Chapter 21

Time cruelly does not wait for those who hesitate. While Guhae was trembling, denying reality, the day before Mantian left the Jiegal Family arrived.

…To be precise, it was already past midnight as she lay under the blanket, pondering. By the time the sun rose the next morning, Mantian would be gone.

Faced with this sudden farewell, all Guhae could do was accept it and cherish the remaining time, creating memories with Mantian, no matter how brief.

But Guhae couldn’t do it. To be exact, she couldn’t accept it.

For Guhae, the thought of Mantian leaving was unimaginable. It was akin to the sun suddenly disappearing from the sky.

The sweetness of snacks was because of Mantian, and the joy of each day was because of Mantian.

Placing her hand on her chest, she felt her heart pounding. The fact that she was alive was all thanks to Mantian.

…There was no way she could accept it. For Guhae, a life without Mantian was a meaningless, colorless world.

[Hey… listen… what if you used the power of the dragon…]


“No.”

She flatly refused the sly black snake that preyed on human weakness. Though her memories were incomplete, she remembered Mantian being severely injured after losing consciousness to the snake’s voice.

She would never do as the evil snake said.

“Calm the heart to forget emotions, strengthen the body to gather energy.”

[W-Wait! I’m doing this for you…!!]


“When the heart dies, the spirit lives; when yang flourishes, yin perishes.”

Reciting the口诀 of the Mystical Taoist Inner Energy Technique taught by Mantian, she drove away the black snake. Whether it was the effect of the technique or not, a clear energy spread through her body, slightly easing her anxious heart.

The pure energy of Taoism and the happy memories with Mantian pushed away the snake’s whispers.

The Mystical Taoist Inner Energy Technique was the first martial art Mantian taught Guhae. It was the martial art she practiced the most diligently. There was no room for the black snake to interfere.

After driving away the annoying snake, Guhae opened the window and gazed at the beautiful starry night sky.

…Honestly, Guhae didn’t like martial arts. To be precise, she neither liked nor disliked them. She simply had little interest.

If Mantian had heard this, he would have scolded her, “What?! You little brat! After I spent so much effort teaching you! What do you mean you don’t care?!” and probably given her a knuckle rap, but there was nothing she could do.

For Guhae, martial arts were less appealing than sweet and delicious snacks. Yet, the reason she practiced so hard was because Mantian’s eyes sparkled whenever he talked about martial arts.

She looked at the stars filling the night sky. They sparkled like Mantian’s eyes.

For Guhae, who had only seen cold, disdainful eyes before, the idea that someone’s eyes could shine like the stars in the sky was a tremendous shock.

She wanted to keep seeing Mantian’s sparkling eyes. She wanted to know more and more about what Mantian loved. That’s why she worked so hard.

Mantian probably didn’t know, but whenever he looked into Guhae’s eyes, she was also looking into his.

The stars filled the sky, so much so that the sky itself was barely visible.

“…Mantian (瞒天).”

Mantian Guohai (瞒天过海), to deceive the heavens and cross the sea. It was the first phrase Guhae ever learned.

The girl leaped out of the window. It was the second floor, but it didn’t matter. She spun in the air and landed safely on the ground.

‘I don’t know… I don’t understand anything… but I want to see you.’

Her legs moved before she could think. Her body moved forward. She ran to meet the boy who had firmly taken a place in her heart.

“Mantian… that brat left me with a monkey instead of a human.”

At 2 a.m., Jiegal Yang, who was reviewing the day’s chess game in the courtyard under the moonlight, was stunned to see Guhae, who he thought was asleep, jump out of the window and dash away.

Gulp~

***

Guhae successfully sneaked into Mantian’s room, but she had no idea what to do next.

Snore~ Snore~ Snore~

She watched Mantian’s chest rise and fall rhythmically as he breathed. The impulse to curl up like a cat on top of him and listen to his heartbeat while falling asleep shook her heart.

She shook her head vigorously.

If she fell asleep in Mantian’s arms here, she would be happy, but that happiness would be fleeting. Guhae’s top priority was to stay with Mantian.

She remembered what Mantian had said at the first festival they attended together.

‘If you truly want something, you have to know how to fight for it.’

…But how? How could she ‘have’ Mantian?

She wrapped her small, cute head in thought, but no solution came to mind. Time was running out. …Wait, time?!

