Sze_Hao_Chen

In the year 2024, the cosmic alignment of the Nine Stars breaks the natural order, triggering a resurgence of spiritual energy across Kuala Lumpur. Hidden beneath the serene facade of Kek Lok Si Temple lies an ancient underground chamber, brimming with forbidden knowledge. And at the center of it all stands a man who was never meant to be part of this grand scheme.
Lin Han, a bankrupt real estate agent, is on the run from debt collectors when he accidentally stumbles upon a sinister blood ritual. A mysterious robed figure stands at the heart of it, conducting a ceremony that will change Lin Han’s life forever.
Gifted with the ability to perceive karmic threads through his right eye—an unwanted legacy from a past encounter at Batu Caves—Lin Han begins to unravel truths that defy logic. Along his journey, he crosses paths with an unlikely group: a half-Malay policewoman, a Taoist temple keeper with an ancient chant, an aristocratic Indian dancer, and a rebellious rock singer with secrets of her own.
As the mystical scrolls of Kek Lok Si reveal their deadly secrets, Lin Han finds himself caught in a web of fate far beyond his understanding. Can he harness the combined wisdom of the region’s spiritual traditions—Chinese incense blessings, Malay shamanic rituals, and Indian divine dance—to alter his destiny? Or is he simply another pawn in a celestial game beyond his control?

Mystic Convergence

Darkness coiled around them, shifting like a living abyss, devouring all traces of warmth and familiarity. The tunnel stretched into an endless void, its damp air laced with something imperceptibly resonant—like the pulse of an ancient entity stirring from its slumber.

"Are we... still alive?" Aron whispered, uncertainty woven into his voice.

Noya tightened her grip on the dagger in her palm, her eyes scanning their surroundings. The golden mirage had collapsed, yet something still lingered within their consciousness—an echo of an unfinished wound, whispering at the edges of perception.

Lin Han exhaled slowly, forcing his heartbeat into a steady rhythm. He recalled the "bargain" they had struck, the deception they wove to outmaneuver the golden hand. But had they truly succeeded? Or had something already shifted within them?

A deep tremor rippled through the tunnel walls, a low, guttural vibration that suggested movement somewhere in the depths beyond. Lin Han tensed, his instincts flaring.

"We can't stop," he muttered, voice firm but measured. "This place won't allow hesitation."

They pressed forward, their footsteps echoing in the confined space, creating a rhythm both unnatural and unsettling. The air thickened with the scent of damp iron—the unmistakable stench of something long-buried.

—A shattered mirror, standing at the tunnel's end.

Its surface, fractured and webbed with cracks, reflected their forms—but not quite correctly. The distortions were subtle yet wrong, as if the reflections harbored thoughts of their own.

"What… is this?" Aron hesitated, extending a hand toward the fractured glass.

"Don't touch it!" Noya's warning came sharp and urgent—but too late.

The moment Aron's fingers brushed the mirror's surface, the world twisted violently. A force unseen and unknowable pulled them in.

The sensation was immediate and absolute, a weightless plummet into the unknown. The air roared past their ears, cold and merciless. Lin Han struggled to regain control of his descent, but it was impossible.

"Damn it!" Noya's voice reached him from somewhere nearby. "We're—falling!"

The plunge, however, did not last.

A heartbeat later, Lin Han crashed onto something unnervingly soft yet frigid.

What greeted him was a realm entirely unfamiliar.

Above them stretched a sky of deep blue, devoid of sun or moon. Instead, countless shifting light fragments floated and flickered, like echoes of things that had once been—or things yet to come.

Chapter 66: The Wandering Shadows