Meanwhile, as the stranger went inside the house, Lumawig who was now standing by the gate, suddenly felt his right pocket get hot. Surprised by this event, he immediately reached inside his pocket and felt the librito getting hotter. Remembering his lolo’s command of not taking it out of his packet no matter the situation, Lumawig immediately shelved the idea of taking it out and looking at the librito. Instead, he just tried to blindly flip open the booklet and as soon as he did a new chant appeared in his mind. He was dazed by the sudden event; however, he also absent-mindedly almost like in a trance, recited the chant.
"O ha de a da a ka la nge ta a bo sa o pa a de le a ma pa le ta na le wa na. O ha de a da a le wa na mo a e pa he da sa a ke ga ma ta a a ko be ya na ka ka ya ha na ma ka ke ta sa ka de le ma."
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[Translation:
Filipino: O haring araw,ang kalangitan ay buksan,upang ang dilim ay mapalitan ng liwanag. O haring araw,ang liwanag mo ay ipahiram sa aking mga mata at ako'y bigyan ng kakayahan na makakita sa kadiliman.
English: O sun, open thy sky, so that darkness may be replaced by light. O sun, lend your light to my eyes and give me the ability to see the darkness.]
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After reciting the chant, Lumawig then was snapped back to reality. He wondered what the effect of the chant was, so he checked his body for any changes, finding none, he put the matter at the back of his mind for now. Unbeknownst to him, the chant made everyone who has abilities like him and his lolo in the area see past any form of illusion. Luckily, aside from him, only his lolo was affected.
Having gotten the dead body, the stranger started to move towards the door and out of the house, but before he made his way to the door, he went to tiyo Noning again and offered his condolences and thanked him with a grateful smile. Tiyo Noning, still deep in his lament, did not notice the stranger thanking him. Lolo Gani who had watched the whole bizarre event was dumbstruck at first, but quickly regained his composure and immediately walked out of the house. He moved so quickly that no one was able to see him move. Once outside, lolo Gani went to find Lumawig and gave him some instructions, as well as related the events that happened inside. He also did not forget to tell the young man the appearance of the intruder.
Happy with his loot, the man with a shaved head happily went out of the house and started to make his way to the gate. The gate was not that far from the house, only about ten steps, so in a short time, the man reached the gate. Just as he was about to step outside and disappear into the night, a young man blocked his way. Seeing this, the man became annoyed as he cannot wait to start his feast with the dead body, so he scolded the young man.
“Hey! Why are you blocking my way? I am in a hurry right now as I have some important things to do!” exclaimed the man.
Lumawig, the young man who blocked the stranger was nervous and afraid, as this will be the very first time, he will be confronting a supernatural creature. However, he tried his best to be brave in front of the stranger and said:
“My lolo wants to talk to you. Can you please come with me?”
“Who is your lolo? Why does he want to talk to me? Why would he want to talk to me?” the stranger, still clearly annoyed, did not agree to what Lumawig asked, but instead asked a series of questions. Without waiting for an answer, the stranger walked past Lumawig and stepped out of the courtyard. He was just about to make a run for it when he heard an old voice call out to him.
“You can go, but you have to leave that body behind!” said the voice.
“Huh?” The stranger, visibly surprised, quickly turned around and saw an old man with a head full of white hair standing not too far from him. With a smile, the stranger jumped back to widen the distance between him and the old man, and said:
“You actually see the corpse? Are you an albularyo? Will you fight me? Can you win against me old man? You must be the boy’s lolo.” There was no sign of alarm on the stranger’s eyes, instead there was taunting and ridicule.
“Yes, I can see the corpse. Not only that, but I also saw the whole event when you replaced the body of my dear friend with a banana trunk. I even saw you salivating, as if you have seen your most favorite meal.” Lolo Gani’s voice was calm, but in his eyes, a hint of rage could be seen.
Just as the stranger was about to reply, he saw Lumawig who was standing behind lolo Gani throw something at him. By reflex the stranger tried to swat it out of the way, but he instead broke the glass bottle with his strength and the oil inside splashed towards him. In mere seconds, the stranger’s real form was revealed to the two.
The stranger’s head is still shaved but his face now looked more hideous. With red glaring eyes, the place where his nose used to be are now gone and are replaced by two pointy-shaped holes. His lips are gone as well, exposing rows of sharp teeth and a long, pointed tongue. His saliva continuously dripped. His arms appear to be longer than a normal person’s but not by much. On each arm are hands with five claws in place of fingers. His body appeared to be thinner than before, and his legs are also longer, making him stand taller than Lumawig and lolo Gani.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
After its transformation, a low guttural sound can be heard from the monster.
“That is a Bal-bal!” Lolo Gani exclaimed, while immediately drawing his sundang and his other hand unwinding another whip made of pasyawan.
“Mawi, quick! Get the pasyawan I gave you earlier!” the old man commanded.
Hearing the command, Lumawig immediately unwound the whip made of pasyawan from his hips, he was still afraid, but with his lolo in front of him, he felt secured.
Even when its hideous form was revealed, it seemed to not mind. Facing the maglolo, the Bal-bal was not afraid, in fact it seemed to be happy.
