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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Teottry
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Time was cruel and didn’t wait for those who were agonizing. While Gwahae was denying reality and trembling, the day before Mancheon was to leave the Jeagal Clan had arrived.
To be precise, while she was agonizing under her blanket, midnight had passed, so now, when the sun rose tomorrow morning, Mancheon would leave.
Faced with this sudden parting, the only thing that Gwahae could do was to accept the parting and make memories with Mancheon during the short time they had left.
However, Gwahae didn’t do that. To be precise, she couldn’t accept it.
For Gwahae, the fact that Mancheon, who she had thought she would be with forever, was leaving was something that couldn’t happen. It was on par with the sun suddenly disappearing from the sky.
The reason why snacks were sweet was because Mancheon was there, and the reason why she felt happy every day was because Mancheon was there.
She placed her hand on her chest and felt her heart beating. The fact that she was alive like this was all thanks to Mancheon.
There was no way she could accept it. For Gwahae, a life without Mancheon was a colorless world that had no meaning.
[There… I mean… if you used the dragon’s power…]
“No.”
She rejected the black serpent’s despicable whisper, which had been targeting her when she was weak, with a sharp tone. Although her memories weren’t perfect, she remembered that Mancheon had been badly hurt after she had lost her mind at the serpent’s voice.
She would never do what the bad serpent told her to do.
“Calm the mind, forget emotions… If the body is weak, strengthen the Qi…”
[W, wait a minute! I’m doing this for you…!!]
“When the heart dies, the spirit lives… When Yang prospers, Yin dissipates…”
She chanted the phrases of the Quanzhen Cultivation Technique that Mancheon had taught her and chased away the black serpent. Perhaps it was because of the power of the internal energy cultivation technique, but a clear energy spread through her body, and her anxious heart calmed down a little.
The Taoist clear energy and the happy memories with Mancheon pushed back the serpent’s whispers.
The Quanzhen Cultivation Technique was the first martial art that Mancheon had taught Gwahae. It was the martial art that she had learned the most diligently. There was no room for the black serpent to interfere.
Gwahae, having chased away the annoying serpent, opened the window and looked up at the night sky where beautiful stars were shining.
To be honest, Gwahae didn’t like martial arts. To be precise, she didn’t dislike it or like it. She wasn’t that interested in it.
If Mancheon heard it, he would have said, ‘What?! You bastard! I spent everything I had to teach you and you’re saying that?! What was that?!’ and he would have flicked her forehead, but it couldn’t be helped.
For Gwahae, martial arts were worth less than a sweet and delicious yakgwa. Nevertheless, the reason why Gwahae had worked so hard to learn martial arts was because Mancheon’s eyes had sparkled so much when he talked about martial arts.
She looked at the stars filling the night sky. They were sparkling like Mancheon’s eyes.
For Gwahae, who had only seen cold eyes filled with contempt and disregard until now, the fact that a person’s eyes could shine like the stars in the sky was a huge shock.
She wanted to keep seeing Mancheon’s sparkling eyes. She wanted to know more and more about the things that Mancheon liked. So, she had learned diligently.
Mancheon didn’t know, but when Mancheon looked into Gwahae’s eyes, Gwahae had also looked into Mancheon’s eyes.
The stars filled the sky. The sky couldn’t be seen, hidden by the sparkling stars.
“Mancheon (瞞天).”
Mancheon Gwahae (瞞天過海), to cover the sky and cross the sea. It was the first phrase that Gwahae had learned to write.
The girl jumped out the window. It was the second floor, but it didn’t matter. She spun her body around once in the air and landed safely on the ground.
‘I don’t know… there are so many things I don’t know… But even so, I want to see you.’
Her legs moved before she knew it. Her body moved forward. She ran to meet the boy who had entered her heart and had firmly taken his place there.
“Mancheon… that bastard gave me a monkey, not a human.”
At 2 AM, Jeagal Yang, who had been reviewing the Go game he had played today, using a night-light to illuminate the Go board, was speechless as he watched Gwahae, who he had thought was asleep, jump out the window and then run off, and he sipped his tea.
Slurp~
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Gwahae had succeeded in sneaking into the room where Mancheon was sleeping, but she was at a loss about what to do next.
Snoor~ Snooroo~ Snore snore~
She looked down at Mancheon’s chest, which was rising and falling rhythmically as he breathed in and out. A desire to climb on top of Mancheon, like a cat, and fall asleep while listening to his heartbeat after a long time shook her heart.
She shook her head.
If she fell asleep in Mancheon’s arms here, she would be happy, but that happiness would be temporary. Gwahae’s top priority was to be with Mancheon.
The words that Mancheon had said to her at her first festival came to mind.
‘If there’s something you truly want, you have to know how to obtain it yourself.’
But how? How could she obtain ‘Mancheon’?
She pondered, holding her small and cute head, but she couldn’t think of a way. Time was running out. Yes, time?!
A small candle lit up above Gwahae’s head. Of course, it was just an imagination.
