A man is standing in front of two guards at the gate of a big city. The guards are interrogating him as he ignores the questioning stares directed at him in his beast skin attire and shoulder-length hair.
"What's your name?"
"Ye Mu"
The man almost instinctively answers with the name the wind voices gave him. He doesn't really understand why, but he feels like the world wants to give him this name. His original name isn't that important to him anyways.
"Identity card?"
"None."
"Any tally or pass?"
"No."
The guard looks askance at him after a series of one-worded answers. He starts to wonder if this man is a beggar. But what kind of beggar can afford a pelt made of blue-cheetah?
The other guard is more concerned with the man's hair. People who cut their hair are usually banished people or criminals. If not then it means that their family has disowned them which is one of the greatest dishonors amongst others.
Seeing as the man looks rather young, the guard doesn't directly throw him out and tries to question him again.
"Do you have any family here?"
"I don't know."
At this, the guard looks at the other guard in confusion. Isn't that something that one would usually know?
The other guard seems a bit helpless as he tries to politely tell the man to leave.
"You cannot enter the city without a working pass or identification. I'm sorry but please procure yourself with some form of permission before coming back."
What can Ye Mu say? He feels dissatisfied inside but tries to contain himself. He doesn't want to cause a scene. Ye Mu turns around and starts to leave when a voice catches his attention.
"He's with me."
A young boy not much older than 15 speaks up to the guards.
"My older brother has a hard time expressing himself. He's been like that since childhood. Please excuse him for my sake."
Following that, he shows the skeptical guards a wooden plank with a merchant's emblem on it.
The guards aren't dumb enough to believe the little boy's words, but looking at the half naked man with chopped hair standing on the side wordlessly, they felt that he was a little pitiful. Concluding he was harmless with his poor attire and androgynous face, they assented and let both of them through.
After entering the city with the child, what first comes into the man's view is a bustling city filled with humans. Small shops doing business have colorful banners hanging around their stalls as the vendors shout promotions constantly. The common people are haggling prices and chatting away with each other.
Ye Mu realizes quickly that he came into a world where modern tech does not exist. But ever since coming here, weird things kept happening to him. If it isn't some form of advanced technology, then is he supposed to believe it's magic?
"Where do you come from?"
A voice soon breaks his thoughts, and he suddenly remembers the young lass that helped him enter the city by subtly calling him mentally handicapped.
"The jungle."
Hearing the answer, the boy is first shocked, then confused, before he breaks into an awkward laugh and states with certainty:
"That's impossible."
Ye Mu doesn't insist and keeps silent as he reviews the boy in his mind.
The young boy has brown hair and wheat skin with an upturned nose and slanted brown eyes. His clothes are high quality looking, bringing Ye Mu to the realization that the boy before him comes from a privileged background.
"Do you have money?"
"No."
^_^
In a restaurant next to the port of a big city, two men, one small and one big, are eating big plates of food while they make idle conversation.
"Why did you come to Zhàn city?"
Ye Mu is too busy filling his stomach to pay attention to the young boy's questions. But the child is unrelenting as he fires question after question consecutively.
"Why are you dressed like that?"
"..."
"Why is your hair so short?"
"..."
"Did you come here through the northern portal?"
"..."
"Where did you get that pelt?"
"..."