The long journey and the hindrance of bad weather made the task take three months in total. Throughout the journey, whether asleep or awake, this warrior felt unease in his heart, especially when he remembered his elder brother Bu Toa. Therefore, he sent a messenger to travel ahead and deliver his letter to his brother. Now the messenger has arrived in front of Kim Lian's house. He saw that the door of the house was closed, and when he was about to knock on the door, he saw Old Lady Wang, the closest neighbor, standing outside. Old Lady Wang asked the horse rider’s purpose, “I bring a letter from the Security Captain, Commander Bu Siong, to be delivered to his brother.”
“He is not at home, the whole house is at the cemetery. Just give the letter to me, and I can hand it over when he returns, just trust me.” The messenger handed over the letter, saluted with thanks, and left. Old Lady Wang quickly took the letter to the next house through the back door and knocked on the bedroom door where the two lovers were still sleeping in each other's arms.
"Wake up! Wake up, both of you!" Old Lady Wang shouted, and when the two people woke up and opened the door, the old lady continued... "A messenger came with a letter from Bu Siong. He himself will soon be here. The letter from Bu Siong is addressed to Bu Toa. I asked for the letter and sent him away. Now we must not waste any more time, we must act quickly if we want to be safe."
If Shi Men were told about anything else, perhaps he wouldn't care because he was still intoxicated by the warmth he enjoyed from Kim Lian's service. However, as soon as he heard the name Bu Siong, he was shocked as if struck by lightning, and instantly he was fully awakened, not a bit of drowsiness left in his head. In a hurry, the two lovers put on their clothes and immediately read Bu Siong's letter together. Bu Siong wrote that he would arrive in a few days, and of course, the two lovers became fearful. With trembling bodies, they asked Old Lady Wang, who was full of ideas, for advice.
“Ah, this matter is simple,” Old Lady Wang comforted them.
"As I have said before, the first marriage is to please parents, the second marriage is to please oneself. Besides, the law forbids a man to live in the same house with his sister-in-law. The hundred-day mourning period for Bu Toa is almost over. Now what Miss Kim Lian needs to do is to invite some Hwesio to perform the one hundred day death ceremony for her husband, then, before Bu Siong returns, Master Shi Men must take her to his house, in a sedan chair as his bride. And, Bu Siong will face an undeniable reality because hasn't his former sister-in-law legally become someone else's wife? Well, what do you both think? Is my suggestion good?"
"Great! And we will do all of that, Aunt Wang!" Shi Men said happily because he found a way to save himself from Bu Siong. They celebrated the plan while having breakfast together, and all worries disappeared from the hearts of the two lovers. Six Hwesio (Buddhist Priests) were invited to perform the prayer ceremony for the spirit of Bu Toa who had died a hundred days ago. The head Hwesio had been at Kim Lian's house since early morning, and he was busy with Old Lady Wang preparing food for the prayer ceremony. Meanwhile, without caring about anything, while the Hwesio were busy, Shi Men was sleeping in the room with Kim Lian.
After all the preparations were complete, the prayer ceremony began with all its rituals. The Hwesio were heard praying, accompanied by the sound of bells and drums, and hymns of praise. Meanwhile, Kim Lian, who didn't show any respect to her late husband's spirit, was being intimate with Shi Men in her room. Even though morning had turned into noon and the sun was high, the two lovers felt lazy to part ways and leave the bed. Nevertheless, the prayer ceremony required the deceased's wife to burn incense, sign the prayer formula, pray, and so on. Reluctantly, Kim Lian got up from her bed, left her lover, washed her face, changed her clothes, and arranged her hair.
When she went out, with a graceful movement, she respectfully bowed in front of the Buddha statue. When the six Hwesio saw the young and beautiful widow for the first time, their hearts, enclosed in their robes, stirred, and from their bald heads, steam rose full of lust. Suddenly, they felt the heat of the air, and their singing and prayers began to get mixed up.! This is the silence obtained by suppression. Indeed, it cannot be denied that by suppression, forcing oneself, training, and so on, the inner self can be made silent and the mind quiet. However, the result obtained because of this suppression is only a temporary paralysis.
