Chapter 196
Episode 196 From now on, every time I see that scar.
A boat carrying passengers was crossing the river.
Gwonma and I were standing on the windy deck, looking at the river. We were moving further and further away from our school..
There are people who are anxious about deviation. Aren't you going to cause an accident like that? Or will this change his life for the worse? Just because of me?
However, Gwonma's deviation was not at all unsettling. Is it because of the sincerity of life he showed? Or is it because I feel that it is actually oppressing the nature of a person called Gwonma??
It was then.
Rumbling again.
A ball made of yarn rolled under the feet of the horse..
A little child came running and stopped. He looked frightened at the sight of the large horse. The horse picked up the ball and gave it to me..
“Please give it directly.”
“Is there anything that will make a child cry??”
“I won't cry.”
Even though the horse gave the ball to the child, the horse rolled the ball to the child who was unable to come closer..
Hey, today is the day you received the ball from Gwonma..
The child who caught the ball bowed and ran towards his parents. Gwonma, who was looking at that scene, suddenly asked:.
“Did I say I was going to a place where I would have fun??”
“yes.”
“I know what to enjoy.”
“Shall we bet??”
“what bet?”
“If you go and have fun, I won. If you're not happy, I lose..”
“If I say I'm not happy even though I'm happy?”
“You won't do that.?”
“If I were to bet, what should I bet??”
“I have to put my pride on the line..”
It was the same when jumping off the waterfall..
Then the horse looked at me with strange eyes..
“Why do you look at me like that??”
“Don’t you want to bet on the third power??”
“I want to bet.”
“But why don’t you ask me to walk??”
“I also got the first and second rights very easily thanks to Madam Kwon's generosity. I also have a conscience, I can't do that again..”
I meant it, but it was also meant to score points with him..
“Now, put your manly pride on the line.!”
I gave him my fist..
“something? Let's fight?”
“Don’t warriors clash military flags when making promises? We boxers should bump our fists.”
“I won't bump into a baby's hand.”
I looked at the horse's hand and then down at my fist..
“Unfortunately, I can't deny it..”
The horse turned towards the river..
The sunset began to set over the river in the distance..
“Good.”
It was the first time he looked at the scenery and said he liked it. The horse was looking at the river, and I was leaning on the railing, looking at the horse with my back to the sunset..
“I heard you moved around a lot when you were young..”
“I wasn't attached to the school.”
“I heard you went out a lot with your father.?”
“Did the religious leader say that??”
I answered quietly, “Yes,” but that wasn’t actually what I heard from my father. This is what I learned while researching the Mazons before their return. That's how I found out about the place I'm going now..
“Do you still see your father often these days??”
“I barely see it. It's been a while since we met at the bar at that time..”
“Is something wrong??”
“What's going on? Can human relationships always be hot??”
“Actually, that's right.”
I also turned around. The sunset that colored the horse was transferred to my face..
Will this moment of fooling around be remembered as a hot moment between him and me??
* * *
Two days later, Geommugeuk and Gwonma were entering the street with many people coming and going. If the last time the Beast Sect was there was the territory of the Murim Alliance, then this was the territory of the Apostolic Alliance..
While walking, Gwon Ma's expression changed strangely. It hardened and showed a passionate appearance..
The place the two arrived was a shabby warehouse building on the outskirts..
Geommugeuk handed money to the person guarding the entrance. After receiving the money, he guided the two people inside. There was a passage leading down to the basement between the piles of luggage..
After going down the stairs for a while, there was a large iron door. The moment I opened the door and entered, I heard a rush of heat and a shout..
There was a large unarmed man in the middle, and two shirtless people were fighting with their bare fists..
“This is an underground fighting arena..”
There are several types of underground fighting arenas in Jungwon. Some places use internal energy, while others use weapons. And like the place we came today, there was a pure fighting arena where we fought with only our fists, without any internal strength or weapons..
“You can pay the admission fee and come in to watch the match, or place a bet on who the winner will be. Most people come mainly to bet..”
“How did you know about this place??”
