The Dawn of the New World Chapter 1512

The knocking was so loud and sudden that it actually startled Hao Xuan. He jumped to his feet in trepidation and faced the door.

'It definitely came from outside. Is something trying to come in?'

Opening the door yourself could have any number of implications in this place. It could be seen as an invitation to leave the Umbral Planes by possessing his body, or something even more sinister depending on the kind of entity that was on the other side of this door.

'But my soul is protected by the Nine. The chances of a villainous entity finding me this early are next to impossible. It- I'll be quick! If it's anything strange I'll go back at once,' he told himself since satiating his curiosity outweighed the risks that came with it.

He slowly made his way to the door and pulled it open, ready to sever the connection at a moment's notice but the scene that was waiting for him was not one he would have expected even in a hundred lifetimes.

On the other side was not the hallway of the inn but another room, one that brought up a strong feeling of Deja Vu.

A somewhat musky smell of early autumn wafted through.

'I know this place...why do I know this place??'

If this were a cartoon there would be question marks flying off everywhere. Hao Xuan couldn't NOT go in, he had to- NEEDED to! Whatever this was, it connected him on an extremely personal level.

So, spurred on by an almost overbearing need to see to know more- Hao Xuan walked through the doorway. And as he did so the scene became a lot clearer.

He was standing by the foot of a small, single bed that was occupied by just as small of an occupant.

It was a child with long black hair looking to their right, out of the only window in the room.

Hao Xuan followed his line of sight but the scenery outside was blurry, just as many of the other details in the room. It looked like someone had forgotten to put them in.

The only thing of note was the brilliant yellow sunlight pouring in through the glass panel.

Aside from that the room was clean and tidy with not much else going on. The child was sitting upright with their lower body covered in a warm blanket. They looked a little sickly with thin bony hands.

*Knock*Knock*Knock*

The knocking came again but this time it was followed by a whiny creak as the door behind Hao Xuan swung open halfway. He looked back to see a small girl with pigtails peeking in.

With bright red hair and mesmerizing green eyes, she looked like a little doll standing in the doorway.

She was gawking at the child in the bed as if they would disappear if she blinked even once. After making sure there was no one else in the room she came inside and closed the door behind her.

Walking up to the bed with measured footsteps, she leaned over trying to get a better look at the child's face.

"Are you awake??" she asked curiously before proudly proclaiming, "I'm Jaya! But- you can call me princess!"

The child had no response to her presence so she climbed onto the bed and sat beside them. There was a small fluffy tiger in her embrace that she set in front of her, "This is Mr. Patty! He was the one who found you yesterday."

Finally, the child spoke up, "Found me? Who did?"

His voice was weak but it definitely belonged to a boy, maybe around ten years old- the same age as 'Jaya' if not a little older.

Jaya giggled, "Us, silly. Me, Mr. Patty, and grampa, we all found you together!" she said excitedly while pulling Mr. Patty's arm.

"Where...am I?" the boy murmured, "When... am I?"

Hao Xuan's brow furrowed as an easy feeling set in upon hearing those words.

'Who are you?' he questioned, 'Why are you showing me this? REVEAL YOURSELF!' he yelled, prompting the boy to abruptly turn towards his direction.

"Did you hear that?!"

Hao Xuan's eyes widened when he saw the boy's face because- it was him! The child's face was identical to his own from when he was young. The only difference was the color of the eyes.

Where Hao Xuan's eyes were green- much like Jaya's- those of the boy were in two different colors. One was green while the other was dark red.

Jaya looked around warily, holding Mr. Patty close for protection.

"W-What? Hear what?"

Hao Xuan had no idea what was going on so he chose to remain silent and observe for the time being.

"Nothing...I thought I heard something..." the boy muttered, about to turn back to peer out the window when Jaya grabbed his head with both hands.

"WHA-?!"

She dragged him out of the covers as if he weighed nothing, all the while without breaking eye contact.

"The color of your eyes!" she exclaimed- spellbound by what she was seeing, "Red and green! Red like my hair, and green like my eyes!"