Falling Leaves City was not large, it was a tiny sized city that spanned for 53 miles. Like all cities in the ancestral continent, it was under the umbrella of several main powers that included the Yellow Star auction house, Martial Fist sect, Silent Valley sect, Zheng family, Lu clan, Dong clan and Guan clan.

It was not uncommon to find that the surrounding smaller sects and clans paid tribute to these mighty powers for benefits like protection and access to certain resources.

The city itself was divided into three areas, the upper district where the large sects and clans were located, the middle district where the smaller clans, sects and mid class families lived and the lower class district where the poor and forgotten resided.

Although Falling Leaves was average in every way, it did feature one thing that was unique.

In the middle district, in the center of the city there was a 7km long park built by the long passed city governor Zheng Yu in memory of his deceased wife and maintained by his descendants. It was called Ju Garden.

Planted in the park were thousands of black orchids which bloomed every autumn, a favorite of Zheng Yu's wife.

...

Walking down a winding blue stoned path were two children, a boy and a girl. Both were beautiful, the boy having long golden hair and the girl who had long black hair held by ornamental pins.

The morning sun lit the clouds which covered the sky in a yellow hue.

The path was lined with curved bridges that went over the small river that entwined with it. To the right of the path were various flowers and blossom trees all planted in neat patterns and to the left there was a lake that had glittering red and orange fishes swimming to and fro.

"Big brother look! Did you see it?" Jiang Ying pointed excitedly at one of the nearby blossom trees.

Rong Xiaoman looked towards where the little girl was pointing but she didn't see anything. "See what?"

"I saw a little sparrow!" Jiang Ying said with sparkles in her eyes.

Rong Xiaoman raised an eyebrow, a faint smile forming on her lips. "A sparrow? I thought it would be a phoenix, how disappointing."

"A phoenix!? Big brother you're so silly, they're only in fairy tails!" Jiang Ying crossed her arms as she shook her head.

Rong Xiaoman giggled inwardly. "You're the silly one little Ying, there's plenty of pureblood phoenix clans in the heaven realm."

Her knowledge on the heaven realm was quite vast as she spent several thousand years traversing it's various planets and especially the Crimson Star continent where her kingdom and sect resided.

As she remembered the distant past her eyes glazed with a hint of sorrow. "So many years.. all of my work turned to dust.. " She shook her head. "It's all in the past, I shouldn't linger on it."

"Anyway big brother, what I saw wasn't any ordinary sparrow but a rainbow sparrow!" Jiang Ying said while peaking towards Rong Xiaoman, there was hope for praise in her big black eyes.

"Oh?" Rong Xiaoman looked towards Jiange Ying as a thought crossed her mind. "Rainbow sparrow? They signify luck, if one sees this rare sparrow; there will be a future lucky encounter."

Rong Xiaoman chuckled as she petted Jiang Ying's head. "Such a lucky girl."

A wide smile rose on the little girl's oval face. "Hehe."

"Sun Xi you smelly trash! Who allowed you into Ju Garden?"

Rong Xiaoman and Jiang Ying looked up ahead and saw 3 children gathered together, two of them who were wearing expensive silk robes were beating the other child into the ground, they were around 8 years of age.

"Argh!" The child taking a beating had ragged, worn clothes. His hair was in disarray and he looked to be 7 years old.

"Those bullies!" Jiang Ying puffed her cheeks in anger. "Big brother, we should go help that boy!"

"Huh? What was that?" One of the boys began turning his head towards the direction of Jiang Ying's outburst.

Rong Xiaoman swiftly lifted the little girl up, covered her mouth and hid behind a nearby tree.

The boy carefully inspected the path behind him but saw nothing.

"Brother Peng, did you see anything?" One of the boys asked.

Dong Peng's brow knitted with suspicion flashing in his young eyes, he mumbled. "I'm sure I heard a voice.. could I be hearing things?"

He shook his head and replied. "No brother Chang, I saw nothing."

