Threat
Yi Jinpyeong answered Seok Un Daesa's question from Shaolin with perfect composure.
"I merely paid attention to the clue you all overlooked despite staring right at it. It was hardly a challenge for this body."
"Don't brush it off—explain in detail."
"Bang Cheonpyo's guilt is clear as day, yet you demand an explanation from me?"
"Why dodge the question? Got something to hide?"
Seok Un Daesa stubbornly pressed for an answer from Yi Jinpyeong. He stared steadily at the old monk's wrinkled face. Unlike Do Jin, the Shaolin monk he'd faced in sparring, this elderly Shaolin disciple's deep-set eyes brimmed with malice and twisted desire toward him.
Jemyeongseon Jangno from Cheongseong, who had raged like fire, and Pung Yeon-jinin from Hwasan, who had been busy soothing him, had halted their argument to focus silently on the exchange between Yi Jinpyeong and the Shaolin monk.
"Fine, since you're so curious, I'll indulge you."
Yi Jinpyeong snorted derisively and continued.
"Even in cases of agonizing death, muscles typically relax somewhat after time passes, right? That Open Faction disciple's body was still in full rigor mortis, but enough relaxation had set in for it to float up in the lake. Yet one spot alone—the jaw—was clenched so tightly the upper and lower wouldn't budge. Seemed suspicious. I concluded the dead man's final resolve must be locked in there."
Yi Jinpyeong's explanation flowed like a mountain stream. Some warriors listening let out gasps of admiration, while those who had examined the body flushed with shame. They'd fixated solely on the abdominal wound and weapon type, missing the victim's blatant clue.
Seok Un Daesa, watching quietly, narrowed his eyes and asked, "Curious. Your tone sounds like someone who's seen and studied plenty of corpses. Hard to believe it's coming from a mid-teen youth."
Yi Jinpyeong replied shamelessly, "What of it? Any scion of Yi Gajang learns this before they can walk."
"...Your brothers clearly haven't."
Yi Jinpyeong glanced sideways to see Yi Jingang and Yi Jinun staring at him with wide, innocent eyes. Useless brothers, these.
Tsk tsk. Yi Jinpyeong clicked his tongue and pressed on. "My elder brothers are paragons of love and mercy. Too busy living our ancestors' edict to give and serve, no time for corpse research. But this body? From childhood, my mind wandered wild unlike theirs. Beating, breaking, peering into bodies—that was my greatest joy."
The Nine Great Sects and Open Faction elders, now accustomed to Yi Jinpyeong's eccentricities over the past few days, nodded. His gentle, affable brothers looked worlds apart from the youngest.
Seok Un Daesa persisted relentlessly. "But jumping from a clenched jaw to 'something's hidden inside'? That's a massive logical leap. What if no rope fragment was there?"
"If not, then not. What more to do?"
"You spoke with utter certainty about finding the third suspect."
"That was to get a look inside the corpse's mouth. Think you'd let some outsider like me touch it without drawing attention first? You lot decide and do everything your way."
"......"
"I share no grudges with Open Faction or Cheongseong. Just pitied you elders fumbling the obvious evidence the body pointed to, so I chimed in. I hand you the smoking gun, and instead of thanks, you grill me on how? Fair?"
"This incident could shake the entire jianghu. We needed the full process clear—no misunderstanding intended."
"So, suspicions cleared now?"
Seok Un Daesa's expression remained troubled. Caught off-guard by Yi Jinpyeong's fluid retorts, he could only work his lips without a ready counter.
Yi Jinpyeong smirked thinly. "Anyway, I have a question for you."
"What?"
"When that Open Faction elder lunged spear-first, anyone else maybe, but you were right by the window. A bit of effort, and you could've stopped his escape yourself. Your thoughts?"
"...Bang Cheonpyo was no low-rank by fame or seniority. Even with evidence, hard to imagine he'd truly kill his disciple—or bolt suddenly here."
"Lame excuse. But explain this: Even if you couldn't predict his flight, when he struck at me with killing intent, you had time and skill aplenty to intervene. Yet you didn't. Almost like you hoped I'd be pulped."
Yi Jinpyeong's query pierced like an awl. His face beamed innocently, masking his true intent.
Silence fell. Seok Un Daesa fingered his prayer beads. Namu Amitabul.
"That's a grave misunderstanding. Pure persecution complex on your part. By the time I turned, it was over."
Misunderstanding. Persecution complex. Overinterpretation. None applied to Yi Jinpyeong. Yet he bellowed a hearty laugh, his gaze sharpening to bore through the monk's soul—like he knew everything.
"Sure, let's say so. He's dead anyway—Bang Cheonpyo can't harm this body now."
Only then did it dawn on the crowd. Amid the shock of the elder's desperate flight and death, they'd forgotten: Yi Jinpyeong had toyed with Gaebang's 7th Elder like a child.
Even granting Bang Cheonpyo's focus on escape and Yi Jinpyeong's clever use of the narrow window.
Pung Yeon-jinin of Hwasan, Seok Un Daesa of Shaolin, Jemyeongseon Jangno of Cheongseong, plus elders from Wudang, Ami, Jongnam, Kunlun, and Gongdong... All eyed Yi Jinpyeong afresh.
They shared one thought: This youth might look a mere fifteen-year novice, but he was no longer comparable to their juniors.
Perhaps a genuine threat to the jianghu order the Nine Great Sects had ruled for a century...
Silence reigned briefly before Jemyeongseon Jangno's fury boiled over again. Pung Yeon-jinin soothed him as others piled in, chaos resuming.
But no matter the shouting, tension fell short of Open Faction-Cheongseong deadlock. A conflict destined to patch up amicably—superficially, at least.
The sole dejected ones: the Open Faction disciples.
Yi Jinpyeong grinned at Seok Un Daesa, now averting his gaze. The question was payback for suspicion, but the monk had a point on logical leaps.
Obviously. Yi Jinpyeong alone knew certain facts.
Shadows would scheme here. Some Nine Greats/Open elders were Ma-gyo recruits. And Bang Cheonpyo reeked of it, relentlessly pushing Cheongseong.
A small tear in his waist knot—unlike last night—clinched it, spurring Yi Jinpyeong to check Dan-bi-no's mouth.
Ma-gyo scum, as reckless as ever. Killing his own disciple outright to fulfill the mission. Self-terminating when it went south.
Shadows—and Bang Cheonpyo, their Open Faction pawn—had perfectly profiled every Cheongseong member: elders' inferiority complex toward their sect, massive hopes on junior Nam Sogyun.
Plan A: Sow chaos at the tournament via that. Yi Jinpyeong's meddling crushed it, so Plan B activated.
Dan-bi-no was loyal enough for the task but never dreamed his master would gut him personally.
Yi Jinpyeong pictured it: Bang Cheonpyo sealing acupoints for max agony, thrusting the blade. Dan-bi-no, amid torment and betrayal, gnawing the knot to spite him.
...Disgusting.
Result? Disciple gutted, master skull-smashed, sprawled on Agyangnu's first floor. Open Faction disciples left gaping blankly at their brothers' corpses.
Wonder where No Gae was. Odd he hadn't shown amid this. With him here, Bang Cheonpyo wouldn't have gone so extreme.
Really gone? Or silenced by Ma-gyo—by his own disciple first, trying to expose them?
Yi Jinpyeong eyed the tangled Nine Greats/Open throng, lost in thought. No reason to linger.
Time to prepare next moves. He turned coldly and strode out of Agyangnu. His brothers hurried after.
The Nine Greats/Open warriors parted like waves before Yi Gajang brothers. None dared block their path.