I tried to stay conscious but was unable to do so. I started to lose the strength to even keep my eyelids open.
With a loud thud, I collapsed to the ground. It was like having the TV suddenly switched off; one moment it was high-definition TV, the next moment everything just went dark, and silence ensued.
I felt my brain in a daze, and then there she was: Amy Lee standing in front of me, looking down at me.
Looking around, I saw the rest of the crew lying down, unconscious or dead—I couldn't tell.
I wanted to check on Bobby, but before I could stand up, Amy Lee knelt and pushed me back to the ground.
"They are unconscious. It's our chance to kill them and keep everything for ourselves," she said. "After that, we can go on to live our life together. I can get away from Huang Bao Kun."
I got confused at what she was saying. Why would she want to do that?
Seeing my reaction, she smiled and leaned down on me.
She came close, her face next to mine, and whispered into my ear, "I know you want me. Take me, do whatever you want. I will obey."
I froze as I could smell her perfume. Knowing what it could do, I closed my eyes, quickly took a deep breath, and then held it in my lungs.
I tried to control myself, saying to myself repeatedly, "I shall not let the perfume take control of me."
She teased me with her fingers, slowly brushing them from my face, then lowering them to my chest, and then lower down.
Sensing that I was able to control myself, she frowned for a moment and grinned.
She took my hand and held it to her face.
She made it touch her delicate features.
I could feel her nose bridge; slowly down it went to her lips, and then it was all wet, soft, and warm.
After a while, she continued to lower my hands.
I felt her collar bones and then her bra through her soaked t-shirt.
I tried to break free of her grip, but her strength was not what I had expected.
"Give in. You know you want it," she said and then let my hand go free.
I opened my eyes; she was taking off her shirt.
"Now there's no obstruction," she said.
I quickly turned my head to the side and closed my eyes again.
I tried to calm myself down, thinking of what had happened.
The Dayak man, all of us unconscious, then Amy Lee's weird behavior.
Her seduction, the perfume.
Wait a minute.
The Perfume!
She didn't have any perfume on all this time during this expedition.
Why was I able to smell it just now?
I then knew the answer: I was in a trance, most likely from whatever the darts had in them.
Knowing that I was in a trance, I pinched myself hard, trying to wake myself up.
"Sam, time to wake up. Wake up," I heard a voice and opened my eyes.
Amy Lee was looking at me with a concerned expression.
I looked around, and the others, except Firecracker Tan, were standing all around me.
My eyes darted around, and Bobby noticed it and started to grin at me.
"What happened?" I asked, trying hard to clear the vivid imagery from my head.
"We got hit by a man; the blow darts had some drug on them that makes you hallucinate," Amy Lee explained. "Luckily, I had powder to make me stay awake and also this." She then showed us her pistol in her hand.
I nodded, and slowly the pieces clicked into place. The Dayak man must have followed us all this time, taking his time to stalk us and strike at the right moment.
Too bad for him, Amy Lee had an antidote to his drug.
Just as I was taking it all in, Firecracker Tan's voice burst out loud: "All of you shall die!"
I quickly looked in his direction.
My heart nearly came out of my mouth.
He was brandishing his glass jar of explosives at some imaginary enemy.
Firecracker Tan's eyes had no focus, like a zombie in the movies. He kept mumbling to himself.
He was still in his trance and most likely battling with 'us' in it.
Sea Snake Fang quietly slid to his back.
I took my backpack, opened it up, and tried using it to catch the glass jar, in case Firecracker Tan threw it.
Amy Lee took out a small packet of red-colored powder, met Sea Snake Fang's eyes, signaling him to make a move.
Sea Snake Fang went into action, his hands hugging Firecracker Tan, trying hard to contain him.
I quickly jumped in and used my backpack to wrap the glass jar and his hand with it.
Amy Lee blew the red-colored powder into Firecracker Tan's face.
Firecracker Tan stopped struggling to break free. He closed his eyes, and after a while, his eyes opened.
Now they were focused and normal like ours.
"What happened?" he asked.
Amy Lee then briefed him with the same information.
I passed him the glass jar, very slowly and carefully.
"No need to be so delicate; it wouldn't explode so easily," he laughed and took the glass jar away from me.
With everyone conscious, we decided to take a break and hydrate ourselves.
Amy Lee went up to check on Kurnawan.
The Dayak man must have been very skilled to be able to get past Kurnawan.
Kurnawan got the same treatment as us; he was all right after Amy Lee treated him.
"So, what did you see in your trance?" Bobby used his shoulder to nudge me and sheepishly smiled at me.
"Me? Nothing," I replied.
"Really? I saw all the beautiful nurses doing it with me. You sure you didn't see anything?"
"No, I didn't. I only saw how everyone backstabbed each other and wanted to keep the treasure for themselves," I shook my head and replied.
Speaking of treasure, I looked at the coffin, waiting for us to open it.
One more step to getting all the gold, or so I thought.
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We tried to open the coffin again.
"On the count of 3...2...1..."
