As Prophet - Chapter 100



Only Krnovel

Episode 100. The Dragon’s Face

Dalcheon, who came down to get the stencil, looked at his face carefully. He guessed that the king’s order had been carried out. The picture was different, but it said that he was looking for the fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy, Dalcheon. He wanted to take one as a souvenir, so he waited for the crowd to disappear, but he never got the chance. There were places where they were gathered like clouds, and when three or four people left, another person would come and watch for a while.

He bought tools for woodworking, such as hoes, sickles, shovels, hammers, chisels, and saws, as much as he could afford. When he was in Gyeongsan County, he saw the county’s slaves do this a lot. He bought chisels and chisels. Dalcheon sighed as he carried them on his back in a small sack.

‘There is a saying that you should do well when you have the chance, but why do they beat the drum so late? I know all managers are like that, but I always find it pathetic when they beat the drum after the fact.’

A group of boys with ponytails ran up and chattered in front of Dalcheon’s awkward Yongmo-pagi. They were pointing at each other and shouting that they looked alike, so I felt annoyed and quietly left the place. It felt strange. Yongmo-pagi looking for me…

My connection to Hanyang suddenly came to mind, but I shook my head.

‘A man who does not look back is a great man.’

I’ve often heard people who have entered the mountains in old age admonish them for being attached to the summer. Dalcheon thought that the same words applied to him.

When I came out of the alley of the market and went to the rice store, three soldiers from the county approached the store that had opened its doors facing the street and displayed the five grains, in front of the still-opened doors.

“This place is nice. It’s spacious and the trees are well-placed.”

“It’s a door of the past.”

“A closed door is an unused door.”

They were going to put up a room, but they didn’t even ask the owner’s permission. The owner of the room looked uncomfortable, but the soldiers said it was important and put up the Yongmo Pagi of Dalcheon. They spread the glue they had prepared in advance without sparing it, and then put up the paper and pressed it down with a wide rag. However, the wooden door was old and had some grooves. They pressed it down and the shape was completed, and a young boy who was watching screamed.

“This is the guy!”

Dalcheon was so surprised that he stepped back without realizing it. The woman holding the child’s hand grabbed his hand and told him not to do that, but the child screamed at the top of his voice.

“Over there! There it is!”

Dalcheon, who knew that the drawing did not resemble him at all, tilted his head and looked at the drawing. It was a completely different drawing, but perhaps because the left and right sides were reduced while filling in the valleys tightly. At first glance, it looked like Dalcheon. I must have made a mistake while drawing, because even the shading inside the face was almost identical. It didn’t look like that on paper, but when I attached it to the tree with the valleys, it was the same. The boy pointed to Dalcheon.

“Yes, that’s right. It’s this guy!”

Dalcheon chuckled.

“Hehe, hehe.”

They looked more alike when they smiled. Three soldiers surrounded Dalcheon. The soldier in his 40s, who was the commander, blew his whistle.

Beep beep beep beep beep!

These guys blow the whistle they use to control fire at random times. It was Gyeongsanhyeon, and it must have been a scolding. All military instruments have their uses. Sometimes a certain sound is used, and sometimes a certain sound is used in a very complex combination to direct the march and battle of the troops. The whistle should not be blown at times like this… … .

Ugh, it’s a habit to think about Aem when you’re in a hurry. It’s not that they’re unrelated, but they’re thoughts that don’t help solve the situation and just come up like unnecessary noise.

“Over here! That’s right! Grab it!”

The impatient soldier shouted, and Dalcheon protested with a dumbfounded expression.

“Where is this me?”

As I spoke forcefully and forcefully, the soldier who had been shouting hastily shrugged his shoulders. That’s what Yongmo-pa-gi is. It’s similar and not the same.

“Look at another picture. Is it the same?”

The guy who blew the whistle winked at the guy holding the paper. When he opened the paper, he was a completely different person. After that, the guy who blew the whistle went back and compared the picture on the wooden board with the unattached paper and grumbled. He held the unattached paper and compared it to Dalcheon.

“So the problem is the ones who don’t have a sense of mission. They do whatever they want. Are you saying we can arrest anyone?”

“Yeah. I don’t think this is it.”

The clever boy who had shouted at first let go of his mother’s hand and stepped forward.

“Because Yongmo-pa-gi is something that is drawn based on what is said, it cannot be the same. If it is said to have sharp eyebrows, it would have been drawn like this, and if it is said to have a narrow face, it would have been drawn like this. Drawing the eyes to be sparkling is meant to give off an intelligent impression… … .”

Dalcheon, who was listening to the boy pointing out Yongmo’s shortcomings, slowly moved his butt. It occurred to him that the boy might be a student learning to draw.

‘I need to buy some rice, but I threw it away. Eight!’

Dalcheon ran away to the alley next to Mijeon. It was an act of acknowledging that Yongmo Pagi was him. The soldier holding a bucket and a large brush saw it first. He raised the large brush high like a swordsman’s axe and shouted.

“It’s running away! Catch it!”

Dalcheon, who had escaped, ran into the alley, and three men chased him. Five soldiers, who had heard the sound of a whistle, ran after him. They chased and were chased.

Dalcheon ran into the alley and jumped over the wall when no one was looking. The many iron objects hanging behind him made a screaming sound. When he heard the men running from the back of the alley, he jumped over another wall on the other side. He took advantage of the fact that the soldiers in full gear were not able to quickly catch up.

