As the group of elves came up the hill, they paused for a moment.
Just appearing in their vision was what seemed like a dirty homeless man.
He wore gray robes, had gray hair, and his eyes were closed. Mist of his body, including his clothing, was covered in dirt.
Even weirder, he did not look like an elf. His ears were round and not pointed, and as previously mentioned, he had gray hair, yet looked young.
The group of elves looked at each other, seemingly communicating with their eyes, before they nodded and walked towards the homeless man.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" The lead elf asked.
The lead elf was a sturdy looking man that seemed to have a lot of life experience. He had blond hair and leather armor, along with everyone else in the group.
"I don't know. I just woke up here." Zhou Fan said, lying.
Once again, the elves looked at each other. They had no idea what to do with the man in front of them.
"Alright then. . The village head will choose what to do with you." The lead elf said.
As two of the elves in the 5 elf group walked up to Zhou Fan and picked him up to his feet, the lead elf momentarily examined the hole.
"Did you see what caused this hole?" The lead elf asked after his examination.
"No." Zhou Fan briefly responded.
The lead elf nodded and began to walk towards the elf village. The other 4 elves, including the two holding onto Zhou Fan, followed him.
The journey from the crater to the village took around 30 minutes.
The village looked more like a temporary camp than an actual village.
Surrounding a small area was a small wall of dirt. It was so small that even a child could get over it.
It was likely meant more as a marker of territory than a defense.
Within the wall were a few stone houses, a walkway, and what seemed like a tree house in the center of it all. There was also the occasional campfire that was being used to cook.
As the group of elves walked through the village, the others stared at Zhou Fan. They were curious as to who he was.
Soon, the elf group reached the tree house in the center of the village. It had only taken around 20 seconds of walking.
The two elves holding Zhou Fan let him stand on his own as he had never tried to run away or resist, while they and the rest of the group stood respectfully as the leader knocked on the ground floor treehouses door.
He too stood slightly in front of the villagers respectfully.
As the door opened up, an old looking elf with dark blond hair opened the door.
He calmly looked at the group of elves until he saw Zhou Fan. Then, his eyes slightly widened with confusion and what seemed like worry or fear.
"Who is this?" The old elf asked.
"We don't know. He was in a crater which was likely the source of the earlier sound. He said he had no idea how he got there, so we brought him here." The lead elf explained.
"Move out of the way. Let me see him clearer." The old elf said.
The members of the elf group respectfully complied.
As the elf examined Zhou Fan, he began to speak.
"Where are you from?"
"I don't know. I've lost all my memories except for my name." Zhou Fan responded.
After another moment of silence, the old elf spoke.
"Come inside Zhou Fan. All of you can go back to wherever you were before." The old elf said as he shooed the elves away.
As Zhou Fan entered the room, he looked around. It wasn't much, but it gave off a certain feeling of peace and tranquility.
"Sit down Zhou Fan. I'll make you some tea." The old elf said as he pulled one of the seats from the table out and gestured to Zhou Fan.
Zhou Fan nodded and sat.
'It seems that this elf man is quite nice.' He said to himself.
"So." The elf spoke as he was preparing some tea. "Can you truly not remember anything besides your name?" He asked.
"It is the truth. I can only remember my name." Zhou Fan responded.
"Well. Call me crazy, but you may be elf royalty. The only feature of yours that differs from their look is your ears." He explained.
"However, the lack of ears can be explained in a few ways. If you don't mind, I would like to take you to the elf capital. There, you will be tested and if you are in fact a high elf, you will find your people and I will have one heck of a payday." The old elf explained.
Zhou Fan nodded along to his words.
"What is a high elf?" Zhou Fan asked. He had met elves before, but there hadn't been such a thing as a high elf.
"The name may make it seem like they are a different species, but they aren't. Essentially, they are elves with a noble bloodline. On average, their talent is higher." The old elf answered. "One thing that they all have in common is their silver hair. While yours is gray, there is still a chance that you are at least 25% high elf."
By now, the tea was done and the old elf brought two teacups over to the table. He poured the tea in the cups and gave one to Zhou Fan.
"If you don't have any objection, I would like to set out tomorrow morning. It will take 4 days of travel to reach them." He said while sighing. "If only I still had my cultivation."
After they finished the tea, the old elf let Zhou Fan stay in one of the unoccupied houses.
Zhou Fan decided to actually let himself sleep that night.
He was woken up at dawn by a knock at his door.