For years, the two great martial sects, one righteous and one evil, the Celestial Zither Sect and the Holy Order, had dominated the martial world. The Celestial Zither Sect possessed the Twelve Assemblies of the Strange Manor, three great martial arts, and countless experts. The Holy Order had the Seven Netherworld Strikes and seven treasured blades, unrivaled in the martial world. The Celestial Zither Sect led an alliance of martial artists north to wipe out the Holy Order. But unexpectedly, the Holy Order's Saintess, Yun Yin, fell in love with Tai Jianshu, the Celestial Zither Sect's leader. Meanwhile, Tai Jianshu fell in love with Master Liaoran, a nun from the Xiling Sect, and the two had twins. Feeling guilty for betraying her sect, Liaoran went into seclusion in Taiwan, founded the Flute Society, and raised her younger son, who took the surname Sun and dressed as a boy.
At the end of the Ming dynasty, eunuchs held power. Twenty years later, at the request of his friend Lai Zongdao, Minister of Rites, Tai Jianshu agreed to take a collection of cultural relics, secretly seized and hoarded by the eunuchs and intended for sale to foreign powers, to Taiwan for safekeeping. Tai Jianshu traveled to Taiwan with the Seven Manors and Twelve Assemblies, discovered Liaoran's identity, and pleaded with her repeatedly, but she remained unmoved. Meanwhile, Yun Yin, who had spent years living in seclusion in Taiwan and waiting for a chance to take revenge, found the master of Hero Mountain Manor, a branch of the Celestial Zither Sect, and set out to exact her revenge. In the end, she died with hatred in her heart.
The story begins here. Told in four volumes, it follows four pursuits and ultimately culminates in tragedy.
