Nergüi blinked. Once, then twice, and then three times in a row. He might have gone for a fourth, if his bunned savior did not speak up. "Do you hear me? Do I need to ask you again?" Nergüi's eyes came to and stopped blinking as he focused on the other man's face. He wasn't too ugly, so he decided to play along.
"Relax, I heard you. Would you know where a good weapon spot is?" Again, one of the first times Nergüi had talked to a stranger in a while. Unexpectedly, the bun-man broke out in a toothy grin.
"Aha. An answer I much anticipated. Come along and I'll lead you to the place." As the two walked there together, despite how awkward it was, Nergüi was still confused by what he had just saw. He felt the need to question him, I mean, despite how eccentric he seemed, he clearly knew where they were. Clearing his throat, he spoke up.
"I was lucky you came for me back then, haha." Seeing as the man had remained quiet, Nergüi chose to continue. "If you don't mind me asking a question, bald bun man, where are you from? I was surprised to see someone down south speaking my language."
The bun man's eyes perked up, and he chuckled a bit. "I'm astonished. You're from the land of the Yi, but you've never gone down South? Where did you get such fine silk for your robe?"
Nergüi scowled. "Silk? You think I stole this? What is a man if he cannot weave? No... Never mind that. I've never went outside of these lands. I don't see how that matters." Raising an eyebrow, he looked over to the bun man's hands, where he held a feather in one hand, and a thin white sheet in the other. "What's that?"
As Nergüi was talking, the man seemed to be checking off a list of boxes. Quickly stuffing his feather and paper in the neck of his garb, the man quickly tapped on his shoulder before pointing forward. As Nergüi turned his head, he saw the shop he was at before. While he tried to probe the subject further, he was quickly interrupted by the bun man. "Your sheep are still in this man's hands. I was thinking we'd ought to take them off him before they're sold aswell." Walking up to the merchant, the man began to talk for a bit, before eliciting the same reaction that Nergüi had earlier. Making a puzzled look, he signaled for Nergüi to come over.
"You talked to this merchant earlier, right?" Nergui nodded, "Should be common knowledge, but different people speak different languages. When conversing with someone foreign, try seeing if they know words in basic Xunic first. Keep it in mind. For now, I will excuse it because I'm fluent in many languages." As the man and the merchant began to talk to each other in his language, Nergüi frowned. What did he even mean by that? Did he really think he was that stupid? There were two things mainly on his mind right now though: What was Xunic, and why were they still here?
"Hey, bun man, what're we here for? I already got my sheep." Nergüi took his herding stick from the Merchant's hands, sighing in relief as he felt its familiarity in his hands, now if only he had his horse.
"Don't call me that... And relax, me and him are old friends, we're just catching up. I have a duty to leave this city soon too, you know?" The bun man shook his head
"You're friends? Really?" Nergüi was surprised.
"Obviously not, retard. What weapon was it that you wanted? It would take too long to get anything special forged for you, so since you seem to be in a hurry, just get something in stock." Nergüi was un-surprised, but then re-surprised again as he thought for a bit, considering what he had thought of earlier. "Ask him if he's built any longbows, ones that can be used on horseback." He nodded, and then turned back to the merchant, talking for a bit before holding up Nergüi's bag unprompted and showing him its contents. He went silent for a bit, before the discussion fired up again.
The bunned man turned to Nergüi after a bit. "He says in exchange for your worthless bag of wool and skin or whatever, you'll receive one of his finest longbows. Pretty hard things to make, he says."
The barbaric man's eyes gaped in shock, as did his mouth. One longbow was worth the efforts of these past 3 years? Seriously, he didn't know things were so expensive in real cities. Pausing for a moment, he began to mutter under his breath "..I could make one myself... No.. If only I could go eagle hunting..." For like, a minute straight, he kept doing the same thing before sighing and deciding to give in. Looking up from his slump to the bun man, Nergüi sighed. "I'll take it. Tell the merchant that and give him the bag."
