Prologue: The Divine 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 cult's glory.
Their talents, their lives, even their very flesh and blood—none of it was their own.
This was the Hundred Thousand Mountains, the stronghold of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
She had barely escaped this devil's den, carrying the weight 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 Divine Moonshadow Thief! The Divine Moonshadow Thief is here!"
She was so good at it, in fact, that she earned the title.
Normally, a thief's top priority was not getting caught.
But she was different.
An ordinary burglar might hop the fence of a rich merchant's estate.
The Divine Moonshadow Thief, however, waltzed right into forbidden grounds—the Imperial Palace, the Four Factions Alliance, and even the 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 became 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 lasted forever.
Even the legendary thief eventually met her end.
"Divine Moonshadow Thief."
A blurry figure loomed in her fading vision.
The masked figure 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 not just anyone can reach…"
Her rambling final words sounded like both a taunt and a riddle.
Soye's chest rose and fell in one final, heavy heave.
As she let out her last breath, the death she had long expected finally came.
Ah. Maybe now I can go see the 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 a bronze mirror, Soye pressed a finger against her new 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. Gweat… teef. Gweat… deef. 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 hadn't been 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 the Divine Moonshadow Thief, she had been filthy rich.
The problem was that she knew how thieves worked better than anyone.
She had hidden her stash so well that a child's body couldn't possibly reach it.
And so, she became completely broke overnight.
Free? Yeah, right.
Soye sighed heavily, then flinched as she glanced toward the door.
Footsteps.
She quickly pulled the blankets up, pretending she'd just opened her eyes.
The door burst open.
A grown woman stood in the doorway, carrying a small tray.
Her eyes went wide when she saw Soye sitting up.
"My lady!"
In her frantic rush, she tripped right over the threshold.
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, sobbing loudly as she wrapped Soye in a tight hug.
Her chubby cheek was squished against the warm, desperate embrace.
But seeing such distress, Soye couldn't bring herself to push the woman 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 speech slip out again.
The room was large but clearly neglected—hardly a place meant for a noble child with a dedicated 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 sicky."
Soye muttered with an awkward expression.
At least I don't have to go through the trouble of faking amnesia.
The nanny wiped her eyes and gently took her hands.
"Nanny…?"
"It's Gong-hui, my lady. Sa Gong-hui. And we are in the Sichuan Tang Clan's village."
Soye's eyes darted as she thought.
Sizing up the situation, she realized she hadn't just reverted to her younger self.
There was a completely new life laid out for her here.
Needing as much information as possible, she asked a question to confirm what she already suspected.
"What's that?"
"You've even forgotten about the village…"
Gong-hui's eyes welled up with fresh tears.
"It's the village where the branch families of the Sichuan Tang Clan live."
Tang Clan.
The name clicked into place in her 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 Tang Clan was one of them.
Their specialty was none other than poison arts, which made them the odd ones among Orthodox sects that prized honorable, fair 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 becoming pretty obvious.
"That means… my name is Tang Soye…"
As she mumbled to herself, Gong-hui nodded.
"That is correct. Lady Soye, you are the direct granddaughter of the Tang Clan Leader."
"Huh…?"
I was born with a poison spoon in my mouth in one of the most elite clans in the entire martial arts world. So why on earth am I living in a dump like this?
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