Wow, it's been awhile, this is pretty late, not that I had a release schedule to begin with. Sorry about that. I had to go on a math crunch since my grades were slipping, so there wasn't really any time to write until now.

It's getting pretty late, and I'd like to catch up sleep, so this is a pretty short chapter. Think of it as a background filler chapter of sorts.

Enjoy!

PS: I really suck at thinking up Chinese names, so forgive me for that.

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For awhile, I just stood around with Guard One awkwardly. After a few minutes, however, Guard Two came sprinting back through the gate with a bundle of clothing. He bowed deeply and held it out to me, saying, “I sincerely apologize, Great One, but this is the best clothing we have in the village.”

I shrugged and took it from him.

“Thanks.”, I said simply, and looked over what I had been given.

First was some kind of modern underwear slash loincloth crossover without an elastic band, which I promptly put on, sighing at the loss of refreshing breeze. Next was a stiff gold embroidered red shirt, probably made of cotton, and a similar pair of leggings. Finally, a pair of wood soled sandals went on my feet.

After I had put on my new clothes, Guard Two started fidgeting. When I looked at him curiously, he nervously said, “I-I am terribly sorry, Great Lord, b-but I must ask you to remain here until the village Elder arrives to verify your identity.”. He then cringed as if I’d blow him away for that or something.

I just shrugged again and said to him, “Whatever, I don’t mind waiting.”. I admit, I’m a little worried about this whole identity verifying thing, since I don’t exactly have an identity to verify in this world. I guess if it comes to it, I’ll just have to jump away.

I didn’t have to wait long. After about a minute or two of looking around aimlessly, I spotted an elderly bald man with a long white beard, as if all the hair on the head decided to relocate to his chin. He appeared to be about averagely dressed, not that I knew how the average person dressed around here.

The old man was flanked by three heavily armed guards, in what looked like some kind of metal scale mail, a far cry from the to numb nuts guarding the gate, they must be his personal guard. They each had a long sword at their belts, their hands resting at the hilts. Expecting trouble? Worry not, my shiny new friends, I’m quite the passivist! Unless you’re a twelve meter tall T-rex.

Unlike the two guards the elderly man simply nodded his head at me before he started talking, a refreshing change from the over respectful actions of the guards.

“May the sun greet you, sir. I heard you claim to have killed a Tyrannosaur?”, he asked in a gravelly voice.

I shrug. Too late to go back now.

“I did, the body is about two kilometers into the woods over there”, I say and point back the way I came.

The old man nods and strokes his beard thoughtfully.

“Then, I suppose you wouldn’t mind if we go to confirm this? I hope you understand, we’ve had an awful lot of fakes around here lately, slimy thugs looking to get some free handouts.”, he said with a dangerous glint in his eye.

Ahh, the informality! So refreshing. I hope he doesn’t start to act like the guards after he sees the T-rex.

“Sure, I see no problem with that. I can understand having to watch out for that kind of thing. Do you want to go now? Since I finally have some clothes I’m fine to go whenever.”, I answer nonchalantly.

The old man nods and says, “Lead the way.”

I turn and start walking, and he falls in beside me, his guards following a meter or two behind.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

For a while, neither of us said anything, him apparently content to just walk with me, and I just couldn’t think of anything to say. Finally, something he said came to mind and I decided to ask him about it.

“So.”, I began. He jumps. I must’ve startled him.

“So, I heard you say something about greeting the sun, or something, earlier. Is that some kind of greeting around here? I’m not from this area so I’m kind of out of the loop in regards to customs.”

The old man looks startled. “You must come from truly far away if you have never heard the greeting of the sun.”

I just shrug, willing him to continue.

He looks at me oddly before continuing. “Here in the Hou Zheng Kingdom we greet acquaintances with, “may the sun greet you” to show respect to Yi Yang, the great sun god. It’s mostly used when meeting someone new, as a formality. To have never heard of this, you must have come from outside the range of the church of Yi Yang, which is quite wide indeed.”

I nod sagely, as if I understood anything he just said. That was a lot of information to take in. To summarize, I am currently in the Hou Zheng Kingdom, in Who Knows Where, in which the primary religion seems to be the church of the sun god, Yi Yang. To top it all off, people here greet new people with, ‘may the sun greet you’.

He left me to ponder this, and we ended up walking the rest of the way in silence. Eventually, we came upon the huge gouge I had made in the forest in my little experiment. I’m kind of proud of my navigation skills, this forest is far from thin.

I looked over at the old man to guage is reaction, and he was looking around at the destruction awe, as well as a little fear.

“A Tyrannosaur couldn’t have done this...”, he muttered.

“Ah, yeah, that was me. Rough landing. “ , I say nonchalantly. Hey, the hole’s pretty deep already, why not a little more?

He visibly recoiled from me, giving me a disbelieving glance. He was looking pretty nervous now. Maybe he never actually believed I killed the T-rex?

Soon we reached the end of the path, a big tree with a similarly big hole marking the spot. I looked around, humming to myself thoughtfully. It should be around here, right? Ah, there it is, the green skin lets it sort of blend into the forest, though why such a huge creature would try to blend in is beyond me.

“There it is.”, I say simply, pointing to the corpse.

I heard an audible gulp beside me before the old man shuffled towards it. He stopped a few feet from it and just stared for awhile.

Finally, he turned back to me and said, “One last thing, my lord. A test of strength, if you will, just to be sure.”

Oh great, now he was calling me lord too? I kind of miss when he thought I was a sleazy thug.

I scratch my head and shrug, before walking up to a tree. This should do, right? I dig my hand casually into the wood, and scoop out a handful, feeling about as much resistance as if I had stuck my hand into chocolate pudding. I turn around and raise an eyebrow at him.

He simply nods in confirmation, and says, “Thank you, that should be all.”

I guess that’s it then?

Not much else happened after that, we just walked back to the town in silence. When we reached the gate, the old man stopped and turned to me.

“I thank you for complying with my selfish wishes. Now that I have confirmed you are telling the truth, I, Elder Zuan Gi, would like to formally welcome you to the town of Doulu Zen Ji. I sincerely hope you enjoy your stay.”, he says, and gives me a deep bow.