Forging Immortality: The Undying Blacksmith

Chapter 58: The Unexpected

The torch flame pushed back the oppressive dark of the tomb, revealing a human face—still, pale, and lifeless—hanging just inches from his own.

For a moment, even the stoic Li Qing flinched, his torch-hand trembling uncontrollably.

It was a fresh corpse, dead only a few days by the look of it. The features were still intact.

This wasn’t a trick of the mind. A palpable chill seeped into the air, so sharp it felt like the dead of winter had returned to the ridge.

*Drip.*

A single drop of water echoed from the depths below. In the dead silence of the forest night, the sound was as sharp as a cracking whip.

Something was wrong.

Li Qing unceremoniously dragged the body from the mouth of the tomb and thrust the torch inside again, trying to see deeper. The passage was a narrow, gentle slope, just wide enough for one person to enter crouched over.

If the rumors were true, this had to be the legendary tomb.

He weighed his options. The smart move was to retreat and return with the morning sun.

He turned to leave. A faint breeze rustled past, making the torchlight dance and casting his features in stark relief.

The next moment, a voice rang out, filled with joyous surprise.

“Master!?”

Li Qing froze mid-step. He turned, his eyes wide with disbelief, toward the source of the sound.

Before he could speak, another voice drifted up from the tomb below, lazy and indifferent.

“Hmm? Little Qi, you know this man?”

The voice was languid, but Li Qing felt a jolt of recognition. It was familiar. Terribly familiar.

“Qi Kang? What are you doing here? Who’s down in that tomb?”

Of course. In this world, only one person called him Master: Qi Kang.

It was impossible. Qi Kang was alive. After countless martial arts masters had perished in this godsforsaken hollow of Xiaocui Ridge, his apprentice had somehow survived.

What truly unsettled Li Qing was that, had Qi Kang not called out, he would never have sensed his presence.

From a nearby thicket of tangled vines, Qi Kang struggled to pull himself free. He was caked in grime and dirt, his hair a tangled mess, a spitting image of the refugee he once was.

But his eyes… they were different. They burned with a clarity and spirit Li Qing had never seen before.

“Master, it’s a long story. You see…”

The voice from the tomb cut him off again.

“Ahem. Little Qi, we have a guest. Are you not going to invite him in?”

The tone, the cadence… it was all so familiar. Li Qing narrowed his eyes, his mind racing, until finally, the memory clicked into place.

“Heh. To think the infamous Star-Plucking Thief was hiding out in a tomb on Xiaocui Ridge. If word of this got out, it would unleash another bloodbath, wouldn’t it?”

That was it. The man inside was the Star-Plucking Thief. Li Qing had seen him several times at the tavern, which explained why the voice had nagged at him.

Qi Kang’s face went pale with shock. “Master, how did you know Brother Ning was in here…?”

*The Star-Plucking Thief’s surname is Ning?*

Li Qing’s eyebrow twitched. It seemed his apprentice had been through quite a lot during his disappearance.

From within the tomb, the Star-Plucking Thief fell silent.

Li Qing mirrored his silence, his senses on high alert, straining to catch any sound from the darkness below.

The bounty on the Star-Plucking Thief in Shengtian City was hundreds of thousands of silver taels. Even if you couldn’t defeat him, simply reporting his location to the Prince’s Mansion would net you ten thousand. It was a fortune that could drive any normal man to madness.

Li Qing had no interest in the bounty, but that didn’t mean he could just walk in. The Star-Plucking Thief would assume the worst—that Li Qing was here for the reward. If he entered that tomb, a fight to the death was almost certain.

A fragile, deadly standoff formed in an instant. A web of suspicion, spun in silence. Neither man dared to move.

Sensing the crushing tension, Qi Kang quickly intervened. “Brother Ning, my master is indifferent to fame and fortune! I guarantee he has absolutely no interest in the Prince’s bounty!”

He then turned to Li Qing. “Master, Brother Ning is a good man, really.”

Qi Kang’s earnest pleas shattered the tense silence, breaking the deadlock.

The Star-Plucking Thief was the first to speak again. “Since you are Little Qi’s master, then please, come in. There’s no need to stand on ceremony.”

With the invitation extended, Li Qing gave a short laugh and cupped his hands in a formal gesture. “I have long admired the name of the Star-Plucking Thief. It is my good fortune to finally meet you in person.”

Seeing the suspicion between them dissolve, Qi Kang broke into a relieved smile and led Li Qing down into the tomb.

The passage sloped steeply downwards into the earth. The air grew cold and damp, the chill intensifying with every step into the oppressive dark.

Soon, the narrow passage suddenly gave way to a vast, natural cavern.

The cavern wasn’t dark. A soft, milky luminescence filled the space, emanating from several priceless Night Pearls embedded in the stone walls.

A stone sarcophagus dominated the center of the chamber. To the left, a man sat alone at a simple stone table, a jade wine pot in hand, drinking. The Star-Plucking Thief, Ning Yuan.

“It’s you,” Ning Yuan said, his sharp, sword-like eyebrows rising in recognition.

“Master, Brother Ning, you’ve met before?” Qi Kang asked, confused.

Li Qing nodded. “I was fortunate enough to see him a few times at the tavern. I didn’t know he was the famous Star-Plucking Thief back then, not until his wanted posters were plastered all over the capital.”

“And I never imagined you were the blacksmith master Little Qi spoke of so often,” Ning Yuan replied, his features strikingly handsome. It was hard to believe such an elegant, jade-like man could be the most notorious thief in the world. “Seeing you now, you are more than the legends claim.”

Li Qing glanced at the Night Pearls. *A thief who never leaves empty-handed, indeed.*

“No wonder you knew about this tomb back at the tavern,” Li Qing said casually. “So you deliberately spread false information to lure out the Prince’s Mansion? I am curious, what is your grudge with them?”

Hearing this, Ning Yuan threw his head back and roared with laughter.

“Hahahaha! Who said the information was false? This *is* the tomb of Lin Yi, the martial arts prodigy of the last dynasty!”

The words struck Li Qing like a physical blow.

It was real.

“But the martial arts inheritance is long gone. I took it myself,” Ning Yuan continued, his laughter echoing in the cavern as he drained his jade pot. “When the Prince’s men and the Nine Lotus Sect finally arrive, they’ll find nothing but an empty tomb.”

He grinned. “Little Qi, fetch more wine! We have a distinguished guest. This calls for a drink!”