Since it was a village with a castle, the walls were all made of dirt and stones, so I could get out of their sight the moment I crossed over. I should have worn a hat. Regrets always come too late. I never could have guessed that this situation would come. Even when I saw the room looking for me posted, I thought I drew the Yongmo Pagi wrong, so I handled it too complacently. I had to come down to this village one or two more times, so I made a mistake.

As Dalcheon’s thoughts flowed endlessly through his mind as he crossed the yard, his eyes met with those of a half-naked old man sitting on the porch. He was the landlord, and I looked like a thief.

“Hello? You took the wrong way.”

Dalcheon’s explanation didn’t work at all because of the background noise of people yelling at him to catch him. Seeing the nervous old man crouching down, he couldn’t add any more explanation and left the house.

How many houses did he pass? He ran straight and jumped over obstacles. No soldier in the world could catch up with someone running like that. He jumped over the low town wall that looked like a fence of a house and came upon a ridge of sand that curved around the village.

I jumped down into a hollow where rocks and pebbles had been pushed by the monsoon rain and caught my breath. I checked my belongings and found that I had lost nothing. I tied up the tools I had worked so hard to buy so that I wouldn’t lose them.

Meanwhile, a report was made to the magistrate that a person who looked exactly like Yongmo Pagi had been found and had run away. The magistrate, who had been enjoying his leisurely time behind the Dongheon, stood up. It was true. A thrill of excitement ran through his body, thinking that he could solve the problem.

He looked at the three men who had missed the man as if they were pitiful, and then called the military officers of Bijangcheong. When a dozen or so people came running and stood in two rows, he gave each person a Yongmo-bba-gi and told them to catch him, or rather, to bring him to him respectfully. The military officers of Bijangcheong led the soldiers and ran to various places in the town wall.

Although there were only a few soldiers, it was more than enough for a small county to do the job. The county magistrate wrote a report that he had found a boy who looked like the boy described in the order and tried to politely welcome him, but he ran away and was missed. He gathered the stories of those who had been there and added that he seemed to live in a nearby mountain and had bought tools for carpentry and farming, and that he had been caught trying to buy rice at a rice farm. He mobilized all the county soldiers to search for him and added a note saying that there would be good news soon, and then he signed the report and sent it to Hanyang by express courier from the post office.

The magistrate who submitted the report went out to look for it himself, because he was certain that it was still inside the town wall.

One group ran like the wind through all the alleys of the town castle, checking on each person, and another group went into each house to look for people. Now, everyone was convinced that the main character of the Yongmopagi was inside the town castle.

Dalcheon, who had no way of knowing this, secretly went back in and planned to buy rice.

‘Whew. What should I do with this?’

I can’t just go back. I should have bought the most important things first, but I didn’t know this would happen. I should have bought food first.

* * *

When Dalcheon went up to the riverbank while talking to himself, he met him. The man in shabby and dirty monk’s robes had a bulging buttocks, as if he had successfully begged for alms. I couldn’t even buy rice, but I was envious.

“Oh, you’re here.”

“What is it?”

“The town is in chaos. They are trying to find Prince Dalcheon.”

“You saw it wrong. The resurrection is called Uheo.”

“Oh, you were a mountain man?”

“I live higher than the temple. Hahahaha.”

“Anyway, things aren’t going well. Run away quickly. Why are you here like this?”

Dalcheon looked at the monk carefully. His face was bright and well-fed. He was the type of monk who would not eat well at the temple, but would eat well whenever he came out to beg.

“Which temple are you a monk from?”

“I am staying at Hoe-ryong-sa Temple.”

“Aha, Hoeryongsa.”

“Do you know?”

“I’m not a Buddhist, but I remember going there once or twice. Are you going to beg for alms?”

“It seems like the entire town is in chaos. People like us have to eat to survive, huh. We keep getting checked and checked again. I’d rather give up and go back. You should go back quickly too, not here like this.”

“I bought everything, but I couldn’t buy rice.”

“So you want to go back in and buy some rice now? Oh, huh?”

The monk who saw the town wall in chaos shook his head.

“You absolutely cannot do this now. It is impossible. I don’t know if the donor is Prince Dalcheon or not, but if you go in now, you will be arrested 100 times out of 100 times. You will be dragged to the county office without any rice or anything.”

“Oh my.”

Dalcheon looked at the town wall from afar and the mountain on the other side.

“So, what crime did you commit?”

“I have committed no sin.”

“Ahahaha! Ask any criminal in the world and the answer will always be the same. Have you ever seen someone admit that it was their fault?”

“Whew… … . Really not. I’m not a sinner.”

Dalcheon secretly looked at the monk. The boy’s expression was unusual. The monk’s posture as he slowly put down his bowl was unusual. Now, he seemed certain.

“why?”

“The magistrate announced a little while ago. He said that if you catch him and bring him to me, he will give you five sacks of rice.”

“Wow! Five kama?”

“If that’s the case, our Hoeryongsa family will be able to easily get through these difficult times.”

“So?”

“A Buddhist disciple should not do that, but we are also in dire straits, so please take us into the hands of the Hinayana. It looks like he has committed no crime, so I don’t think we will suffer any harm even if you take him.”

“How come you say it’s not a disaster if you get caught?”

Dalcheon realized too late that the monk’s attitude was bad and that he was trying to do something with force.

“Oh, why are you doing this, monk? When you see a living being in trouble or hardship, you should help them, but instead of taking them away and trying to satisfy your own desires?”

“It is not a matter of selfish desire, but a great decision to send alms to the temple. Even if I have to rescue a living being in trouble and reincarnate in the six realms, if I can send five sacks of rice to the temple, I would gladly do so.”