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 main 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? Is it 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 true nature of a person called Gwonma?
It was then.
Rumbling.
A ball made of wool rolled at the feet of the horse.
A little child came running and stopped. He looked frightened at the sight of the large horse. Gwonma picked up the ball and gave it to me.
“Please give it to me directly.”
“Is there anything that will make the baby 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 I can enjoy.”
“Shall we make a bet?”
“What bet?”
“If you go and have fun, I won. “If you’re not happy, I lose.”
“What if I say I’m not happy even though I’m happy?”
“You won’t do that, right?”
“If I were to bet, what should I bet?”
“You have to put your pride on the line.”
The same thing happened when I jumped off the waterfall.
Then the horse looked at me with strange eyes.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Don’t you want to bet on the third volume?”
“I want to bet.”
“But why don’t you ask me to walk?”
“I obtained the first and second powers very easily thanks to Madam Kwon’s generosity. “I also have a conscience, so I can’t do that.”
It was both sincere and meant to score points with him.
“Now put your manly pride on the line!”
I held out my fist to him.
“Something? “Let’s fight?”
“Didn’t soldiers clash their weapons when making promises? “We martial artists have to 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.”
Gwonma 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.”
“It 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 to now.
“Do you still see your father often these days?”
“I can hardly see it. “It’s been a while since we last met at the bar.”
“Is something wrong?”
“What’s going on? “Can human relationships always be hot?”
“Of course, that’s true.”
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 place where the Beast faction was located was the territory of the Murim Alliance, 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.
As I went down the stairs, there was a large iron door. As soon as I opened the door and entered, I heard a rush of heat and shouts.
There was a large unarmed man in the middle, and two shirtless people were fighting with their bare fists.
“This is an underground fighting ring.”
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 to today, there were pure fighting arenas where people fought with only their fists, without any internal strength or weapons.
“You can pay the admission fee and come in and just watch the match and place a bet on who the winner will be. “Most people come mainly to place bets.”
“How did you know about this place?”
“I am very interested in all things Moorim. “I brought you here because I thought Master Kwon would like it because it is a place where you fight purely with fists.”
There was some trembling in the horse’s eyes.
“Why are you doing this? “Don’t you like it?”
Then, surprising words came out of the horse’s mouth.
“When I was young, I was also a fighter here.”
“yes?”
Geommugeuk was surprised. No, I pretended to be surprised. Actually, I knew he was from here.
“Are you talking about here?”
“I see. “It was right here.”
Gwonma’s life was not an easy one either.
“Then how did you become connected to 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?
“Are you undefeated 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 religious 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 just by you, 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 dislike 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 Madam Kwon to beat my 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 religious leader does not draw his sword.”
Geommugeuk nodded.
“but. “He is the type of person who would beat up his children like that.”
Gwonma nodded with a serious face at Geommugeuk’s words.
In fact, Geommugeuk didn’t even know what Gwon Ma’s memories of this place were. Maybe you’re sick of it, or maybe it’s a place you don’t want to come back to again.
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 here was so hot 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, hoping only for the outcome of the fight.
Gwonma, who was watching the fight for a moment, blurted out without thinking.
“The left will win.”
Whose judgment is it? Can 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 off-stage.
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. You take a gamble by looking at it.
This entire process took place in an instant. As if time is money, the game continued without a break, as if it would not cool down the enthusiasm of those watching.
Gwonma guessed correctly in the next game as well. Gwonma was truly a prophet.
“Maybe we can get rich and get out of here?”
Contrary to what was said, not a single penny was wagered on the sword dance.
“Why not take a walk for fun?”
“I don’t like it.”
“why?”
“Honestly, I regret it. “I brought you here to feel the heat of fighting, but I thought the heat of gambling was even hotter.”
Gwonma smiled bitterly at the honest words of the sword dance.
“It was like that back then too. “It’s always like that here…”
At that time, Gwonma kept an eye on a young man.
“That young guy has nice eyes.”
I could feel the sword dance. Kwon Ma is 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.”
“That’s it.”
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 occurred.
“Should I ask to see the owner here?”
When Kwon Ma met the owner, he might 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. “They make a lot of money even if they just leave it alone, so they don’t try to cause trouble by manipulating it.”
This 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 fight and enjoy it, but I thought you were in a bad mood for no reason.”
“It’s okay.”
“Times have changed a lot. “I think there are no more pure fights like back then.”
Then Gwonma spoke to me with a strange smile.
“Why do you think there was no manipulation back then?”
“Was there?”
“Of course there was. “It 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 didn’t just stay 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 Island guys.
He knocked down all the subordinates who came with him, but 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 will die.”
“You idiot, black sword bastard! “If you are a man, don’t use your strength and join me in the fighting arena!”
“Words won’t do.”
The chieftain untied the hem of his horse’s robe and frayed it.
Sssssssssssssssssssssssssshhhh!
The guy slashed the horse’s chest with his dagger. Gwonma gritted her teeth to keep from screaming.
“I have to lose anyway, so it’s okay if it hurts a little, right?”
In the end, the horse could not bear the pain and screamed.
“All right. “I will lose the next match.”
“If it had been done earlier, it would have been better without getting hurt. “Whenever you feel stupid, look at this scar.”
The guy left there laughing.
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 assets.”
Geommugeuk laughed loudly. Yes, this kind of person is Kwon Ma.
“It’s awesome!”
“It wasn’t a time to be cool, it was 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 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?”
“Are you proud?”
“You must have been much more scared than when you fought the Murimmaeng elder, but didn’t you endure it?”
“You may want to give me a good reputation, but to me, it’s just a shame I want to erase.”
“Don’t say 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 wound left by the Apostle Lord than the blow left by the Murim 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 wound, but I thought that maybe from today onwards, that unpleasant feeling 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 thousand times by yourself, it is only when someone tells you this that your wounds begin to heal.
“Show me that scar often.”
Gwonma 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.
“Tell me the next story. Then, that black sword bastard must have come to kill Master Gwon.”
Gwonma nodded and remembered the day when his fate changed.
“That night, he came to see me with all his subordinates.”