“Hey! Hey! Wake up!” The shaking of her shoulder just hammered the call of Sifu Tae Kuo deeper into her ears and head. She had a small migraine, and her brain was all foggy, but it was still a relief that she regained senses and control of her extremities. She took a deep breath to soothe her racing heart before she could muster up enough strength to pull her eyelids up.

  The sanctum was still dusty as she remembered. But it was a welcomed sight. Tae Kuo was looking down at her, relieved: “Okay, good - you’re still here. How are you feeling?”

  “Uhh - could be better.” Gloria let Tae Kuo pull her up by her hand: “What happened?”

  “Well, first of all, we’re not dead.” Tae Kuo looked around - Mick was trying to wake her parents, whose eyelids were twitching and breaths were hasting up, but were still not showing signs of coming back.

  “Yeah, I can tell. ” Gloria stretched her arms and kicked her legs: “What else? ”

  “You MIGHT wanna go out there and take a look.” Tae Kuo struggled with the “might” : “You MIGHT, but be warned. It’s - it’s brutal.”

  “Okay. I’ll check it out.” Gloria nodded at the sifu, picked up one of the flashlights on the ground and turned it on: “Then I’ll come back to help you.”

  “No problem.” Tae Kuo sighed: “But - be prepared. It’s not good.”

  Tae Kuo was not lying. After pushing open the loose wooden doors, Gloria was confronted with the sight of blood splashes, broken limbs and organs scattering all over the outside of the tunnel.

  There were three severed heads tossed rather carelessly on the ground. The moment of utter horror froze on their face; their skins were wrinkled and their facial muscles shrunken. They were tied together by their long, pale gray hair, like a set of twisted bells . Gloria did not recall any of them having hair long enough to be tied up like this. From the wounds on the necks, they appeared to be twisted and ripped off from the shoulders. She took a few looks around, these three heads were ironically the three biggest pieces remaining.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  The walls around appeared to be paler than before, and wetter as well. She went left for a closer look - the wall was covered in a thin layer of white slime. She ripped off a small piece of cloth from her left sleeve and rubbed a little bit of slime on it - it was thick but not as sticky as it looked. It let off a strange smell as well, really far from that of blood.

  “We should leave! We should leave.” Mick came out of the sanctum and called out to Gloria: “I think - I think more of them might be coming.”

  “On my way.” Gloria sighed and went back in.

  “Mick, let me take a look at your eyes.” Before they went out, Tae Kuo requested.

  Mick agreed, and with only a slight bit of light from the flashlight, Tae Kuo instantly made out that there were more glowing spots behind his pupils.

  “This is not good. We must find a temple.” Tae Kuo shook his head: “Come, I think Kshiti Temple is the closest one, I hope we can find someone there.”

  “What’s wrong? What’s wrong with my son!?” Mick’s mother grabbed Tae Kuo by his arm.

  Tae Kuo sighed before explaining to Mick’s parents: “He’s injured. And this injury allowed him to see the flow Qiy - the flow of certain energy. That was the reason he was able to - to find shelter when all of that was happening. But there were some side effects to this - and it could be pretty serious without proper treatment.”

  “What’s gonna happen if he doesn’t get treatment?” Mick’s mother asked, her fingers clutching tighter.

  “He will be like - like he was before, only harder to follow and understand.” Tae Kuo shook his head: “Come on - we must find someone from a temple. We may need an Elder - ”

  “We need to find a hospital.” Mick’s father insisted.

  “No hospital can help with this.” Keryn helped Kelvin stand up straight and ready to head out of the sanctum: “Sir, I don’t know if you’ve heard of this before, but - ”

  “Don’t take me for a fool, detective.” Mick’s father cut Keryn off: “I know what you’re talking about. Like I told you, I’ve read things about the city’s past. But no, I don’t trust some outdated robe-wearing ritual dancer treating my son! No way! I know some fine doctors and I can see them today - ”

  “Your son is a fucking fugitive now!” Gloria looked back and barked at the man: “Just get moving! We don’t have all day!”

  The group traced back the way they came as fast as they could. Kelvin and Mick’s parents vomited a few times as they encountered the ripped up body parts- there were more of them as they went further. More twisted heads tied up together with hair. It seemed that aside from those hiding inside the sanctum, no one survived the sudden white fog.

  “What just happened? What was that!?” Mick’s mother asked with a trembling voice. She was close to a full blown breakdown, and it seemed the only thing holding her together was her concern for her son.

  “I assume a Blood Rainbow, or something of the sort.” Tae Kuo shook his head then looked Mick’s father in the eyes: “If what you’ve told us about these tunnels is real, then it probably wouldn’t even take a full Blood Rainbow, any kind of fluctuation of energy in the environment could lead to an uprising of vengeful spirits … ”

  “It was only a matter of luck we survived.” Kevin sighed.

  “Yes, luck, maybe.” Kelvin took a long, careful look at Mick, then sighed: “I hope Marcus is doing okay …”

  After another turn, light came from the path in front of them. The collapsed scaffolding was all over the ground, and a lifeless man in black was hanging over the edge of the hole through which they came down into the tunnel.