Chapter 870 - Better Tastes
At first it felt like someone had physically pulled him with a great force but a moment later the force dissipated and Hao Xuan found himself getting lighter and lighter until he opened his eyes and saw that he was floating weightlessly in space.
Hao Xuan had never been in space before but it wasn't hard to imagine what it was like, especially considering he had spent a lot of time in Baracus's virtual environments.
This place was almost identical but somehow felt even more real. It mingled with his senses in such a way that even though he was consciously aware it wasn't real it still felt like it was.
He could breathe like normal but all other movement was as realistic as it could be. The only thing he could do was float helplessly through the empty void. But as surreal as this experience was, Hao Xuan was short on time.
"Where are you?" he called out and felt an invisible force grab ahold of him. It turned him around making him come face to face with a planetary body.
Although there was nothing else around to compare it to for size, it still felt a little small for some reason. If Hao Xuan had to guess he would say it was half the size of earth's moon.
He could feel the invisible force coming into contact with not only his physical manifested self but also his mind. It actually felt like he was subconsciously connected with the entire void, this portion of space itself.
It didn't feel foreign nor did it bring up any feelings of isolation and detachment that were all so commonly associated with space.
"He...re..." a uniquely feminine voice answered.
The first part actually didn't sound feminine but because they were both connected mentally and perhaps even spiritually, it felt Hao Xuan's state of mind that read that because she is indeed a she, a female according to their standards, she must sound feminine and so it changed its voice accordingly.
Hao Xuan was pulled towards the planet but he didn't feel any negative side effects. The distance lessened until he found himself standing on the surface.
At first it was completely barren with nothing but grey and black rocks in sight but it started to change right in front of his eyes. The ground turned upside down and fields upon fields of wheat sprouted from the rumbling earth.
Overhead a bright yellow light just popped into existence illuminating the entire world.
All this happened in the span of 5-10 seconds and by the time it was finished Hao Xuan felt like he was reliving a dream.
Mouth agape, he looked around both amazed and dumbfounded.
"H-How?"
A gust of wind blew past him bringing with it a soft rustle and the sound of clothes flapping. He turned on his heels towards the source and found himself standing face to face with a girl, a human girl.
She was wearing a white sunflower dress with a straw hat that hid her face. Standing at approximately 1.7 meters, she came up to Hao Xuan's chest.
He was once again gobsmacked by the rapidly changing series of events.
"Are you...her?" he asked with no small amount of doubt.
She nodded back. Of course it was her, who else COULD it be?
She raised her head and allowed Hao Xuan to observe her face which made him chuckle. He suddenly remembered why all this looked so familiar.
"You didn't get the face right," he remarked.
This 'scene' of standing in a field of golden wheat with the sun shining in the background and a pretty girl in a sunflower dress was from something he saw back on earth. He didn't recall exactly where or maybe it was not one single thing but a great many combined together, but they were from his memories without a shadow of a doubt.
"You read my mind? I thought I had better taste than this," he said jokingly but she answered swiftly.
"Not 'read', only asked for guidance."
Even her voice sounded exactly like he expected it would. Soft, gentle and quite pleasant to the ears. It sounded like she was singing.
"You can talk?!"
She nodded again.
"We are two but one here. I can see 'you' for you."
"So this is what I wanted deep within my heart?"
"Yes. I looked for what would make you the most comfortable and you gave me this."
"Is this place...real?"
Hao Xuan realized what a stupid question that was. How could it be real if it was created from his memories and ideas? It was probably just an illusion of some kind.
But the queen nodded once again, leaving Hao Xuan confused.
"It is 'real' as long as I say it is real."
"What...does that mean? Don't tell me you can warp reality or something?" but before even waiting for her to answer he broke out laughing, "Hahaha. That will be the day. I feel ridiculous just saying it."