“I am very interested in all things Moorim. It's a place where you fight purely with fists, so I brought you here because I thought you'd like it..”
There was some trembling in the horse's eyes..
“Why are you doing this? don't like it?”
Then, surprising words came out of the horse's mouth..
“When I was young, I was a fighter here too..”
“yes?”
Geommugeuk was surprised. No, I pretended to be surprised. Actually, I knew he was from here..
“Are you talking here??”
“That's right. It was right here.”
Gwonma's life was not an easy one either..
“So how did you get connected with our school??”
“I was selected here because I caught the eye of someone from our school..”
Up to that point, I don't even know how to do sword dance. It may have been a time when he had not yet learned full-scale martial arts, but where would the skills of someone with the qualifications to become a martial arts horse go??
“Did you lose here too??”
Gwonma asked back in response to Geommugeuk’s question..
“Am I still not invincible??”
“what does it mean?”
“Even if you fight the cult leader, you won't be able to win, and the same goes for the Murim lord and the Apostle lord, right? I can't be confident that I'll win if you just do it right now, without having to bring in as many retired experts as there are grains of sand in the world, right??”
“Aren’t those baby hands??”
“The black magic sword held in that baby's hand is scary..”
As for the sword dance, it suddenly occurred to me that Gwonma might be hating the nickname of undefeated..
“You never know. If it really becomes a matter of life and death, what will be the outcome? Wouldn't it be possible for Gwon to beat his father??”
The horse's eyes turned to the fighting arena again. He said while looking at the warrior being beaten to death..
“This is what will happen if you fight the cult leader. Even if the cult leader doesn't draw his sword..”
Geommugeuk nodded..
“but. He's the type of person who would beat up his children like that too..”
Gwonma nodded with a serious face at the words of the sword dance..
In fact, Geommugeuk didn’t even know what Gwonma’s memories of this place would be. Maybe you're sick of it, or maybe it's a place you never want to come back to..
But still, the reason he was brought here was because he has now become a champion. He went from the bottom of the fist to the top of the fist..
Wouldn’t you want to come here at least once? Wouldn’t you like to feel that scorching heat again??
Sword dance and Gwonma stood among the people and watched the match..
The heat was so hot here that no one paid any attention even though this scary-looking horse was around..
I could understand the sword dance. Those who are distraught are not into fighting, but into gambling. That they are shouting only in hope of the outcome of the fight..
Gwonma, who was watching the fight for a moment, blurted out without thinking..
“The left will win.”
Who is it to judge? Will it be wrong??
The result was a victory for the left driver..
The game continued without a break. When the game ended, three or four men came out and quickly wiped off the sweat and blood that had spilled on the offstage..
Meanwhile, other men held up a large board with the opponent's records and recent performance of the fighters who would be competing in the next match and showed it to the people. Take a gamble by looking at it.
This entire process took place in an instant. The game continued without a break, as if time was money and as if the enthusiasm of those watching would not cool down..
Gwonma guessed correctly in the next game as well. Truly, Gwonma was a prophet..
“We could get rich and get out of here.?”
Contrary to what is said, not a single penny was wagered on the sword dance performance..
“I walk for fun, but?”
“I don't like it.”
“why?”
“Honestly, I regret it. I brought you here to feel the heat of fighting, but I think the heat of gambling is even hotter..”
Gwonma smiled bitterly at the honest words of the sword dance..
“It was like that back then too. This place… … It's always like that.”
At that time, Gwonma kept an eye on a young man..
“That young fellow, he has nice eyes..”
I could feel the sword dance. I realized that Kwon Ma was projecting his childhood onto that friend..
“great. I'll bet everything I have on that guy..”
Gwonma recommended the joke of the sword dance..
“Try walking. I'm sure I'll win.”
“Done.”
But the young friend who said the horse would win lost the match. As a result, Gwonma's expression hardened slightly..
“If I had done as you said, I would have lost all my money. We almost ended up sleeping on the street today.!”
Could it be that the magician misunderstood their skills? Match-fixing took place.
“Should I ask to see the owner here??”
When Kwon Ma met the owner, he could have said something harsh..
