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NOTES AND QUERIES
In that night, strange happenings occurred. Chickens crowed and dogs barked. When the village watchman searched the area for the cause, he discovered to his surprise two tiger-like animals crawling about. He immediately fired a shot at them. One of the 'creatures' was hit and its mate came to the rescue. The two fled, and showed themselves to be human beings! The AU-YEUNGs were convinced that these two persons were thieves and wondered from where they had come.
On the next day, the Shing Mun villagers declared war on the AU-YEUNGs, intending to avenge the wounding of their fellow villagers. It was then revealed that the two night intruders were Shing Mun people who had come to steal, probably aiming at the belongings of the two brothers who had just returned from abroad. When the Shing Mun villagers approached the entrance of the AU-YEUNGs' village, they recklessly opened fire. The AU-YEUNGs, however, were not to be so easily daunted: they returned the fire. But being gradually outnumbered and overpowered by Shing Mun invaders, the AU-YEUNGs desperately enlisted the support of villagers of Lo Wai, Kwan Mun Hau, and Shek Lei Pui who readily offered help.
The war dragged on for nearly three years and was finally settled by a villager from Kwan Mun Hau. Having served in the army for some time in the past, he decided to borrow two cannons to blow up Shing Mun Village. When the Shing Mun villagers learned this, they hastily asked for peace. Seeing that the war had caused tremendous loss to both parties, the AU-YEUNGs agreed to settle the matter without conditions. The war ended up with a death toll of about thirty on Shing Mun side and over ten on the other side.*
From this war, the AU-YEUNGs realised that the distance between them and other friendly villagers was too great and, fearing that the terrible experience might be repeated in the future, they eventually migrated to Chung Kwai Chung to re-establish their village. There they named their new settlement Wai Kek Village (*) and continued their farming livelihood by opening up barren hills and tilling the land.
* It will be noted that the numbers killed are not accurately stated, and that the way in which the war was ended does not tally with the version given at p. 190.