Prologue: The Moonshadow Thief
"Soye, run!"
"Save yourself!"
The cries of her brothers and sisters echoed from behind.
Though not related by blood, they were born under the same sky and dragged into the same hell—deep beneath impossibly steep mountains, where abandoned children were locked away.
Soye was one of them.
"Aaaagh!"
A piercing scream tore through the air behind her.
Soye ran, covering her ears.
But the voices followed her.
"My mom ran a noodle shop in Anhui."
"Please tell grandma I went far away on business."
"My little brother, my brother is…"
Soye and the other children were used as tools for the glory of the cult.
Their talents, their lives, even their flesh and blood.
This was the Hundred Thousand Mountains—the stronghold of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
And Soye had barely managed to escape this devil's den, carrying a heavy burden of unspoken words and unfulfilled wishes.
Fleeing to the central plains, she struggled just to survive each day.
Because she had learned demonic arts, she couldn't learn proper martial arts.
She constantly had to evade pursuers, never knowing when they might strike.
She couldn't stay in one place for long or form deep connections with anyone.
Naturally, she couldn't find an honest job, either.
But the heavens must have left a door open for her, because Soye discovered an unexpected talent.
Thievery.
"It's the Moonshadow Thief! The Moonshadow Thief is here!"
She was so good at it, in fact, that she earned the title "Moonshadow Thief."
Normally, a thief's top priority is not getting caught.
But she was different.
An ordinary burglar might hop the fence of some rich merchant's estate.
The Moonshadow Thief, however, waltzed right into forbidden grounds—the imperial palace, the Four Factions Alliance, and even Shaolin Temple's Sutras Pavilion.
No matter how much her victims denied being robbed, her name spread like wildfire.
That was because this phantom thief always sent a warning letter before she struck.
"Ha, do you even know what kind of thief she is?"
"I hear she only steals from the corrupt, right?"
She had become a thief partly out of necessity.
Still, slicing through the night air on a run made her feel truly alive.
Despite her massive notoriety, Soye always managed to slip away cleanly.
But no one's luck lasts forever.
Even the legendary Thief God had to meet her end.
"Moonshadow Thief."
A blurry figure loomed in her fading vision.
The masked person pointed a sword at her throat and demanded an answer.
"Where did you hide it?"
Soye hacked, spitting out a mouthful of dark blood.
"…I hid it well. In my treasure vault."
Even at death's door, she couldn't resist a mocking tone.
"Over the mountains and across the waters. In a place everyone knows, but no one can reach…"
Her rambling final words sounded like both a taunt and a riddle.
Soye's chest rose and fell in one last, heavy heave.
As she let out a long breath, the death she had long expected finally came for her.
Ah. Maybe now I can go see my brothers and sisters who went ahead of me.
* * *
Book 1: I'm a Veteran Rookie
…I could have sworn that’s how I died.
Staring into the bronze mirror, Soye pressed a finger against her newly chubby cheek with a troubled expression.
Squishy… like a dumpling.
"How come I turned into a widdle kid?"
She gave herself a pinch.
Yep, that hurt.
Still unable to believe it, Soye patted herself down to check her bone structure.
I'm tiny. So tiny!
Touching her throat, she tested her voice.
"Aa, aaa. Great… dief. Haa…"
Her voice was childish, and the moment she lost focus, her words came out all mushy.
Tears welled up in her eyes, and she tilted her head back to keep them in.
I'm a child again. But why?
If it weren't for the mirror resting right next to her bed, she would have stayed in denial a lot longer.
She didn't even recognize the kid's face.
Soye tried hard to look on the bright side.
People would pay a fortune to be young again. And here I got it for free.
But it wasn't comforting at all.
"M-My tweasures…"
As a famous Thief God, she had been filthy rich.
The problem was that, knowing how thieves operated better than anyone, she had hidden her stash incredibly well—so well that a body this young couldn't even get close to it.
And so, she had become completely broke overnight.
Free? Yeah, right.
Sighing heavily, Soye flinched and glanced toward the door.
Footsteps.
She quickly pulled the blankets up, pretending she had just woken up.
The door burst open.
Standing in the doorway was a grown woman carrying a small tray.
Her eyes went wide when she saw Soye sitting up.
"My lady!"
In her frantic rush, she didn't notice the threshold and stumbled forward.
The tray dropped, sending a damp towel and a bowl of medicine tumbling across the floor.
By some miracle, the bowl didn't break, but a pitch-black liquid pooled onto the floorboards.
That looked awfully bitter. Thank goodness.
She cheered inwardly.
"Lady Soye! You're awake!"
The woman practically flew to the bed, wrapping Soye in a tight hug as she burst into loud sobs.
Soye’s chubby cheek was squished against the woman's warm, desperately clinging embrace.
But seeing her distress, Soye couldn't bring herself to push her away.
Trapped in her arms, she just blinked.
Oh, wait. Is this body's name Soye, too?
"Do you recognize me? Your nanny?"
Her tear-stained face was heartbreakingly pitiful.
"Nanny? I hab a nanny?"
The surprise made her clumsy pronunciation slip out again.
The room she had woken up in was spacious but felt run-down, so she hadn't expected to be someone important enough to have her own nanny.
"Oh, heavens."
The woman stared at her with a devastated expression.
"The doctor did warn that the high fever might affect your memory, but to think…"
"So I was swick."
Soye muttered with an awkward expression.
At least I don't have to go through the trouble of faking amnesia.
Wiping her eyes, the nanny gently took her hands.
"Name…?"
"It's Hui, my lady. Hui Sagong. And we are currently in the Sichuan Tang clan's village."
"Tang clan village? What's dat?"
Soye rolled her eyes in thought.
Sizing up the situation, she realized she hadn't just reverted to her younger self.
There was an entirely new life laid out for her here.
Needing as much information as possible, she asked a question to confirm what she already suspected.
"You've even forgotten about the village…"
Hui's eyes welled up with fresh tears.
"It is the settlement where the branch families of the Sichuan Tang clan reside."
Tang clan. The name clicked into place in Soye's memory.
The martial arts world was broadly divided into the orthodox and unorthodox factions, with the demonic cult and outer realms lurking beyond both.
But ordinary people rarely had any reason to get mixed up with them.
Especially the outer realms. Way too far for a quick heist.
At the top of the orthodox world sat the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Clans—and the Sichuan Tang clan was one of them.
Their specialty was none other than poison arts, which made them the odd ones among righteous sects that prized fair, honorable duels.
Maybe because they were constantly judged by the others, the Tang clan was highly insular and reclusive.
But wait. I live in this village, I'm called 'my lady,' and I even have a nanny?
Her new identity was getting pretty obvious.
"Dat means… my name is Soye Tang."
As she mumbled to herself, Hui nodded.
"That is correct. Lady Soye, you are the direct granddaughter of the Tang clan leader."
"Huh…?"
Then why on earth am I living in a dump like this? I was born with a poison spoon in my mouth, one of the most elite clans in the entire martial arts world!
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