Batu Caves loomed in the darkness like a sleeping behemoth, its limestone cliffs casting eerie shadows under the pale moonlight. The jungle air was thick with the scent of damp earth, mingling with the faint perfume of unknown flora.
Lin Han's right eye throbbed painfully as the red karmic thread flickered before him, weaving through the darkness.
"What the hell are you staring at?" Noya muttered, her fingers tightening around the clasp of her holster.
Lin Han didn't answer. He followed the trail of fate, his steps quick and deliberate.
"Walau eh, slow down!" Noya hissed, catching up to him. "We need to wait for backup!"
Lin Han halted abruptly and turned to her. "There's no time."
He pointed at the ground.
There, beneath their feet, a faint trail of dried blood stretched forward, weaving into the muddy path ahead. The patterns in the stains were unnatural—symbols, etched in sacrifice.
Noya's expression darkened. "This isn't just a missing persons case."
Lin Han's jaw clenched.
The karmic thread led forward—into the depths of Batu Caves.
The damp air inside Batu Caves carried the stench of decay and iron, making Lin Han's stomach churn. The cavern felt like the gaping maw of a beast, swallowing every flicker of light and sound.
Scattered across the uneven stone floor were shattered ceremonial artifacts, discarded hastily as if their owners had fled—or had been silenced.
"Lin Han, you sure about this?" Noya murmured, one hand resting on her holster, her eyes darting through the shadows.
Lin Han didn't respond. His right eye burned as the karmic threads wove erratically, warning him of the unseen danger ahead.
From deeper within the cavern, a chanting voice rose and fell, ancient and guttural, reverberating off the limestone walls in a sinister cadence.
"Shit. This isn't right." Noya's lips pressed into a thin line.
Lin Han inched forward, peeking past a jagged rock formation—his breath hitched at what he saw.
In the cavern's center stood a massive bronze cauldron, encircled by six robed figures. Their faces were obscured beneath hoods, hands clutching ritualistic bone-carved implements, swaying rhythmically as they chanted.
Inside the cauldron, a thick, dark-red liquid churned, steaming and reeking of blood.
Lin Han's chest tightened as his gaze finally settled on what lay inside—
A human corpse, skinned and desecrated.
His stomach twisted violently, bile rising to his throat. He barely managed to suppress the urge to retch.
Noya reacted instantly, yanking him back and clamping a hand over his mouth. Her voice was barely a whisper. "Hold it together, or they'll hear us."
Lin Han clenched his fists, forcing himself to breathe evenly, but rage and horror burned behind his eyes.
The robed figures raised their instruments, their chanting crescendoing into a fevered pitch. A ripple of energy distorted the air.
"They're performing a blood sacrifice…" Noya's voice was tense, her fingers twitching near her firearm. "If we don't stop them, something is going to be summoned."
Lin Han narrowed his eyes. His right eye pulsed again, the karmic thread violently thrashing, as if warning him of something massive.
And then he saw it—
A monstrous shadow lurking beyond the veil of darkness.
"Shit," Lin Han muttered, sweat forming on his brow. "This isn't just a sacrifice."
Before they could react further, the air shifted abruptly—a flicker of movement from the shadows.
A glint of metal.
A dagger, glowing with eerie green light, slicing through the darkness—aimed straight for Lin Han's heart.