Chapter 19: Eternal Life and Lasting Vision

Plum Blossom Thief.

To be honest, Li Miao did not have a deep impression of that name.

If he hadn’t heard it mentioned repeatedly, he would never have recalled it at all.

He only remembered that fifteen years ago, he took a job from Zhu Zaiyan, went somewhere to kill, spent half the night at it, and in one room, came face to face with a young man whose features were delicate and sinister.

Li Miao advanced and struck him with his sword; the young man failed to dodge and nearly died by Li Miao’s hand. In the end, he fled in disgrace, using his lightness skill to escape.

He was no important figure, had no reputation, and that night there were many masters at the place, all trying to kill him, so Li Miao had no time to chase after such a minor person.

He only glanced at the fleeing figure, memorizing his lightness skill and the plum-blossom-shaped birthmark on the back of his neck.

This was why Li Miao could recognize the man’s lightness skill today, yet not Zhao Dehua’s claw technique—because Li Miao had never truly fought him. He merely blocked once, failed, and then had to flee for his life.

Later, that young man committed a few crimes while on the run. Because of his plum-blossom birthmark, he was called the “Plum Blossom Thief.”

Afterwards, he disappeared for two years, likely fearing pursuit from the Embroidered Guards. But in a major case, the Guards accidentally discovered him, and he died.

His body was sent to Shuntian Prefecture, where it was inspected by specialists, confirming it was indeed the Plum Blossom Thief.

His story ended there.

So Li Miao found it strange. The man had no reputation back then, his skills weren’t remarkable, and his death was abrupt. If Li Miao were to judge, he was merely a “petty scoundrel.”

Yet now he kept encountering people connected to him, as if he were some hidden mastermind.

“Plum Blossom Thief?”

The man dressed in nightwear heard Li Miao’s question, hesitated, searched his memory for a while, then shook his head.

“I’ve never heard that name, elder.”

Li Miao saw he wasn’t pretending and asked, “Where did your internal energy and lightness skill come from?”

“Elder, my name is You Zi’ang. I’ve always been in the business of being a ‘gentleman thief.’”

“Five years ago, in Northern Zhili, I targeted a wealthy household, hoping to procure some funds. In their study, I found two manuals.”

“One for internal skills, one for lightness skill. I took them both. Practiced them myself, found they suited me, so I’ve trained them ever since.”

“I truly have nothing to do with this Plum Blossom Thief. If you have a grudge against him, I can tell you where that rich man lives—just go find him.”

“I’m just a thief. You’ve noticed—I don’t know how to fight, my only skill is lightness, and I never hurt anyone, nor could I. The methods I use were stolen by accident, and I have no connection to this Plum Blossom Thief!”

“If you blame me for all this, then I am truly wronged!”

You Zi’ang kept pleading, his face full of grievance as he spoke.

Li Miao, hearing this, had planned to capture him and hand him over to Wang Hai for interrogation.

But he saw You Zi’ang lower his head, and the clothes that had covered his neck slipped, revealing a faint mark.

Li Miao’s pupils contracted. He stepped forward and pulled down the collar at the back of You Zi’ang’s neck.

There was, unmistakably, a blurred plum-blossom-shaped birthmark!

“E-elder?”

Suddenly having his clothes yanked down, You Zi’ang shivered. He thought, having frequented the mansions of the rich, he’d often heard that powerful people sometimes had unusual preferences—had he stumbled into such a situation himself? If he’d known, he’d rather starve than steal from the Wu residence!

Li Miao carefully examined the birthmark, then grabbed You Zi’ang’s hand and pressed against his pulse.

“Bone structure… only about twenty-something. When I saw the Plum Blossom Thief fifteen years ago, he was already in his twenties. The ages don’t match.”

“Technique…”

“This is?”

Li Miao released You Zi’ang’s hand and laughed.

“How interesting, how very interesting!”

“To think that the petty scoundrel I once dismissed was actually a man of vision!”

He infused his own internal energy into You Zi’ang, tracing the pathway of the Plum Blossom Thief’s internal skill.

The internal energy was quite good—barely considered advanced.

But what made it truly noteworthy was this: when the energy circulated through three acupoints at the back of the head—Wind Mansion, Dumb Gate, and Great Vertebra—it deliberately took a detour, causing the energy to stagnate and not disperse.

Though this wouldn’t harm the practitioner, over years, it would leave bruising beneath the skin.

That bruising would create the plum-blossom pattern at the back of the neck!

The Plum Blossom Thief’s name came precisely from the plum-blossom-shaped birthmark at his neck.

Meaning, all who practiced the internal skill of the Plum Blossom Thief would automatically inherit the title “Plum Blossom Thief!”

The world churns like tides, people flow like water, and each new generation replaces the old.

In the martial world, generation after generation, there are always those who strive to be the hero whose fame shakes the land, and those who become the villain whose evil terrifies all.

But no matter how gifted or righteous you are, or how notorious your crimes, once you die, in twenty or thirty years you are forgotten.

That’s the nature of the martial world—people are just grains of sand, sometimes leaving a trace, but that trace soon vanishes with the end of their life.

Yet the Plum Blossom Thief chose another path.

As Li Miao’s internal energy traced the flow in You Zi’ang’s body, he seemed to hear that delicate-faced youth speaking:

“My talent is lacking; I cannot become a top master, nor can I make a name for myself in this world.”

“I am gifted and insightful, but limited by my innate foundation. I am forced to be ranked alongside mediocrities, living insignificantly and dying unnoticed.”

“Perhaps few in the martial world will even know I existed.”

“I am not willing.”

“I am not willing…”

“I am not willing!”

“My body is but flesh and blood; after my death, my face will be food for flies, and my name unknown.”

“But that doesn’t matter.”

“I want everyone—this martial world—to forever remember my title.”

“Plum Blossom Thief!”

Li Miao understood now why the Plum Blossom Thief, even while pursued by the Embroidered Guards, deliberately committed crimes and never concealed his most distinctive feature, forging the name “Plum Blossom Thief.”

It was intentional.

He wanted everyone to remember that plum blossom mark, then distribute his unique internal skill.

Thus, even after his death, all who practiced his skill would inherit his trait and become his stand-ins. As long as they gained fame in the martial world, if anyone saw the mark on their neck, they’d recall the Plum Blossom Thief.

This was his scheme—a plan to leave a lasting mark on the martial world.

A different form of “immortality.”