1349: Not met

Not met

If this was going to be his last moment then Hao Xuan wanted to face it head-on. He was ashamed to have believed the Emperor and fallen for all his tricks, but it couldn't hold a candle to the guilt he felt for letting everyone down. 1

The Orcs and all his severs that counted on him, the natives that waited for him, and all the other promises he had made and broken.

Not to mention everyone that was still waiting for him in the Mei Kingdom, they would never know what happened here. In a few years he would become a distant memory to them, a name that would occasionally pass their lips as they wondered-

'Whatever happened to him?'

In these final moments those regrets were pilling on, weighing heavily on his heart.

His face contorted, seething at the thought of dying in such a miserable way. He threw his head back and screamed at the heavens...that was all he could do.

"AAAAAAAAAHH!-"

*CLAAAAAAAAANG*

The hammer struck him down, fracturing his chest into four pieces. There was no blood, there couldn't be. It was just his broken soul dissipating piece by piece.

Hao Xuan felt like he had been hit head-on by a truck. His ears were ringing and he was seeing visions of the past. A beautiful face staring at him from above, those broken eyes watching him take his final breath.

"I told you to run away, I told you not to trust him," Xu Qing whispered wearily, "Why do you never listen?"

He smiled while his form disintegrated around him.

"I would have...always wondered...what-if...at least now...I know."

The soul dust began falling again and this time Hao Xuan knew this was going to be the last time.

"I am...going to die..."

"You are," Xu Qing confirmed.

"Are you...real?" he asked.

"As real as you," she replied.

"Then...I'm glad...yours will be the...last face I see."

**

In the outer world, Jin Wang's eyes had rolled over as he stood facing the barrier with both hands extended towards Hao Xuan's back while a torrent of violent and blistering 'Vital Energy' was being shot onto the surface of the barrier.

It created an inverse image of a magic circle that was being reflected on the inside of the barrier the right way up. But the amount of energy and control it took to accomplish something like this was nothing short of miraculous.

It was akin to etching a drawing into a piece of a stone with the full pressure of a raging river behind his hand. Not to mention that Jin Wang had to use his vital energy to achieve such a feat which was costing him dearly.

He was aging by the years with every passing second and even with his nearly inexhaustible vitality there would come a point where he would not be able to match what was being consumed.

**

Xu Qing brushed his long hair aside so he could see her properly before speaking up in a firm voice.

"Are you really going to give up? After everything you've done, you are going to stop now?"

"I tried...over and over again...but nothing...worked. I'm...too tired."

"You can sleep when you are dead."

"Heh...that's...the plan. A long...long sleep."

His fluttering eyes could barely stay open. Xu Qing sat down beside him and placed his head on her lap.

"Did I ever tell you about the first time we met?"

Hao Xuan smiled, "I was there...I remember."

"How could you? It hasn't happened for you yet," she mumbled weakly.

An electric current ran through his body waking Hao Xuan up.

His eyes sprung open, his questioning gaze focused on her lips. And even though she couldn't see it Xu Qing knew exactly what that looked like.

"It was on the first day of the Thousand-Year Blue Moon festival. I dashed into a tavern trying to hide from those stupid angels and ran into a filthy-looking man. And he said to me-" She leaned in and whispered the last few words into his ears.

Hao Xuan's saccadic eye movements were just as fast as his racing thoughts.

"That's not...possible, how could that-"

"It is," she stopped him before he went on for too long, "I can tell you how but, it will be the most difficult decision you will ever have to make. A new future, something no one has ever seen before. Do you still want it?"

Hao Xuan only had to think about it for a moment, "If it means I can fix my mistakes...then I do, no matter what it costs."

*Sigh*

"I always wished I would never have to hear those words. But I'm glad...for all of their sakes."

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