The Dawn of the New World Chapter 1610

As usual, Hao Xuan's first guess pointed towards something of a 'wicked' nature.

'Why would there be a woman all the way out here in the cold, THIS late at night, crying? It has to be a desert spirit or maybe even a demon trying to lure people outside the barrier...wouldn't be the first time.'

Hao Xuan hid his presence but focused his mind, spreading out the golden threads of spiritual sense in all directions and realms as he silently pushed forward.

The Yin Qi slowly began to give way and a silhouette could be seen through the fog when he was less than ten meters away.

At five meters he could see its outline perfectly. It was a woman- or rather a girl kneeling over the body of a four-legged beast. In her lap was the artifact he had seen so clearly within the Umbral Plane.

She was wearing a fancy backless black dress which would be out of place anywhere in the city.

She didn't react and he didn't notice anything out of place so Hao Xuan closed the distance even more. It was not until he got within arm's reach of her that the air became heavy, charged with some unknown energy.

There wasn't much of it but it was potent- albeit non-threatening.

His brow shot up in surprise because it had been many lifetimes since he last sensed anything like this. It was Holy- overflowing with specks of Divinity in its midst.

"?!?"

Flustered, his mind raced with countless possibilities regarding her origin and the ensuing battle scenarios all of which ended in defeat. If this truly was a child of heaven then he was sorely mismatched and utterly unprepared to face her.

Hao Xuan quickly pulled back but not without making some noise in the process. Startled, the girl jumped to her feet and upon seeing an unknown figure looming over her she instinctively tried to push him away.

"KYAAAA!"

Under normal circumstances he could have easily stepped out of the way but there was an invisible force holding him in place. Hao Xuan could feel the specks of Holy Aura gather towards her fingertips as she made contact with his chest.

For an instant time came to a standstill.

Then it rewound for exactly one-tenth of a second before exploding in a powerful blast of clashing Temporal Energies. Both of their eyes shone with rays of gleaming light.

Hao Xuan felt the powerful Temporal energy shake the very core of his soul as it tried to dig deep inside him. But he was much stronger so most of it bounced off and gathered in front of his eyes, showing him glimpses of a future not too far away.

He saw the night turn to day and then the light give way to the darkness several times over. In the distance he could see the shadows of countless horrid creatures flying towards them. Two among them were so immense that they covered the horizon by themselves.

The longer he watched the clearer the vision became but it was not without cost. Those two shapes had detected him...somehow. Their intentions lingered in his direction through time and space itself.

"Hngh!"

Despite being locked in a vision Hao Xuan regained control of his arm through sheer power of will, reached down, and forcefully pulled the girl's hand away.

A small shockwave rattled them both as they were freed from the shackles of the vision. The girl fell listlessly but Hao Xuan caught her.

His eyes were automatically pulled towards her picture-perfect face which was the spitting image of Princess Song Yi.

"Song Clan?!" he unwittingly muttered out loud.

Ashen-faced, the girl flashed a toothy grin despite being fatigued to hell and back.

"How do you do, I am...Jae Hwa," she sweetly introduced herself.

'Fucking hell!'

Hao Xuan immediately lowered her to the cold ground, "My apologies. I did not know you were- my sincerest apologies."

But as he tried to stand up she grabbed his sleeve with what little strength she had left.

Looking into his eyes she spoke through heavy breaths, "Please, I will die here- if you leave."

Taken aback, Hao Xuan looked around but found no other threats in the vicinity.

"My lady, you should call for help from the Upper floor. Someone will be here before you know it."

But she shook her with utmost certainty.

"No, no one will come for me- no one ever has," she meekly explained, "If you go then I will perish in the cold."

Those were heavy words but she had said them so effortlessly that Hao Xuan couldn't help but believe her. There was not an ounce of deception in her eyes, only pity and sympathy for herself.

She was no threat to him, hell, no one would even know they had met tonight if he just walked away right now.

But if not for the strange artifact or to find the meaning of that vision, he wanted to help simply for the sake of helping.

Song Jae-Hwa, the youngest princess of the great Song Clan who should have died today had asked him to lend a helping hand and he obliged, forever changing the future.

He wrapped her up and she locked her arms around his neck as if it was natural. Neither felt uncomfortable or out of place by the level of skinship because there was no other meaning behind either of their actions.

"Where would you like to go, princess?"