>>5753812"I don't know." You answer truthfully.
"Ya don't know…?" The old man answers, a bushy eyebrow raised in confusion.
"I don't know anything. When I woke up, I was lying in that crater. I don't remember anything that happened, but since my clothes are tattered, I suppose I might have been attacked by these Honglang people you mentioned. Perhaps they took the starmetal you were talking about, although I can't recall for sure."
"Pfffft. What, did they drop you from a cloud too?" The hoe-wielding skeptic scoffs, earning another annoyed side-eye by the old man. The villagers must respect Jin, given how they all seem to defer to him.
"...I'll admit, your story's strange, kid. But you ain't from around here, that's for sure, and you talk too polite-like to be one of those Honglang thugs." The old man admits. Now that he mentions it, the villager's manner of speech <span class="mu-i">was</span> quite different from yours. The term 'provincial' comes to mind, with vague thoughts of rural countrysides. It's fair to assume you weren't from anywhere similar, if your accent and speech patterns were so different.
"...I am not a kid. I'm fairly certain of that, at least." You correct him. Just as you do, your stomach grumbles aloud. The sound catches you off-guard as much as them. You almost didn't realize you were hungry until now…Was that strange?
"...Hah. Well, seems like they didn't feed ya, <span class="mu-i">wherever</span> you came from." Jin jokes, the other men chuckling with him. "Well, tell ya what. Seeing as there's no fallen star here to pick up, why don't ya come back with us? I'll get you some breakfast, and you can sit down and think a while on what you can remember. See if you can remember anything about that starmetal and where it went."
"Careful now Jin, you know what they say about feeding stray cats now!" One of the villagers jokes, the men all laughing together at that.
The villagers seem good-natured enough. You can't think of any reason to refuse, so you nod your head. "That sounds fair. If I can remember anything, I will tell you." You agree, shifting your weight to drop down. The villagers seem to panic a little as you fall from the highest branch, but you land gracefully on your feet and tilt your head in confusion at the surprise on their faces.
"...Sheesh. You might be onto something, Bao, the boy certainly lands like a cat." Another villager quips. The villagers all chuckle at that, though for some reason, the comparison sparks a faint pang of irritation in your mind. Still, the tension from before had completely evaporated, and so you follow after the villagers on the long trek around the lake and back to their village.
