The man mentioned others coming for the treasure.
They most likely got taken care of by the crocodile.
My hunch was that the crocodile would lead us to where the gold was hidden.
With that thought in mind, I thought of a plan.
...
The next day, we had a quick meeting.
I told the rest about my hunch, and they agreed to try it.
After all, no one had any other clue to where the gold was hidden.
"Bobby, go help buy some chickens from the villagers." I pointed to the chicken coop as I said.
"What if they want more than my money?" he cheekily replied.
"Oh please, You?" I looked at his groin and shook my head.
Then I turned to Firecracker Tan and asked, "Do you still have some dynamite to scare the crocodile away?"
He took out several of his brown-colored tubes and said, "More than enough."
"Remember, our goal is to follow the crocodile, not to kill it."
Everyone then went into action.
Sea Snake Fang, using the rope we had, tied a Bimini twist knot, for looping it to the crocodile.
On the loose end of the rope, we tied a piece of orange canvas from our tent.
It would be easy to spot and not lose sight of the crocodile if it went into the water.
...
We went to the same spot again.
This time ready and prepared.
Bobby, with two chickens in both of his hands, was blowing air to ward off the feathers coming into his face, from the chickens struggling to break free.
I gave the signal and Firecracker Tan took out a tube of his dynamite, ready to light it up.
Sea Snake Fang helped Bobby slit the throats of the chickens.
He then dripped the blood from the chickens, all the way from the river to where we placed them.
What was left was to wait.
Then the water near the riverbank bubbled up, and the crocodile slowly emerged.
Now that we were able to have a good look at it, we realized it was huge.
At least five meters from head to tail.
It crawled towards the chickens and started to feast on them.
Firecracker Tan lit the dynamite and threw it ten meters away from it.
With the dynamite igniting any time soon, Sea Snake Fang quickly threw the rope, and the loop caught hold of the crocodile's tail.
"Boom!"
The dynamite exploded.
With the shockwave hitting the crocodile, it went into a frenzy.
It thrashed around with the pain from the shockwave.
Once the pain subsided, it returned to the river, quickly disappearing beneath the water—probably heading back to its nest.
Fortunately, the rope was long enough, so we held on and followed it.
The crocodile swam downstream for a few hundred meters before it stopped and emerged out of the water again.
It then got into a cave hidden by thick foliage all around the entrance.
We followed and entered cautiously.
The crocodile now lay on its nest, a mound of twigs and dried grass.
Scattered around were various items—toys, plastic bags, and tattered rags.
Likely belonging to its unfortunate victims.
Then I saw it, an old rifle among the items.
From its appearance, it was most likely from the 1800s.
I whispered to Firecracker Tan, asking him to prepare his dynamite.
He nodded and took out another stick.
Ready to light it.
Slowly, I moved near the crocodile, checking to see if it was awake.
Nothing happened.
It must have been asleep.
I pulled the rifle towards me, slowly inch by inch, all the while holding my breath and looking at the crocodile.
Ready to run if the crocodile moved.
Then suddenly, its head turned towards me.
I quickly let go of the rifle and took a few steps back.
Lucky for me, the crocodile stopped moving after that.
My back was now drenched with cold sweat from the scare.
I waited for a few seconds before trying to retrieve the rifle again.
This time it went without any hiccups, and I finally had the rifle in my hands.
Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I gave a huge sigh, "Phew."
And that was enough to wake up the crocodile.
Without hesitation, it lunged at me.
"Run, kill it outside! We don't want a cave-in."
I shouted and the rest of the team obliged.
We went outside of the cave, and it kept snapping at me.
"Firecracker Tan, throw it in its mouth!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, and he got to work.
He lit the dynamite, waited for the crocodile to open its mouth, then threw the dynamite into the wide-open mouth.
I lunged forward, held my fingers to my ears, belly and chest above ground.
"Boom!"
I felt a splatter of something soft land on me.
Used my finger to feel what had landed.
It was crocodile meat.
I turned around and saw the crocodile ripped in half by the explosive.
"That was close," I said as I sat down, took out a cigarette, lit it with my still shaking hands.
"Argh, gross. Now I'm covered in crocodile meat." Bobby exclaimed as he brushed off all the meat sticking to his clothes and face.
I laughed and said, "Don't waste it. Dinner will be barbecue crocodile meat."
"Ew, who would want that?" he gave me a disgusted look as he said.
Everyone frowned at me as they were also covered in crocodile meat.
...
After cleaning ourselves up, I inspected the rifle.
The wooden pieces were mostly rotten; you could just pinch, and the wood would turn to flakes.
What was left was only some of the metallic portions.
Rust had taken over on the exterior.
Luckily it had not covered what I was looking for.
A Lan Fang Republic seal on the barrel.
During the later stage of fighting with the Dutch, one reason Lan Fang Republic lost was the inferior weapons they had.
All they could muster was to try to manufacture weapons for themselves, but it was already too late.
With the confirmation that the rifle was from the Lan Fang Republic, I was now sure the gold was hidden somewhere inside the cave.