A small candle lit up above Guhae’s head. Of course, it was just her imagination.

Mantian had said that time would solve most problems. Even if she couldn’t think of a solution now, it would surely come to her with time.

While she waited for a way to stay together forever, she needed to buy time to prevent Mantian from leaving.

As her spinning vision caught sight of a cane, she realized it was the one Mantian always carried with him.

Mantian was lame. Without the cane, he wouldn’t be able to move. He wouldn’t be able to leave.

…It was a naive thought, something only a child would come up with. With a bit more thought, she would realize that taking the cane wouldn’t stop him, but Guhae didn’t think that far.

She ran away. In the end, she ran away.

Hoping for a small miracle, she avoided reality. All or nothing. In reality, it was nothing. But Guhae, hoping for the all, tightly hugged the cane and ran away.

Watching the scene with a bitter smile in the darkness, Jang Sam-i considered waking Mantian but eventually shook his head.

The Sima Family Head was a cold and cruel man, but he cherished his family deeply, a two-faced trash.

He wouldn’t let his beloved second son pair up with a girl who could go berserk and turn into a monster at any moment.

…It was better for both of them to part quietly.

He looked up at the night sky.

It was a damn beautiful night with countless stars. A night where he missed the cigarettes he had quit while guarding the Young Master.

***

“Jang Sam, where’s my cane?”

“Hmm… I don’t know.”

“Don’t just say you don’t know and end it there! Go find it!”

He tried to hit Jang Sam’s head with the cane as usual, but his hand felt empty. The cane was gone.

Where did it go? He definitely put it beside him before sleeping. It couldn’t have grown legs and walked away by itself. Did someone take it? But who?

As he examined the spot where he had left the cane before sleeping, he found a long strand of black hair. He picked it up to examine it.

It was a long, smooth strand of black hair, soft like silk and carrying a pleasant scent. He sighed.

…Guhae took it.

Silently crouching down, Mantian fiddled with the strand of black hair. Jang Sam checked the time.

“There’s still a little time left. Do you want to look for it?”

“…Forget it. Just give me the brush and the snack bag.”

***

Guhae didn’t show up even as Mantian boarded the carriage and left the Jiegal Family. In the rattling carriage, he absentmindedly fiddled with his empty hand.

She was a sleepyhead who took regular naps. She was probably somewhere, hugging the cane and sleeping.

The image made him chuckle softly.

At first, I thought of her as just a pastime peanut… but I ended up giving her too much affection.

As the carriage moved forward, distancing him from the Jiegal Family, memories of his time with Guhae flashed through his mind.

Like the time I put a paper on her head that said “(Congrats) Did nothing all day (Celebrate)” and teased her after she spent the whole day eating snacks and napping.

Or the time I tried to force her to eat spinach, and the dining table split in two… Thinking about it now, it’s ridiculous.

How do you even split a dining table in half? I really had a hard time.

…And there was also the time Guhae, who had learned how to make flower crowns from Jiegal Yang’s granddaughters, placed the first crown she ever made on my head.

Both the hard times and the good times flashed by.

Unable to resist, he opened the carriage window and stuck his head out to look back. Was Guhae chasing after him, even now? Was she calling out to me?

…But there was nothing. Nothing to see, nothing to hear.

“Should we turn the carriage around now?”

Jang Sam teased him with a mischievous smile. That brat knew full well I couldn’t do it. If I had the cane, I would’ve smacked him. Lucky brat.

“Turn around? …We have to go home.”

The carriage rattled on. Leaning back absentmindedly, he noticed small snowflakes falling through the window.

***

Upon hearing the news that Mantian had left the Jiegal Family, Guhae, like Red Hare after Guan Yu’s death, stopped eating and locked herself in her room. Jiegal Yang handed her a silk pouch.

“Take it. Mantian wanted you to have this.”

A red silk pouch embroidered with the characters “Sima Mantian” in golden thread. It was unmistakably Mantian’s snack pouch.

A faint focus returned to Guhae’s darkened eyes. With her small hands, she opened the pouch to check its contents.

It was filled to the brim with silver coins. She didn’t care about those. What mattered was the letter buried among them.

With trembling hands, she unfolded the letter and read it. It was Mantian’s handwriting, which she had seen countless times.

『I’m going home.

I left some pocket money in the snack pouch. If you want something, don’t hold back and buy it.

