We went back to the longhouse as we didn't have our backpacks with us.
This time there was a surprise waiting for me.
The village head came by as we were packing.
He was with the two men from earlier and another new face.
A familiar one at that.
It was the Dayak man we met at Snookey's parlor!
"This is my son, Henry." The village head used his pipe and pointed at Henry.
"He is an excellent tracker, familiar with the jungle. He might be able to help with your exploration." The village head then left, leaving us and Henry together.
"You bastard!" Bobby yelled at Henry, still angry with what he did to us in the tomb.
"Bobby, Relax."
"Sam, but he..."
I pulled Bobby back, offered Henry a cigarette, and lit it up for him.
"Bobby, this is Henry, help sent to us from Groundhog Liu," I said and shook Henry's hand.
"Small correction, Groundhog Liu's disciple," he smirked.
Bobby looked to and fro between us, his eyebrows locked together, and said, "Wait what? I'm lost now."
"Yeah, what happened?" I asked, wanting to know the moves my Shifu made.
Henry then went on to explain.
My Shifu, Groundhog Liu, had asked Henry to keep watch over me.
And during the first time in the tomb, my Shifu had wanted me to decide.
Take the map, get away from Amy Lee or continue with her and the team.
I made my choice, and he respected it.
Henry was also the one who left the message from Shifu about the traitor among us.
He had been monitoring and reporting to Shifu about Kurnawan all the while.
"So, the incident with me in the Snooker Parlor was on purpose?" Bobby asked.
Henry laughed out loud and said, "No, you just have a punchable face."
Everyone burst out laughing, releasing all our tension from what we had experienced earlier.
After all the laughter died down, Amy Lee asked, "So, if you want in, the rest of them would have to agree."
Henry nodded in agreement.
The others might not be happy with their share of profit diluted again with Henry's addition to the team.
All of us had to agree to it.
"I agree," I quickly put up my hand, with Henry's addition then there would be three of us from Shifu's side, making it balanced.
After all, you never know what will happen when faced with one ton of gold right before your eyes.
Bobby, seeing that I did so, joined in chorus.
"I agree too," Amy Lee looked at me and put up her hand.
Sea Snake Fang also followed Amy Lee's lead, "Me too."
Now, there was only Firecracker Tan left.
"I don't know, I really need the money," he hesitated as he saw that he was now outnumbered 5 to 1.
Seeing this, I thought for a while, looked at Henry, and said, "He will give up half of his share to us, minimizing the loss.
"After all, we still need him here, after we find the gold, to arrange for smuggling it out."
We have already broken off from Huang Bao Kun, the original arrangements wouldn't work now.
Henry, as a local, can help with that.
Firecracker Tan finally relented and agreed to let Henry join us.
With the mystery of who the Dayak man was out of the way, there was only one last thorny problem left.
Kurnawan.
His skills and resilience were nothing I've seen before.
We will have to be cautious and keep a lookout for him.
It was finally decided that Henry would move independently, track and follow Kurnawan when he appears.
Let the hunter be hunted.
Soon it was dark, so it was best for us to go into the cave the next day.
...
Next day.
We checked our equipment, filled up our water bottles with the well they had in the village.
We bid farewell to the village head and left for the cave.
The crocodile carcass was already buzzing with flies and smelled of rotten meat when we arrived.
Stench came into my nostrils, even with my hands covering them.
I had to run into the cave to prevent myself from puking.
The rest of the team did the same.
Every one of us took a moment, breathing in hard.
As we recovered, Amy Lee said, "Everyone stay alert, we are so near."
I nodded with resolve and looked ahead into the darkness of the cave.
We had to turn on our flashlights to see our way.
When we got deeper into the cave, it got bigger and cooler.
Upon entering a very huge area, we started to hear loud squeaking noises.
Bobby nearly slipped and he cursed out loud, "Why the hell is the ground so slippery?"
We got the answer very soon.
As his flashlight shone onto the top of the cave.
I looked up, there were thousands of bats, dark black, furry and moving around.
His shouting had then woken up the bats from their slumber.
"Everyone, crouch and cover your head." Sea Snake Fang shouted.
The cloud of bats then descended and flew right through us.
I could feel them coming up against my back, like little pellets hitting me.
Exposed skin like my hands and neck got cut by the sharp claws of the bats.
It went on for a few minutes until it was quiet again.
Bobby shook me by the shoulders and asked, "Damn it. Sam, is my face alright? I still need to get a wife, you know."
I shone my flashlight at his face, shook my head and said, "You look... how should I put it, ugly as usual."
"Anyone hurt seriously? If not, let's move on." Amy Lee suggested.
I checked myself and was fine, only small cuts and bruises.
So were the rest.
The huge area with bats led to a narrow tunnel, then the tunnel opened again.
Exiting the tunnel, we saw a sight that we'd never seen before.
A huge body of water, around forty meters across in the middle, leaving no path across.
On the wall and ceiling of the area, there were strange green luminous lights that were moving.