Hearing the explanation, Lumawig understood that his lolo was only letting him experience the sensation of using his dungan in potion creation. What he does not understand however, was why would make the current situation as an exemption and indoctrinate him early. Nevertheless, Lumawig trusts his lolo, and he knows that his lolo has his own reasons.
“Okay try to chant again, but you don’t have to worry this time, as I will assist you.” Seeing that Lumawig has visibly recovered, lolo Gani told his apò to resume with the final steps of the potion creation. Only this time, he stood behind his apò and put one of his hands on Lumawig’s shoulder and the other holding his own agimat. As soon as Lumawig started chanting, lolo Gani also started chanting, matching his apò’s tempo. In no time the first chant was finished, and the “hot air” started flowing out of Lumawig, however this time, he was being assisted by his lolo and his weak dungan was supplemented by the old man’s. The feeling of weakness that happened earlier did not occur, delighted, Lumawig continued chanting.
After repeating the chant three times, Lumawig and his lolo stopped chanting at the same time. Immediately, Lumawig started panting like he just finished a physically tasking job. Beads of sweat started to form on his forehead and run down his face. Lolo Gani on the other hand looked fine, a testament to the strength of both his dungan and physical body. Seeing his apò out of breath but having succeeded in the final step in creating the hintura oil he smiled and nodded in praise of his apò. The old man did not say anything else, but just went on to finish the final step of the third hintura oil as well. The process did not take long and in no time, all three bottles of hintura oil were completed.
Lumawig, by the time his lolo was done with the third bottle is curiously looking at the hintura oil he made. Somehow, he could feel a connection with the potion he created. He took the first bottle of hintura oil and also observed it, but he could not feel any connection with the potion.
“Lo, I can feel a sort of connection with this bottle of hintura oil, it is not strong, but I can feel it. But on this bottle of hintura oil you first created, I could not feel anything at all. Could it be that I can feel a connection with this bottle, because I helped create it?” Lumawig asked the old man, curiosity evident in the young man’s eyes.
“You are correct apò. Potions that you created or helped create will have a faint connection with you. This is because of your dungan’s presence in them. This is also the reason why we babaylans can tell if a potion was created by us or not; this is very important as you can use this when you fight evil spirits or some of the people practicing evil crafts.” The answer provided by the old man was straightforward, it also hinted to the existence of other people who have the ability to utilize their dungan, but in a more malignant way.
The whole potion creation process took around four hours, and it was already past noon when the pair of maglolo finished the task. The old man then went to prepare a simple meal for them, he cooked rice and opened a can of sardines to pair with the rice, he also cooked a pack of pancit canton. After eating their late lunches, the old man went out without telling Lumawig his destination. The young man seems to be already used to it.
It was almost night when lolo Gani came back. On his shoulders, a great coil of the pasyawan plant. From his looks, Lumawig was able to tell that his lolo went to the forest to collect such a large amount of this plant – specifically the main vine. The duo ate a simple early dinner, the leftover food from lunch, and prepared to go tiyo Noning’s house.
As the duo were making their preparations, lolo Gani instructed Lumawig to transfer a bit of the hintura oil he concocted to two small bottles.
“Always keep this bottle on your person at all times tonight. Also, when we arrive at your tiyo Noning’s house, put one of the three bottles under the coffin, one at a discreet corner in the kitchen, and bury the last one in a discreet corner of the front yard. Though the first hintura oil did not detect anything, I have this feeling, that tonight your tiyo Noning might have an unwanted visitor.”
“Yes lolo.” Lumawig nodded firmly.
“Remember to also keep the librito and agimat hidden at all times, and if anything happens, stand by the coffin and protect your tiya Elsie. Also, take this.” Lolo Gani then said some final instructions to his apò and handed him braided skins of the pasyawan plant. It was made to look like a whip with a length of about two meters, with the handle wrapped by the plant skins as well. This pasyawan whip still has that earthly plant smell and is a bit difficult on the nose for someone who is not used to its smell – just like Lumawig, who found the smell to be uncomfortable. To hide the whip, Lumawig wound it around his waist like a belt, and then covered it with his clothes.
The maglolo arrived at tiya Elsie’s wake before most people did, hence, they were able to prepare their items without much trouble. Some people took notice of Lumawig’s actions, but after considering that his lolo was also an albularyo, they did not think too much of it. Inside the house, lolo Gani went straight to the coffin containing tiya Elsie’s body. Tiya Elsie’s face looks peaceful, though visible signs of aging is apparent on her face, she still looked youthful and beautiful. A pity that such a good-natured woman became a victim of a gruesome act. Tiyo Noning on the other hand looked to have aged a couple of years. Sitting near the coffin, pain, grief, anger, and terror could still be seen in his eyes, tears have been falling non-stop since the people from the funeral parlor brought the coffin containing his beloved wife’s body. His hands were clenched tightly, his body is slightly shaking. After looking at tiya Elsie’s face for a while, lolo Gani then turned around and walked to where tiyo Noning was seated.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Why her, Gani? Why must it be her?” Without looking at lolo Gani, tiyo Noning started talking, the words he said were full of grief and pain, that anyone who could hear his voice now would feel like a thousand knives are cutting their heart.