As he shrugged and gave him the bag, the merchant handed him a fairly normal looking longbow in exchange. Taking it into his hands and inspecting it, Nergüi couldn't help but be disappointed, but decided to move on. Stuffing it under his sash and continuing to walk with the bunned man, he decided to fire some questions. "Hey, you helped me, but I still haven't got your name. Would you mind telling me more about that 'Xunic' thing you mentioned earlier?"
"Woah, woah. Slow down, buddy. Too many questions for me to handle." The bunned man chuckled.
"But that was only two?"
"Still," The man with the bun turned his head to Nergüi. "I guess I'll answer you. My name is Lu, and I'm a... merchant from the empire over those mountains there." Lu pointed to a mountain range that was fairly close to the city. "As for the 'Xunic' thing I mentioned, that's what we call the language you and I both speak."
"Xunic? That's what you call it?... What's the reason for that name?" Nergüi asked.
"What'd you come here for, northerner?" The subject was changed rather quickly by Lu. It seemed that he was getting impatient for som reason. "What do you plan on doing after leaving this city?"
"I don't know. I've had a pretty bad day, my horse died so I can't really go anywhere." Nergüi felt like he was oversharing a bit by now, but he quickly brushed away the thought from his mind.
Lu badly pretended to look thoughtful for a moment, but Nergüi didn't catch on. "Hm.... What if I told you, I could fulfill your deepest dreams?"
"....What the fuck are you talking about?"
Lu stopped in place, and took out a small sack. "I trust you enough to tell you this now, but.. Don't tell anybody else. From over the mountains, I came here with a wealthy caravan. A group of experienced adventurers and merchants. We're in a pursuit of a great treasure, I tell you."
"My ancestors passed down the stories, of a great, powerful treasure hidden in the deserts to the west. Legends say that it brings you your greatest wish. The poor man can ascend to nobility. The dumb man can turn smart. A paralyzed body can be reinvigorated, a man can turn into a beast there, if he so pleases, and vice versa. If you were to come with my caravan, young barbarian, I can guarantee you that we could get you all the riches you'd ever want." The man opened a sack and pulled out a small map, handing it to Nergüi for him to look over.
He gave Lu a quizzical look. Did such a treasure truly exist? With that... No, he wouldn't only be able to revive his dead horse. He would possibly be able to gain control of his right arm again. Looking around them to make sure nobody was looking, Nergüi nodded and handed him the map. "Truth be told, I myself have amazing abilities." His reason for accepting wasn't only because he was a bit gullible, but because he had nothing left to lose. Besides his weapons and clothing, he couldn't really roam the steppes without his horse. He was half a man without one.
Lu turned around and led the way to his merchant group's resting spot, and a few minutes later, when they were at the edge of town, they arrived. Looking around, Nergüi didn't notice anything all too special. There was a few roughed up wagons with some donkeys standing around them, some tents not too different from his yurts, and a few people standing around. 3 actually, even though there was 5 bags. One was a middle aged woman who'd clearly let herself go, another was presumably her husband or boyfriend, who was a feminine midget. You'd probably assume him to be her son or something were it not for the fact that they were making out. And, the last one was a man who looked similar to Lu, but was older, more buff, and had ditched the weird hairstyle in exchange for a markedly extra-foreign chonmage topknot.
Standing there, confused, Lu put his hand on Nergüi's shoulder and gestured for him to sit down at the nearby campfire. "Pretty shabby, huh? Well, you've no need for your worries. Just sit down and rest, you must be very tired. I'll be in my tent.... Doing something" And he did. Nergüi sat down and inspected the sky for a good thirty minutes. But he was bored. By now, he had tuned out the noises coming from the woman and midget's tent, but, he couldn't help but listen into what was happening in Lu's tent. The chonmage guy was elsewhere, so... Who was he talking to? Getting up and walking to the tent, he waded through the entrance unprompted, almost fainting at what he saw.
"Ow! Man, be careful on the neck. Is chivalry dead?"
"No. It's because you're a thief, not a woman. It's not my fault you're so weak to the touch of metal. Or, anything for that matter, haha."
Sitting infront of him was Lu and the neckless body of the thief whose head he'd chopped off earlier. With a thread and needle in his hand, Lu seemed to be halfway through sewing his head back onto his body.