Mancheon had said that time would solve most problems. Even if she couldn’t think of anything right now, she would definitely think of something as time passed.
She had to buy time so that Mancheon couldn’t leave while she thought of a way to be together with him forever.
Her vision spun around, and she saw the staff. It was the staff that Mancheon carried around, wherever he went.
Mancheon was a cripple. He wouldn’t be able to move without his staff. He wouldn’t be able to leave.
It was truly a thought that only a naive child would have. If she thought about it even a little, she would realize that she couldn’t keep him by taking just one staff, but Gwahae didn’t think.
In the end, she had ended up running away.
She was escaping from reality, hoping for a small miracle. It was a do-or-die situation. But really, it was a situation where she couldn’t win. However, Gwahae hoped that she could win as she hugged the staff tightly and ran away.
Jang Sam, who had been watching the whole situation from the shadows with a bitter smile, wondered if he should wake Mancheon, but he soon shook his head.
Sima Bu was a ruthless and cruel man, but he was a two-faced piece of trash who was incredibly protective of his family.
He wouldn’t let his beloved second son be with a girl who could go berserk and turn into a monster at any time.
It was better for both of them to quietly separate like this.
He looked up at the night sky.
It was a terribly beautiful night with countless stars shining in the sky. It was a night that made him miss the cigarettes he used to smoke when he was in charge of protecting the young master.
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“Jang Sam, where is my staff?”
“Hmm~ I’m not sure.”
“No! Don’t just say you don’t know and go look for it!”
I was about to hit Jang Sam’s head with my staff as he was saying nonsense as usual, but my hand was empty. My staff was gone.
Where did it really go? I had definitely placed it next to me before I went to sleep. It couldn’t have grown legs in the middle of the night and walked off on its own. Had someone taken it? But who?
I looked at the floor where I had placed my staff before going to sleep. I saw a long strand of black hair. I picked it up and examined it.
It was a long strand of black hair that was soft like silk and had a strangely pleasant scent. I sighed.
Gwahae must have taken it.
As he looked at Mancheon’s back, who was slumped over and touching the black strand of hair with a dispirited expression, Jang Sam checked the time for the carriage.
“There’s still a little time left. Do you want to go look for her?”
“It’s okay. Just give me a brush and my snack pouch.”
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Even as the carriage left the Jeagal Clan, Gwahae didn’t appear. Inside the bouncing carriage, I fiddled with my empty hand.
She was a heavy sleeper who took naps regularly. She was probably sleeping somewhere right now, hugging the staff.
I smiled slightly as I imagined that scene.
At first, I had thought that she was just someone to pass the time, but… I had given her too much affection.
As the carriage moved forward and I got further away from the Jeagal Clan, the memories that I had made with Gwahae flashed through my mind.
The time when I had put a paper on Gwahae’s head that said ‘(Congratulation) She did nothing all day (Celebration)’ and teased her because she had only eaten snacks and napped all day.
The time when I had tried to force Gwahae, who was picky, to eat spinach, and the table had split in half… Thinking about it now, it was ridiculous.
How could she not flip the table, but break it in half? I had really suffered.
And there was also the time when Gwahae, who had learned how to make flower crowns from Jeagal Yang’s granddaughters, had given me the first flower crown she had ever made and had placed it on my head.
Both the difficult memories and the good memories all flashed by.
In the end, I couldn’t help myself and opened the carriage window, sticking my head out to look behind me. I checked to see if Gwahae was chasing after me, even if she was late. I checked to see if she was calling out to me.
But I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t hear anything.
“Do you want to turn the carriage around now?”
Jang Sam, who was next to me, teased me with a mischievous smile. He was being a punk, knowing that I couldn’t do that. If I had my staff, I would have hit him. What a lucky bastard.
“Why would I turn it around? I have to go home.”
The carriage bounced and kept moving forward. As I was leaning against it absentmindedly, I could see small snowflakes falling through the window.
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When Gwahae heard the news that Mancheon had left the Jeagal Clan, she had shut herself in her room, refusing to eat or drink, like Red Hare when he had heard the news that Guan Yu had died. Jeagal Yang held out a silk pouch to her.
“Take it. Mancheon told me to give it to you.”
A red silk pouch that had Sima Mancheon (司馬瞞天) written on it in gold thread. It was definitely Mancheon’s snack pouch.
A little bit of focus returned to Gwahae’s eyes, which had been darkly sunken. She opened the pouch with her small hands and checked the contents.
The silk pouch was full to the brim with silver coins. She wasn’t interested in that. What was important was the letter that was buried among the silver coins.
With trembling hands, she opened the letter and read it. It was Mancheon’s handwriting, which she had seen countless times.
『I’m going home.
I put some pocket money in the snack pouch. If there’s something you want to eat, don’t hold back and buy it.
It’s okay to like sweet things, but eat a lot of vegetables too.