“I’m sorry.” Was all what lolo Gani could say.
“Gani…will you…” Tiyo Noning tried to talk in-between sobs, but he could not finish his sentence. Still, the old man knows what his friend wanted to say.
“You do not have to worry Noning, I promise you that I will protect Elsie until we can lay her body to rest.” An answer filled with determination was what lolo Gani gave tiyo Noning.
Tiyo Noning just kept quiet, trying to rein in his emotions. After a few more moments, more people came to visit, most of them from the same street where tiyo Noning lived, by this time, night had already fallen. The younger women started preparing meals and serving them, while the men started with their gambling – a percentage of the money won in the games to be donated to the bereaved. As was customary, the older members of the group stayed inside and kept watch over the coffin and were reciting prayers. A little food was placed on top of the casket. If a foreigner would see this, he or she would think that there is a fiesta going on instead of a funeral wake, unlike a fiesta however, the atmosphere is more solemn and there is no merry making, not even alcoholic beverages could be seen. Young men like Lumawig could be seen looking at the older men gambling, some of them even joining the game. The most popular game they were playing is a card game called tong-its.
As has been mentioned, most of the visitors were from the same street where tiyo Noning lived, but there are still people coming over from the other parts of the barangay. These people are those who have heard of the incident and would like to get more information about it. Some are genuinely there to console and give their condolences to the aggrieved party, while some were just there to earn some extra cash by gambling. However, one particular visitor looks like he is looking for something.
This person appears to be a middle-aged man, with a shaved head, a slim body and a dark complexion. He has a square face and round eyes, and a flat nose, with ears that seemed to be a bit large for his build. His lips appear to be dark brown or purple, maybe because of too much smoking. He has a short stature, a head shorter than Lumawig who has a height of 170 centimeters. This person looks completely average and does not stand out from the crowd. However, there were two people who noticed his arrival – Lumawig and his grandfather, Gani.
The moment this person stepped inside tiyo Noning’s courtyard, the hintura oil on Lumawig and lolo Gani’s person started to bubble, and the two were alerted. Lumawig immediately went inside but did so in a natural manner that the intruder did not notice his movement.
“Apò, have you seen the intruder yet?” Seeing his apò come inside, lolo Gani knew that the intruder must have made it to the courtyard.
“Not yet, lolo. Will it come inside though?” asked Lumawig.
“It will. If it wants to feed, it has to go inside and take the body of your tiya Elsie.” Answered the old man. “Go outside and take out the large bottle of hintura oil you have buried earlier, then stand by the gates and wait for further instruction.” Lolo Gani added.
Lumawig acknowledged his lolo’s command and secretly went outside of the house. There are quite a number of people visiting the wake, as tiya Elsie’s death was something that has never happened in their peaceful barangay. Once outside, Lumawig immediately went to the spot where he buried the large bottle of hintura oil and dug up the item. He then quietly moved towards the simple bamboo gate of tiyo Noning’s house and just stood there. As there are a lot of people, his act of standing near the gate did not gather anyone’s attention.
Meanwhile, as Lumawig was doing what was commanded of him outside, lolo Gani paid more attention to the people looking at the coffin. Although he has no prior experience or encounter, he knows that during a funeral wake, and variation of an aswang known as Bal-bal would sometimes attend the event and snatch the body of the dead person. Exchanging a banana trunk or a dead tree trunk inside the casket. As to how they do this, even lolo Gani has no idea, so he paid more attention to the people coming inside of the house. Lolo Gani only knows that the only way to know if the body has been exchanged is to check for fingerprints, as a tree trunk or banana trunk do not have fingerprints.
However, the hintura oil on his person never stopped bubbling, and the large bottle of hintura oil hidden under the casket was also bubbling non-stop. It could be that everyone are busy at that moment, but it seems that only lolo Gani and Lumawig noticed the reaction of the hintura oil.
Then, after a few moments, a person with a shaved head came inside. He first went to tiyo Noning and said his condolences, before going to the coffin that contained tiya Elsie’s dead body. Deep in his eyes a look of anticipation and hunger could be seen, the person was so caught up in his joy of seeing the dead body that he did not notice someone looking at him. This stranger then waved his hand and a banana trunk appeared in his hand, he then opened the casket, pulled up the corpse inside it and put it on his shoulders. Then, carefully he placed the banana trunk inside the coffin and closed it again. The whole process took about four breaths of time, enough for anyone to see what the stranger was doing. But for some reason, no one was reacting wildly, everyone except lolo Gani was unaware of what was happening.