Broken Bonds

Chapter 1

The four heavenly Sects of Wulin (Martial Arts) are: Dongfang (in the East), Nangong (in the South), Ximen (in the West), and Beitang (in the North).

These are the Masters of the entire world of Wulin; where the power to overturn all lands under the heaven lay, and there is no one who does not know this truth—not one soul to whom this truth is not known.

This generation's four Sect Masters are:-

Dongfang Xi (Eastern Sect): who is confident and unruly, distinguished and debaucherous; his only interest is to visit brothels, and has no interest in the affairs within the sect.

Nangong Yan (Southern Sect): he is mature and earnest; thorough in the handling of his work; possesses a strong sense of responsibility; and is the actual leader of all four sects.

Ximen Yu (Western Sect): is arrogant by nature, and a ill-tempered and despotic ruler. He always refuses to acknowledge the affairs of the sect, and makes it hard for others to know what he is thinking.

Beitang Ao (Northern Sect): an frigidly cold and arrogant loner; shrewd, reserved, and hard to decipher. He is extremely strict in his management of the sect's affairs, but although he is cold-hearted, he takes care of business efficiently.

New Year's. 

It was rare for all of the Sect Masters to gather at the Fuyouju's (Floating Residence) main headquarters, except for one time of the year, that is, for the Spring Festival.

But this year, there was also another grand occasion deserving of celebration. Exactly one month prior, on his way up north, the Northern Sect's master, Beitang Ao, journeyed to the Northern encampment to patrol and quash an armed rebellion within the sect, after which, also returning with his new fiance: Lin Yanyan.

Originally his younger female cousin on his mother's side, after neither saw the other for many years, they met one another once again in their native homeland of the north during that period. After many interactions with one another, all day and all night, soon giving birth to friendly affections. It was not long after where Mother Lin played matchmaker for the two and had their marriage arranged.

Within these four sects, only Nangong Yan had been married. The other three were all still without a family of their own.

Who would have thought that the youngest one amongst them—the only still twenty-two years of age—Beitang Ao, would surprisingly agree to this marriage, thus making it a truly grand and joyful occasion for the Sects of the Tianmen.

So it came to be, that this New Year's Banquet will also be Beitang Ao's wedding feast. Almost two-hundred people from the four sects gathered together, all of them from within the higher classes, giving the affair a level of prestige which was quite grand.

At noon, this feast for the incoming year had begun and had already continued into the night, yet those men who had toiled for the entirety of the previous year, seemed to possess little desire to stop.

Beitang Ao sat in the highest seat of Heavenly Sect with Lin Yanyan taking the seat right beside him, rather than sharing a drink with his three sworn brothers. Also, much to one's surprise, on that usually cold and arrogant face of his, a faint smile was now worn. This expression he bore made that room grow brighter, as this look was one where only his beloved was in his eyes.

Further down from them were a few banquet tables, each seating a high-level master of the Heavenly Sect, and somewhere in a corner, at one of those tables beside the reception hall, Yan Feili's face had grown pallid.

"General Yan, why aren't you having a drink?" The Eastern Sect's, Hua Xiangyan, who sat in front of him, while turning back noticed that surprisingly the Northern Sect's First General, Yan Feili, was sitting all alone in an ordinary corner. Guessing that the isolated man may have wanted to avoid drinking, he made his way over with a goblet in hand, having made up his mind to punish the other with a few drinks for this act. Who knew, that the closer he looked at the other man as he drew nearer, the more he became aware of Yan Feili's normally handsome face had grown pale and unsightly with fright.