Catastrophe: The Elder’s Desperate Flight
Bang Cheonpyo the elder’s form flashed like lightning. Toward the small, round window facing the direction of Dongjeong Lake. The window was just barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through.
Everyone’s attention was fixed solely on the spectacle of the rope fragments being pieced together, so no one was able to stop Bang Cheonpyo when he suddenly moved. Except for one person: Yi Jinpyeong.
Yi Jinpyeong, who hadn’t taken his eyes off the man for even a second, sprang into action. The instant Bang Cheonpyo unleashed his Chase Wind Body Technique, Yi Jinpyeong’s Pung Chwi Palbo—Wind Stealing Eight Steps—matched it step for step.
Pung Chwi Palbo, Fourth Form: Wind Passing Through Body and Mind.
The beggar clan’s Seventh Elder’s movement art was incredibly swift and precise. Yet even as Yi Jinpyeong wove through the crowd, he blocked the window a full step ahead of Bang Cheonpyo.
Bang Cheonpyo’s face twisted into a savage grimace.
“You little shit, how dare you!”
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that everything today had gone wrong because of Yi Jinpyeong. Dark killing intent swirled in eyes that had always smiled with benevolence and peace, eyes reddened from tears over his cherished disciple’s death.
Bang Cheonpyo, channeling every ounce of his qi, thrust both palms forward.
Jade Dragon Eight Palms.
With a low shout, the air itself seemed to tear as his palms shot out. His arms straightened like unyielding iron rods, and the palm force erupting from their tips surged forth like an invisible wave.
The profound inner energy Bang Cheonpyo had accumulated over a lifetime poured into his arms, dragon-like power that seemed poised to devour Yi Jinpyeong and hurl him out the window.
Yi Jinpyeong curled his lips into a smirk. Golden metal qi cloaked his hands, but rather than clash head-on with the overwhelming force, he twisted his body slightly to deflect it.
Bang Cheonpyo’s eyes gleamed. Killing the brat here would be satisfying, but with the path now clear, there was no point wasting time on him. Escape was the priority.
He redirected the qi in his arms toward Yi Jinpyeong, using the rebound to accelerate even faster.
But what he didn’t realize—what he couldn’t have—was that this was exactly what Yi Jinpyeong had baited him into.
The moment Bang Cheonpyo pulled his arms tight to his body and slipped through the narrow window, Yi Jinpyeong’s hands—hunched as if dodging a head-on collision—flashed out.
His wide-open palms curled into hooks, snagging Bang Cheonpyo’s ankles, and his right foot, wrapped in golden metal qi, rocketed upward.
With full power.
Bang Cheonpyo, already halfway out the tiny window with his upper body exposed, had no way to counter. His ankles clamped tight, his knee shattered by the brutal strike—
Crack!
A chilling sound echoed as his knee twisted in an unnatural arc.
“Gaaarghhhh!”
Bang Cheonpyo’s long, agonized scream reverberated. Over the picturesque vista of Dongjeong Lake that Agyangnu overlooked, his wail carried far into the distance.
Bang Cheonpyo thrashed wildly. But Yi Jinpyeong held his ankles firm, refusing to let go.
Straddling the narrow, round window with a broken knee, dangling like a fish on a line, Bang Cheonpyo struggled desperately to pull himself up. But even a Seventh Elder of the beggar clan with profound inner energy couldn’t muster strength with both knees buckled backward and half his body hanging outside.
All this unfolded in the blink of an eye.
Yi Jinpyeong, having swiftly subdued Bang Cheonpyo, turned to the stunned interior of Agyangnu and said calmly,
“Well, that’s the third suspect caught. Might even be the prime one.”
His tone was utterly serene, as if casually mentioning what he’d had for breakfast and lunch.
The elders of the Nine Great Sects and the various warriors stared at him in dumbfounded silence.
“How in the world…”
“What’s really going on here?”
“Did Bang Elder really kill his own disciple? No way…”
“If not, then why’d he bolt like that in such a panic? How do you explain those rope knots?”
“Even so…”
Their bewildered reactions were understandable. This was a Seventh Elder of the beggar clan, after all. The trust built over decades, his social standing, ties to other beggar clan members and renowned orthodox sects—all cast aside like trash in a desperate flight. It was unbelievable.
“Young lord, perhaps we should pull him up first. Let’s hear what he has to say.”
Pung Yeon-jinin struggled to maintain his composure as he spoke.
“Hear what? Didn’t you see him come at me with killing intent out of nowhere? What grudge does he hold? I nearly burst apart!”
Yi Jinpyeong whined dramatically.
Pung Yeon-jinin frowned.
“...I’ll ensure neither he nor the beggar clan folk lay a hand on you. You have my word.”
