After witnessing that foul sight and hearing the deadly conspiracy from the high canopy of the tree, Prabhasha's rage reached the seventh heaven. Gripping Prafulla's hand tightly, she whispered, "Did you see, Brother? If we hadn't taken the trouble to sit and lie in wait atop this tree in the dead of night today, what an absolute catastrophe would have befallen our entire kingdom of Junagarh! We made a massive mistake by bringing that wicked woman along with us that day, sister. It was precisely because she was with us that all our actions were going wrong and getting delayed. Had we climbed up this tree that very day to see what was actually happening in the forest, this tiger mystery would have been unraveled long ago!"
Gripping the hilt of his sword tightly and gritting his teeth, Prafulla said, "Yes Prabha, you are absolutely right. It is because of that witch that it took us so long to find out the real truth. But no more, their cup of sins is completely full now."
Prabhasha said, "Let it be, Brother, drop those old matters now. The real time for us to climb down from the tree has arrived. They have entered inside the cave right now to come out with those dead tigers. Come, let's go down. The moment they step outside carrying those tigers on their shoulders, you and I will capture them together. Get the swords absolutely ready, Brother!"
The two siblings climbed down from the tree with utmost caution, without making a single sound. As they approached the mouth of the cave and peeked inside from behind the cover of the wall, the sight within froze the very marrow in their bones!
Inside the cave, that blazing sacrificial fire was burning fiercely. And scattered all around it lay several live tigers trapped in cages. The tantric was still clad in Prabhasha's stolen silken ghagra-choli, with the necklace of human skulls around his neck. It was as if some demonic courage had possessed the tantric's chest! He was extracting the live tigers one by one from the cages and was brutally slitting the throat of one, severing the legs of another, and ripping open the stomach of yet another! This was not the end; after cutting them, he was thrusting those mutilated bodies or the live faces of the tigers directly into that burning sacrificial fire. The moment they were thrown into the fire, the flesh and skin of the tigers were getting scorched, and due to that very scorching, that intense, unbearable rotting stench was being created in the surrounding air! It was these rotting tigers that they used to drop in the villages. On the other hand, that treacherous guard of the royal palace was such a coward himself that he could not bear to watch this bloodshed with his own eyes; he was covering his eyes with his fingers while watching this brutal act of the tantric and giggling heartily.
The moment the scorching was finished, the guard hoisted a massive scorched tiger onto his own shoulders, and the tantric tied tight ropes around the necks of the remaining two tigers and began walking toward the outside of the cave, dragging them with both hands.
The very moment they stepped outside past the mouth of the cave, Prafulla and Prabhasha leaped upon them like tigers, tearing through the heart of the darkness! The glistening, sharp blades of the royal swords in Prafulla and Prabhasha's hands came to a halt right next to the throats of the two criminals. Without moving an inch, Prabhasha pressed the tip of her sword against the guard's throat, and Prafulla held his against the tantric's throat.
Roaring like a tiger, Prafulla said, "You sons of devils! Are you carrying out this treacherous and foul business with the innocent animals and people of the Junagarh kingdom?"
At this sudden, unexpected attack, the tiger fell to the ground with a thud from the guard's hands. Trembling in fear, he said to the tantric, "Shut up, shut up! Oh dear father! This is that Prince Prafulla and Princess Prabhasha! The very ones whose kingdom we were planning to capture to become king and queen and eat grapes—it's them!"
The moment the tantric felt the cold touch of the sword on his throat, while managing his ghagra, he screamed even louder in a feminine voice, "Ui Ma! Ui Ma! Ui Ma! What is this, honey baby? From where did these two pop up here in the middle of the night, dear father? I simply cannot comprehend anything!"
Sweating profusely, the guard said, "I don't know either how they came! My own head has stopped working!"
Increasing the pressure of her sword a bit more, Prabhasha said in a stern voice, "How we came is a matter for later, you traitor! First tell me, where will you two go now leaving Junagarh? I have already kept your destination ready—straight to the dark dungeon! Come, come, come, my own sweet Sushila Ma is already sitting there to welcome you! As long as you wretches live, I will lock you inside the very same cell!"
Without shedding his coquetry even in this peril, the tantric made his eyes wide and said, "Ui Ma! Then who on earth is that Sushila, honey?"
Annoyed, the guard whispered to the tantric, "Arrey, Sushila is the number one foul conspirator of this kingdom! She is a bigger devil than us!"
Hearing this, the tantric clapped his hands in joy and said, "Ui Ma! Is that so? Then she must be our elder sister-in-law or Sushila Boudi! Wow! Upon reaching the dungeon, I will first offer a full prostration to my sweet Sushila Boudi!"
