The Conspirators (1)
The night sky hung a new moon. The lakeside of Dongjeong Lake was shrouded in gloom, visibility poor in every direction. The faint moonlight dimmed his vision, but it posed no issue for Yi Jinpyeong.
The meeting spot he'd arranged with No Gae. West of Agyangnu along the waterfront stretched a path lined with massive willows and thick underbrush. He scanned the surroundings slowly, but no trace of the old beggar anywhere.
'That damn geezer... If you're gonna set the damn appointment on your whim, at least show up early.'
A surge of irritation hit Yi Jinpyeong out of nowhere. Filial piety and such nonsense held no sway over him. Yet even after the appointed time had fully passed, No Gae showed no sign of appearing. Now it was starting to worry him a bit. The man didn't seem the type to break a promise—had something happened?
He shook his head. 'Not someone worth my worry.'
He was debating just heading back when—
"Brat. Over here."
The faint sound transmission from No Gae echoed in his mind. Completely opposite the direction he'd suggested for the meetup. And quite a distance away, at that.
"Don't make a sound. Come quietly, as stealthily as you can."
Yi Jinpyeong flinched. Something was up. Why call him to his actual location instead of the agreed spot? And this secretive transmission?
Following the instructions, he lightly propelled his body forward. Without a whisper of presence, silent as could be. Like a single thread of wind, he glided to the old man's side.
There, crouched amid the bushes, was No Gae. The wrinkled elder hunched over looked all the more pathetic for it.
Spotting Yi Jinpyeong approach, No Gae raised a finger to his lips. Don't make a sound.
'What the hell...'
Yi Jinpyeong followed where the silent No Gae pointed. His face hardened instantly.
There, a pair of man and woman, against the backdrop of hazy moonlight and gentle lake ripples... (details omitted).
Yi Jinpyeong stared at No Gae in utter disbelief. Was this why he hadn't shown at the meeting spot—to peep?
No Gae grinned innocently, brimming with smug confidence.
"See that? There's a reason I picked this romantic spot. Couples always show up at this hour, without fail."
Yi Jinpyeong squeezed his eyes shut. At this level of nonsense, even anger felt pointless.
He patted the old man's shoulder sympathetically. "Old timer... You've lived a lonely life, haven't you."
In the end, he had to drag No Gae away by force, the geezer still muttering "just a bit more, just a little longer."
Leave them be, and that couple—and No Gae—might've pulled an all-nighter right there.
"Your sound transmission technique felt unusually stealthy for some reason. Didn't expect you'd honed it for this..."
"Heh! As if."
No Gae played innocent. Yi Jinpyeong gave him another once-over. A man with martial prowess to command the Central Plains, reduced to spying on lovers? A sudden suspicion dawned.
"Old timer. Not that I doubt it, but... surely you've never in your life, not even once..."
"Heh! What kinda pervert do you take me for? Back in my day, I was quite the catch!"
No Gae flew into an overblown rage. As if Yi Jinpyeong, buried in cultivation, needed sex ed from some expert on bedroom matters, spouting utter bullshit left and right.
'...Definitely lived a lonely life.'
Out of pity, Yi Jinpyeong listened patiently. He might look young, but in his past life as Yi Gyeol, he'd already built a vast clan of descendants. Far from the virgin novice No Gae imagined...
Wonder what face the old man would make if he knew.
No Gae's bragging predictably fizzled out fast. Yi Jinpyeong patted his smacking lips.
"Alright. No more tall tales? Let's pick up where we left off this afternoon."
"Hey, I've got plenty more! The mystical world of yin-yang harmony is endlessly profound..."
"Don't try stalling. You muttered it yourself while I handled those Dongjeong Lake fools with my pipe this afternoon, didn't you? Gwi Hwa Yeon Cheon Gong's Sam-dan-gongGeum-gi."
No Gae failed to deflect. The mischief faded from his face.
"To business. You know far too much about my martial arts and Yi Gajang for comfort. That's what we need to discuss."
Geum-gi wasn't just metallic properties. It was the Hapcheon stage, condensing all flows into a single, unbreakable river current. At Sam-dan-gong of Gwi Hwa Yeon Cheon Gong, form and qi fused into rigid solidity—turning anything soft into steel.