It’s fine to like sweets, but eat your vegetables too.

Don’t forget to brush your teeth before bed. Don’t kick off the blanket because it’s hot.

If you’re sick, don’t tough it out. Tell someone.

I told you to practice martial arts diligently to repay the favor, but that was a joke. Don’t worry about it.

Live your life doing what you love.

Don’t be gloomy because I left. Eat well and live happily.

I enjoyed meeting you. I was happy.

-From Sima Mantian to his beloved disciple-』

Tears fell, staining the letter. She didn’t need this. She wanted to tear it apart, screaming for him to just stay by her side, but she couldn’t.

He said he enjoyed meeting me… that he was happy… so why did he leave… why…

She knew Mantian didn’t leave because he wanted to. But she hated him. She hated Mantian, who promised to stay with her forever but left.

She hated the world that took Mantian away from her.

***

Two years had passed since Mantian left the Jiegal Family. Guhae was now thirteen.

Compared to the past, Guhae’s treatment had changed dramatically. Her talent was too outstanding and captivating to be ignored.

Now, she was known as the hope of the Jiegal Family, the one who would carry the name of the dragon after Jiegal Yang’s passing, the young dragon of the Jiegal Family, and her name was proudly listed in the family registry.

…It was all so ridiculous. That’s what Guhae thought.

She felt close to Jiegal Yang, who had kept his promise to take her as a disciple, and to Jiegal Yeon, who had taken care of her like an older sister and a slightly older friend. But she had no feelings for the Jiegal Family itself.

She had no interest. Even if they now claimed her as family, it meant nothing to her.

She gazed blankly at the sky. It was a clear sky without a single cloud.

It might sound strange, but she hated clear skies. She wished there were clouds to cover the sky.

She reached out to cover the sky, but of course, it didn’t work.

She had tried to be happy, as Mantian had told her. She ate lots of snacks, drew many pictures, and made friends. But…

The greatest pain of unhappiness is having once been happy.

The memories with Mantian were sweeter than any snack in the world, filling her heart so completely that other memories paled in comparison.

In the past, she didn’t know she was unhappy. She had never been happy, so she just lived day by day.

But meeting Mantian taught her happiness. She became a satisfied person. She learned to compare ‘happiness’ and ‘unhappiness.’

In the end, she couldn’t be without Mantian. Without Mantian, she couldn’t be happy.

Jiegal Yang watched Guhae, who had effortlessly defeated about twenty second-rate martial artists, including a few first-rate beginners, and reached out toward the sky, with pure admiration.

At thirteen, she was already at the peak of first-rate… Even I, who was called a genius, am honestly amazed.

What’s even more impressive is that despite achieving so much at such a young age, she still isn’t satisfied.

I like her. Originally, I didn’t plan to teach this ‘martial art’ to anyone from the Jiegal Family, out of respect for the old man from the Beggar’s Sect who taught me and my chess buddy.

…But the desire to teach her is stirring.

How strong would she become if I taught her? Would she become strong enough to face me?

“The Jiegal Family is known for weak martial arts. But why am I, a member of the Jiegal Family, one of the top ten martial artists in the world? Do you know why others fear me?”

“……”

“It’s because I learned the best movement techniques and the strongest palm techniques.”

He extended his right foot forward, then pulled it back, gathering internal energy. The powerful energy in his hand distorted the space.

Bending one leg, he drew a circle with his hand. The internal energy shaped like a dragon surged, its roar like thunder.

Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms – Proud Dragon Repents

The energy dragon created from the internal energy released from his arm passed by Guhae and shattered the wall.

Jiegal Yang retracted the internal energy emanating from his body and spoke to Guhae with a triumphant expression.

“How about it? Do you want to learn?”

“…If I learn it, will I become strong enough to cover the sky?”

Mantian, that brat, would have said, “Wow!! Old man! That’s amazing!! What is that? Teach me! Teach me! Mantian will shoot dragon blasts too!!” and climbed all over me.

Jiegal Yang felt a slight longing for Mantian.

In any case, he looked into Guhae’s deep blue eyes, whose depths were unfathomable.

Teaching the Dragon Subduing Palms – a martial art to subdue dragons – to a child who might be a dragon’s offspring… It was ironic and amusing.

“I promise. If you learn the Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms and master the dragon within you, there will be no one in the world who can match you except for me.”