2 Yin Patriarch gets scammed!

"Jade Amulets! Buy some Jade amulets! Boss, you look like a very lucky person. Mm! Look at that face, enough to make maidens swoon! How about a jade amulet to gift to your beloved?"

Yin Shi Feng stopped by the stall when he heard the merchant call out to him. Looking from the left to the right, and noticing there was no one beside him in front of the stall, he happily walked towards the merchant.

"Haha! Jade amulets, was it?" he asked.

"Yes. Newly smuggled in from the North Kai!" Looking around, he lowered his voice and whispered conspiratorially. "I heard the Human Emperor of North Kai himself ordered these made and killed off all the jewel-makers seeing how one of a kind they were!"

Although Yin Shi Feng knew this was another one of those so called sales pitches and unlikely to be true, he stilled co-operated. " Really?" he asked, leaning in to observe the jade product more attentively.

The sales man nodded enthusiastically. "Really. I heard that one night, when the emperor was sleeping, all the stash of jade amulets disappeared from the imperial treasury, and somehow ended up here!"

"No! Who could've done it, I wonder?" Yin Shi Feng asked, playing along.

The sales man smirked, showing his gleaming gold tooth. "Who else could it be except for that dastardly Yin Patriarch!? I heard he could steal in broad daylight when his victim is standing right in front of him! Tch! If you asked me, he should've emptied the whole vault while he was at it, too!" The sales man went on and on about his speculation, not noticing that Yin Shi Feng's smile had become quite strained.

"Say, brother!" Yin Shi Feng was startled when the man suddenly called out to him. "What?" he asked, eyeing the man skeptically.

The salesman grinned deviously, and held out a jade amulet. "You look like you have an affinity with this amulet. 50 gold coins! It's yours!" he said.

Yin Shi Feng was still preoccupied with what the man had said about Yin Patriarch's ability to steal in broad daylight, that he absentmindedly took the offered jade. "50-" then his brain caught up with what he heard. "50 GOLD Coins?!! Why don't you go rob someone instead?!" he yelled.

The sales man seemed as if he didn't hear him curse, as he waved his hand, nonchalantly. "50 gold coins is still cheap you know. I'll give you a discount since you seem like a honest man. 49 gold coins!" He held out a hand.

At the ridiculous price and the even more ridiculous discount, Yin Shi Feng had the urge to smash the jade amulet and stomp on it. Ruthlessly stamping down the childish urge, he rummaged around in his pocket, and handed out the amount.

The merchant was too busy counting his coins that he waved him off, impatiently, none of the amiability could be seen when he first called out to him.

He brought out the jade he just bought and examined it carefully. He was so busy examine the jade that he didn't notice the man heading towards him until he bumped into him.

"Hey watch it, numbskull!"

With veins popping in his head, Yin Shi Feng retorted back. "You watch it!"

'Rude bastard!' Muttering to himself, irritably, he dusted himself off. Yin Shi Feng then searched around for the jade he had dropped during that collision. Seeing it lying on the side of the road,he went over and picked it up. That was when he noticed the small scratch on it's surface. Not taking it into heart, he scrubbed it on his sleeve, then lifted it up to examine it again.

The scratch was still there. He tried to rub it off. No result.

Then his expression promptly changed. He had been scammed!!

_

Rushing back to the stall, he stood in front of it panting. Then he really wanted to curse. The merchant stall was all boarded up and deserted! If people found out that the infamous Yin Patriarch got scammed then they would be laughing it up to the high heavens!

Scratching his head, he looked around the stall, when-

"Little brother, anything the matter?"

An aged voice asked, and Yin Shi Feng turned around to see a paddler pulling his cart coming his way. Taking off his hat, the paddler stopped to fan himself. It looked like he was coming to the capital city to sell his wares.

Shaking his head, Yin Shi Feng smiled and asked. "Grandpa. Sorry. But do you know the bast-Uh! I mean do you know the big brother working in this stall?" he asked gesturing to the closed up shop.

