The Dawn of the New World

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The sound of footsteps echoed in the empty tunnels.

Hao Xuan and company even held their breaths so as not to make any extra sound and scare the incoming individual, only Fortis was still chewing on Hao Xuan's hair, although much more carefully.

*Tap*

*Tap*

A figure came into view carrying a large bag of rocks on his back.

"Hmm?" Hao Xuan and Jin Wang both frowned looking at it. The figure belonged to be a humanoid creature with dark purple skin. It was almost exactly like a human with the only difference being the odd facial features and the pointy ears.

It was about 2.5 meters in size and had a very skinny build. Well, it was skinny in the sense that there wasn't much meat on its bones but its bones or its entire frame, in general, was absolutely massive.

Its bones were twice the size of any normal human being and even though it looked weak, each of its steps was filled with power.

Still, that was not the reason for the duo's scrunched up brows. On the figure's chest, right where the heart should be, was a black sigil. It was glistening in the darkness and gave off a strange energy reading that was strong enough that Hao Xuan and Jin Wang could feel it from almost 30 meters away.

Hao Xuan tapped Jin Wabg's shoulder, "You seen that symbol before?"

His head moved up but stopped there.

"I think, can't be sure right now. Need to see it up close," he whispered.

Hao Xuan raised an eyebrow. He looked at the figure that was coming their way.

'Should we kidnap him...?' was his first thought, but he quickly rejected the idea. They had no idea where they were, what this place was, and where it led. Making first contact with such hostile actions was one of the most foolish things they could do right now.

Taking in a deep breath Hao Xuan walked out in the open, startling Jin Wang.

"OI! Stop! We know nothing about them don-" before he could finish his sentence, Hao Xuan spoke loudly.

"Hello! We seem to have taken a wrong turn and gotten lost. Could you tell us where this place is?" he spoke as softly as he could and with a wide smile plastered over his face.

The figure reacted just as anyone would expect it to. It dropped the bag it was lugging around and jumped back. The rock hard ground underneath almost cracked from a few places from the pressure he exerted on it.

"Woah," Hao Xuan backed up a step and circulated his Qi internally.

"Ajhfhjfns fhekjf shfgjsm!" the figure raised his hand threateningly and spoke in a language that neither Hao Xuan nor Jin Wang could understand.

Jin Wang stepped out as well, making the figure take several steps back. He smiled kindly and opened his mouth.

"H.E.L.L.O! C.A.N. Y.O.U U.N.D.E.R.S.T.A.N.D M.E??" he spoke as loudly as he could, enunciating every single letter of every word.

Hao Xuan's right brow twitched as he slapped him on the back of his head.

"He's not deaf, he just doesn't speak the same language as us you dumb sh*t. Just stay quiet and let me handle it," he said through gritted teeth, holding back the urge to strangle Jin Wang on the spot.

He then looked back at the figure who had a confused expression on his face, "Hehe, sorry for him. Um, me, lost. Take to your leader?" he said while signing as best he could.

The figure had a very pronounced face. It had large, sharp teeth that were poking out even when the mouth was closed. Its ears were pierced with a bunch of different things including metal hooks, bones, claws, and teeth.

His eyes were purple as well, almost exactly like the liquid in the rivers.

He squinted and examined Hao Xuan and Jin Wang carefully. Looking them up and down several times.

His posture which was defensive at first suddenly relaxed and he smiled back.

"Odkef uiod furek kuoal!" he gestured them to follow him and walked back where it came from.

"Well, that was easy..." Jin Wang said and started following him. Hao Xuan looked at the idiot's back and decided to follow as well. It was better than just staying there.

As they passed by the bag of rocks the 'man' had dropped, Hao Xuan saw purple crystals inside them. It looked like he had just come out of a mine.

Although the man looked weak at first glance, his steps were wide, sturdy and fast-paced. Within 10 minutes they had covered several times the distance Hao Xuan and Jin Wang would have covered if they were alone.

The man expertly navigated the network of tunnels and soon led them into what seemed like the main tunnel. It was more than 5 times bigger than the rest and even had old iron tracks built into it with light crystals placed every 50 meters on the sidewalls.

"Uhourt tuefeod oauflds euqews!" he said proudly. Hao Xuan had no idea what he was saying but still decided to nod along and smile he did.

Just a few minutes after entering the main tunnel they saw another party of similar-looking individuals. It was a party of four, all males and most very young with the oldest being not more than 13.

They quickly ran up to the man leading Hao Xuan and company and started talking loudly until they saw him.

Their eyes went wide as if they had seen a unicorn. Without any fear they ran up to them and started inspecting them. Touching their clothes, hair, and even their faces with their dirty hands.

Still, neither of them minded and even smiled back and tried talking to them. A few seconds later the man clapped his hands and pointed in a certain direction, making the younglings complain.

But they still followed his orders and picked up their respective bags and ran ahead.

The deeper in they went, the more 'people' they saw. But what grabbed Hao Xuan's attention was that not a single one of them was older than 30, or belonged to the fairer sex. All of them were young men that seemed to have been living on basic rations.

40 minutes of walking later the tunnel came to an end. A massive iron door blocked their path. It was at least 30 meters across.

The man led them to the left corner of the iron door where a smaller entrance was located. There was no guard here and they passed through without problems.

Whenever someone saw them they would get stopped and others would look at them like animals in a zoo.

This new area seemed like where they lived. There were small single-story houses everywhere. There were was no one with any weapons other than mining tools. There were no shops, no businesses. Hao Xuan didn't even think these guys knew what money was.

"Eourt Yhsjworjj Yufoer," the man pointed at a large building in the middle of the settlement. It was about 5 times the size of other houses and many people were going there.

"Is that where your leader lives?" Jin Wang asked but didn't get a response in return.