After about 40 minutes the carriage suddenly came to a stop. Hao Xuan looked out and saw vast open fields all around. He could see the tree line further ahead on the left, whereas they turned right and headed to a few lonely buildings in the distance. After about a minutes or so they came to a stop once again, right in front of his new home.
It was a very homey little place. One large double story mansion, a warehouse further behind it and some smaller sheds and whatnot here and there. There was also a stable right next to the warehouse.
Everyone got off the carriage and started looking around. Yu Yan went into the mansion first and then came back out a few minutes later with a small crystal ball in her hands just like the one they had seen before in Saint City, just much smaller.
"Everyone please gather around," she yelled.
"This is the identity transfer token and also contains some information regarding the property, how to start cultivating, handle the horses, use the tools etc. But you should be familiar with most of the stuff as everything here was specifically designed according to the information sent by the Saint City to help you guys get used to it," she finished.
The Khan family gathered around and placed their hands on the crystal ball one by one to receive the information. Hao Xuan watched from afar. After the last person finished Hao Xuan came up to Yu Yan.
"Are there any requirements to join the local guards? And do they offer lodgings?" he asked in a low voice.
Taken by surprise, Yu Yan thought for a second before replying, "No there aren't any requirements for normal people to join the local guard regiment as it is one of the ways for young people to start gaining experience since they will be properly trained by the more experienced soldiers. Don't you like this place? Why do you want to move to military camps? I can assure there is more than enough space in the mansion for several dozen people."
"I was transported here alone, I don't have any family here and don't want to be a burden on the others," he replied with a small smile.
"Kid, what're you on about, don't like us anymore? It's okay if that's it, you can say it to my face, this old man can take it," said Mr. Khan trying to sound distant.
"Can you not act seriously for once?" elbowed Mrs. Khan angrily, "Hao Xuan, you don't have to worry about anything, just stay with us for a little bit and once you get used to everything here you can move out if you still want to, the more the merrier, and Emi already likes you so much, she will be sad" she continued.
Hao Xuan felt someone pulling his shirt, he looked down and saw Emilie with tears already rolling down her cheeks, "Big brother, you don't like Emi anymore? Are you mad at Emi? Please don't leave, Emi will be a good girl," she spoke through a series of hiccups.
Hao Xuan felt his heart shudder, how can someone be so cute? His cousins were like the offsprings of trolls compared to her.
He bent down and smiled, "No, of course you didn't do anything, I was just kidding. If Emi wants me to stay, I'll stay," replied in a coaxing manner, trying to calm her down.
Hao Xuan didn't really care about much in this world, but he thought if something ever happened to this innocent little child, it would be heartbreaking. How can the heavens be cruel enough to hurt her?
Everyone looked at the two of them and laughed, it was one of the most adorable sights they had ever seen.
Yu Yan handed Mr. Khan an oval stone, "This stone has the protection rune for the property. Right after you enter the house you will see a cavity on the wall to your left, in case of a beast attack put this stone in the crevice and a protective barrier will be created around the mansion and a signal will be sent to the nearest guard outpost. It should protect you until they arrive" she said.
"Should? What do you mean ‘should’?" asked Maaz frowning.
"For normal beasts, the barrier will hold without any problems, but if their numbers are too many or they are too strong, they can break the barrier itself or hit it until its energy runs out. But none of the more powerful beasts or demonic beasts come out of the forest unless something is wrong. Under normal circumstances, all should be fine," replied Yu Yan getting back up on the carriage.
"Take a few days to get used to the life here, then you should start cultivating so you can take care of normal beasts yourselves", she said while hitting the squals and disappeared within a few seconds from their view.
***
The next couple of days were spent settling in. Their routine was quite simple and if one didn't know any better, they would think it was the same as any old farmhouse from earth.
After the extraordinary events of the first day everyone was still very much in shock even if they tried their best to hide it. Having arrived in such a foreign place out of nowhere and one that was so different from theirs, it would naturally take some time to get acclimated to this new reality.
So instead of jumping feet first into this new life and embracing it wholeheartedly, they retreated back to the shells, busying themselves with the mundane.
But Hao Xuan was a little different. For the first time in a long time he had tasted freedom and could not hold himself back from spending the majority of his days enjoying the little things this place had to offer. He would spend the days tending to the horses or the crops, during the evenings all the Khan siblings would get together and play.
Olivia, the other mini twin also got familiar with Hao Xuan in those days. Both of them would often come to him requesting piggyback rides. He didn't refuse and instead thought of it as training.
The house had some sort of rocks embedded in the walls which were illuminated naturally by absorbing the spiritual energy from the surroundings. They had running water and plenty of food in the storage, both new and some familiar ingredients from earth.
The technology in this world was both more and less advanced at the same time, or would it be better to say that it depended on the place and the people? The tools and equipment that depended on the worldly energy were more efficient, longer-lasting and easier to find and use which left the majority of the technology from earth impractical and even ineffective to a point since high spiritual energy could actually interfere with it.
But even then Hao Xuan enjoyed every single minute of it. From the tiring farm life to the seemingly boring errands and chores, they were all blissfully simple. It was the first time Hao Xuan had been happy since the death of his grandfather.
The more he interacted with them, the more blessed he felt. He was truly grateful to the Khan family for taking him in and treating him like their own when he had nowhere to go. The well of emotions that should have long dried out was starting to revitalize bit by bit.