The paddler looked at the shop, then his gaze turned sympathetic.

"you-ai! Little brother, forget it. You've been scammed. That Wan Jin never learns, and he had even started to scam from cultivators too, from the looks of it," the paddler said, looking Yin Shi Feng up and down.

"Grandpa knows I'm a cultivator?" Yin Shi Feng asked, bewildered.

"It isn't hard. Hardly just anyone would wear the San Shouge Sect's symbol," he said, gesturing to the arm band worn on his left upper arm.

San Shouge sect, or better known as Three songs' sect was headed by the 12th head of the generation, San Mingyun. Like many sects, Three Songs' sect hardly concern themselves with mundane affairs, and hardly have any contact with the jianghu. They are better known as hidden sects of the world.

In the Qing Wu continent, long ago, there were chaotic wars and conflicts that broke out numerous times over resources. That was when four cultivators rose among the masses and quelled the rebellions in their respective regions.

Afterwards they established territories in those regions and the era of dynasties began.

The first dynasty came from the Northern region called the North Kai. Headed by the Kai family, they were said to be a group of foreign travelers that settled down in the North Kai during the warring times of the Qing Wu continent.

Their head, Kai Gushung, was said to be the most prominent cultivator of their line for many generations.

In the south was a local cultivator from a small clan that rose up against the rising tides of war and protected his clan from disaster. He was hailed as a hero of his time and was generously called, "South Lion" Nie Wenli. He established the Southern Kingdom of the Qing Wu continent, and became its overlord.

Many say that the South not only guards against inner conflicts but also guards against outside invaders as well due to its strategic vantage point. Therefore many had tried to conquer the South region to no avail. The South Lion's line stood strong and valiant and none could shake their supremacy in the Southern borders.

To the East was a land of snow as far as the eye can see. Like the North rules the Sea route, the East harbors a winter so cold it is said that no normal human would ever survive there. But contrary to speculations, the clan that rose to prominence in the Eastern land was a clan named Xue, and its head Xue Ren was said to be able to manipulate the ice element with his music.

It has to be said, that unlike popular belief, cultivators do not cultivate martial arts or even body tempering arts. What they cultivate is the mind and their dao heart, and what they practice is the Dao of Music, an extraordinary path of cultivation that can quell many heart demons and defeat restless spirits. Although, practicing martial arts and tempering the body can be considered quite necessary, the cultivators only practice them as a foundation and not put much emphasis on it, nor do they force others to do it either.

The world's standard of strength was measured by how far a cultivator had reached in the Dao of Music.

This Dao practice had five stages. Earth Apprentice, Mortal Emperor, Heaven Sovereign, Immortal Ascension and lastly Immortal. Each stage has three ranks. Lower, middle and upper. Five stages and 15 ranks in total. This was the standard of strength in the Dao Qi world.

No one has ever found out what lies beyond immortality. Well, except for maybe one person. The Music Emperor.

"That year the Music Emperor himself gave the Three Songs sect a piece of music script. That elevated the sect's strength above and beyond until not a single person, human or cultivator didn't know of its name," The Paddler said, wistfully.

Yin Shi Feng tilted his head neither agreeing nor disagreeing. It was true that piece of music script elevated their strength, but it also attracted unnecessary troubles. Although the Music Emperor did it with good intentions, but he had forgotten the human greed that resided in cultivators. After all, they were all humans first and cultivators second. And if one side got all the benefits, leaving none for the rest, then jealousy and greed are bound to erupt. That was exactly what happened to the Three Songs Sect.

They became strong, true. But they also became hunted because of it. Treasuring a jade ring can become a crime, after all.

That was why many years later, the Three Songs Sect is still known as a hidden sect. Not because they wanted to, but because whenever the Three Songs Sect was mentioned, it became a mass massacre instead. Disciples get hunted down to the ends of the earth and the many sect masters for generations had become moving targets for other powerful forces to hunt.