"Uh, well, maybe I... Hey, who's that?" The thief snapped out of it and pointed to Nergüi, who was frozen in place and had gone pale.
"Don't wiggle around so much, we'll have to start over again, and," Lu's head turned too, and he dropped his needle onto the floor. "It looks like our Khan found out earlier than expected.... KEN! KNOCK HIM OUT COLD!"
Nergüi was too shocked to speak. What did they mean by khan? How was he doing that crazy sorcerer shit to his head? "You're a liar, Lu. This caravan is a melting pot of a witches."
Lu shrugged as Nergüi felt a sharp thump at the back of his head, toppling over, the last words he heard before his later awakening were spoken in a deep, strong voice. "Not witches, northerner, we're just civil servants. Just doing our job for the great Xun Dynasty." And at a moment's notice, even the strong barbarian had gone to sleep.
As Nergüi's eyes opened, the air around him, instead of feeling dry and warm, felt more chilly and humid than ever before. A minute ago, he was knocked out on the outskirts of Cascar, and now he was in some sort of unknown place. It was like... His home in the north, but more temperate. Could it be? Were the last 3 years all a dream? Or had he been reborn as a spirit. Sitting upright, Nergüi noticed that he was tied up, and in one of the wagons he had seen earlier. He was at a similar campsite too, but instead of being surrounded by sand, or yellow grass, or weird, out of place trees, he was surrounded by a field of green. The same as last time, he could also faintly hear voices coming from Lu's tent. Oh, wait, not faintly. It seems the 'Ken' from earlier and Lu were in a screaming match.
"YOU TOLD US YOU WOULD BRING BACK A KHAN!" Ken shouted
"You can't fucking blame me! He was the only northerner around, how do you expect me to differentiate? He met all of the criteria!" Lu seemed more calm, but he was still pretty loud. A bad quality, to be so shrill.
"....Like what?"
"For starters, he can weave.."
The shouting continued, louder this time, as the thief from earlier walked out of the tent, holding his head and sighing. Taking out a cigarette and preparing to light it up with his finger, he looked to the tied up man, before walking back into the tent.
"I don't know! Just kill him or something! Get out!"
Sighing more deeply this time, the thief walked out yet again, before loosening some of the rope on Nergüi, and beginning to drag him across the grass. Having more questions than ever, Nergüi decided to fire some off. "Where are you dragging me to? What is this place?"
The thief's face wasn't visible to Nergüi, but if he had to guess, he was grinning. "I forgot you could speak, fake Khan. For the last week, you've been dead silent. Even when that pair was screwing right at your front door.. Haha." The thief looked back to the camp to make sure that he was far enough away. After a few minutes of silence, he continued to speak. "Right now, we're on the outskirts of the long-standing Xun Dynasty's empire. As for where I'm dragging you to... I plan on getting you to a remote location and then killing you. So ask me as many questions as you'd like until then. I assure you I'm much more lax than the others."
Although Nergüi tensed up a bit, he calmed down quickly thereafter. What was the point? Better to take in his surroundings until he died, rather than wallow in his own misery. "Ok." Nergüi yawned, still tired for some reason. "Why're you killing me? Animal blood is much safer to drink. You must have enough milk to last you for days, right?"
"Yes we do, but we can always just stop at a local village and fill up on some water. That's pretty commonplace down south. You're not being killed for blood, don't worry. No one here has enough stomach to drink that unharmed. We're killing you based on a case of mistaken identity."
Nergüi looked up. "What do you mean by 'mistaken identity'? That's not fair, why am I being killed because you thought I was someone else?"
"Not me, it was Lu. He just began checking all the boxes on the list we gave him willy nilly. Probably wanted to get the job done quick, but that's a bad priority when you've been personally tasked by the Emperor." The thief stopped in his tracks. "I can't believe he thought you led the Khanate that's been launching attacks on us for so long. I mean, seriously. You look strong, but I haven't seen your right arm move once this entire trip. Clearly lame in that respect." The thief continued walking.
"Yeah, I'm paralyzed there. Happened in a fight. Do you often get into situations like that, being in your line of work?"