“It seems that I can have a feast tonight, with three dead bodies!” the Bal-bal was feeling excited. He released another growl and snarled at the two people. Following this the Bal-bal leaped towards lolo Gani. The creature was fast, but since it was holding the dead body of tiya Elsie, it is somehow slowed down, seeing the creature attack, lolo Gani stepped back a little and raised his bolo to parry the attack, while he placed his left hand that was holding the pasyawan whip towards his back so he can launch a counter attack.
“Apò, use the pasyawan to protect yourself!” lolo Gani shouted a command to his apò.
Lumawig understood that his lolo could not dedicate his whole being in protecting him, so he steeled his resolve and stood firmly behind the old man, gripping the pasyawan whip tightly. The Bal-bal immediately closed the distance between it and lolo Gani, using its free hand, it tried to slash its claws at the old man. Lolo Gani reacted quickly and parried the sharp claw of the bloodthirsty creature *ching!*, as the blade of lolo Gani’s sundang hit the claws, a sharp metallic sound was heard. The attack released by the Bal-bal was heavy enough to make the old man retreat a few steps back even after successfully parrying the attack.
Seeing that its attack was parried, the Bal-bal snarled again and lunged towards the old man who was still retreating due to its previous attack’s intensity. This time, it opened its lipless mouth, planning to sink its teeth into the old man’s jugular. However, it again failed this time as a whip suddenly appeared in front of its eyes. It reacted fast though, and used its hand to block the sudden attack
The whip connected and hit the Bal-bal on its arm.
“AAARGHH!!” a scream of pain was then heard, and a ghastly wound as wide as four fingers could be seen on its arm.
The Bal-bal could not help but retreat a few steps, giving time for lolo Gani to stabilize his footing. The wound has lacerated the creature’s arm, and a white smoke could be seen coming from the wound. Looking at the wound on the Bal-bal started to lick it with its long pointy tongue, to Lumawig’s shock the wound started to visibly close. Though aswangs are known for their regenerative abilities, the whip attack was still able to inflict considerable damage to them.
The whip attack did not come from lolo Gani, as he was still not in a steady and stable position to launch a counterattack; it was from Lumawig who side-stepped towards the left when he saw his lolo retreating due to the Bal-bal’s first attack. Lumawig was shocked when he saw how hurt the aswang was just from the simple swing of the pasyawan whip, he got more courageous due to this and prepared to attack once more.
The Bal-bal, having been hurt by the pasyawan whip trained its eyes towards its owner and sprinted towards Lumawig, completely disregarding lolo Gani. Seeing the hideous creature coming towards him at a fast speed, Lumawig’s pupils constricted into the size of a needle. Alarm bells were sounding in his ear, telling him to dodge, but he was completely frozen with fear. Though he felt courageous just now by landing a hit at the creature, seeing it attack him, made Lumawig completely aware that this creature is not something a normal person can fight, let alone him who is still young, and has just awoken his babaylan powers recently.
Seeing that his grandson was rooted on the spot by fear, lolo Gani then threw down his sundang and with great speed, lunged towards his apò to save him. The Pasyawan whip held by his left hand danced and soon three crisp sounds from a whip that found its target could be heard, followed by a howl of pain.
“ARRRGH!! RAAAARGH!”
The whip hit the Bal-bal on its face, thigh, and waist. Each hit left large ghastly wounds on its body, twice as big as what Lumawig’s attack did on him. The Bal-bal after receiving the hit was pushed a few steps away from Lumawig, then stumbled and fell. The corpse it was holding was released from its hands and rolled as well. Lumawig, seeing that he was saved, breathed a great sigh of relief. The experience earlier made him feel the touch of death on his neck.
Lolo Gani arrived at the young man’s side, seeing that his apò’s face was pale, asked
“Apò, are you, alright?”
“Yes lolo.” Lumawig was visibly shaken by the near-death experience, his back drenched in cold sweat, his face – pale, his breathing was ragged.
“It’s good that you’re alright, but we cannot stop yet. The Bal-bal is still alive and will heal its wound in no time. Grab your tiya Elsie’s body first and return to the house first. I will take care of this creature.” Lolo Gani commanded.
The whip hit the Bal-bal on its face, thigh, and waist. Each hit left large ghastly wounds on its body, twice as big as what Lumawig’s attack did on him. The Bal-bal after receiving the hit was pushed a few steps away from Lumawig, then stumbled and fell. The corpse it was holding was released from its hands and rolled as well. Lumawig, seeing that he was saved, breathed a great sigh of relief. The experience earlier made him feel the touch of death on his neck.
Lolo Gani arrived at the young man’s side, seeing that his apò’s face was pale, asked
“Apò, are you, alright?”
“Yes lolo.” Lumawig was visibly shaken by the near-death experience, his back drenched in cold sweat, his face – pale, his breathing was ragged.
“It’s good that you’re alright, but we cannot stop yet. The Bal-bal is still alive and will heal its wound in no time. Grab your tiya Elsie’s body first and return to the house first. I will take care of this creature.” Lolo Gani commanded.
Without hesitation, Lumawig quickly went to where the corpse was and put it on his shoulder. Although the thought and actually carrying a corpse made Lumawig nauseous, he has no other choice but to grit his teeth and accomplish what was commanded of him. The Bal-bal seeing its dinner snatched away by two meddlesome people, snarled, and tried to stand up. However, the wounds it received from the three whip attacks by lolo Gani made it unable to do anything for a short time. This gave Lumawig enough time to pick up tiya Elsie’s corpse and carry it back to the house.