“Hundun? The First of the Four Perils? The primordial bringer of chaos?” Weijin asked as the creature that was once Zhang Meng stomped its feet without moving from its spot.

“I don’t know if it’s the real Hundun or not. I remember Hundun being the size of the Sydney Opera House. This one’s too small, but the appearance doesn’t lie,” Xiaoye replied.

“I don’t get it… The Four Perils, with the exception of Hundun’s Yang half, were sealed away millennias ago, one in each of the Four Great Mountains of Taoism. If one of them had broken free, every Taoist priest in the world would be immediately aware of it.”

“The reports did say that Zhang Meng was suspected to have been made a curse-carrier. Could it be that someone is using him as a vessel to manifest the power of Hundun?”

“As a vessel to manifest Hundun’s power? Could it be… 赤影教的魔蛇替身咒? That’s too cruel…”

“Hold your horses, the Crimson Shadow Cult? Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves and point fingers at one of the biggest terrorcults in the world…”

Roderick, utterly confused by the conversation between Weijin and Xiaoye, peeked out at the creature from behind cover. So far, the creature that the two sergeants were referring to as Hundun had not made any movements apart from the occasional stomping.

From where he and Amirah were, Roderick could see Xiaoye motioning for them to stay low as she slowly creep out from behind her cover and picked up two small pieces of concrete. The first one she threw at the Hundun, and Roderick watched the concrete chunk vaporized in a blink of an eye. Xiaoye then threw the other one behind her, but no attacks happened.

“So that thing only attacks when it thinks it’s being attacked… Weijin, Farhan, what do we do?”

Weijin did not reply, he had his eyes closed and was mumbling some Chinese phrases with one hand placed on the ground, palm stretched, and the other in a half-“Rin” gesture of the Kuji-in. As for the harimau jadian, he was rubbing his chin, deep in thought as he stared at the Hundun, but then turned his head and said, “Everyone slowly back away and retreat back to the stairs. Do not attack. We need to figure out a strategy before more of us lose our heads, literally.”

As everyone began creeping their way back to where the stairs were, Roderick took one last glance at the Hundun, which was still standing there without moving, before carefully making his way around the dead sergeant when he suddenly tripped.

How stupid can he be, tripping while sneaking away? Roderick cursed as he got up, and it was at that moment he felt his feet kick something towards the Hundun.

“Shit!”

In that moment, Roderick went into a panic and laid flat down on the floor covering his head, which inadvertently saved his life as he felt something shoot past him, followed by someone screaming. Looking up, he saw that the half-elf Shade, Yeo, on the ground clutching his legs in pain as Captain Andrew and Weijin pulled him into cover, but the Hundun’s attacks were not stopping.

What have I done? Roderick thought to himself just as he felt himself being lifted off the floor, followed by Xiaoye’s voice hissing in pain. The next thing he knew, he was being half-dragged, half-carried by Xiaoye who was rushing for the safety of the stairs at an extremely fast speed despite blood trailing from a huge gash on her left arm. Spotting something strange on the floor, Roderick instinctively reached out and snatched it right before Xiaoye threw him into the arms of Farhan before throwing herself into the opening just in time to avoid another attack from the Hundun, which left a hole the size of a golf ball in the wall right next to them.

“Xiaoye, you all right?”

“I’ll heal, Farhan. How’s Yeo?”

“Bad. We need to get him downstairs before he bleeds to death. I don’t know what kind of attack that overgrown pound of flesh was using, but it’s mauled both his legs.”

Through the shredded pants of Yeo, Roderick could see that the half-elf’s legs were nearly mangled. It was a miracle they were still attached to him, given how deep the cuts were.

“I’ll have my men send him to safety. Rashid, Wong, get him back to the lobby.”

“Yes, sir!”

As the two READ soldiers carried the injured officer down the stairs, Roderick turned to see Amirah tending to Xiaoye’s own wounds, the cambion wincing as her colleague sprayed disinfectant on it.

“How long will it take?” Farhan asked.

“About five minutes… At least it’s not a fracture or worse.”

“You sure you don’t need a bandage?”

“The bleeding’s already stopped, Amirah. No need to worry. You, on the other hand…”

Roderick prepared for a tongue lashing, knowing that his carelessness was what got both Xiaoye and Yeo injured. Being kicked out of the Shades was one thing, but he was most likely going to be kicked off the force. Roderick wondered what his father would say, his first thought being that his father would smack him across the head for getting his colleagues wounded in action, but instead of scolding or screaming furiously at him, Xiaoye simply asked, “What did you pick up from the ground?”

