For ten years I practiced Gu poison in Southeast Asia; all living beings revered me as a deity.

Luo Feng blinked, confirming that he had returned to Ding Miaosheng's reincarnation fragment.

The wind howled, and in the hazy night, one could see the durian tree trunks standing tall and imposing, against a backdrop of deep blackness obscured by dense foliage.

Surrounded by overgrown weeds, in the thick darkness of the night, something seemed to be lurking in the enigmatic gloom. The wind blew by from time to time, silently carrying a chilling aura.

This is an abandoned durian plantation, where the air is filled with the rich aroma of durian.

The trees were laden with fruit, and many of the unripe fruits fell from their stems and rotted in the haystacks.

Not far away, there was a light, and you could vaguely make out a stilted wooden house deep in the woods.

Liu Guangyang and Luo Feng both stopped in their tracks. They heard someone chanting some kind of scripture.

"Does someone live here?"

Luo Feng asked Liu Guangyang.

"I don't know... This durian plantation is not Chinese territory; it belongs to a nearby Malay village."

Liu Guangyang explained, "Our relationship with the Pengkulu (village chiefs) of several Malay settlements in the surrounding area is so-so. We usually keep to ourselves and don't have any special interactions. We also try to avoid going to their places."

He suddenly smiled.

"Of course, the people from the village won't come here either, because we raise pigs, so they won't come near us."

Liu Guangyang told a joke.

Luo Feng, however, did not understand and did not laugh.

Ugh……

Liu Guangyang sighed, as if he felt that his junior brother was clueless about romance.

He added that the durian plantation was originally managed by people from the local village, but it was later abandoned and no one took care of it.

Although some people in Lipan were somewhat envious, they were also afraid of causing trouble and no one had any intention of seizing the territory—because the local Malays were backed by the British, and if they got into a fight with them, the Chinese might not necessarily come out on top.

Upon hearing this, Luo Feng's heart stirred.

Sarawak, later known as East Malaysia, is now called Borneo. It is the largest island in Asia, located in the center of the Malay Archipelago in Southeast Asia, bordered by the South China Sea to the north and the Java Sea to the south, with an area of ​​74.5 square kilometers.

Luo Feng had researched history and knew that Borneo's history was quite complex.

The island was later controlled by three countries: Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei.

Historically, almost the entire island of Borneo belonged to Brunei and was known as Brunei. During the colonial era, Britain, the Netherlands, Portugal, and other countries engaged in trade and colonization in Southeast Asia, resulting in the reduction of Brunei's territory.

After World War II, a wave of independence movements swept across the world.

British and Dutch colonial rule ended. The colonial territory of Borneo was inherited by an independent nation: the northern part, which was British colonized, became Malaysia, and the western part, which was Dutch colonized, became part of Indonesia.

Brunei, on the other hand, is completely independent, resulting in a situation where Borneo is jointly administered by the three countries.

The so-called East Malaysia refers to the territory of Borneo, which is controlled by Malaysia.

It is more than 600 kilometers away from West Malaysia, which is the original land of Malaysia. They are two separate but unified countries.

This is the future history that Luo Feng is familiar with, while in Ding Miaosheng's reincarnation fragments, Sarawak was a territory ruled by the British colonists, the Brooke family.

The ancestor of this clan, James Brooke, was an English adventurer who served the East India Company.

James Brooke arrived in Borneo in 1839 and helped the Sultan of Brunei quell a rebellion. In 1841, he was granted the right to rule Sarawak and became the first white Raja.

Later, he occupied the Sarawak region, and his nephew inherited the territory after his death. The Brooke family took deep root in Sarawak until the Japanese invaded Borneo, at which point their descendants fled in panic.

"There probably aren't many Malays in Sabah, right?"

Luo Feng asked, puzzled.

"Not many, but there are some."

Liu Guangyang said calmly, "No matter what, this place is not our land. Let's go and greet the local owners first."

"That's true."

Luo Feng did not refuse.

However, he had a feeling that the extra Malays in these previously abandoned durian orchards had some problems.

