said to put mirror in front of the door because Kuntilanak and Kuyang didn’t like to see their own faces in the mirror.

There were many ghost stories that I had heard from my friends and people around my house when I was younger. But, regarding Kuyang, what the people in my village did left an impression in me.

Cruel, indeed, but towards human who practiced dark arts, I wouldn’t feel pity for them.

“Here you are. I tried to gather anything I could find.” Jaka finally came with salt, garlics, and onions in his hands.

“Cut them.” I ordered him as I started to cut open the onions and garlics. The spicy smell invaded my senses and I put some near those women and children. After those onions and garlics were cut, I walked towards the door with salt in my hand and onions and garlics in my other hands.

“Open it.” I nodded towards the door. The pounding had stopped for a while, I guessed she had noticed the smell, huh?

Jaka hesitated but under my gaze, he put away the chairs and opened the door. The Kuyang was still hovering in front of the house, looking disturbed and it was probably because of the smell of these items in my hands.

It’s time to put my practice into real work. I doubt I would miss my target; the floating Kuyang.

Without any hesitation, I threw the salt in my hand towards the Kuyang. The shrill scream was a proof that I hit my target. Her organs must be covered by some salt now, how painful would that be? Not my concern, anyway. In a second, I threw the onions and garlics towards her and as comical as it looked, I watched as she flew away quickly while screaming frighteningly.

I sneered. Serve you right for coming at me.

As I turned around, I saw Jaka and the others were watching me in awe. I rubbed my nose awkwardly. “Let’s scatter some onions and garlics around the house.” I suggested. Jaka nodded and together we scattered the remaining onions and garlics in his hand inside and outside the house.

Well, the smell might be a little torturous for those who weren’t used to the smell, but better safe than sorry, right? Even Sekar who was pregnant said that she would endure the smell for tonight.

I was invited to spend the night there, which I accepted, but what about my eight hours? As much as I wanted to gather all the men to talk about how to take care of Kuyang issues, I noticed how scared they were to come out even after they heard the Kuyang had gone.

Maybe they thought she would come back, which was normal.

I had no other choice but to wait until it was brighter to talk to the villagers. But, I didn’t think eight hours was enough. I sighed as I closed my eyes.

Whatever. I’ve tried my best, if I were to be forced to return, then I would let them judge it for me. Eight hours were not enough!

After a stressful night, I didn’t even realize I had fallen asleep. When I woke up, the sun had shone brightly outside. I also heard commotion outside. What happened? Did the Kuyang come back last night when I was asleep?

I woke up and looked around. It was amazing I didn’t forget where I was even when I had just woken up. Other than feeling a bit sleepy, I felt clear headed. It was just... I was still here? The eight hours had not finished yet? Since it wasn’t over yet, I would continue with my plan.

After tidying up myself to be more presentable, I walked out of my room. The moment I stepped outside the room, the commotion stopped as I saw several pairs of eyes were looking at me. Different emotions could be seen from their eyes; confusion, awe, suspicious, awareness.

They might have assumption in their head. For now, let them assume all they want. I have urgent matters to do.

“Where can I go to wash my face?” I asked Jaka who was sitting in the middle.

“Over there.” He pointed to my left as he stood up and directly led me to their bathroom. It seemed like he finally had reason to escape from the situation inside.

“They have been waiting for you since early this morning.” Jaka sighed as I washed my face. But, how can I brush my teeth? Forget it.

“Just in time. I also want to talk to them about what happened last night.” I looked at Jaka with a smile on my face. “Now, if you excuse me, I want to pee.” I said in a whisper.

“Just do it. We’re both men, what are you feeling shy for?” Jaka casually replied.

It was not that I was feeling shy, but... well, if he didn’t mind, let him be. Without saying anything anymore, I pulled out my ‘tool’ and emptied my bladder.

“H-how is it possible?!” I heard Jaka stuttered. I turned my head towards him and saw him staring at my penis, wide eyes.

This is exactly why I indirectly asked him to step away so I could take a pee. It was not that I wasn’t feeling proud with mine, but I knew some people would feel inferior when they compared theirs to mine.

And, I didn’t want Jaka to feel so. He was a good man, after all. But, mine was above average for an Indonesian.