Uncle Wang grasped the reigns and whipped lightly, "Get on, Lassy you'll need to be ready if that vulture comes back!"
The large lizard creature purred like a cat and dug its claws into the ground before jumping off and moving. Hamar turned to Yan and the two kept behind at a moderate pace, one that'd be realistic for a healthy couple of mortals.
An hour or so later, they arrived to town, at the back of a line of similar caravans. Uncle Wang slowed Lassy and gave her a crystal to eat, "From now on you both are part of my family Wang Hao and Wang Yan, right?" He winked playfully while turning his head to face Hamar and Yan.
Hamar nodded, "Of course, if you say Uncle Wang!" Yan similarly put her hands together and bowed.
Uncle Wang chuckled and bent down, whispering in Hamar's ear, "If you aren't from around here, you'll be ripped off with the amount of crystal needed. Once you pass the gates, no one will mind though."
"Thank you, really."
"No need to thank me, we're moving forward now. When we get to the gates just stay quiet and hand over the payment. Since you don't have a token like mine, you'll be given a visitors token just say your 'name' and leave it at that."
Hamar nodded and they waited their turn. The line slowly built up behind them as more carriages arrived, at the same time they were moving forward as more and more were allowed into town. Yan leant over to Hamar and whispered into his ear, "There's a significant amount of qi masters, there's a likelihood there might be a hidden cultivator, we must try to stay hidden in case they have ties to Yi Sect."
Hamar didn't say anything and just nodded. They once again move forward more and finally it was their turn. Uncle Wang spoke with the guards and informed them of his distant relatives from outside of the area. He made up some details then the guards turned to Hamar and Yan.
"Crystal payment, names." The guards wore black armour in laid with veins of pink crystal. They did not hold weapons but Yan could detect they were low level Qi masters.
Yan pulled out the crystal she had been deducing earlier, the one broken off from Hamar's Sword Soul. She held it out, "Is this enough?"
One of the guards picked fit up and felt its weight in his hands before raising his eyebrows, "High quality and pure. This is more than enough, are you just wanting visiting tokens?"
Hamar looked to Uncle Wang but he had already moved along, "uh, what's the difference or the options?"
"If you plan on doing any significant trade you'll need a merchants token which costs triple the price. Or you'll want a citizens token if you plan to live in town for a year or longer; that's double price." the guard patiently explained the basic options.
"Ah then just two visitor's tokens please. Wang Hao and Wang Yan."
"Wang Hao, Wang Yao..." He took out two pink-hued pieces of wood and using a pen artifact he scratched in the names. They were written in a script Hamar could not recognise.
"...there you go, if you have any questions I'm sure your uncle won't have issues explaining or any guard, assuming they aren't busy."
Yan held out her hand and after taking her Token she fiddled with it in her hand before flashing a smile, "Thank you!"
She had not changed her looks and despite some dirt and hiding in a hood, her beauty was undeniable. The guard coughed and hid his blush, "Thank you ma'am, move on now."
Hamar smirked and walked along, waving down Uncle Wang. Once he caught up he pulled out the token he had received, "We got out tokens but what are they used for?"
"Identification just so the guards will know you belong here. See this says your name, that says your start date and how long you are permitted to stay."
Hamar raised his eyebrows, "I assume you'll be busy now selling your product?"
"Yes, I can't accompany any longer. My last bit of help will be to look for Hold Lake inn and say I recommended you. They'll give you a good price, have a great time travelling and stay safe!"
Hamar bowed deeply, "You too, Uncle!"
He laughed and simple walked away, walking beside Lassy while stroking her. The large lizard didn't stand out on the streets as they were wide and had many different kinds of creatures of all sizes prowling. Yan caught up to Hamar and looked at the building for a moment t before saying, "First thing to do is find an inn we can have as a homebase. Then we'll see if there's some slums."
"Slums?"
"Think about it. The slums won't need identification and will have all the information. If there's any suspicious things that might have relation to Yi Sect around here, they'll know."
"I see...we'll, I have an inn recommendation from Uncle Wang. 'Golden Lake'"
The two walked through the town and asked the occasional person which direction to fins the inn and after a few minutes they stood outside of the building. It looked much like all the rest of the building with a simple wooden plaque which presumably said 'Golden Lake' but both Yan and Hamar could not read it.
"It's a shame we can't read the words."
Yan commented, "I could read it if we needed to buy looking into the essence but for now we need to keep a low profile. That technique to look into essence might be detected by the guards."
"I see...looking into essence...like 'reading' the intention of the writer and that will let you understand without reading?"
"That's the idea, but like I said no need to think about that for now, not unless we take the time to make sure we can't be spotted. They are just Qi masters and not cultivators but you shouldn't underestimate them still..."