The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water - Zen Cho Page 0,40

for coffeehouse brawls. The deity lends us these powers so we can protect others, not for selfish purposes.”

While Fung Cheung sputtered, Tet Sang said, “Those powers would have been useful at Sungai Tombak.”

Guet Imm’s face had been as smooth as the surface of still water, but this introduced a ripple. Her eyes dropped to Tet Sang’s waist, where his wound was, under the bandages and robes.

“Yes,” she admitted. “If I had known … but I was being careful. I was scared you all wouldn’t understand.”

She turned to Fung Cheung, bowing.

“Forgive me, brother. I’ve only been causing trouble since I joined you all,” she said. “You should go now. Leave Kempas before the sun goes down and keep to the roads. You will be okay. The deity has shown me.”

After a moment, Fung Cheung nodded. But Rimau was not a believer in the Tang deities.

“Even if we leave, where can we go?” he said. “The mata are chasing us. Now the bandits will be looking out for us also. There’s nowhere on the peninsula where we will be safe.”

“The bandits will be chasing me,” said Guet Imm. It was a command, not a statement. She looked meaningfully at one of the bandits on the ground, who was blatantly observing the proceedings, having forgotten he was meant to be unconscious. He hastily shut his eyes and slumped.

“I’m the one who killed their brother,” Guet Imm continued. “And I’m the one who betrayed the Order, according to them. You are laypeople I misled. As for the mata…” She looked thoughtful. “Wait here first.”

“Sister…” said Fung Cheung, but Guet Imm was no longer there. Fung Cheung looked around, stunned.

Even to Tet Sang, more used to wonders, it was startling—the abruptness with which Guet Imm was carved out of the world. At his tokong, there had been proficients in shaping the air, but they had not been encouraged to display their abilities where there was no need. The most he had seen was votaries levitating briefly while meditating; they had never got very far off the ground, and not for long. Guet Imm’s gifts from the deity were on a different level.

He had assumed from her levity that she could not have been a very senior votary, though all anchorites were given a certain measure of deference, treated as a class above and apart. Madam Yeoh’s failure to recognise her had seemed to confirm his assumption. But Guet Imm must have been a person of considerably more importance at her tokong than he had realised—so important that a transient acolyte like Yeoh Gaik Tin would not have been admitted to the secret of her powers.

Rimau was saying, “We should go,” when Guet Imm reappeared next to Fung Cheung. He jumped.

“There,” said Guet Imm. She was holding out a bag in which the sarira gleamed. “Go to Madam Yeoh before you leave Kempas, and collect the balance. If you ask her for help, I think you won’t have so much trouble with the mata. But even if she decides not to help, you can bribe the mata with the cash.”

Fung Cheung took the bag from her hand with care. All three men—Fung Cheung, Rimau and Ah Hin—were looking at Guet Imm as though she might hit them with a jampi if they made any sudden moves.

“And you?” said Fung Cheung.

“I’ll draw the bandits off your track,” said Guet Imm absently. She looked distrait, as if, having cut herself off from the group, she had already departed in spirit. “Don’t worry about me.”

Fung Cheung hesitated. For one who, like Tet Sang, had known him for so long, his feelings were transparently inscribed on his face—relief that Guet Imm was proposing to solve the problem of herself and the bandits in one go, but also a sense of obligation, a debt incurred. It would have suited Fung Cheung better to have deposited the nun at Yeoh Gaik Tin’s house—he would have felt then that she was properly settled.

Sure enough, after a pause, Fung Cheung said, “You don’t want to take up Madam Yeoh’s offer, sister? A safe haven is nothing to sniff at in these times.”

Guet Imm smiled faintly. It didn’t reach her eyes. “That was Brother Tet Sang’s idea.” She didn’t look at Tet Sang. “His intentions were good, but I am not qualified to be a rich woman’s tame priestess. You see, I was an anchorite at my tokong. You don’t go into seclusion because you are good at respecting authority. Brother Tet Sang will be