As Prophet - Chapter 101



Only Krnovel

Episode 101. Takbalseung

The monk put down his hat and placed it on top of the bowl. His bald head was revealed. Dalcheon laughed out loud in disbelief.

“The monk of Hoeryongsa Temple said that from a Mahayana standpoint, he would catch a person in trouble and send five sacks of rice to the temple to overcome the temple’s difficulties. That’s what he said.”

While Dalcheon was mulling over the monk’s words, the monk took a stance. He held the Buddhist staff made of solid birch wood like a spear.

“Well, would you like to go to the county office with me?”

“Oh, do you practice martial arts?”

“I used to exert myself when I was young. I hope you will just accept it. I don’t want to exert myself.”

“Do you really have to do this?”

“Even without that, we had to completely rip off the temple’s belongings due to the paper work not long ago. In our current situation, we won’t be able to last until the fall harvest.”

“Whew, Hoeryongsa… … I know that too, but you shouldn’t do this. You’ll get in trouble with Monk Wonju.”

No matter what I say, it’s no use. I’ve already made up my mind.

“Well! Would you like to go with me, or would you like to have a go at it with me?”

“I don’t want to swing my fist at you, monk. I’m really thinking about your situation. Just go back. It may seem like you’ve made a fortune by arresting a young boy, but that’s not the case at all. I could tell the monk Wonju about this behavior.”

“That’s why I said it was a great decision. Even if I get scolded by the Hinayana, I will accept five sacks of rice as a reward.”

“Those who do things that should not be done always talk about Mahayana. Those who do not know even a single bit of the Buddhist law. Don’t you think that Mahayana Buddhism has been ruined because of that Mahayana determination? Do you know that the Buddhist sect you call Hinayana is more popular in the local area?”

“I have already made up my mind. There is no use in asking questions. Judging from the sword he is carrying, he seems to be a warrior. Let’s meet up.”

“Wow! There is a monk like this in the world.”

Dalcheon sighed and stepped back, pretending to prepare for the fight. The only way to get away from the worldly conflict is to run away. Dalcheon turned around and ran away, but the guy jumped up and followed him, as if he had expected it. He was running with long strides, and he was quite fast. He had good strength.

Dalcheon was running away like a squirrel stuck to the ground, and the monk following him was also walking unusually. He followed Dalcheon as if he was going to catch him. If you look at the temple, there are sometimes strong people, and he seemed to be one of them. He seemed to have learned Buddhist martial arts. Dalcheon, who was running away like an ordinary person, thought he couldn’t do it, so he performed lightness. However, the monk followed him well.

“You’ve learned martial arts.”

“It’s weak.”

“Follow me, then.”

“I can catch up. If you catch me roughly, I don’t think I’ll be rude.”

“I already did it. I was starting to get angry.”

“Namu Amitabha Buddha.”

Dalcheon breathed into his breath. He ran faster by adding energy, so it was not a speed that a person could catch up with. But the monk followed him stubbornly. When he looked back, he noticed that his breathing was running. Like the wind? No, like a shot? It was not a speed that could be described in those words. It was the speed of running from Hanyang to Taebaeksan in one day, excluding the time spent sleeping. But he followed him. No, the distance between the two gradually grew.

There was at least one monk who had mastered martial arts in each temple, and it seemed like he was one of them. No, I should say he had outstanding skills. Dalcheon slowed down so that the monk could keep up. He jumped about ten steps away and turned around. As he flew backwards, his body turned toward the monk.

“Do you know which way this road is?”

Even though I told him that this was the way to Hoe-ryong-sa Temple, he didn’t pay any attention.

“It doesn’t matter which way you go.”

When I told him to speak, the monk’s breathing became unsteady and his pace slowed down.

“I am going to the main room of Hoeryongsa Temple.”

“Why there?”

“I will go and report the monk’s misdeeds. That he tried to capture a poor living being.”

“Whew! I know how bad it must be. So please hold on to me.”

Every time he spoke, his running form shook. The monk’s body swayed. It was like laundry was blowing in the wind. The moment the robe fluttered, Dalcheon stopped breathing. To be exact, the moment the robe swayed, he stopped breathing and passed by, hitting the monk’s side with his hand. It wasn’t an important acupoint, but it was enough to neutralize the lightness of running using true energy.

The monk’s body, which had been running at a tremendous speed, fluttered like a kite with a broken string and fell to the ground. He tried to prevent his face from hitting the ground by hitting the ground with both arms and using a falling technique, but the arm that had been hit in the side did not move as he wanted. He rolled around on the ground three times before stopping. The captain he was holding fell about ten feet away.