“Eh?”

“Aye, I can tell from your expression. You were expecting angry words to be thrown at you, no? What happened just now was out of your control. Besides, every officer who joins the Shades know the score since we’ve got the most dangerous assignments in the entire force. Now, an answer?”

“To be honest, I don’t even know why I picked it up. I just grabbed it on reflex… What the hell?”

Roderick nearly dropped the object he had grabbed from the ground when he finally laid eyes on it, disgusted by its appearance: A bone-like spike with a metallic appearance and pieces of bloodied flesh attached to the blunt end of it.

“Doesn’t look like human bones,” Captain Andrew commented as Farhan took the object from Roderick and stared at it with discomfort before sticking it into one of the holes in the wall caused by Hundun’s attack.

“Fits perfectly… Is this what Hundun has been firing at us? Such a slender spike, yet shot with so much force that it could destroy flesh and even rip the head off a living person... How do we counter this?”

“Before we even do anything, first of all, I think everyone present should be aware that is not the real Hundun. Based on what I was able to read about that creature, it’s just a physical manifestation of a small portion of the Hundun’s Ying-half powers. Zhang Meng’s still alive despite that horrifying transformation we saw, but he’s inside, acting as the vessel, or the battery, for the manifestation.”

“You sure? Damn thing has a mouth. If I recall, the real Hundun has no mouth or arse.”

“You speak of Hundun’s Yang-half. During the sealing of the Four Perils millenias ago, it was discovered that unlike the others that choose the path of evil, Hundun was not bound by the concept of good and evil yet at the same time a representation of it. It’s a walking bag of paradoxes so don’t ask me to explain. Anyway, Hundun was split into two halves with the Yin-half being sealed away while the Yang-half became a guardian. The Yin-half is the one with the mouth and anus.”

“So the real Hundun’s evil-half is still sealed away, but it’s attacking us through this manifestation?” Farhan asked.

“Exactly. The real Zhang Meng is trapped within the manifestation, and unless my reading’s off, he’s an unwilling participant. Only one kind of magic can channel the powers of the Four Perils into a mortal: the Crimson Shadows’ Demon Snake Possession Curse.”

“The Crimson Shadows? My father mentioned them when he came back from an Interpol assignment. They’re some kind of Chinese terror-cult that worships a fallen deity known as Tongtian Jiaozhu?” Amirah asked.

“Aye, that cult’s one of the nastiest buggers the Chinese government have to deal with. They have branches in Japan, Taiwan, both Koreas and Southeast Asia. Hell, China even called them the Fifth Peril, for a good reason. They needed a military campaign to deal with those cultists. Still, I thought the last Crimson Shadows cell was destroyed in Beijing?”

“Not really. Chinese intelligence shared some details with Singapore’s ISD indicating that they’re still active. There are rumours of a new leader, but authorities are still looking for proof.”

“Forget that damn cult, what do we do with that damn thing before us? It can sense when we’re about to attack, and given how fast and deadly these spikes it’s shooting at us are…”

“We seal it. But someone needs to get close enough to rip Zhang Meng out of its body.”

“We’ll need Xiaoye’s Black Arts. It’s probably the only way we can fight that thing. My speed cannot match this manifestation’s attacks, and Weijin needs time to do whatever spells and incantations he has to do. The problem is, depending on the power output of her Black Arts, Xiaoye has her limits…”

“One Black Art is all I need. Just tell me where Zhang Meng is and I’ll be able to free him.”

“Good. I should be able to seal that manifestation away once you free the man.”

“Anda berdua sangat yakin, huh? All right, here’s the plan: Captain Andrew and the rest of his men will provide cover fire. Xiaoye and I will rush the Hundun manifestation and free Zhang Meng from it while distracting it from Weijin. Roderick, Amirah, stay close to Weijin, he may need your help. He needs to be within range to seal our foe.”

“Sounds good, we’ll do as you propose,” Captain Andrew replied as the remainder of his men reloaded their rifles.

“Just remember to stay behind cover at all times. As for you two rookies, stay close to me. I’ll put up a barrier to keeps us temporarily safe,” Weijin added as he pulled out an entire stack of Taoist paper talismans, sticking them to himself, and then two each on both Roderick and Amirah’s shoulders.

“All right… GO!”

