The Dawn of the New World Chapter 1528

At first it didn't look that serious but the closer it got the worse the situation became.

The shape of the entire desert was changing with the arrival of some truly immense creature that was moving just underneath the sand.

"W-WORM!" Che Yun screamed, "IT'S A WORM! A WORM IS COMING!"

He tried to run back to the rock formation to warn Hao Xuan but the worm was a lot closer than he first thought.

*RRRRRRRRR*

A deep guttural cry resonated through the land just as swatches of golden sand buried Che Yun underneath. His tiny helpless body was dragged along for god knows how long before he felt the commotion come to a gradual halt.

Che Yun gathered his strength to dig his way back to the surface where he gasped for air.

"HAH! IT-ITS HERE!" he screamed again while grains of sand lodged between his gums.

After pulling himself out of the ground he looked around in a panic but could not locate the rock formation anywhere. There was nothing but the wasteland in every direction as far as the eye could see.

His expression went from troubled to terrified, thinking that either everyone was buried under the desert or devoured by the great worm.

"No no no NO! SIR JIN! MR. JIN CAN YOU HEAR ME!?" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

There were no landmarks to guide him, no tools to point in the right direction. He just picked a random spot and started walking while calling for help.

"CAN ANYONE HEAR ME??"

But he had barely covered five meters when he heard something behind him. It was the sound of fabric flapping in the wind.

He looked over his shoulder to see the flags just behind him.

"Huh?"

"Hehehe!" the sound of mischievous laughter came from the front but before he could turn a hand shot out of the sand to grab his face.

**

Within the dig site Hao Xuan was busy breaking open a 3-meter-wide red boulder when his ears perked up.

"Hmm?" he looked back with a knitted brow.

'I can't hear his heartbeat.'

Hao Xuan threw the handful of spiritstones down and sprinted to the surface with utmost urgency. He checked the shelter but found it empty.

"Che Yun?" he called out and heard the crunching of footsteps not too far away.

"Hm?!"

He turned towards the source which happened to be on the other side of the flag array.

As Hao Xuan walked up to the boundary he could see Che Yun passed out approximately five meters outside the array.

'Why did he go out?! He didn't seem like the kind of kid that would purposefully do something-'

Just as he was about to step out something caught his eye. Hao Xuan pulled back his foot while his eyes narrowed into slits.

Thanks to the constant breeze that seemed to be coming straight from the bowels of hell, if one observed carefully enough, one would be able to see the occasional grains of sand rolling up or down the dunes.

But there were several spots around Che Yun where the sand did not move one bit.

'Someone is standing there...several someones,' Hao Xuan concluded, 'Damn tricksters!'

His expression turned ugly.

"What did you do to the child?" he asked aloud but even after a whole minute no response came in any form.

"You do not need to hide from me. Deliver him to me and I will pretend this never happened!"

Finally he sensed a change. Several of the bigger spots around Che Yun moved closer to the flags but stopped a couple of meters away- just out of arms reach.

The blistering wind whistled in Hao Xuan's ears as his patience ran thin.

'They'll keep playing tricks, it's what they do. I have to make the first move,' he thought, and rightfully so.

'They think they are better, stronger, and smarter than us and until they see me in the same light nothing will change. So, why don't we see eye to eye first?'

Hao Xuan gently brushed his thumb over the meditation scar. Thanks to the extremely uncomfortable environment it didn't take much to agitate him to the point of no return.

Since the Djinn were originally spirits from other realms of creation, they all had a strong presence within the Umbral Planes and that would be their great equalizer.

Hao Xuan closed his eyes while raising his right foot. Darkness overtook him as he felt himself crossing over to the other side and passing through the veil.

When his foot landed his consciousness stepped out and stood in front of him within the Umbral Planes.

*WOOOOSH*

The sound of a roaring flame came from all sides as Hao Xuan found himself standing in a sea of fire.

In front of him were four human-shaped figures wrapped in the same kind of attire that was offered to the slaves. Their faces were covered with head coverings which only revealed their glowing orange eyes.

They stepped back in shock upon seeing Hao Xuan looking at their true forms.