The Dawn of the New World Chapter 1549

After lightly jogging for several minutes Hao Xuan looked over his shoulder and slowed his roll when he couldn't see the house anymore.

*Phew*

"That could have been bad. I didn't think that old lady would be the letter's recipient," he muttered to himself.

"What old lady?" Ryuk suddenly asked from the right, actually catching him by surprise.

"JEEEZ- Where the hell did you come from?! Didn't I tell you not to do that shit again?"

"Do what?" his incorporeal figure phased through some bushes and walked right up to his face, "Did I...scare you? Hmm? HMMM??"

"You startled me, there is a difference. And back away, I can smell your lousy breath!" Hao Xuan craned his neck while pulling away from him which confused Ryuk.

"Smell?? Me?! That is NOT possible! I have no smell! I am an OBSERVER, remember?"

Hao Xuan's brow began to knit as he sniffed the air.

"But...then where is this coming from? It smells terrible, like weeks-old garbage and decaying corpses..."

It truly did smell awful.

Hao Xuan covered his face but its rotting stench still bore through.

"It's coming from up ahead," he gestured towards the twisting dirt track that led up and towards the back of the castle following along the embankment.

It was the only path so he had no choice but to follow it regardless.

Ryuk receded into the embankment, "I will check what's there," while Hao Xuan continued walking up the path.

Barely a minute later a large iron gate came into view guarded by two feline demihumans, both of which were in the Profound Realm.

"Halt! How did you get here?!" one of them shouted while leaping towards him.

Hao Xuan casually stepped out of the way, letting the boy slam into the ground head-first. The other one who seemed to be in his late twenties yelled from the back, "You STUPID imbecile! Why would you attack a person on sight?! Where do you think we are??"

He ran up to Hao Xuan and flashed an apologetic smile while pulling the teenager out of the ground.

"Sorry about this one friend, he's new here. I haven't seen you around before, what are you-"

"Waclaw brought me up. He told me to come here once I was done delivering the umm, 'letter' to a certain person."

Hao Xuan kept it vague on purpose hoping that he would get the hint and that he did.

The demihuman guard laughed awkwardly, "Oh...haha... it's one of those. You can go in. Take the first right and you will see the teleportation array in the corner."

Hao Xuan gave him a nod, "Thank you," and went on his way while the teenager kept ordering him to stop.

"No, don't let him in he is suspicious! Didn't you see him covering his face?! STOP RIGHT THERE!"

"Shut up! He was probably just too embarrassed to see the likes of you!"

*Slap*

And were it not for the nauseating stench Hao Xuan could have enjoyed their banter a little more but now it was so strong that it began to affect what little vision he had left.

'What the hell is going on?! Never in my life have I come across such a foul sme-'

Hao Xuan's thoughts were interrupted when he came to a fork in the road. The guard had told him to go right and he was planning to until he saw something from the corner of his eye.

On the left was a large water fountain under which a person was sitting. His back was turned towards him but the moment Hao Xuan looked at him one of his marks came alive, bringing with it the 'bounty contract' that was out on him.

"Rain...?" Hao Xuan read his name out loud without realizing it.

Rain's ears perked up right before he turned around to face him. The first thing Hao Xuan noticed was how incredibly pale he was, which was no small feat in this wasteland.

The second thing of note was the greatsword in his lap, which he was washing in the fountain water. But it was tightly wrapped in old rags from the hilt to the blade.

"You know me?" Rain questioned with growing suspicion.

Hao Xuan wanted to answer but the mark of the Forgotten Horror was pulsating with everything it had, making his whole back ache.

And the smell!

'That's where it's coming from, the greatsword!'

The stench was so strong that Hao Xuan could hardly think while Rain was utterly unfazed by it.

'Does he not smell it? Or is it some skill or ability of his? That would make sense because he would be immune to it in that case but...it didn't look like the guards could smell it either.'

And while Hao Xuan's gaze was fixated on the Greatsword, Rains' was about to bore a hole through his face.