Tian Renmu was clearly not much older than Jilian... He was probably only six or seven years older.
Facing Tian Renmu, whose body bore markings similar to his own, Jilian first froze, then frowned. "What... does this mean? Are you saying that you're connected to my past?"
"Calm enough." Tian Renmu smiled faintly. "You didn't make a scene or get agitated. That's good."
"So?" Jilian frowned again.
Tian Renmu slowly rolled up his sleeve. "This marking wasn't imitated. It comes from a very special bloodline. Only members of a particular tribe living in the Highlands bear it."
"The Highlands." Jilian quietly repeated the name of the place. "Where are the Highlands?"
"In the west of the world. They're higher than the plateau. Legend has it that once night falls there, you can reach out and gather the stars." Tian Renmu chuckled. "Of course, that's only an exaggerated metaphor. Don't take it seriously."
"I..." Jilian didn't feel like joking. At his age, remaining calm at that moment had already taken everything he had. "...I'm from the Highlands? Are you sure? That's based on one marking alone."
"You doubt it?" Tian Renmu looked at him. Jilian's reaction was somewhat cold, falling into the more negative category among all the reactions he had anticipated.
Jilian shook his head and instinctively said, "No... I just don't know what to do."
He lowered his head, then said softly, "I've already gotten used to my current identity... Perhaps I once wondered who I really was, where I came from, whether I still had relatives in this world, and why they abandoned me. Perhaps I even resented them. But now, all of that feels very distant and unfamiliar. So unfamiliar that I even feel somewhat resistant to it."
Tian Renmu was silent for a moment. "I'm telling