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"Maybe we should let them know we mean them no harm." You say as you turn to Ming. "Could you go talk to them? We might be able to learn more about what's going on." Ming nods and dusts herself off as she stands up.
"Sure. Let's hope my studying paid off." She says and starts her walk around the small lake leaving you and the others alone with a pot of soup on the fire.
"So...which one of you guys knows how to cook?" Xin Lan asks as they eye the cooking food nervously. You quietly scoot away from the food in response...as does Tigress. Bao looks at the three of you curiously. Xin Lan quietly pokes at the fires with a stick. "I guess...I can watch it." They say and turn to face Bao. "Can't you speak Mongolian? Don't you have some kind of magic?"
"Being able to understand all people was one of the many gifts I had to leave behind. As I am now, all I can speak is what I was able to as a girl. So only Chinese." She says pulling her legs close and resting her chin on her knees. "What about you? You aren't Chinese." Xin Lan makes a sour face.
"No. I only know Chinese. That's all I ever needed to know. My brother is the one who knew how to speak more than one language." They say and throw their stick into the flames. "Besides, we had no reason to deal with Mongolians. They had nothing to offer us. Anyways, technically the big guy isn't Chinese anymore either." They deflect in an attempt to bring you into the conversation but you don't respond as you were busy looking at Ming. As before, you couldn't understand a word coming out of either group but it seemed like they could understand one another. Ming's speech was heavily accented compared to the others but it seemed to flow smoothly enough. At the very least, you could see that the others were somewhat surprised at the stranger's ability to communicate with them. Despite their caution, their tone and posture seemed to relax a bit. While it seems like their responses were a bit short and perhaps a bit curt, it seemed like it was more out of the aforementioned surprise and caution rather than any animosity. You think that Ming's experience as a leader was helping her approach and speak with strangers.
Ming pulls out one of the many maps she copied and proceeds to show it to one of the older residents. They lean closer and seem to be discussing something regarding it but you sense something is off. Trusting your instincts you look past them all and into the horizon to see another group of natives approaching. With honed senses, you squint and note that everyone in the group was armed with sharp curved blades and spears. Some even had bows slung on their backs. They were lightly armored however, which was perfect for traveling in these kinds of conditions. Still, these didn't seems like average travelers. While it was common for people traveling in China to have something to protect themselves, you think that this kind of weaponry was excessive for common travelers.
