Shi Zhen Li had never seen a rifle before. Such weapons did not exist in the jungle, and the need for any sort of weapon was a foreign concept to him, as he had never witnessed anything like war in his life. As the sergeant narrowed his gaze on the peaceful warrior monk, Li would smile warmly and raise one arm, waving at Anton with an open hand. By now, Li's saffron colored linen robes were also drying out fairly quickly, and the Aschen marine could see that he was quite primitive. Li himself realized that Anton was either deaf in one ear, or else spoke a foreign language, for the marine had not responded to his inquiry of whether or not he was okay. Li was hoping that the strange foreigner might understand some common universal body language as he waved happily, smiling at Anton as he greeted him from the other side of the river.
Afterwards, the plainly clothed bald-headed monk would turn and grab his simple makeshift wooden walking stick, and gaze out over the swamp to the other shore where Sergeant Valerian was standing. "It appears you went the wrong way," Li chuckled, tapping his walking stick twice on the stone platform. "Unless you plan on trying to jump across again, the temple is this way" he said before turning around and walking towards the entryway. But as he turned to walk away, Li suddenly stopped and considered for a moment that the foreigner might be out of place. Scratching his head, the shorter statured 5 foot 8 inch tall bronze skinned warrior monk turned around again and looked at the Aschen marine.
"You're not from around here, are you?" Li asked inquisitively. "My name is Shi Zhen Li, what's your name?" he said, tapping the base of his walking stick against the beaded jar necklace and draping shoulder sash over his exposed bare chest when saying his own name, then pointing the stick towards Anton while asking for his name. "Are you a spirit?" Li questioned, wondering now if this all wasn't just some kind of great big test from the heavens. He started to wonder if Sergeant Valerian might be an angel sent to guide him on his journey, as Li glanced back at the Temple of Eden for a brief second before staring at the marine dressed in all black.