That was why Yi Jinpyeong needed no separate sword. He'd spotted that power in a casual swing of the pipe—No Gae's knowledge of Yi Gajang arts was no ordinary thing.
Resuming his dignified senior air, the old man spoke quietly.
"As I said, I'm not the only one who knows Yi Gajang well. Your house once, however briefly, ruled the entire Central Plains... Probably no one in the jianghu hasn't heard of you."
"Spare me the obvious."
"Obvious? Hardly. Especially us Nine Great Beggars Sects and certain great clans—we know your rise and fall, your arts, far deeper and more intimately than you'd think. Those 'honored guests' watching you from the high dais today? More than a few clocked your Sam-dan-gong just from that pipe swing. You think that's normal?"
"......"
No way. In his past life, Yi Gyeol had taught his arts only to blood kin. Especially the core, Gwi Hwa Yeon Cheon Gong—strictly closed off, principles forbidden outside the family. He'd even invented new heart methods for his own rather than share the originals.
"Exactly. We all yap about Shaolin arts like experts because of a millennium of history. But Yi Gajang's legacy barely tops a century... It all traces back to the origin. Your founder, the once world-conquering supreme under heaven, Yi Gyeol. A mere boy of fifteen at his first foray utterly shattered the pride of the Nine Great Beggars Sects and Eight Great Clans, who believed themselves the pinnacle, the sole path of righteousness."
Ah. So that's it—back to my story again.
Yi Jinpyeong listened quietly for now.
"Everyone says it: Yi Gyeol's arts were on another path. Not just different from Central Plains norms—his growth upended all common sense. Different yesterday, today, tomorrow. Rumors flew: demonic arts, forbidden sorcery or drugs. Malicious gossip."
"Hmph. Bullshit."
"Right. But those who clashed with him directly? They shut up fast. They felt an ineffable, profound aura touching the source of all things in his arts. And his martial genius—churning out new techniques overnight—no one could match it. That reckless young punk climbed to the top in under a few years, toppling everyone."
Yi Jinpyeong nodded lightly. Playing nonchalant, but a flicker of satisfaction inside. Praise for his arts and deeds never got old.
"Imagine the shock to those Nine Great Beggars Sects and Eight Great Clans lording over the jianghu. I wasn't there, but I can guess. That haughty, noble seniors' trauma and terror. Like their millennia-old fortress crumbling overnight. Especially when Yi Gyeol bizarrely founded Yi Gajang here at Dongjeong Lake, and the whole Central Plains pivoted around this place—not their sects or the Murim Alliance in Kaifeng."
No Gae gestured to the vast Dongjeong Lake. Today's Nine Great Beggars Sects gathering was at Dongbeonhoe's base north of the lake, but once, the center of the world had been across the water at Yi Gajang. Had it retained its glory, today's meet would've been there. Or maybe no need for a meet at all.
"But heaven helped them, you could say. Yi Gyeol's life was too short. With more time, history might've changed entirely. Before his heirs could solidify or fully inherit his arts, he up and died for no reason. And left that famous last will: 'Live by giving.' What kinda corny crap is that? Heard he was a prickly, selfish bastard his whole life—wanted to go out nobly remembered, huh? Uh-heh. Uh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh!"
No Gae's laugh boomed longer, louder, slimier than needed. Yi Jinpyeong gripped and released his pipe repeatedly. Were his patience a hair thinner, that bald head would've been bashed already.
But he'd have regretted it. No Gae was finally getting to the real meat he'd skimmed earlier.
"So. What happened after Yi Gyeol died? How'd Yi Gajang end up like this? That's the crux I couldn't finish before."
Yi Jinpyeong's face stiffened. A tale absent from Yi Gyeol's memories, young Yi Jinpyeong's, or Dongjeong Lake locals—from this random old beggar's mouth.
"...Not because of the will?"
"Sure, that played a part. He did leave it."
"......"
"People mock Yi Gyeol for the dumb will, his heirs for squandering the legacy. But the truth's a bit different."
The supreme under heaven, Yi Gyeol. Having leaped a century, he stared silently at the elder explaining his clan's fall.
"Yi Gajang's ruin? Us Nine Great Beggars Sects bear no small blame. Truth is, we caused it."
Saying it, No Gae avoided Yi Jinpyeong's eyes. Just gazing at the new moon adrift in Dongjeong Lake's heart.