Pung Yeon-jinin shot a sharp glare at the remaining beggar clan warriors. At his signal, Huashan sect disciples and members of the other Nine Great Sects surrounded them.
Suddenly treated like criminals, the beggar clan members panicked but dared not protest or resist—especially with their leader Bang Cheonpyo in such a state.
Yi Jinpyeong handed Bang Cheonpyo’s firmly gripped ankles to other Nine Great Sects warriors and stepped back.
The warriors clutching the dangling legs shouted out the window.
“Elder Bang! We’re pulling you up now. Swing your arms wildly, and we’ll subdue you immediately. Understood?”
No reply came from Bang Cheonpyo outside. Only a strange kkul-kkul sound drifted in—like a groan, a scream, or perhaps even laughter.
With no response, the warriors began dragging Bang Cheonpyo’s body inward. But he braced his arms against the window frame on both sides, refusing to budge.
People grimaced at the pathetic sight.
One of his beggar clan followers, tears streaming down his face, cried out,
“Elder! Come inside first! There must be some misunderstanding. Right?”
Bang Cheonpyo gave no answer.
Pung Yeon-jinin, who had waited patiently, bellowed sternly,
“No choice. Seal his acupoints and pull!”
As the warriors reached out to strike Bang Cheonpyo’s pressure points—
He stared out at Dongjeong Lake and burst into booming laughter: hahahaha!
Then—thunk!
His body went limp.
“Ah! No!”
The warriors holding his ankles paled. They yanked desperately, and his body slid in without resistance.
Half his skull blown off the crown, red and white matter mingled…
The gruesome sight left everyone speechless.
Yi Jingang and Yi Jinun retched violently.
Pung Yeon-jinin muttered as he examined the corpse.
“Suicide. Struck his own Tian Ling Gai with full force.”
From the moment the rope fragment emerged from Dan-bi-no’s mouth, Bang Cheonpyo’s failed excuses and desperate escape attempt, thwarted by Yi Jinpyeong, culminating in sudden suicide—all in mere seconds.
Who could have foreseen that a mere matched rope fragment would make him crumble like this?
“So what now?”
“What do you mean? From the circumstances, it’s clear Bang Cheonpyo killed Dan-bi-no.”
“Hmm… But why? And why the sudden suicide?”
“Does it matter? No one else to blame now. It’s their sect’s mess—let them handle it internally.”
Amid the whirlwind of events, Cheongseong’s Jemyeongseon Jangno finally regained his wits.
“We can’t just gloss over this. Handle it yourselves? Earlier you said Cheongseong was definitely guilty!”
His sharp voice boomed through the hall.
“Why frame innocent Cheongseong when Bang Cheonpyo killed his own disciple? Who all sided with him? No need to ask—you’re all in cahoots. We’ll investigate every last one!”
The remaining beggar clan members turned ashen.
With the tables fully turned, Jemyeongseon Jangno scanned the room triumphantly and raised his voice.
“You lot too! No one believed my pleas of injustice at first. Don’t think you can brush this off. I remember every one who pressured us and demanded Nam Sogyun!”
Those catching his glare coughed awkwardly or averted their eyes—precisely those who had clamored to search Cheongseong’s quarters and hand over prime suspect Nam Sogyun.
Pung Yeon-jinin said awkwardly,
“Elder Jemyeongseon, given the situation, we had no choice. But Nam Sogyun is missing, isn’t he? If he’d shown up early to prove his innocence, we never would’ve pressured you like this.”
“Still on about Nam Sogyun! Whether he’s missing or not—”
“That’s suspicious too. If I were Cheongseong—and things turned like this—I’d be searching frantically, worried Bang Cheonpyo might’ve claimed Nam Sogyun as another victim. Elder Jemyeongseon, are you hiding his whereabouts on purpose?”
Jemyeongseon Jangno flinched.
“What nonsense…! How would we know where he went? He bolted off on his own… disappointing us… Anyway, we’ll find Nam Sogyun ourselves! But we won’t let you—beggar clan and others—frame and intimidate Cheongseong go unpunished!”
Jemyeongseon Jangno sputtered incoherently. His reaction seemed awkward and suspicious in many ways.
That was when Sorim’s Seok Un Daesa, who had stayed silent until now, posed a question.
To Yi Jinpyeong, who had retreated to a corner, quietly observing everyone.
“Young lord, I have one question. Something I can’t easily comprehend.”
Yi Jinpyeong tilted his chin up slightly. Still arrogant in posture, but this time, no one dared call him out.
The near-catastrophe had been righted solely by Yi Jinpyeong’s exploits, after all.
Seok Un Daesa slowly turned his prayer beads as he asked,
“How did you know the corpse’s mouth held that knotted rope fragment?”