Chapter 3 - The Scamming Street

The Scumming Street was a minor street stemming from the merchant one. In this place many sellers trade suspicious items, with an ambiguous origin or unknown value. Fake or counterfeited items, stolen goods, tools whose value is not known, anything could be found in the Scumming Street.

Even if the majority of the goods were counterfeited or fake, people still came to this scamming place, and for a simple reason. If you can identify the valuable goods, their price would be far inferior to the market one. Among the infinite garbage, the sellers would hide valuable items to lure people in, giving them the hope to strike a deal.

Powerful experts with an opened Mind Eye would have higher chances to see through the scams, but they would not be much interested in the goods on display here. This happened because such experts would be estimated guests of luxurious pavilions and merchant guilds, furthermore if an expert renowned for his perception and Mind Eye would arrive, the scammers would hastily hide the good stuff.

The Mind Eye opened at the Captain stage bolsters the ability to see through the laws that govern reality and gives a perceptual sense capable to feel and evaluate the outside world. Additionally, the cultivators with an open Mind Eye would be able to create arts. The grade of an Art or Law would be equivalent to the cultivation stage of its creator, so if a Commander creates an offensive art he has created a Commander Art or offensive technique. Simple arts which are not completed, created by using only superficial Dao Laws and which do not allow cultivators to reach high cultivation stages are broadly defined as basic arts.

The Captain cultivation stage also allowed cultivators to found inferior sects. In order for a sect to exist, it needs at least one expert with an open Mind Eye, to assure a certain Dao heritage and knowledge. If a sect doesn’t manage to produce or recruit a Captain expert, it is not qualified to be called a sect anymore.

It was not rare for old Captain cultivators, with no hope to break through to the Commander stage, to focus their efforts on giving a heritage to the future generations. This was the way many inferior sects had come to life.

Among the people analysing the goods for sale in the scamming street, a group started garnering the attention of the presents. “Look, Unbroken Fang has arrived, is he trying to test his luck too?” a disciple of an inferior sect exclaimed. “A fierce character is here, he’s not a nobody that needs to look for fortune in this area. May he be seeking to find fault with the merchant who scammed his soldiers in the past?” a vagrant cultivator more knowledgable on the way of the world added, while moving to the sideline to put some distance from him and the possible source of problems.

Unbroken Fang was walking, as always, with his nonchalant attitude, accompanied by a youth. Behind him his lieutenants were tagging along, some looking at the youth with suspicion and skepticism, others with curiosity. The youth appeared to be calm, indifferent to the looks of the many onlookers, as if he being the centre of the attention was just normal. He seemed to be taking a casual stroll to the park, leisurely looking at the goods on display.

Noticing that Unbroken Fang didn’t appear to have come to cause troubles, the activities resumed and the energetic shouts of the scammers engulfed the street. “Brave soldier, please look at this Silver Echoing Plate, its effects are marvellous. It can dispel part of the chi of any chi move that doesn’t come from Commander or above arts. Its resistance is terrific too, saving you from sharp weapons and reducing the impact of the blunt ones. Only a brave fighter like you is worth to wear it!” a sly merchant proclaimed, calling to one of Unbroken Fang’s lieutenant.

The mercenary stopped and didn’t say anything, looking at his leader for advice. “Oh generous brother, such a godlike opportunity for my man, please let me admire this enchanting piece of armour” the knight said, with an amiable voice.

“Oh please, Heaven’s graced Lord, it’s my honour to have you take a look at this amazing plate. Admire how it brilliantly reflects the light, its grey white colour and the metallic consistency. It’s indeed a plate worthy to serve you” the seller immediately mused, while giving the plate to the mercenary leader and lightly bowing his head, as e gesture of respect.

After inspecting the item for some seconds, the knight affirmed fully convinced “I can state your words stay loyal to the truth, generous one. The plate nicely reflects the light, it’s built with a metallic substance and it has indeed some properties useful to repel chi”.

The merchant was ecstatic and before he could ask for the price he had adequately calculated to commence the bargain, the knight firmly declared “So be it, I’ll acquire this plate for 6 soldier crystals, deal!”

The expression of the merchant paled and with a confused look he muttered “Oh my Lord, maybe I have heard your words wrong. You didn’t mean soldier crystals, right?”

With a casual look, Unbroken Fang matter-of-factly stated “Of course I mean to pay you with soldier grade crystals, this is what the plate is worth. Ah, maybe I should add that this is not a Silver Echoing Plate at all, but a Lucent Metal Plate, whose external characteristics are very similar to the most expensive one. It can indeed be helpful against sharp weapons, but it has no utility at all against blunter hits and can only dispel a little amount of chi from basic chi moves or arts” he stopped his speech, before changing his facial expression and continuing with an exaggeratedly surprised and indignant look “Oh my, don’t tell me that this generous one was willing to trick his friend here, that would be terrible, I’d be so shocked that I may lose control of my raging self. I’m trembling at the thought of the sorrow and pain my blade may bring… sigh” after this theatrical speech, the merchant was quivering in fear.

The law prohibited killing in the city, but in this world the strong can impose his own rules and the weak has to obey. The scamming street had security forces hired to guarantee the safety of the businessmen, but they most likely would not take action against a renowned fierce expert like Unbroken Fang. He was known to be a brazen fighter, not seeking high status nor willing to compromise to build alliances, he was as unbridled as ever. All this suggested that the mercenary may as well take action and kill in the scamming street. If he didn’t start a bloody massacre and just killed one scammer no one would bother him. For sure the royal lineage would not persecute him, his mercenary company was very loyal and precious to the Unbroken Country.

The mind of the scammer started thinking even faster, with quivers spreading to his whole body. The knight didn’t even need to act here and now, he could kill him at a later date or even hire an assassin or send some of his men. The mercenary leader was a crazed maniac, always acting acquiescing as if nothing mattered to him. Despite his appearance as the most easygoing knight, the truth was far more terrifying. In the eyes of the merchant, the mercenary before him had just become a bloody monster who would kill on a whim, a wild beast looking for preys to ravage.

The scammer quickly made up his mind, after gulping his saliva he bowed “Merciful and honourable Lord, please let the Heavens be my witness, your words were absolutely right. I was only implying that you personally honouring me with your presence is already my luck and Heaven’s present. Please, be willing to accept the Lucent Metallic Plate as a gift, the time you have spent to enlighten my poor life is more than enough for this lowly one”.

Unbroken Fang smilingly accepted the gift and casually gave it to one of his subordinates. Before moving on, he got closer to the still bowing merchant and whispered “Wise choice, scammer. I am confident no man of mine will be scammed in the future by you, contrary to what happened in the past”. The scammer continued to bow hies head in fear, while the group walked away.

“You have given him a nice scare” Falven said, smilingly, while continued looking to the goods on display. “Ahahah young brother, don’t mind it. The Heavens are vast and magnificent, you never know what kind of generous people they would present you. The moment I saw him I knew he was a generous one, and he even ended up to give us such a gift. A very commendable and honest citizen, I must admit”.

While laughing, the youth chimed in “Truly very commendable. By the way, not only your perception is more than worthy of a peak knight, but your knowledge is quite vast too. Maybe you do come from a not so humble background” while talking his eyes fell on a bamboo branch. He stopped and murmured “It’s time for me to play my part now”.