“The manipulation probably has nothing to do with the fighting arena. Rather, the fighting arena is trying to catch the manipulation somehow. Even if you just leave it alone, it makes a lot of money, so there's no need to manipulate it and cause trouble..”
It meant that manipulation was attempted from outside..
“Memories should just be buried as memories. sorry.”
“What do you have to be sorry for??”
“I came here to watch the fighting and enjoy it, but I thought you might have felt bad for no reason..”
“It's okay.”
“Times have changed a lot. I guess pure fighting like back then has disappeared..”
Then Gwonma smiled strangely and said to me:.
“Why do you think there was no manipulation back then??”
“Was there?”
“Of course there was. That changed my life.”
As Gwonma's gaze turned towards the young man leaving unarmed, he naturally recalled the past..
“It was a day when I was continuing my winning streak. The head of the Black Island in this area came to see me at night with his subordinates. He told me to lose the next match. Since we were on a winning streak, if I lost, I would have made a lot of money. He said he would give me money too. It was quite a lot of money.”
“how did you do it?”
“I refused.”
“I guess they just weren't there..”
Gwonma nodded and closed her eyes. I remembered that moment as vividly as if it were yesterday..
That moment when I was fighting while dodging back and forth while throwing punches at the black guys..
Although he defeated all the subordinates who came with him, he could not defeat the leader. He was someone who had formally learned martial arts, and he himself was before learning martial arts. In the end, I was pinned down by the guy..
“If you don't listen to me, you'll die..”
“You fucking idiot! If you are a man, don't use your strength and join me in the fighting arena.!”
“Words won't work..”
The chieftain untied the hem of his horse's robe..
Seuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
The guy slashed the horse's chest with his dagger. Gwonma gritted her teeth to keep from screaming..
“I'm going to lose anyway, so it might hurt a bit.?”
In the end, the horse could not bear the pain and screamed..
“All right. I will lose the next match.”
“It would have been better if I had done that a long time ago and I wouldn't have gotten hurt. Every time I feel foolish, I look at this scar..”
He left there smiling..
Geommugeuk asked after hearing the whole story..
“so what happened?”
“What happens? We won the next match with a bang. I made that idiot lose all his money..”
Geommugeuk laughed loudly. Yes, this kind of person is recommended.
“It's cool!”
“It was not a time to be cool, but a time to be reckless and fearless. I was much more fearless than I am now, a thousand times stronger than I was then..”
The horse opened his front chest and showed it to me again..
“That's how I got the scars on my body. It's not a wound from a great master, but a shabby and humiliating wound left by a mere black swordsman whose name I can't even remember right now. It's a wound I didn't get even when I fought the Murimmaeng elder..”
I thought that Gwonma probably never told anyone about this wound. It was not a physical wound, but a mental wound..
“Isn’t it a scar you’re more proud of??”
“I'm proud of you?”
“You must have been much more scared than when you fought the Murimmaeng elder, but didn't you endure it??”
“You might want to give it a good look, but to me, it's just a shame I want to erase..”
“Don't say things like that. I actually felt better about the wound. From now on, whenever I see that scar, I will be reminded of Madam Kwon, who was confident even without a ounce of inner strength in her youth. I think it is a much more wonderful wound than the blow left by the Murim Lord or the wound left by the Apostle Lord..”
Gwonma was stunned for a moment because he had never thought of such a thing or heard of it before. I felt bad every time I saw the scar, but I thought that maybe from today onwards, that unpleasantness might ease up a little..
I know sword dance. What you need to heal your heartache is someone's words. Rather than thinking about this or that a hundred or thousand times alone, it is only when someone says this once that the wound begins to heal..
“Show that scar often.”
Kwon Ma felt the heat deep inside his heart and didn't know what to say, so he just watched the sword dance in silence..
Geommugeuk asked again whether he knew his feelings or not..
“Please tell us the following story. Then that black sword bastard must have come to kill Mr. Gwon..”
Gwonma nodded and remembered the day when his fate changed..
“That night, he came to see me with all his men..”
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