Broken Bonds

8

Chapter 8

WARNING: There may be some mature elements in this chapter. The readers’ discretion is advised.

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At noon on the second day of the Lunar New Year, the weather was cold and the heavy snow had not melted yet. There was a silvery winter snow world outside. At this time of the year, many went home for the New Year’s greetings and few were on guard duty. Therefore, the entire Tianmen inner courtyard seemed deserted.

In the Shenmei Courtyard of the Northern Sect Master, a person was kneeling in the cold snow. The person only wore a single white coat. His black hair was draped messily on his shoulders, his face was pale, his expression was haggard, and he felt uncomfortable, but his back was straight like a haughty plum that could not be easily broken.

Beitang Ao had always been quiet, not humorous or talkative. He lived in the remote north courtyard, had much fewer servants than other courtyards, and most of them were elderly people.

Occasionally, a servant passed by Yan Feili but did not dare to look at him as the Northern Sect Master had ordered that no one was allowed to pay attention to him, leaving him to kneel there. 

In the morning, Yan Feili who had always been steady and gentle rushed into the courtyard with messy clothes and a pale face. He saw that the Beitang Ao was about to take Lin Yanyan out to enjoy the incense, so without saying a word, he knelt in front of them.

Everyone was taken aback.

Beitang Ao’s complexion also turned blue, staring at Yan Feili coldly for a long time, and then ordered him to kneel. Also, no one was to give him any attention.

A biting cold wind blew all over his body, Yan Feili’s body was icy, his heart was cold, and his consciousness seemed to have returned to the past.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

That year, it was also such a cold winter. The old beggar who had raised him for seven years died on a cold night in the ruined temple, leaving him and another little beggar, Liu Qi. At that time, he had yet a name. However, because the old beggar’s surname was Yan, people who know him call him Yan’er. He thought this name was good, easy to call, and easy to remember.

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Households on both sides began to use their firecrackers to welcome the new year. When a family opened the courtyard door, several children of their age each carried a string of firecrackers and jumped out. The two orphan boys were shocked when they saw them. 

A big man with a fierce face rushed over and kicked him and Liu Qi to the ground. He glanced at the corpse exposed from the straw mat, screamed, kicked them a few more times, and led the children back to the house in a hurry.

Before leaving, an older boy lit a string of firecrackers and threw it at them. Liu Qi couldn’t avoid it, and his face was wounded. His eyes flashed with anger, but he was helpless.

Finally, he and Liu Qi dragged the old beggar’s body to the chaotic grave. They used their hands that had been sore from the cold to dig a hole, put the old beggar in, piled a few stones on it, and buried him hastily.

After that, he and Liu Qi depended on each other and begged for a living. 

Liu Qi was two years older than him.

By chance, they were taken in by a group of rebels on the border of the country, doing some handyman work, and learning some rough swordsmanship and martial arts when they had time.

The old beggar was a slightly learned person before and once taught him to read. He was fairly talented and hardworking, so he learned everything faster than others and was appreciated by the leader. When he was ten years old, the leader accepted him as an apprentice and named him Feili.

Since then, his official name was Yan Feili. 

The leader of the rebel army was named Pan Yue. He once was the great general of the Jian Kingdom, in control of the military, and had a high level of merit. Some people with ill intentions framed him for defiance.

The monarch of the Jian Kingdom was impotent and believed that it was true.

At that time, Pan Yue received the news from the cronies in the palace and escaped in time, but the monarch killed all of his family. Pan Yue was upset and didn’t want to turn back. Instead, he brought more than 10,000 of his guards to rebel at the border of the Jian Kingdom, playing the banner of that wanted to overthrow the unruly monarch.

This battle was fought for many years. Jian Kingdom’s national power declined, the government became increasingly corrupted, and the people lamented. But as the saying goes, a lean camel is bigger than a good horse. Pan Yue’s army was inferior to the Jian Kingdom’s army, and they became noble thieves who robbed the rich and helped the poor. 

Pan Yue wanted to assassinate the monarch who was protected by the most powerful twelve masters in Ouchi who sent all of his family members to die for revenge. However, this was a difficult dream.

His prized possessions were his good martial arts and years of experience leading soldiers into battle. He didn’t want these to be lost. Therefore, out of thousands of choices, he accepted Yan Feili as an apprentice and taught Yan Feili all his skills.

When Yan Feili was twelve years old, he went to the battlefield with Pan Yue for the first time. With the sword light and blood shadow, the companions beside him were cut off.

The eyes widened in horror and filled with the dissatisfaction and condemnation of this world. 

Yan Feili felt the cruelty of war, understood that only the strong survive on the battlefield, and he practiced martial arts more diligently in the future.

When he was sixteen, Pan Yue became seriously ill and was about to die. Before dying, he made Yan Feili the leader and asked Yan Feili to swear that he must kill the monarch to avenge him. If the monarch died not at Yan Feili’s hands, then Yan Feili must kill the successor.

At that time, Jian Kingdom had already been corrupted and became fragile. Many forces were preparing to move, and the Kingdom’s destruction might as well be the next day.

Before Pan Yue’s death, he said to Yan Feili, “If one day you avenge me, take these brothers to find a good place to settle down.” 

But in this troubled world, where was a good place? After Pan Yue died, Yan Feili inherited his will and brought the group of brothers to seek revenge for him. Although Yan Feili was very young, he was tempered since he was a child with a stable character and thorough handling the affairs often people were unable to feel his actual age.

After four years of revenge-seeking, the Jian Kingdom was attacked by the Tianmen army, and the country’s subjugation was in sight.

When Yan Feili led his brothers into the palace when the city broke loose. When the sky was dark, there was already a sea of ​​blood inside and outside the palace.

In this sea of ​​blood, he met that person for the first time.