Chapter 288 - Goodbye
After the broadcast went out, the entire online community exploded with chatter. Some good, but most of it was bad.
This was a situation that had been brewing for months now. It started off with small incidents involving earthlings and now blew up with the announcement that a human from earth had been killing residents of Mei for the last two years.
That means that it all started as soon as they got here. And every single earthling suffered from because of it.
Those that had started their own businesses or were working somewhere else took a big hit.
People stopped visiting their shops and using their services. Instead, they would get hateful messages written on their doors and windows every day. Others were fired from their places of employment because who would want to hire a public enemy? That's just bad press.
Hao Xuan quickly made the appropriate preparations and had Yangdi move the Khan towards the inner city, away from all the commotion. But still, he couldn't protect them for long.
When the kids went back to the National Academy they were sidelined and ignored by everyone else. Everyone knew they had come from earth and as such, they were given the same treatment as others.
****
It was 6 p.m and 3 days had passed since the incident that shocked the entire Kingdom of Mei. More than a hundred thousand people killed right underneath the biggest city in the kingdom.
For the first time ever, the current King of Mei appeared on the news and gave a heartfelt speech. Hao Xuan watched the entire 30 min long speech while sitting under the maple tree.
The king looked like a completely normal middle-aged man. There was a streak of white hair on his left side, making him look even more mature and kind. He actually looked more like an office worker than a king.
"So this man's children are the ones currently dividing the kingdom apart eh?" Jin Wang's voice came from above. He was sitting on a thick branch a few meters above Hao Xuan, staring down at the projected screen from his watch.
With a deep sigh, Hao Xuan turned off the screen as soon as the speech was over. Nothing new was mentioned, he only told the citizens not to worry and that everything was under control.
Hao Xuan closed his eyes and leaned back on the patio chair.
"You ever met them? The crown prince or the princess?" he asked Jin Wang.
Jin Wang was picking his nose and just fished out a massive booger.
"Nah. But from what I've heard, the princess is really hot."
"Really? That's all you know?" Hao Xuan asked with both disdain and disbelief.
"That's all I NEED to know, hehe."
"You disgusting pig."
"Woah hey now, just because I am an admirer of nature, I'm a pig?"
"Oh is that right?"
"Hell yeah. Do you even know who the Princess's mother is?"
Hao Xuan finally opened his eyes and looked at Jin Wang with a raised eyebrow, "No, who?"
Jin Wang shook his head, "Tsk Tsk Tsk, let me tell you, little boy. The king that you just saw, that middle-aged man was as handsome as they came when he was young. He went to study in one of the biggest empires overseeing Mei and a princess, an actual princess from that empire fell in love with him."
"Now obviously her family didn't approve. She was a princess from one of the greatest powers on the continent, not to mention exceptionally beautiful, whereas he was just a brat from a no-name kingdom. But she didn't care. She cut off all ties with the empire and her family and left with the King."
"They came back here but couldn't get married either because the King's father had already given his hand in marriage to another kingdom. So one of the most beautiful women of the continent became our dear king's mistress."
"Still, the poor thing loved him so much that she never even considered leaving him. They had their first child, which is the princess you were asking about. It's said that she is even more beautiful than her mother was at her age. That's why the King sent her away for studies as soon as she turned 13. There's not even a single picture of her anywhere online."
Hao Xuan listened to the entire story in silence. It was more like a fairytale than actual history. The king was like the main character of a novel. The entire premise was a bit cliche though.
Relatively poor guy falls in love with a rich girl way out of his league, her family doesn't approve and they run away. The only difference was, this story didn't have a happy ending.
"The king's mistress fell ill and no one knows how she is right now."
"Damn, that is sad. Love really does make one blind huh?" Hao Xuan mumbled under his breath.
"You're one to talk," Jin Wang quickly retorted and jumped away before Hao Xuan could do anything.
*Drip*Drip*Drip*
The rain started once again. For the past week, it had rained for several hours as soon as the sun went down.
Hao Xuan waved his hand and Bai appeared next to him. He got on and Bai nimbly jumped out of the mansion.
He jumped from one building to another, barely coming into contact with them for even a second.
Every time he would propel himself 50-60 meters forward, all the while without leaving any trace behind. Within 20 minutes they were outside the city gates, and within 15 more minutes, they had reached an abandoned farm quite a distance away from the city walls.
From here, the treeline was in clear sight, just a few kilometers away.
The rain got heavier and heavier so Bai went into an open barn nearby for cover.
Hao Xuan jumped down. He was drenched from head to toe but what he had t do now made him much more uncomfortable.
He looked at Bai and sighed.
"I'm sorry it took this long. I promised you I'd set you free and its already been 4 days now. Here," without wasting any more time he placed his right hand over his chest and slowly pulled it away.
With it came a ball of faint undulating light. There were two different strands of light intertwined with one another, this was their soul contract. The one that connected them together.
Hao Xuan looked at the ball of shimmering light and then at Bai, his lips curling into a small smile.
*Crush*
He closed his hand, destroying the connection between them. The two strands of light separated and one went into Bai's body while the other into Hao Xuan's.
Bai closed his eyes to feel the soul piece return before opening them again. His eyes looked much brighter than before.
"Why?"
His voice echoed in Hao Xuan's mind.
"You didn't have to."
Hao Xuan shook his head, "I promised you I would didn't I? And you forget, the soul connection goes both ways. I can feel all your strong emotions as well. Every time you were running through the jungle I felt the joy you felt and then the despair whenever I called you back."
He moved closer and patted the beast's fur.
"We've only known each other for a bit more than a year and barely spent any time together, but I'd still like to think of you as a friend. I...I'm not very good with these goodbye's, so let's end it here huh?" he winked at him and moved aside, revealing the barn's open door behind him.
"Go now, you're free. The world is your oyster."
Bai looked at the scenery outside, the heavy rain, the swaying trees in the distance, and then at the tiny drenched human in front of him.
"Thank you, for keeping your promise," Bai said wholeheartedly.
And with that, he walked out and soon disappeared in the darkening night.
Hao Xuan continued staring at his silhouette until it was completely out of sight and sighed.
'I thought he would come back....'
Fortis propped up his little head and looked around with wide eyes.
"Where?"
Hao Xuan shook his head, trying to dispel those unhappy thoughts popping into his head and smiled while walking out of the barn and into the double story house some distance away.
He opened the door and entered, the same old scent of wood and fire impacting his face.
"When I first got here, this is where I used to live," he whispered looking around the abandoned house.
Yes, this was Khan's family's old residence. Everything was exactly how he remembered.
He walked up to the second floor and towards his room. There was a small layer of dust on the furniture, but nothing was moved.
"Hey, keep an eye out will ya? I wanna sleep a little bit," Hao Xuan said to Fortis while putting him down on the side table.
He laid down on the bed and within a few seconds fell into a deep slumber.