The plan was straightforward but the execution was utter chaos. Captain Andrew and the READ soldiers did as they were told to do, provide cover fire. However, the Hundun’s attacks were so fast and powerful that they destroyed whatever cover the soldiers were using, giving them seconds to find new cover in order to survive. The magical barrier Weijin placed on Roderick was destroyed with a single hit from Hundun, but Weijin suddenly pulled him and Amirah close before jumping behind a number of overturned desks.

“Close enough. I know you’re Catholic and Muslim respectively, but don’t worry, nothing I need you to do is haram to either one. Roderick, grind this mixture to dust. Amirah, try to break that pipe over there and give it to me. Quickly!”

As Roderick began furiously grinding the foul-smelling mixture Weijin gave to him, he watched as Farhan lunged forward and sank his claws deep into the Hundun manifestation, causing it to rear up in shock, followed by Xiaoye sliding right underneath Hundun, her left claw in a finger gun pose aimed directly at the ancient demon while a glowing circle bearing the sigil of Malphas, one of the demons from the Lesser Key of Solomon, manifested underneath her body.

"ꓘɔɒlꓭ ƧɈɿA: Tƨυꓷ – ⅃ivǝꓷ Tƨυꓷ"

Roderick was aware of the abilities used by cambions, the Black Arts as they called it, but this was the first time he witnessed one himself. In contrast to what he expected, Xiaoye’s incantation was quick, imperceptible and barely a whisper, but the effect was instantaneous: A swirling pillar of dust erupted from Xiaoye’s left claw like a furious tornado, engulfing the entire front half of the Hundun’s body as it shrieked in pain while Farhan released his grip and lunged to safety.

“Sergeant, the pipe!” Amirah said as she handed Weijin a broken pipe with a sharpened end, breathing heavily from the effort needed to break it off a nearby wall.

Weijin, who had been chanting something in Cantonese all this time, grabbed the broken pipe with a quick “Thanks!” to Amirah, motioned for Roderick to stop grinding the mixture and rubbed a paper talisman in it which he then wiped along the pipe with. Meanwhile, Xiaoye had just stabbed the entirety of her left arm right into the Hundun’s body, its front half horribly wounded by the dust devil she had conjured earlier. At first, Roderick thought his training officer had gotten her arm stuck as she appeared to be unable to free it from the Hundun’s body, but then she yanked out a man in tattered clothing and beat a hasty retreat from the Hundun.

“Weijin, now, before it recovers!” the half demon called out to her colleague.

Roderick turned to see Weijin rushing towards the Hundun, the broken pipe now mysterious glowing red which he pierced into the Hundun’s body like a sword. A horrible shriek of pain emitted from the Hundun manifestation but the sergeant merely twisted the pipe and slapped more paper talismans onto the body of his foe. Roderick was not sure how long it lasted, but then a bright flash of light momentarily blinded him, and when he regained his sight, the Hundun was gone, with Weijin struggling to hold down the broken pipe which was no longer glowing red but was shaking vigorously.

“Xiaoye, Farhan, a bit of help here?”

“Damn, it’s still struggling?” Farhan grunted as he and Xiaoye helped to hold down the pipe.

“Just a few more seconds… And done!”

The pipe stopped shaking, but Weijin carefully lifted it up from the floor while Farhan and Xiaoye stared at it with suspicion.

“I have a peachwood box back in my trunk. We need to get it sealed inside or that energy is going to leak out and corrupt the minds of anyone near it. Still, there’s no doubt that someone used Zhang Meng as a vessel for the Yin-half Hundun to manifest part of its power into this world from its prison,” Weijin explained as he lets out a sigh of relief.

“Should we inform the Chinese embassy?”

“That’s Bradley’s job, not ours. Roderick, Amirah, you two doing okay?” Xiaoye asked as she turned towards the rookies.

Roderick dropped down on his bottom, every ounce of energy escaping his body while Amirah took deep breaths beside him. The last few days, he had been dealing with mundane cases like shop theft, trespassing and the likes, with the only spectacular one being when he nearly got his head cracked open by a moh shuvuu, but tonight was different.

He now truly knew what kind of threats the Special Hazard Exorcism Unit deals with, and with the tension finally gone, he realized how terrified he was with the situation. Sneaking a glance to his left, he could see that Amirah was probably having the same thoughts before looking up at Xiaoye, the cambion staring at them with genuine concern in her eyes, and asking one question:

“Is it too late to request a transfer?”