Don’t forget to brush your teeth before you go to sleep. Don’t kick off your blanket while you’re sleeping because you’re hot.
If you’re hurt, don’t hold it in, say that you’re hurt.
I told you to practice martial arts diligently and repay your debt, but it was a joke. Don’t worry about it.
Live your life doing what you like and what you want.
Don’t be depressed that I’m gone, eat well, and live happily.
It was fun being with you. I was happy.
-From Sima Mancheon to his beloved disciple-』
Tears fell and stained the letter. She didn’t need this. She wanted to tear it up, shouting for him to just stay by her side, but she couldn’t tear it up.
He said that it had been fun being with her… that he had been happy… But then why had he left… why…
She knew that Mancheon hadn’t left because he wanted to leave. But she hated him. She hated Mancheon for leaving, when he had said that they would be together forever.
She hated the world that had separated Mancheon from her.
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Two years had passed since Mancheon had left the Jeagal Clan. Gwahae had become thirteen years old.
Compared to before, Gwahae’s treatment had changed drastically. Her talent was too outstanding and her appeal was too strong to continue to ignore her.
She was now called the hope of the Jeagal Clan, the one who would bear the name of the dragon after Jeagal Yang’s death, the Jeagal Clan’s young dragon, Yu Ryong (幼龍), and her name was rightfully placed in the Jeagal Clan’s family register as a direct member.
It was a truly ridiculous story. That was what Gwahae thought.
She was friendly with Jeagal Yang, who had kept his promise to her and accepted her as his disciple, and with Jeagal Yeon, who was her older sister and also a friend who was only a little older than her, but she didn’t have any feelings toward the Jeagal Clan itself.
She had no interest in them. Now that they were saying that she was a blood relative, it didn’t move her at all.
She blankly looked up at the sky. It was a clear sky without a single cloud.
It might be a strange thing to say, but she didn’t like clear skies. She wished that there was at least a cloud to cover the sky.
She reached out her hand to cover the sky, but as expected, she couldn’t cover it.
She had tried to become happy, as Mancheon had told her to. She had eaten a lot of yakgwa, drawn a lot of pictures, and made friends. But…
The greatest pain of unhappiness was that there had been a time when she had been happy.
The memories she had made with Mancheon were sweeter than any yakgwa in the world and filled her heart, making all other memories fade away.
Before, she hadn’t known that she was unhappy. That was because she had never been happy. Without even knowing that she was unhappy, she had just lived day by day.
But then she had met Mancheon and learned happiness. She had become a well-fed person. She had come to compare ‘happiness’ and ‘unhappiness.’
In the end, she couldn’t live without Mancheon. She couldn’t become happy without Mancheon.
Jeagal Yang, who had easily won against about twenty second-rate martial artists, some of whom were even at the beginning stages of being first-rate, and was watching Gwahae, who was blankly reaching out her hand towards the sky, was genuinely impressed.
To be at the tail end of first-rate at thirteen… Although I was also called a genius, it’s honestly amazing.
What was even more amazing was that she wasn’t satisfied even after achieving that much at such a young age.
I liked that. Originally, I wasn’t going to teach ‘this’ martial art to the people of the Jeagal Clan, thinking of the old man of the Beggar Clan, who had taught me martial arts, and my Go friend.
But a desire to teach her was stirring.
How strong would she become if I taught her? Would she become strong enough to fight against me?
“The Jeagal Clan is known to be weak in martial arts. But do you know why I, who am from the Jeagal Clan, am one of the top ten martial artists in the world and why others fear me?”
“……”
“It’s because I learned the best footwork technique and the strongest palm technique.”
He pulled back his right foot, which had been extended forward, and his hand, and channeled his internal energy. The powerful internal energy that had gathered in his hand warped space.
He bent one leg and drew a circle with his hand. The internal energy, in the form of a dragon, surged and roared like thunder.
Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms (降龍十八掌) – Repentance of the Ascendant Dragon (亢龍有悔)
The qi dragon that had been created from the internal energy that had been released from his arm passed Gwahae and shattered the wall.
Jeagal Yang collected the internal energy that had been released from his body and said to Gwahae with a triumphant expression.
“How was it? Do you want to learn it?”
“If I learn that, can I become strong enough to cover the sky?”
If it had been Mancheon, he would have said, “Woa aaaah-!! Old man! That was amazing!! What is that? Please teach it to me! Teach me! Teach me! Mancheon will also shoot a dragon of qi!!” – and then he would have used the Lazy Donkey Roll (懶驢打滾).
Jeagal Yang felt a little bit like he wanted to see Mancheon.
Anyway, he looked at Gwahae’s blue eyes, which had no end.
To teach the Soaring Dragon (降龍) – a martial art that subdued dragons – to a child who might be the child of a dragon… It was an ironic and interesting thing to do.
“I guarantee it. If you can master the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms and control the dragon inside you, there will be no one in the world who can defeat you except for ‘me.’”
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A dragon technique for a dragon kin. Perfect match!🤔