"rest assured."

Liu Guangyang said confidently, "It's a Chinese custom to be polite first and then resort to force. We're both disciples of the Red Head Datuk Temple, so even if we're unarmed, we have nothing to be afraid of... Besides, if anything happens here, I, your senior brother, will protect you. Let's go!"

He laughed and strode towards the stilted wooden house deep in the durian grove.

Luo Feng remained vigilant and followed closely behind.

As the two approached, they heard the sound of chanting scriptures.

That's not a Buddhist or Taoist scripture; it's a prayer recited in Malay.

The Malays are Muslims, and these are likely verses from the Quran they are reciting.

Liu Guangyang and Luo Feng then noticed that the stilted wooden house was lit with many white candles, and a lamp that attracted moths to the surrounding area was hanging in front of the house.

Inside the church, illuminated by candlelight and lamplight, several men and women with headscarves and veils were kneeling on the floor, seemingly in prayer.

On the floor inside the house lay two corpses wrapped in white cloth.

"It turns out it was a funeral."

Liu Guangyang seemed to be deep in thought.

Luo Feng's gaze was drawn to the two corpses.

Both of these funeral bodies were clearly of women, who must have died not long ago...

These Malays are probably holding a funeral.

Malays are religious, and funerals are held according to their sectarian customs.

During the funeral rites, both men and women are wrapped in white shrouds.

This custom is called "Khfan," which comes from the scripture that "man was created from the dust of the earth and will return to the dust of the earth." It requires four things: a quick burial, washing the body with clean water, wrapping the body in white cloth, and facing Mecca.

This type of funeral generally emphasizes "quick burial" and "burial within three days." The newly deceased are wrapped in shrouds shortly after death. Most people's bodies are not placed in coffins after death, but are wrapped in shrouds and buried deep in the ground.

Because the doctrine firmly believes that at the end times, all souls and bodies will be resurrected and judged by God. Those who do good will enter heaven to enjoy eternal bliss, while those who do evil will be thrown into hellfire to suffer punishment.

"These two corpses... there's something strange about them?"

Luo Feng immediately thought of Yang Caifa's wife and his mother, whose bodies were still missing.

Liu Guangyang only found Yang Caifa's head; after the Yang family mother and daughter-in-law "resurrected" their bodies, the whereabouts of the two corpses remained unknown.

Just then, as the two were watching from outside, an elderly imam wearing a hat, presumably the person in charge of the funeral, came down from the ladder.

"You two are Chinese people from around here, right?"

The elderly imam, wearing glasses and a hat, gave off a refined and scholarly air. He spoke English and asked with some confusion, "This isn't Chinese territory, why have you come here?"

"Feel sorry."

Liu Guangyang clasped his hands in a gesture of respect, and he also spoke fluent English.

"Old man... we've come here because we've encountered some villains in our village. They've run into the vicinity of this durian orchard. Could you please allow us to search this grove?"

"A bad guy?"

The old imam gave a wry smile.

"The owner of this house is holding a funeral, it's really not the right time for outsiders to disturb us. Besides, I've been here for a while and haven't noticed any outsiders approaching..."

"Old man, we didn't mean anything by it."

Liu Guangyang said in a deep voice, "We don't intend to disturb the bereaved family since the funeral is being held at the stilt house over there. Just let us search the woods."

"All right."

The old imam sighed, "Then I'll take you on a tour around here. You two Chinese friends might as well take a good look..."

"Thank you so much!"

Liu Guangyang bowed again.

The old imam muttered a few words in Malay, presumably some kind of complaint, before turning and leading the two towards another part of the durian plantation.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Luo Feng turned his head to look in another direction. His gaze was fixed on the stilt house, where the bereaved family was kneeling. The Malay men and women were as still as statues, with only the sound of them chanting prayers coming from the side.

No matter how he looked at it, he felt that this scene was inexplicably eerie!

"Let's go."

Senior brother Liu Guangyang urged him on, and Luo Feng had no choice but to follow in the footsteps of the two in front of him.