Seeing the tears streaming down her face Hao Xuan couldn't help but soften his voice.
"I don't hate you."
"You...d-don't?" she stutteringly inquired through her whimpers, "Promise??" she stepped closer and Hao Xuan stepped back at the same time.
But the moment the distance increased between them the scenery also began to change. Hao Xuan could feel less and less of himself as he moved away from her. And just when he wondered why it was happening Uri's voice sounded in his head.
'Don't! You need to stay close to her, she is your tether!'
He stopped in his tracks, 'What do you mean?'
'She is one of the people who you never crossed paths with in the other timeline. You met here and developed a strong connection with each other. You need to stay by her side for at least an hour or two to stave off the effects of the phenomenon.'
'What?! Are you kidding me? I can't stay with her alone.'
'Then you will die a horrible death. Your mind will be continuously dragged between this reality and the last until you can't differentiate between what's real and what isn't. Then your soul will begin to wander aimlessly until it dissipates naturally or is consumed by something much more powerful. Your body will slowly wither until there is nothing left of it but skin and bones and-'
'Okay okay, I get it. Two hours right?'
'Yes, that should be enough time for now.'
'For now?! What does that mean? Hello?!'
This interaction didn't even take a full second from start to finish. Princess Ceni was still waiting for an answer with tears in her eyes.
"Yes I promise, I don't hate you."
"Really?!"
"Yes, I wouldn't lie about som-"
But before he could finish she jumped into his arms, "Thank you, thank you. You have no idea how much I needed to hear that."
Hao Xuan wanted to push her away but decided not to considering how vulnerable she was right now.
'I can just be her friend. It doesn't have to be anything more than that,' he told himself before reciprocating the hug.
Once she had cried her eyes out they took refuge in the wooden shack to pass the time. Hao Xuan made a small fire and they huddled around it.
Maybe it was because of seeing the future but Hao Xuan felt like he had somehow lost a layer of protection that had always been around him. He felt incredibly cold and the fire did very little to help.
Only when he was sitting next to her did it feel a bit warm. But the silence quickly became awkward for both of them so Hao Xuan struck up a conversation to pass the time.
"What is his place? How did you find it?"
"I don't know. It was just a feeling."
"What kind of a feeling?"
"I don't know how to explain it. It just felt like you needed my help so I followed it and the next thing I know I was here."
"You 'had a feeling' and came out here all alone?"
She nodded as if it was pletely normal.
"Unn."
"That's incredibly-
'Stupid'
-brave. But don't do that ever again. What if it was a trap?"
"I'll be more careful next time. I'm not that stupid. And I can just fight them if it es to that."
"Hmm."
They made idle chit-chat for the next hour and a half because Hao Xuan did not want to talk about anything serious while he was basically locked in here with her.
When he felt a little better he went out for a quick round and found the effects of the phenomenon to be mostly gone.
Only that weird sensation of warm blood covering his hands remained but he didn't give much thought to it.
"I have to go meet with a couple of now," he told her while dusting his robe.
"Okay, I'll wait here then."
"...."
"You don't have to do that. You should return to the city and stay there. It's not safe to be out here alone."
She giggled, "It's not safe anywhere and it's too noisy in the city. This place is already protected by some kind of a magic so I think it would be the safest option considering everything."
Only now did Hao Xuan realize that it was eerily quiet here considering he could see the city lights not too far away.
'I guess the world spirit chose this place for a reason.'
"Alright that's fine then."
"So it's decided then, I'll wait for you here."
"Oh...um, I'm not sure when I will be back."
"That's okay. Whenever you e, I'll be here," she said smilingly.
Seeing how determined she was Hao Xuan chose not to push it any further, "Alright," and walked out.
Princess Ceni stood in the doorway watching his back disappear into the dark forest. Her innocent smile slowly faded and a with light pop a small creature appeared out of thin air.
It was an ordinary-looking dog wearing human clothes with a katana on its back. (Ch 566)
He immediately started clapping, "Superb performance my lady, he definitely fell for it, that FOOL! Hahahaha"
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