I AM GOD!

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 Gu-an 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 pierced 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!"