With a loud thud, the coffin cover fell to the ground.
We stepped back to let any poisonous gas or particles dissipate first.
After a few minutes, we gathered around the coffin.
I peered into it, and there she was, lying there for a few hundred years, in Qing Dynasty attire, most of which had decomposed.
The curious thing about it was that the flesh on the bones was still intact.
I used my flashlight to touch the skin; it made a depression, and then the depression slowly disappeared.
It was as if the body was someone sleeping in her dream and would wake up anytime.
"They must have used special treatment on the body to preserve it.
"Don't think too much. Everyone, help look for the map," Amy Lee said to stop anyone from having any superstitious thoughts.
We then rummaged through what was inside the coffin carefully.
Nothing, not even a burial coin.
After trying everything, from lifting the coffin up to see if there were any maps underneath, to checking out the coffin cover, we still couldn't find anything.
I even tried knocking on the coffin to see if there were any secret compartments hidden.
It all sounded the same; no hollowed-out compartment.
I did the same to the walls of the chamber, and no, there wasn't any hidden compartment.
Amy Lee was visibly frustrated; it was the first time I saw her losing her cool. All this while, she had seemed to be in control of everything.
However, time was ticking, and it certainly wasn't on our side.
She looked at her watch and checked with Kurnawan using the walkie-talkie.
"Are we clear? Over?"
"We are still clear, but be quick; it will be first light soon. Over."
"Leaving now. Over."
We made our way out of the tomb, covered it up with the soil that was dug up.
Then we made our move back to Pontianak.
...
After arriving at the hotel, I quickly had a good old hot shower.
I hit the bed quickly; it was a long night, and I needed the rest.
However, it was not a good sleep. I dreamt of the Snooker Parlor boss, his face pale white and red blood dripping out of his eyes, coming for my life.
The rest of his party chimed in and called me a murderer.
I denied it, shouting at them that I didn't do it, I was not the one who caused their death.
They were at fault; the tomb was ours, anyone stopping me deserves to be dead.
And then I woke up, drenched in cold sweat.
What was happening to me?
A week ago, I was still in my Shifu's antique shop minding my own business.
What is to become of me?
I didn't want to stay alone, so I went to the nearby convenience store and bought some Bintang beer.
I came back to the hotel, went over to Bobby's room, woke him up, and asked him to drink with me.
"So generous of you. You struck the lottery?" Bobby asked, then he lifted his head and drank the beer.
"No, I just had a nightmare; the Snooker Parlor boss was coming for my life."
"You're just having trauma witnessing their deaths. Don't think too much about it.
"Everyone has their own destiny; we can only take care of ours." Bobby patted me on my back.
I nodded in silence, then proceeded to gulp down a mouthful of the beer.
...
Later in the day, we met in Amy Lee's room.
She was not her usual self.
Her hair was in a mess; she didn't bother with her makeup.
Most importantly, no one had any ideas.
We were stuck in our progress.
Sea Snake Fang was as usual, quiet with his shades on.
Kurnawan had his evergreen smile.
Firecracker Tan fondled with his glass jar.
I could only chain smoke, hoping to get a whiff of inspiration.
"Maybe there's another chamber hidden," Bobby broke the silence.
I shook my head, saying, "It's not likely. I knocked on the walls of the chamber; there were no hollowed-out areas."
"Argh..." Bobby gasped in frustration.
He knew what it meant: no money if we couldn't find the map.
I silently sighed, thinking what Shifu would do in this situation.
Just then, Amy Lee's phone rang.
She picked it up, went into the bathroom, and closed the door.
It must have been an important call.
I didn't waste time; I offered the rest of the team cigarettes.
After seeing what they could do, it would be great for me to be on good terms with them.
"Kurnawan, can you teach me some of your moves? It would be great if I could defend myself," I asked as I lit his cigarette for him.
"Me too. I didn't know they taught such deadly skills at University Indonesia," Bobby chimed in, but I gave him a look, warning him not to probe into Kurnawan's privacy.
University graduate? Most likely a cover.
It was years later that I got to know, Kurnawan was a veteran with the Indonesian Kopassus (Special forces).
"Sure, we can start anytime you want," Kurnawan smiled and replied.
"Don't waste your time. One bomb and everything will be settled," Firecracker Tan repeatedly threw his glass jar in the air and caught it with his hands as he said.
"Thanks, but some things are best left to the professionals."
"You are too scared, young man," he shook his head.
I thought to myself, of course I'm scared; one wrong move and it's game over.
Then the bathroom door opened.
"Bad news, I've reported to Huang Bao Kun about our progress; he is very disappointed in it.
"Another team will be here very soon to assist us," Amy Lee said with her head looking down.
She was feeling that she had let the team down.
Assist?
With more parties involved, that would mean less money for us.
After all this hard work and danger, I wasn't going to give up my share of the profit.
I looked at Bobby, and I got the shock of my life: there he was sitting beside Bobby, the Snooker Parlor boss.
Pale white and translucent like a spirit, pointing at me.
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