The Dawn of the New World

"What...is going on...? Who...is this?" Hao Xuan numbly muttered to himself while staring at the picture.

The girl in it was much younger than the Xu Qing that had come to Hao Xuan almost two years ago now. Although her beauty was nothing to scoff at either, it was still a far cry from 'his' Xu Qing.

"It is an official copy of personal records," Baracus replied, "None of the information seems to have been tampered with. It seems the records of each royal bloodline, regardless of the Kingdom's Grade, is kept by the governing powers. If I'm not wrong there should be a database somewhere of every registered individual on the beast world and this copy was taken directly from there. I can clearly see the digital footprints."

The sound of chatting, laughter and occasional fighting echoed in from the other side of the lake. Even though it was still dark out, the participants still maintained the 24-hour schedules from the beast world so they were already awake.

But Hao Xuan couldn't care less about any of that.

He only stared at the picture floating in front of his eyes like a statue, utterly speechless. His mind raced back and forth, coming up with numerous scenarios as to who 'his' Xu Qing really was.

'Maybe the king couldn't bear to part with his daughter so he sent someone else instead. It doesn't have to be a conspiracy against me. And why me anyway? I'm a nobody, who would gain from deceiving me?' he thought inwardly.

"Wait, Jin Wang is here!" Hao Xuan shouted while jumping up to his feet, "I'll just ask him..."

He had only taken a couple of steps before stopping midstride, "But would he tell me the truth?"

Baracus who had been activated and was listening in from the start couldn't help but give his two cents on the matter since Hao Xuan wasn't coming to the same conclusion on his own.

"It is highly probable that this was your friend's objective to begin with," he explained in his emotionless voice, "He asked Ryfon for this 'favor' knowing full well that the news of it would reach you first. If I'm not wrong, he 'wanted' you to see this. Otherwise, it could have easily been hidden from you."

Hao Xuan gave it some thought before agreeing with Baracus's theory. Having finally made up his mind he went straight to the boy's dormitory on the other side of the lake, passing by several groups of participants that were training or relaxing.

He reached the room where Jin Wang was supposed to be staying at within a couple of minutes. It was right next to his.

If he had stayed in there, they would have run into each other much sooner. Hao Xuan knocked on the door twice but there was no response. He knocked once more before delivering a kick that knocked the door off its hinges.

The dust settled rather quickly and the insides became clear. There was only one piece of furniture, a bed which was currently occupied.

On it laid a shirtless man, snoring extremely loudly without a care in the world.

Hao Xuan's uncertain heart relaxed a little seeing the same stupid face he had seen so many times before.

He softly walked up to the bed and bent down to whisper, "Wake up, bitch," before flipping the bed up into the air.

Jin Wang swirled several times like a doll before landing face-first onto the floor.

"Oww, what the hell?!" he shot to his feet with a reddened face, ready to fight.

But upon seeing Hao Xuan's straight face his right eye twitched, "O-Oh, took you a while. I have been waiting for a while now," Jin Wang awkwardly greeted him with a nod.

His eyes were attracted by the glass strip in Hao Xuan's hand, "Is that...?" he didn't finish the sentence, waiting for Hao Xuan to respond.

Hao Xuan threw the strip over, "You tell me. What is this? And why did you ask for it?"

Jin Wang caught it out of the air without missing a beat, even though Hao Xuan had thrown it with considerable force. He placed it over the spirit band.

Some ten seconds or so later Jin Wang let out a deep sigh, "So I was right then..."

"About what?" Hao Xuan asked calmly but his heartbeat was steadily increasing.

Jin Wang looked up to meet Hao Xuan's questioning gaze. He seemed troubled, unsure even, which was hardly ever the case for him.

"You two aren't a good match, didn't you ever wonder?"

"Wonder...what?" Hao Xuan asked hesitantly.

But before he could receive an answer, a loud bell rang twice, interrupting their conversation. It was followed by an emergency announcement.

"Every get ready, we are under attack. Report to the gates post-haste!"