The shopkeeper has a suspicion that he is being conned in some way, but cannot see the angle in which he becomes disadvantaged. As Sae had said if the blessing doesn’t work than he winds up no poorer for it, but if the blessing does work and he is able to sell protective charms and amulets… Well something like that would sell very well in this village.

Truthfully what Sae had said earlier to the black smith was the absolute truth. The Song clan in no way monitors the mountain that the village is built next to. There are a number of ghosts and frightful creatures that roam freely on it and will occasionally find their way to the forests and to the village and wreck havoc in their wake. Once in a while a merchant passing through might sell protective talismans from the Aira clan, but a number of these wind up being fake with no way for the villagers to get reimbursement since those con artists are quick to arrive and quick to flee.

“Alright, but on the condition that you buy the pin upfront. If I truly am able to make a profit off of these blessed amulets than I’ll do the alterations.”

Sae’s smile puts the sun to shame as he beams. “Aye!” He hands over his twenty silver without even a hesitation and then says, “Now show me the silver you wish for me to bless.”

“Aye, in the back. Follow me.” As Sae follows the silver smith, the craftsman asks, “If you truly are a cultivator than which clan are you a disciple of?”

“Ah, I’m formerly of the Crest clan, but I’ve defected. Currently I’m trying to build my own temple and start my own cultivation path.”

With Sae’s twenty silver weighing in his pocket the shopkeeper decides to let his own opinions stay silent. “I see.” He replies simply. When they reach the store room the silver smith finds his lowest quality silver and hands it to Sae who inspects it carefully.

After some consideration on it Sae finally closes his eyes and works his magic. It takes some effort to temper the flow and control it. In the shadowlands his magic had been repressed to such a degree that even lighting a talisman had been a strain, but here in the lightlands the magic flows as freely as the continental river. He smiles in satisfaction when he’s done and hands the silver back even though it looks no different than it had before.

The shopkeeper has to remind himself that if all else fails he has still gained twenty silver from this interaction. He forces a smile and shows Sae the way out.

Sae hums a merry tune as he grabs his stuff and heads back into the sunshine. “First we have to map out the mountain. It’ll be nice if we find a spring to build our temple next to.” He says. To anyone nearby it would appear that he’s talking to himself, no one notices the strange way his shadow stirs at his feet. “The ghost should be easy enough to deal with, I’ll exorcise them once we get settled on a spot.” He grins, “Once I get the temple up I’ll talk to the village chief and ask for work. It’ll be good to make a little bit of honest coin. I think once we’ve gotten ourselves properly established then I’ll write to the Song clan about using their mountain.” He laughs a little, “I’ve always thought that it’s better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission. And anyway if they don’t like it then they can fight me for it.” Sae nods his head, “And then I guess I’ll send a letter to the Crest clan. I wonder if my parents are still running the temple or if they’ve retired by now.” This thought puts a damper on his mood.

Truthfully Sae has purposefully been avoiding any thoughts about his family since he returned to the lightlands. Surely the whole clan believes him to be dead, after all he’s been absent for fifteen years! If there was a way to avoid meeting with them at all Sae would definitely take it, but he knows that avoiding his family will be a fool’s errand. Creating his own cultivation path is undoubtedly going to make some waves within the cultivation community. There’s no way he’s going to be able to keep his identity secret once word gets out. Sae sighs and shakes his head.

“Well, let’s focus on the temple first, right? One thing at at a time!” He forces out a laugh and continues to prattle on to his shadows as he leaves the town and finds the pathway that leads into the mountain.

By the time he’s vanished into the forest word has already spread through the village like wildfire that there is a crazy person looking to build a temple on the mountain. The villagers have no hope that the Song clan will do anything about this matter, but they pray that a member of the Aira clan passing through might deal with it.