"Oh, no way. We work with the government, after all. This was a rare occasion, the Emperor has been rather upset lately, so he's been sending as many people as he can to look for threats to the empire. The midget couple was a pair of freelancers, don't mind them. I'd like to hear about that fight of yours though... Have you ever raided a place before?" The thief asked.
"Nothing too exotic, but I was in a clan war once. Xunic life seems pretty tame, huh? Is it all easygoing?"
"...No. I asked because I've experienced such things. Before I ascended to my position, I too lived through famines and such things. In the northern parts of the territories controlled by the Xun, there are whole villages of your kin, not only because of migration, but because either all the women there fell victim to them, or all the men died... I'm surprised that you haven't done such things though, you seem respectable despite your quirks."
"Haha. We've only talked for a minute or two, slow down. By the way, what were those powers you guys used the other day? The fire and sewing things."
"Well, even if you're a dead man, I can't tell you that. Such a government secret shouldn't be leaked, especially not to a northerner. Oh, what do you know, we're here." Nergüi stood up and scanned the area infront of him. Besides the beautiful river, there was really nothing else. Remote he said, right.
Nergüi sighed. "It's been good meeting you, thief guy. By the way, you never told me your name. Could I have the pleasure of knowing who's to take my life?"
The thief frowned. "My name is Guo. I don't like it much, doesn't suit me. Yours?"
"Nergüi Ganbaatar. I think it's alright, but it doesn't do its intended purpose. To ward off bad spirits, you know?"
There was an awkward silence, as Guo unsheathed a dagger and hesitated to lift it against the tied up man. This went on for around 30 seconds before Nergüi spoke up.
"You're having trouble raising your blade against me? Please do it swiftly. I've accepted my fate."
Guo clutched his head, as if he had an intense headache, before slicing the ropes which ensnared Nergüi open. Finally unrestricted, the man let out a big exhale, before stretching a bit. "...What's with the sudden change of mind?"
"I don't know, Nergüi. But I don't want to kill you. Normally, I would kill any other northerner on sight, but you're way too calm." Guo shook his head, shoving his dagger into a small hilt. "You don't seem regular at all. During the little time we talked today, I felt like I wasn't surrounded by retards for the first time in weeks. I mean, come on. Just because that guy can wave a sword around and stitch up wounds doesn't mean he gets to cut off my head. Besides, Lu, does he even know your name? You know his, but I didn't hear yours before this. And the far-eastern one... Don't get me started." Guo shuddered. Nergüi figured this Guo guy was right. Lu seemed pretty egotistical.
"So what does that mean? Am I dying, or not?"
"What can you do in the end? I'll just tell those guys I killed you, and we can go our separate ways. The worst you could do is scare some poor herder off by drinking the blood of his sheep, but nobody really cares. Nobody took your sword and... Horseskin container, so don't worry about that, you can still survive. Maybe with some difficulty, but that's alright." Guo gave Nergüi a genuine smile.
"Wow. Thanks a lot, Guo. You planning on pulling that same trick in Cascar on some guy like me again? Going for another round over the mountain?"
Guo scowled now. "Hey man, look, I'm sorry about that. I wouldn't have done it if I'd spoke to you beforehand, or if I was told the plan. Don't bring the past up, I'm a changed man." A week ago was when this whole thing happened. "You're a good guy, don't let it go to your head. Now, I'll be heading back. It'd be better to run now, in case they don't believe me and come to check. I would've killed you if we didn't have this talk, remember that." Both of them began to walk away from eachother.
"Wait!" Guo put his hand on Nergüi's shoulder, as he turned around. "I forgot to give you one tip while living under the Xun." He gave the thief a quizzical look. "In this land, never trust your eyes. Whatever they see, all of it is uncertain. Those who hold faith in them would think it better to live rather than know the truth....." Nergüi's look turned into a weird stare. "Farewell."
A few hours later, both were gone, nowhere near where they were previously. Obviously, by now, Nergüi had gotten rather hungry. He was given water while asleep, but no food, so, obviously he was starving. Roaming around and humming to himself, he heard a familiar noise and looked behind him in delight. It was a sheep! And the man had found a nice meadow!
Taking his saber out of its hilt and pressing it against the beast's head, Nergüi smiled. It had been a good morning.