At first he really did want to get stronger to protect what he had now but, the human mind is a fickle thing. Since there was no immediate danger in their small bubble of repetitive and ordinary lives, there was no pressure and nothing urging him forward. No other phrase could define the human psyche better than 'out of sight, out of mind'.
About a month and a half passed by in the blink of an eye which is when they had some guests for the first time, their new neighbors. A family of five.
A married couple in their mid 30's and their three kids, two girls and a boy, all-around 7-9 years old. They were one of the families that got a place allotted nearby. They were from Europe, Norway to be exact and actually had experience working on a farm back from on earth.
Their kids would often come over to play with everyone, even Hao Xuan who was quite awkward at first but grew fond of them in the handful of interactions he had with them. They were well mannered and very cute.
A week went by in this manner. It was almost midnight and Hao Xuan was sitting on his bed with his eyes closed, trying to read and understand the complex terms and expressions within the Glaive Cultivation Manual when suddenly a bright light flashed by his window.
He opened his eyes and saw what seemed like a meteor falling deep into the forest. It went down with a loud boom and the shockwave from the impact could be seen coming towards the house.
Hao Xuan's eyes constricted upon noticing the clouds disperse from the sky above. He jumped back from the window and ran towards the door trying to warn everyone when the shockwave hit.
*BOOOM*
It felt like a magnitude 8.0 earthquake hit the area. The entire mansion shook for a good few seconds before coming to an abrupt stop.
Hao Xuan got up from the floor and looked back, the window was broken and his whole room was a mess. He opened the door and went out into the hallway and saw Maaz coming out in a hurry as well.
"Brother, can you take a look at the twins and see if they're alright? I'll go see how everyone else is doing," he threw out the words and quickly ran down the hallway without even waiting for a reply.
Hao Xuan went the other way towards the twin's room. He opened the door and saw them both huddled together under covers, trembling. Olivia heard the door open and lifted the covers to peek out.
"Big brother, what's going on?" she asked with wet eyes, obviously scared out of her wits.
"It's okay, come with me, let's go see everyone else," Hao Xuan said moving towards them. He picked both of them up with one arm each and ran back outside.
He didn't see the others so he kept running and went downstairs to the main living area. Everyone was in there. Sam had a cut on his forehead and was bleeding, Mrs. Khan was standing next to him with a towel trying to stop the bleeding.
"Ma it's fine, it's just a little cut," Sam said embarrassingly trying to push her away upon noticing Hao Xuan arrive.
"Shut up and let me stitch it up first, you're getting blood all over the carpet," replied Mrs. Khan sternly.
Hao Xuan was at a loss for words listening to her, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
He put down the twins beside her and went up to Maaz and Mr. Khan who were both standing near the window, talking.
"All the upper windows are broken, some of the walls have cracks in them as well, but nothing big," Maaz reported like a soldier.
"Was it an earthquake? I heard a loud noise just before the earthquake hit, did any of you see anything?" Mr. Khan asked looking at them for answers.
Hao Xuan moved closer and spoke in a hushed voice, "Yes, I think it was a meteor or something. I saw a large fireball crash deep in the forest. It was blue and was burning brightly."
"And that caused the explosion? Holy crap! It should have been pretty far as well, judging from the interval between the explosion and the earthquake and the fact that there was nothing else. If it was close we would have been vaporized," Maaz added unnecessarily, receiving a glare from his father.
"Hmm, that seems bad, really bad. Could spell a lot of trouble for us," Mr. Khan said while going outside.
Hao Xuan and Maaz followed behind. The sky had been cleared so under one of the full moons they could still see pretty far away.
Mr. Khan broke into a light jog. After a few steps he turned around and shouted towards Maaz and Hao Xuan, "You two check on the horses and make sure the warehouse and the stables are okay, I'll check the sheds."
"Alright, I'll take warehouse, you take the stable," Hao Xuan said to Maaz while sprinting towards it.
The warehouse was at the back of the property so it was much further away than the stable. Hao Xuan got to the warehouse in a couple of minutes and started looking around. A few things had fallen down but everything seemed okay for the most part.
He went up the stairs and looked out of the window. It was pretty high up and gave a nice vantage point to the forest in the distance. He looked towards the place where he saw the meteor go down and thought about what it could be.
'Maybe it was an egg of a powerful creature or a treasure, like in those weird web novels. Maybe it will choose me as its master, those kinds of things always happened there so why not now huh?'
While Hao Xuan was immersed in his delusions of grandeur, a loud cracking sound came from somewhere in the distance. Like a tree breaking and falling down.
Looking towards the forest he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Only the tree's moving in the wind. After staring at the tree line for a few more seconds, he suddenly held his breath and stretched his hand outwards to feel the air but his pupils constricted.
There was absolutely no wind blowing. It was deathly still and so quiet that he could hear his own heartbeat.
*Thump*Thump*
*Thump*Thump*
*Thump*Thump*
*Screeeeeeeeeeeeeech*
*THUMP*THUMP*
Hundreds of creatures rushed out of the forest like an ocean tide, some small rodents, and some bigger than the carriage that brought them here. All running out of the forest as if their very lives depended on it.
Hao Xuan quickly turned around and screamed at the top of his lungs, "MONSTERS!!! MONSTERS ARE COMING!"