Dong Chang laughed as he slapped Dong Peng's shoulder. "Come brother Peng, let's continue beating the life out of this worthless trash!"

Sun Xi protected his small head as the two boys rained blows down upon him, fury gleamed in his eyes as he bit his lip so hard it began to bleed. Various thoughts flashing in his young mind. "I must hold on! Don't retaliate! They'll get bored and leave eventually! One day.. I'll have my vengeance!"

Behind the nearby tree, Rong Xiaoman and Jiang Ying were hiding quietly.

Rong Xiaoman slowly removed her hand from Jiang Ying's red lips.

"Why did you do that big brother? Why are we hiding?" Jiang Ying grumbled.

"Did you see the clothes those boys were wearing?" Rong Xiaoman asked in a steady voice.

Jiang Ying tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Clothes?"

Rong Xiaoman continued saying. "Those were expensive clothes you'll often find in the upper district and if you look closely you'll see a blade insignia on the right side of those two boy's robes."

"So?" Jiang Ying replied without any further thought, her young mind couldn't understand the hints Rong Xiaoman was giving.

Rong Xiaoman smiled and rustled the little girl's hair. "Those two boys are from one of the big clans, it would be unwise to cross them."

"That, and I promised mother that I would keep a low profile. I could totally crush those weaklings." Rong Xiaoman thought smugly.

Jiang Ying humphed as she pushed away the hand messing up her hair, she looked towards Rong Xiaoman with disappointment. "Big brother are you scared? Well I'm not!" She attempted to escape Rong Xiaoman's embrace but failed.

Rong Xiaoman chuckled as she held Jiang Ying tightly. "Little girl, don't be silly. Even if you do manage to beat those two black and blue, it'll only bring forth more trouble."

Jiang Ying stopped struggling and snorted. "Trouble? Humph! Scaredy cat.. "

Rong Xioman sighed. "Look, I've seen it all before."

Jiang Ying's black eyes clouded with curiosity. "Seen what big brother?"

Rong Xiaoman sat down and put Jiang Ying on her lap, she replied. "I'll tell you a story."

Jiang Ying's little ears perked up as she nodded eagerly. "Okay tell!"

"One time when I was passing through a large city, I saw a beautiful maiden. Beside her was a handsome man with sharp eyebrows and a tall nose, his expression was quite cold but it softened when he looked at the beautiful maiden."

Jiang Ying's eyes had become sparkly as she imagined herself as the maiden, when she looked up and saw Rong Xiaoman's beautiful face she imagined him as the handsome young man.

"While the two, beautiful maiden and handsome man were strolling through the streets they were accosted by an aggressive young master and his followers. He was infatuated with the beautiful maiden and demanded that she accompany him."

Jiang Ying's little face became furious as she gripped the grass below tightly. She harrumphed. "Dummy young master!"

Rong Xiaoman smiled as she continued to tell the story. "Through the whole ordeal the young master had completely ignored the handsome man but that was a fatal mistake!"

Jiang Ying gulped as she wondered why it was fatal.

"The young master had completely angered the handsome man with his antics. With a movement of his hand, he crippled the young masters followers and slapped his face until he looked like a baboon's bottom."

Jiang Ying giggled as she held her mouth.

"The young master had truly kicked an iron board this time, with a begging expression he pleaded for mercy. The handsome man being upright, decided to let the young master go but little did he know that sinister intentions were brewing within the young masters mind."

Jing Ying bit her finger in nervousness, she didn't like were this was heading.

"The handsome man and the beautiful maiden continued their stroll through the city markets but they were stopped and surrounded. The young master had brought along some guards and his senior martial uncle!"

"W-what happened next!" Jiang Ying asked as she gripped Rong Xiaoman's robe.

Rong Xiaoman replied. "The handsome man with his exceptional prowess defeated all the guards and the martial uncle accompanying the young master!"

Jiang Ying gasped as she thought. "How strong!"

"But unfortunately the martial uncle used a talisman to escape. As the handsome man was about to deal a final blow to the young master, he was pushed back by a powerful force. As it turned out, the martial uncle had gone to his clan and had came back with a powerful ancestor!"

