The Other Side of the Mask

"Are you ok?" a small voice asks me.

I look up and see a pretty young woman, about my age. I scramble back onto my feet.

"Y-yeah…"

I pick up the items I dropped when I fell.

"Oh my, are you from Yue Kingdom?"

"Y-yeah…how did you know?"

"The Lunar coins," she points at my money.

"Oh…"

"Do you want to stay at my Inn tonight? We'll accept the Lunar coins."

It wasn't a bad deal, especially since my currency probably won't be accepted anywhere else.

"Ok!"

I cheer up and follow her.

"By the way, my name is DongMei, you can just call me Mei."

"Ok, I'm QiLing."

She shows me to my room. It wasn't as elaborate as Yue Castle, but not as desolate as my old home. I settle in and Mei brings food over.

"Why do you accept Lunar Coins?" I ask curiously.

"We have a restaurant in the Inn and we buy many products from Yue Kingdom. It's easier when there's Lunar Coins used."

"Um, is it possible to trade some of my Lunar Coins into the currency of this kingdom?"

"Of course!" Mei's eyes shine brightly, "We would be happy to!"

"Uh, so…"

"One Sun Yuan is equal to two Lunar Coins."

I pull out 30 Lunar coins and get 15 Sun Yuan back.

"Thanks for doing business!" Mei smiles cheerfully, "So what are you going to do in Ri Kingdom?"

"Uh, I think I'll travel around…" I say thoughtfully.

I want to try to find the place that the guy took me from. I wonder where my real parents are right now.

Then I remember the part with the 'guards'. Maybe I was a wealthier family?

"Mei, do you know where most wealthy people live?"

She thinks thoughtfully, "The nearest ones are in the capital over there."

She points out the window at the city I saw before.

"Aww, I always wanted to go to the capital," she says, dreamy eyed.

Then her face falls, "If you're going there, you'd better be careful. It's outskirts are full of bandits and mercenaries."

"Oh, ok… thanks for the warning."

After some awkward silence, Mei heads down to give her father the Lunar coins.

I head out the next morning after breakfast.

"Take care!" Mei screams after me, waving.

"You too!" I scream back happily.

I'm so glad to be back into an innocent life. I'm going to start anew! Hmm… maybe I should change my name too. YingYue! That's it! That's my new name! I walk and walk towards the city. I enter a forest and look at the scenery. Ri Kingdom really is beautiful! There was a waterfall and bustling animals all around! I camp out for the night in a cave.

"Little girl, just where do you think you're going?"