Once a strong stimulus comes, the silence becomes noise and clarity becomes confusion. After Kim Lian performed all her duties as the deceased's wife, she quickly returned to her room where Shi Men, who had lost his patience because the intimacy that was happening was interrupted by the prayer ceremony, awaited. Before closing the bedroom door again, Shi Men ordered Old Lady Wang to no longer disturb Kim Lian. When noon arrived, the priests took a break, The ceremony was paused because they had to return to the temple first for lunch. When lunch was over, one of them returned to Kim Lian's house first. He was still always imagining the young widow who had been the topic of conversation among his friends when they were having lunch.
Without intending to, when the young Hwesio was about to wash his hands in the back, and passed in front of Kim Lian's room, he heard suspicious sounds from the room window, whispers and moans, clearly the sound of people making love in the room! Of course, this was very surprising and astonishing to the Hwesio. The beautiful and young widow had just lost her husband, even today was the hundredth day prayer ceremony, but there was no denying it, the beautiful widow was now fooling around with a man in her room! The Hwesio intentionally slowed down his handwashing, with a throbbing heart full of lust he listened attentively and finally he heard the voice of the beautiful widow, her voice broken and panting.
“Aih... that's enough koko (elder brother)... they will be back soon... if anyone hears us... ah, enough!" Then he heard a male voice,
"Don't be afraid! Just one more time, darling..." Ah, if only Shi Men and Kim Lian knew that someone was listening to their words.! After the Hwesio who had accidentally heard the meaningful words, whispered everything he heard to his friends. This adds to the flare-up of their lustful passions and makes the course of the ceremony even more chaotic. Their singing and praises became discordant, their prayers stuttered and many were mistaken, even the drum, canang, and bell beaters lost their rhythm.
As dusk approached, the prayer ceremony came to an end. Gifts of houses, money, and other worldly assets in the form of paper are now taken out and burned. According to ancient belief, the living can send beautiful worldly objects to the dead in the form of paper duplicates, burning all of it and in "there" the spirit of the dead will receive it in its real form! Even more absurd, someone sends paper watermelons to the "other side" for the dead because these watermelons are much needed by the spirit of the deceased. For what? Does the spirit of the deceased like to eat watermelon like when he was alive? No, not for that, but for a far more important purpose, that is... to bribe the death gods so that the spirit can get a good place and proper treatment in "his world".
Apparently, it's similar to people giving rewards or in crude terms bribes to prison guards so that their family members who are prisoners get good treatment from the bribed prison guards! Since the mourning period is over, now Kim Lian arranges her hair neatly, her face is powdered and her lips are reddened with lipstick, wearing a new blooming dress, and peeking from behind the window with Shi Men. She rested her head on her lover's shoulder, unaware that their shadows were visible from behind the window curtain by the priests who were completing the final parts of the ceremony. This sight made them imagine what had happened in the room as whispered by one of their friends and their behavior became even more chaotic.
They continued to beat drums and bells, so enthusiastically that when the head Hwesio's hat fell to the ground, none of them cared about it. Their behavior was indeed very comical. This is understandable. For years, these Hwesio have restrained all their desires, living in seclusion in the temple, never close to women. Apparently, only physically so, but their hearts were never empty from the shadow of women so that now, after they saw the young and beautiful widow fooling around with a lover while a prayer ceremony for her husband's spirit was being performed, they were all unable to restrain the overflow of their lustful desires!
Glossary
- Koko: Elder brother in Chinese, often used as a polite term of address for an older man.
- Kim Lian: The name of a character in the story, possibly the main female character.
- Bu Siong: Another character in the story, likely a high-ranking officer based on the title "Security Captain, Commander".
- Bu Toa: Another character in the story, possibly the brother of Bu Siong.
- Shi Men: Another character in the story, possibly the love interest of Kim Lian.
- Hwesio: A term used to refer to Buddhist priests in the context of the story.
- Nenek Wang: A character in the story, possibly an older woman who is a neighbor or close friend of the main characters.