This went on for many years until the 10th sect master, Song San Po, handed out a decree that declared that the Three Songs Sect withdrawing from the mortal world. It was more like going into hiding, but then again, who could refuse it?

Whenever the disciples had to go out to gain experience, they had to do so by hiding their sect's name and wondering as vagabond cultivators. Such humiliation was more than anyone could bare. At least by becoming a hidden sect meant that the clan's future was secured and the disciples could once again go out into the world, without the fear of being hunted down like dogs.

Although a skirmish here and there was unavoidable, but it wasn't half as bad as being hunted miserably like in the past.

And after generations passed, there wasn't half as much enthusiasm to hunt down the Three Songs sect like it had been in the past. So much so, that people within the clan are starting to harbor thoughts of coming out of hiding.

Yin Shi Feng grimaced as he thought about it. Fortunately, his teacher was on the more passive side, and because of the decree handed down to every sect leader after Song San Po, that said to never taint themselves with worldly affairs, many had opted to observe on the side.

"So grandpa is from-" Yin Shi Feng asked, trying to divert the subject.

"Oh. I'm from the West. I've been travelling for so many days, it's become hard to judge what day it is,"

"If you must know, it's the 20th of Lunar Cycle. I heard the Western Tribes are quite war-loving people," Yin Shi Feng said, handing out a water gourd for the old paddler.

"No, no. That is just rumors," Paddler said. Yin Shi Feng waited fro the Paddler to drink his fill. Sighing, the paddler handed back the gourd, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve. "Although we do have our fair share of conflicts, but not to the point that we go out of our way seeking war, ya know!"

Come to think of it, Yin Shi Feng had read something like that about the Western Tribes in one of the books within The Three Songs Sect's Book pavilion.

It is said that like the East is famed for its snow covered land, the West was famous for its Western Desert.

It is said that once, long ago, a meteorite had fallen on the western land and transformed over half of it into a desert. The other land mass became inhabitable, and only one tenth of the once prosperous land could be said to be decently habitable.

No one knows when, but one day, a group of worn out merchants settled down in that small piece of land. It was said, that the group of merchants had met with a bandit attack on their way and their original thousand man troop was reduced to a mere 50 group of people.

These 50 or so merchants settled down in the western land, and started a small tribe. Some broke off from their main group because of conflicting interests and started their own tribes within the Western Lands, and now many years later, those small tribes had become clan that could contend head to head with the dynasties of other lands.

From what Yin Shi Feng had learnt, the Western Tribes each have their own leaders, and those leaders chose one among themselves to be their chieftain. The leader of leaders. It's like choosing a king to lead their kingdom.

And their cultivation is nothing to laugh at either. From what he had heard, the current chieftain was someone named, Hui Tai Long, and he was rumored to be a Upper-rank Immortal.

He said so to the paddler who was now putting up a stall at the side of the road. Going over, he started to help as they chatted.

"Is that so? My- It looks like the West isn't as unpopular as I believed it to be!" the Paddler said.

Yin Shi Feng tilted his head, intrigued. "It's just some scribbles in a notebook. Hardly believable facts," he said.

"Then what would you consider believable?"

"Things that I can verify with my own eyes and hear with my own ears, feel with my own skin and smell with my own nose. That is what I'd believe in. Not some rumors,"

"Well said,"

After that, they worked in silence.

The paddler wanted to pay him for his work, but Yin Shi Feng refused vehemently, saying a help given is a help needed. Waving goodbye, he took his leave.

However if he looked back, he would see that where the old man stood was now a young man in his thirty with not a trace of grey hair on his head. Looking in the direction where Yin Shi Feng had gone, he smiled. "What an interesting youngster!" he exclaimed, his black eyes twinkling.

Then he reverted back to his old self in a puff of smoke and continued to sell his wares to passing pedestrians.