Guet Imm reached into her robes and held out her hand. On her palm lay three crystals of extraordinary translucence and beauty—chips of trapped light that seemed to illuminate the shelter. Tet Sang had last seen them nestled in the gold chalice Guet Imm had thrown at the mata’s head in Sungai Tombak.
“You—” he said. “Where did you get those from?”
“You didn’t think I’d throw away the sacred relics of the deity’s own body?” said Guet Imm. “Three sarira! I didn’t know Permatang Timbul was so blessed. I think we should ask for three taels, actually. One tael per sarira. It would be disrespectful to the deity to ask for less.”
“You didn’t want to sell the relics at all! You said it was an outrage!”
Guet Imm tucked the sarira away.
“Ah, but that was before I knew the whole story,” she said. “Now I understand the deity’s intention. She sent me to you for a reason, brother. But we shouldn’t go through that Mr Ng again. He is not an enlightened man.
“The question is,” said Guet Imm, “where does Yeoh Thean Tee live?”
“Mr Yeoh Thean Tee is not at home,” said the maidservant. “He went outstation on business. Coming back in three weeks’ time.”
Fung Cheung and Tet Sang exchanged a look.
“Is Mr Yeoh Kok Beng around?” ventured Fung Cheung, naming Yeoh Thean Tee’s eldest son.
The maidservant shook her head. “He went with Tuan Yeoh. All the sons and nephews did. There’s nobody in the house.” She gave Fung Cheung a melting look, expressive of both abject apology and shameless longing. “Sorry, sir.”
It would not have been like Fung Cheung to fail to respond with gallantry to anyone paying tribute to hischarms. Despite his disappointment, he managed to muster a winsome smile for the girl.
“It’s our bad timing,” he said. “Thank you, sister.” He waited till she reluctantly shut the door to turn on Tet Sang and Guet Imm, the smile falling off his face.
“So, how?” demanded Fung Cheung.
It hadn’t been easy to persuade him to agree to the new plan.
“Let me check I understand correctly,” he’d said when Guet Imm had explained what she proposed. “You want us to go to Yeoh Thean Tee’s own house and demand an audience with one of the richest and most powerful men on the peninsula. Then you want to say to Yeoh Thean Tee,I know we almost got your man busted by the mata, but we still want to sell you the same illicit goods we offered before. But fewer of the goods. For more money.”
“That’s it,” said Guet Imm, gratified by Fung Cheung’s ready understanding.
“We are outlaws wanted by the Protector,” said Fung Cheung. “Maybe you have not noticed, but the mata are chasing us right now. That is why we are spending so many nights in the jungle. It is not because weenjoybeing bitten by mosquitoes and leeches. Meanwhile, Yeoh Thean Tee’s business interests depend on the Protector’s support. He cannot afford to be caught fraternising with bandits—”
“Yes, but we’re not bandits,” said Guet Imm. “Whyshouldn’t Yeoh Thean Tee talk to us? It’s not like we’re criminals.”
“Well,” said Fung Cheung cautiously. “We haven’t done anybadcrimes.”
“You must understand how these things work, sister,” he went on, before Guet Imm could ask any questions. “Yeoh Thean Tee only deals with people like us through intermediaries. If we go to his door, we won’t even have the chance to ask for money. They will straight off shoot us.”
“Not if you have a nun with you,” said Guet Imm.
Fung Cheung tilted his head, considering the point, but his lip stayed in its dubious curl. “Ah Sang, you think this plan can work?”
“Yeoh Thean Tee gave a daughter to the Pure Moon,” said Tet Sang. “He will know how to value the deity’s relics, and how to respect one of her votaries. But whether he’ll forgive the debt…” He shrugged. “Religion is one thing, money is another.”
“More to the point, brother,” said Guet Imm, “do you have any other options?”
Fung Cheung met Tet Sang’s eyes.
Though they had not discussed it, the obvious course of action was to disband the group, split up and go into hiding. But this was a real choice for only some of the group. You didn’t become a travelling contractor if you had anywhere better to go. Most of the brothers were not good at living in ordinary society. If Fung Cheung told them to gooff and look after themselves, in all likelihood they would fail.
Everyone knew this. It made the men nervous and snappish, given to sudden outbreaks of bad temper. There had been no violence yet—Fung Cheung still had a hold on his men. They trusted him, but they would endure for only so long.
“It would be a gamble,” said Fung Cheung finally, and Tet Sang knew they were going to try Guet Imm’s plan.
It had been a gruelling journey getting to the capital of Kempas, where Yeoh Thean Tee had his main residence. They had stuck to travelling through the jungle and managed thereby to elude the mata. But the day before they arrived at Kempas, they had just barely avoided an encounter with a regiment of bandits. The group was setting up camp for the night when Rimau, who had gone hunting, came back empty-handed and told Fung Cheung they had to move on.
