Ghostly Fragrance [COMPLETED] [UNEDITED]

Speaking the Mothertongue

Travelling the inner plains, the vastness of the grazing plain there was a herd of goats where a herder was watching over them accompanied by a young apprentice. Their clothing was unfamiliar to her; from a distance it seemed like they simply wore robes that were mainly made of cotton and leather and a pair of boots that were seemingly made of animal hide. But, on closer inspection, their inner clothing and personal adornments were surprisingly complex and colorful. Fangsu needed to restock on her supplies and decided to approach them, "Uncle! Little brother! Is there any nearby shop where I can restock my supplies?" She waved at the two shepherds from afar.

However, the pair had confused expressions on their faces but they waved her down, welcoming her. They led her to their temporary settlement where they placed their hands in front of themselves seemingly wanting her to stay in at that spot. The shepherd whispered in the boy's ears something before he rushed over somewhere else. The boy was then accompanied by someone who looked like they were of middle aged, "You need something?" The man spoke in broken Chinese which was hard for Fangsu to understand.

Fangsu nodded at the man, "I need food, water and food for horses," She tried to respond using words that were easy to understand. The man nodded his head as he ordered people to fetch water and food for Fangsu and her horses. The same boy took the reins of Fangsu's horses and led them to a place where they could rest and eat. The sharpers that led her to the settlement returned back to his duties whilst Fangsu was led by a woman who went to lead her to the biggest tent following the middle aged man.

As Fangsu was walking through the settlement, villagers began observing from the sideline, a young man dressed in clothing that was not their own. But, the more intriguing feature of the young man was that they donned a white mask with no engraving and their shiny ash grey hair that resembled the ashes of the people they mourned for. Fangsu tried to listen in the conversation, however the numerous people speaking at once made it difficult to distinguish the language. Nevertheless, she followed the woman into the tent where the middle aged man just entered. Lifting the flaps, the interior was cozy as beautifully crafted intricate embroidered woven woolen pieces hung from the wooden posts that held the structure of the tent. Judging from the people's interactions with the middle aged man Fangsu could tell that he was the leader figure of this settlement, "My people give food to you horses and you rest my home today," Despite his speaking ability to converse with Fangsu was very basic it was enough for Fangsu to understand. The leader was very welcoming to Fangsu offering accommodation to her despite being complete strangers. Fangsu agreed with the accommodation knowing that she would be free from sleeping on the rough ground just for the night.

Another man much younger in terms of age rushed into the tent, placing his right hand on the left of his chest before bowing. He spoke very fast as if in a situation of high urgency. The middle aged man was composed and listened to the young man's words before his eyes widened sending out an order to get a doctor to attend a daughter. Surprisingly, Fangsu was listening to the words and she could understand most of the words. The language was quite similar to how her mother spoke at home with her, her mother tongue. But, Fangsu's infrequent use made it hard for her to speak and a few of the words that the people were using she had no idea of the meaning.

Fangsu turned to the woman that was assisted to care for her during her stay, "What is going on?" Her pronunciation was shaky but enough for the woman to understand who was visibly shocked to see that Fangsu was able to speak and understand their language which was often only spoken within a few tribe that were similar to their own, "Is someone sick?" Her accent was thick but the woman was able to understand.

The woman nodded, "The chieftain's daughter has not been eating and the village doctor don't know why," The woman saw that Fangsu had a hard time understanding some parts of the language and began using hand gestures along with simpler words, "She take medicine but that don't work and she doesn't eat much," She has a directed her hand from her other hand to her mouth, a gesture that was meant to eating or food. Her simplified explanation made it easier for Fangsu to understand the severity of the situation.