Chapter 1 The Lonely Boy

In an alleyway in a city, a boy sat as he ate his bread. 'The amount today was even less.' He thought as he munched on the loaf in his hand.

This boy was Yang Yu, and he was 12 this year. He has lived the life of an orphan for much of his life, and due to this fact, he had to turn to stealing a few years ago. 'If the orphanage's food wasn't cut so short, I wouldn't have these bloody problems.' He contemplated as he finished the bread in his hand.

As he looked towards the sky, his scruffy black hair blocked his view. 'It's going to be winter soon, at that point these robes won't be able to keep me warm.' He thought as he subconsciously tugged on his pitch black robes.

"Just 3 months." He said to himself as his dark black eyes twinkled with hope, while gazing at the clear night sky.

A Week Later

"Yang Yu, are you ready?" A scruffy middle aged man asked. "Yes." Yang Yu replied concisely as the middle aged man nodded. "Good, the inventory will be arriving in 2 hours, remember, time is of the essence." The middle aged man explained.

"Understood." Yang Yu said as he put on his hood and his mask, before leaving out of the door. 'Hah, that kid doesn't know how much I am scamming him.' The middle aged man plotted before cackling madly.

'That man takes me for a fool, but he's too stupid to realise, who said I'd be giving him the inventory?' Yang Yu schemed as he perched himself on a roof.

Yang Yu's life had been fraught with scams, and minor betrayals, so he was sensitive to people who were trying to play him for a fool.

Precisely 2 hours later multiple carriages began tumbling through the road. 'The peak of darkness, not a bad time to deliver precious goods, but they forget, their advantage is also a thieves advantage.' He thought as the first carriage passed by.

With that Yang Yu breathed out a sigh of relief. 'Within the convoy, the guards are always at the front and the back.' Yang Yu reasoned as he imagined facing those fearsome guards.

As the carriages passed by a bright red carriage passed him, as he chuckled softly. 'If one wasn't informed, they'd think the treasure was on that carriage, but its all a rouse.' Yang Yu thought as he gazed at an unremarkable carriage.

"Checkmate." He muttered as he walked back. As soon as the carriage was close enough Yang Yu burst forward at high speed before jumping over the roof and onto the carriage.

"Creak."

The carriage creaked as Yang Yu landed onto it, but he wasn't noticed. Specifically for this mission he was fitted with robes with the same colour as the night sky so as to reduce the chances of him being spotted. Not only that, but he chose the perfect spot to jump onto the carriage, the spot with a pit hole.

This would put off suspicion of anything abnormal, and would put all the blame onto the ruined road. As the carriage rocked forward Yang Yu lay flat as he grabbed at the side of the carriage.

Suddenly multiple flames lit up ahead and behind the convoy as people began to scream.

"You shitty nobles! You eat lavishly all day, and we stay here starving!"

"You scum, you've drained the country of all its resources!"

"You all have no honour!"

They screamed one after the other as the convoy came to a halt, as this happened Yang Yu stealthily jumped off the carriage swinging into it. Inside there lay a pedestal on which a steel ring lay.

'All this, for this ring.' Yang Yu thought as he carefully took off the glass case surrounding the ring, after that he snatched it and placed it on his left pinkie finger, before replacing the ring with a decoy and placing the glass over it again.

'All these years of thievery have culminated into this one moment.' He thought as he grabbed some dirt from his pocket and smeared it onto the ring. 'This way I'll avoid suspicion.' He thought, before rushing off the carriage and into a house with its door ajar.

Just as he ran into the house the convoy began to move again, unaware that its merchandise had already been stolen. 'Its a pity I couldn't steal the rest, but oh well.' He thought as he gazed at the scruffy middle aged man in front of him.

"Is it done?" The middle aged man asked. "Yes, here." Yang Yu said as he threw him a completely clean ring. "Wow, you did it, congrats, here's your 3 loafs of bread. The customer will be very pleased." The scruffy man sad as he tossed 3 loafs of bread Yang Yu's way.

"Thank you very much, if that is all, I'll be out through the normal route." Yang Yu said as the scruffy man nodded. After that Yang Yu ran out the back door before shutting it behind him, the scruffy man completely unaware of what had occurred.

'Hah, I did jobs for him for over half a year acting all loyal like a dog, just for this moment, the moment in which he'd give me the biggest job of my life.' He thought as he pulled back his sleeve and gazed at the ring.

'Its odd how it fits me so well, then again this is said to be an immortal treasure.' He thought as he rubbed off the dirt a bit. Underneath was a bright red gem embedded into a finely engraved steel ring.

'They call this ring, the Crimson Steel Ring, and I am not surprised why. If that oaf had half a brain then he'd know this is nothing like that shitty copy, unluckily for him, he lost his brain years ago.' Yang Yu thought as he pulled out a loaf of bread from his pocket.

'Now I'll just go to the buyer, and sell the ring for a shit load of money.' Yang Yu thought in glee. 'After that I'll join a Sect and I won't need to run around like this anymore.' Yang Yu continued on this train of thought with a smile on his face.

Little did he know, this day would change his fate forever.