Jiang Ying's shoulders started to shiver. Noticing this, Rong Xiaoman pet her head gently to calm her down.

"The handsome man and the powerful ancestor fought a grueling battle for several hours, after suffering many wounds the handsome man managed to defeat the powerful ancestor but it came at a cost." Rong Xiaoman said solemnly.

"The beautiful maiden had been hurt during the furious battle and had fallen into a coma. After defeating the powerful ancestor, the handsome man fled with the beautiful maiden in his arms."

A tear slid down Jiang Ying's cheek as she mumbled. "So sad.. "

Rong Xiaoman wiped the tear away and continued. "A month passed and the city had finally calmed down, it was then that the handsome man came back with a powerful aura that surged around him. To his side, the beautiful maiden stood perfectly fine."

"Really?" Jiang Ying looked towards Rong Xiaoman with hope in her eyes.

Rong Xiaoman nodded. "The handsome man proceeded to where the young master's clan was and completely destroyed it, not even sparing the chickens and dogs!" Rong Xiaoman said with a dramatic tone.

Jiang Ying covered her mouth in shock. "Even the poor doggies? Why?" She thought sadly.

"Both the handsome man and the beautiful maiden left the city after destroying the clan." Rong Xiaoman finished the story on a brief note.

"Did they live happily ever after?" Jiang Ying asked curiously.

Rong Xiaoman shook her head and replied. "From the rumors I heard, no. Apparently, the clan that the handsome man destroyed had another young master who was a core disciple of an extremely powerful sect. When he heard of his clans destruction, in madness and anger he pulled out all his connections to have the handsome man chased down and killed."

"They died!?" Jiang Ying jumped up in worry.

"No, but he and the maiden never had a peaceful day after that. They were still being chased down by an increasing amount of foes when I last heard." Rong Xiaoman replied with a thoughtful expression.

"Oh.. well at least they still lived." Jiang Ying looked towards Rong Xiaoman with suspicion. "Big brother, what's this story got to do with stopping those bullies over there?"

Rong Xiaoman chuckled as she laid back against the tree. "The thing is, I saw this scenario happen several times with different people!" Rong Xiaoman was quite observant during her travels and she happened upon the same things continually, once she noticed the patterns; she made careful preparations in order to not repeat their mistakes.

Jiang Ying's mouth opened wide in bafflement, the gears in her mind began to click as she came to a startling revelation. She pointed towards the bullies. "So you're saying, if we interfere, we'll only just be inviting trouble?"

Rong Xiaoman nodded with a wise smile. "If we beat them, they'll come back with an older brother. If we beat that older brother, he'll come back with his elder. If we defeat the elder, he'll come back with a grand elder and on, and on and on.. "

Jiang Ying breathed a sigh of relief. "Wow big brother.. you're smart!"

Rong Xiaoman laughed as she stood up. "You must always be careful little Ying, being hot blooded is just a path to misery."

Jiang Ying raised her tiny brow in doubt, but nodded slowly. Still, something about the story bothered her but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Putting her finger on her lip, she thought hard.

Rong Xiaoman noticed Jiang Ying's focused expression, her eyes deep in thought.

"Wait a minute!" Jiang Ying burst out as she pointed an accusatory finger towards Rong Xiaoman.

"Big brother, how could have experienced that story if you've lived here all your life? I've never seen you leave the city." Jiang Ying snorted in disbelief.

Rong Xiaoman smiled wryly as she scratched her head, as she was thinking of a reply she noticed that the three children from before had left the area.

"Come little Ying, let's go see the black orchids!" Rong Xiaoman grabbed Jiang Ying's hand and pulled her along.

"W-wait big brother you still haven't-" Jiang Ying's cries went unanswered as the two continued walking briskly down the path.

Behind a nearby tree there was a looming dark shadow, it gazed at the Rong Xiaoman and Jiang Ying before disappearing into a puff of smoke.