Shouting in rage, the guard said, "Has your mind gone completely out of order? Why are you speaking all these nonsensical things at this time of peril? You are acting as if we are going there to get married and have a wedding night, and Sushila Boudi is standing there with a welcoming platter to welcome us!"
Sheathing his sword, Prafulla scolded them and said, "Shut up! You have babbled enough. I am putting an end to your hypocrisy today." Prafulla instantly sent a special signal into the sky. Receiving that signal, a troupe of trusted royal guards of the Junagarh Palace arrived there galloping their horses. By Prafulla's command, that treacherous guard and the tantric were bound in iron chains and dragged away toward the dark dungeon of the palace.
Following this, the actual rescue operation began. Prafulla and Prabhasha together freed those live tigers of the forest from their cages and arranged to release them deeper into the forest, into another safe jungle. And the dead and scorched tigers that lay there were cremated with utmost respect. The entire cave was washed and wiped clean. By his royal authority, Prafulla commanded, "Let this accursed cave be broken into pieces and demolished from today. A beautiful temple of Mother shall be established here, so that from today, no one fears coming to this forest anymore; rather, everyone can come here with devotion and worship Mother."
While executing all these tasks, supervising the construction of the temple, and clearing the jungle, it became high noon of the next day. After working hard through the entire night and half the day, Prafulla and Prabhasha finally returned to the royal palace, thoroughly exhausted. Both went to their respective rooms to take a bath and rest in peace for a while.
Meanwhile, a bizarre sight unfolded within that dark, damp subterranean dungeon of the Junagarh Palace. Right in the cell adjacent to the one where Sushila was imprisoned, that devilish guard and the ghagra-clad tantric were brought and locked up.
Holding the iron bars of her cell and rolling her eyes wide and round, Sushila began observing the new prisoners. She started saying to herself in wonder, "Oh mother! Who on earth are these people? What kind of dungeon have Aditya and Arohi built in this kingdom that a new person enters here every single day! This prison seems to have become an inn—everyone is just entering and entering, but I haven't seen a single soul leave till date! Everyone is trapped inside this jail. Should I ask them a bit?"
Gearing toward the guard and clearing her throat, Sushila said, "Hey there, brother guard! You used to be the trusted guard of this very royal palace, right? Why did you suddenly end up inside this dungeon? What foul misdeed have you committed against the royal family? And in the cage next to yours, this girl... oh mother! What kind of bizarre attire is this? Why is he wearing a girl's garment?"
Staring intently at the tantric's face, Sushila leaped back in a flash. Placing a hand on her cheek, she said, "Oh dear father! My mistake! This is no girl, this is a full-grown male man! Then why are you wearing these royal garments of women despite being a man, brother? And looking closely—arrey! This is the dress from the body of my daughter Prabhasha! What a situation, dear father! Who actually are you two?"
Rubbing his ghagra against the iron bars of the jail, the tantric burst into a fit of giggles. Looking at Sushila, he said, "Oh! You are that famous Sushila Boudi then? Then why are you rotting inside this jail yourself? And you are saying this is your daughter's outfit, which means that witch Princess Prabhasha is your own daughter? Wow, oh wow! Despite your own daughter being a princess, you are sighing and lamenting inside this jail? Ha ha ha ha! Look here, honey baby... seeing this attire of mine, how Sushila Boudi is staring with a gulp! Where should I kick her now, tell me?"
Hearing her daughter's name and the address 'honey baby' from the tantric's mouth, Sushila turned red with pure rage. Slapping the iron bars of the jail, she shouted, "You mad tantric! I will give you two tight slaps! How do you find such great audacity? You have come into the jail as a prisoner yourself, so remain quiet within the jail! Whether you are a girl or a man yourself, there is no certainty as to how one should address you, and yet you are babbling so much in front of me?"
Exhausted from the ordeal and the beating till now, the guard had sat down with a thud in a corner of the jail. Glaring angrily at the tantric, he said, "Arrey, can't you just shut up for a bit? Why do you always run that foul mouth of yours? Just remain quiet on your own, brother! A lot of ordeal has gone over me at the hands of the prince since yesterday. Let me sleep in peace now!"
Saying this, the guard lay down on the dirty floor of the jail and, within moments, fell into a deep sleep, opening his mouth wide and snoring in a monstrous sound— ghorrrr, ghorrrr!
Even though the guard was dead to the world in sleep, the tantric did not possess a shred of fatigue. In the dim light inside the jail, he began adjusting the pleats of Prabhasha's ghagra with his hands and became busy grooming himself by rubbing the smudged vermilion tilak on his forehead with his fingers. Meanwhile, standing in the adjacent cell, Sushila placed a hand on her forehead and, witnessing their extreme madness and circus, began laughing in a distorted, bizarre laughter of rage and sorrow. The dark dungeon of Junagarh seemed to have transformed into a living madhouse today.