Chapter Text

序 | Premise

All stories, in a sense, begin with the death of Pangu and the creation of the world from his body. Going back that far, however, is meaningless.

The real start of this story is the marriage of Fuxi and Nüwa. The first people came together, and the heavens and earth united to form a being to bear witness to their marriage. Carrying the red threads of fate, and the role of matchmaker, this being was the third sentient being under the heavens, born of the same generation as the father and mother of humanity. Respected as a god of relationships then, it would be centuries later that this being would finally gain a name – for this being who binds the threads of fate and determines every relationship with everything else, we now know him as the Heavenly Venerated Elder, or more commonly, the Elder Under the Moon.

Of course, more and more luminaries began to appear, phenomena taken form – a man takes a brush and paints to life all of creation; a judge devises a mirror to reflect the truth; a woman cultivates medicinal plants in a feverish attempt to grow the root of immortality, and a fool begins to tear down a mountain with his bare hands.

Civilisation flourished, and with it, the arts of cultivation too, allowed formerly weak humans to attempt to absorb the energies of the sky and earth to live forever. More ways began to emerge – more paths towards the ultimate aim of eternal life and power developed. Alchemy, medicine, botanical prowess, brushwork, metalwork...

Weaving and needlework somehow became associated with the colour red; the colour of life, happiness, and fortune – the domain of the Elder.

Under the full moon of reunion, seated beneath the Tree of Yearning, and presiding over the Hall of Pledges – the Heavenly Venerated Elder: took the surname of Hong like the colour of his threads; named himself Yuan to honour his birth as the embodiment of fateful coincidence; and, styled himself Yuexia, for the moon whose light illuminated his work. With the threads of fate he wove himself robes the crimson of blood, and channelled in them the power of inevitable fate, granting the wearer great strength and power.

Such was the power granted by this superb masterpiece, that the clothes of the Elder became renowned as the stitch-less Clothes of Heaven, Wufeng.

From the growing numbers of humans, Hong Yuexia took on followers, who pledged to follow his teachings as the Sect of Binding and Severing – the JieJue Sect. The top six followers of the now-Grandmaster became the personal disciples of Hong Yuexia, abandoning their roots to be take on new surnames. Yan, Xing, Zhu, Chi, Jiang, Fei – rebirthed as the Six Harmonious Families.

The Grandmaster was pleased, and wove and stitched for the six disciples the regalia of war. Threaded with masterful skill and empowered with the endless knots of fates bound by his hand, these Beautiful Adornments bestowed on the six personal disciples strength and power beyond compare.

When it came time to ascend, Hong Yuexia disrobed, and the Clothes of Heaven were hung upon a bamboo frame upon an altar – a cenotaph upon the surface of the mortal world. With the transcendental changes of the world, the symbolic tomb of Hong Yuexia disappeared within the blue seas turned into mulberry fields...¹