The Dawn of the New World Chapter 1602

Before Vlitgar could respond the door slowly creaked open as if from a scene from a horror movie.

Hao Xuan craned his neck to try and get a look inside but it was shrouded in darkness and nothing after the first couple of feet was visible.

"Hmm, are you sure this is a good idea?"

Hao Xuan asked with a great deal of uncertainty but Vlitgar acted like nothing was out of place.

"If there is one being you can trust within the Sanctum, it is the curator," he said while patting him on the back.

Vlitgar ventured inside and disappeared on the other side of the wall of darkness without so much as a sound.

Hao Xuan looked long and hard to try to find even one reason to turn back but it only "appeared" bizarre.

*Step*

He didn't have any feelings of apprehension or dread going inside, in fact, it was quite the opposite. The darkness came billowing forth and surrounded him from all sides in a warm embrace.

Hao Xuan felt like he was getting a bear hug but the darkness soon subsided and gave way to a relatively small floor. There were all kinds of little trinkets and knickknacks littered across the ten tables lining the sides.

On the opposite end, Vlitgar was talking to someone behind the counter, and when Hao Xuan walked up he casually made an introduction.

"Brother Jin, this is the curator," he said pointing at a roughly 1.5-meter-tall creature wearing a long brown hood.

Nothing underneath the hood was visible, not its arms, legs, or face. In fact it did not even have any legs to speak of since it hovered a few inches above ground on top of a small cloud that seemed to be fused to its body...whatever that was.

Swiftly concluding his examination of the strange being Hao Xuan gave a quick bow out of respect for its perceived status.

"A pleasure."

The curator's hood fluttered without any wind as a mixture of hisses and wheezing sounds came from underneath.

"Sssss ssssss Sss sss Sss Sssssss."

'???'

Vlitgar noticed the confusion on Hao Xuan's face and promptly found the problem.

"Ah, right. Your 'Resonant Maggot' must not have been too high level, it happens more often than you think," he said consolingly.

But Hao Xuan was still just as confused, "Resonant Maggot??"

Vlitgar was digging through his cloak in search of something while he explained.

"Yeah, the little worm that crawled into your ear and died. I should have a better one somewhere here..."

His description brought the memories of when Ogostin gave him one to the surface. (Ch 1442)

It had crawled into his ear, spewed a liquid, and died. It was only after that that Hao Xuan didn't have any issues when it came to understanding all the various kinds of people he had come across in the abyss.

"Right, I remember now..."

After a few seconds of awkward silence Vlitgar pulled out a wriggling black maggot full of hair.

"Here, try this," he placed the maggot on his shoulder and it crept up Hao Xuan's neck without wasting any more time, giving him the chills.

Just like the last one it vomited 90% of its body weight into his ear and died. But since Hao Xuan was observing the entire process in detail he noticed something that was missed the last time.

There was an extremely small hair-thin white worm submerged within the liquid and it dug into his ear canal and made its way to the brain stem where it merged with his tissue.

Hao Xuan felt an extremely minute outburst of psychically charged energy, like a little pop that pierced through to the Umbral Planes.

'Aha, that's how!' Hao Xuan exclaimed inwardly, 'It has a connection to the Umbral Planes so it can perceive the true meaning of a person's words by listening to their thoughts and emotions.'

"Welcomeeee~ guest..."

The curator spoke up once he was sure his words would not fall on deaf ears again.

He was the size of a twelve or thirteen year old boy but his voice sounded like that of an old man.

"Thank you," Hao Xuan flashed a smile, "It is nice to meet you."

"Nooo nooo, the pleasure is all mine," the curator waved his hands from under the robe like a child wearing an adult's shirt.

It would be a little cute if their interaction wasn't taking place in a mostly darkened room.

Hao Xuan didn't forget to thank Vlitgar even offering to repay him but Vlitgar was having none of it.

"Consider it a gift brother, and let us not speak of it again. Is there something you need from the curator? You can make your inquiry while I find a replacement for my armor."

Vlitgar walked over to one of the tables on the left leaving Hao Xuan and the Curator to chat amongst themselves.