The Dawn of the New World

'But I wonder why am I so sure that he won't attack me first? I can't put it into words but it's like a universal truth.'

Hao Xuan's heartbeats slowed to a crawl and he calmed down significantly. Xue Meng didn't even appear as a threat to him anymore.

[As long as we don't attack him first he won't raise his blade, he can't,] the voice in his head told him. His own voice.

'Then the only problem is this trash,' Hao Xuan thought inwardly while looking towards Tian Zheng.

[Kill him! Rip him limb from limb for what he did to him! Boil him alive and use his skull as your pouring cup!]

A red hue mixed in with Hao Xuan's green pupils like the setting sun. The voice was corrupting him faster than anything else around and he didn't even realize it until now.

'Him? Him who?'

Hao Xuan realized that his fist was clenched so tightly that the skin over his knuckles looked like it was about burst open. He was angrier than he had ever been before but didn't understand why. Where was this anger and hate coming from?

Tian Zheng was watching Hao Xuan closely and upon noticing his ugly expression and trembling hand he believed himself to be its architect. But he wanted more.

Still sitting on the back of the planking undead figure, he suddenly started reminiscing about the past.

"Do you remember how that pig screamed when I crushed his body into a meat paste? I'll never forget it! It's not often I come across such unadulterated terror. He didn't understand why it was happening to him at all, even when I told him it was YOUR fault he didn't believe it. What was his name, Salome?"

Hao Xuan's pupils contracted upon hearing the name again.

'Him? I am this angry because of him? What's happening to me?!'

There was a pit forming at the bottom of his stomach. It was like a black hole that was pulling in everything around it. And Hao Xuan could feel his body weaken by several degrees because of it.

His stomach groaned and grumbled as if it was being pulled apart by the hole. And there was something hiding within its dark borders, calling for him.

'NO! The physique demon! Now right now!'

"Argh!"

He almost fell down but Grey managed to quickly shift his balance and keep him straight.

The reaction made Tian Zheng even more proud of himself.

'Yes! Feel the pain!'

Hao Xuan was losing control over his body and it was not just because of the physique demon. In fact, the reason it was able to rear its ugly head again was because Hao Xuan had left himself open in a moment of weakness.

But where did this moment of weakness come from? Why now? Why when Salome was mentioned again?

'I don't get it. Why do I feel so strongly about him? It would have never been the case with anyone else but I can't help but take it personally when it comes to him!'

Surprisingly, because of this interaction Hao Xuan understood that it was anything but normal.

Salome was a native of this world. Born and raised here, they had only met just a little while ago. He could count on two hands all the times they had interacted for longer than a few seconds. There was absolutely no reason for Hao Xuan to feel so strongly about someone who was otherwise a complete stranger to him.

'Fuck! I don't have time for this. I need to get as far away as possible from here.'

Pushing down all irrelevant thoughts he held onto Grey with all his might before meeting Tian Zheng's laughing gaze.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Do you really have nothing better to do with your life than to ruin my day? If you wanted to kill me there were a dozen better ways. Why the need for these theatrics?"

Tian Zheng froze for a moment because he wasn't expecting such a response at all.

"Y-You dare to talk to me that wa-"

He tried to come up with something clever to say but Hao Xuan didn't give him the opportunity.

He smacked his forehead acting as if he had just realized something important.

"Wait, are you into men? Huh? Is that it? You fancy me, boy? Is this your way of trying to get my attention like some preschool child? Because let me tell you right now, if Ceni didn't have a chance then you sure as hell won't."

Tian Zheng's mind was completely blank. He didn't have the words to describe all the emotions he was feeling right now.

"Heh, maybe you two really are meant to be together, BOTH of you are in love with me! But flattering as this is, I don't have time for this bullshit right now. Next time maybe wear something less revealing and we can have a proper conversati-"

Hao Xuan was saying anything and everything that came to his mind but Tian Zheng had had enough.

"SHUT UP! Shut up Shut up Shut up Shut up Shut up! You are no one, NOTHING! You will NOT talk to me this way!"