The moon was spinning in the air and falling, and it looked like swallows full of water were flying by.

“ha!”

When Dalcheon made a motion to strike with his sword, the monk who was rolling on the floor hurriedly rolled to the side. Dalcheon put his hand on the floor, did a somersault, and stepped on the side where the monk was rolling.

“Huh!”

The place he stepped on was his stomach. He heard the sound of air escaping, and the strength of the monk who had been running with all his might was scattered in all directions. Dalcheon, who had made it impossible for him to gather his strength, lightly hit several of the monk’s acupoints.

“Ouch! Aah! Aah!”

He is a strong person, so his voice is also good. Since the results of my actions are also good, Dalcheon took a few more shots. He clenched his teeth and held back a groan, but it was not easy. Dalcheon crouched down in front of the monk who had collapsed and was twisting his body.

“Such a vicious method… … .”

“There is such a method. And it’s not that evil.”

“This is good.”

But the place they got off was the grounds of Hoeryongsa Temple. The monk didn’t know when he got there. The place he had followed without thinking was Hoeryongsa Temple.

The pain spread throughout Dalcheon’s body from where he had stabbed her again.

“Ahhhhh!”

A scream tore through the air in the temple. It sounded good, and it felt good. I stabbed him again, but there was no sound. I tried stabbing him again, but the monk screamed again.

“Kwaaaaak!”

Three or four monks came running out from the Yosaechae, and behind them, Wonju monk came running in a hurry. I wondered what was going on in the temple.

Dalcheon took a few steps forward, leaving behind the screams of the monk rolling on the floor. The monks of Hoeryongsa Temple glared at him fiercely. Dalcheon turned away from their gaze and greeted the monk Wonju who was coming up behind him.

“Monk! How have you been? This is Uheo.”

“Oh, the real one has returned. I have been waiting for a long time for you to come.”

Dalcheon quickly explained the events at the town fortress. As soon as he heard that they were trying to capture poor living beings and offer them to the county, Wonju monk kicked the monk in the ribs.

“Hey, you punk! You have to put it where it belongs. What? A grand decision?”

Before Dalcheon could say anything, Takbalseung looked resentful after being kicked a few more times. I devoted myself to the household of Hoeryongsa, but the results were dismal.

As Dalcheon approached quickly, Takbalseung was startled. He gestured to the monk who was worried that he would hit him again, and released the acupuncture point. The twisting of his body and the screaming in unbearable pain suddenly stopped. But a new pain attacked Takbalseung. Wonju monk began to beat him.

Standing on the side of the marginalized and suffering beings is probably the basic principle of a Buddhist temple. When I heard that he tried to capture Dalcheon and obtain five sacks of rice, I felt a mixture of sadness and resentment. Why must he have been begging for something like that? I hated the begging monk who had to get it by any means, but I didn’t hate him. I felt sorry for the reality that he had to do that.

Sparks flew from the eyes of the monk Wonju. No matter how necessary the purpose was, it was something that should not be done.

While the monk Wonju was scolding the begging monk, Dalcheon slowly withdrew. The old monk Wonju glanced at him and called Dalcheon over.

“How many years has it been? Since you’ve come all this way, you should at least have a cup of tea before you go. I heard you were coming, so I thought I’d go up and take a look.”

“Ahaha, I see.”

I guessed that the old man would have explained it somehow. I backed away silently, but when the monk Wonju sensed that my presence had faded, he turned around and approached me with brisk strides.

“How many years has it been? Hahaha, let’s have a cup of tea before you go.”

I couldn’t say no to the same thing being said twice.

“Monk Takbal left all his luggage at the castle rampart.”

The beggar monk, who had been beaten, lowered his head and rolled his eyes.

“I have to take care of it myself.”

After reprimanding the monk who was being treated as a beggar, the monk Wonju sent him away and guided Dalcheon to the Wonju room at the end of the Yosa building.

“How long has it been since you last saw me? You’ve grown so much.”

“After the master’s ascension, I studied at Mt. Sobeksan.”

“I heard the news that far.”

“Then I followed the executioner down to the lower world to study.”

“oh!”

“I worked as a secret agent in Gyeongsan County, then went to Hanyang, but I came back the day before yesterday because I thought it was useless.”

“Welcome. I was wondering when you would be coming.”

Wonju led us inside, muttering. He must have already been drinking, so he quickly heated up the water, adjusted the temperature by touching the kettle with his hand, and brewed tea.

“Now, now, these are new tea leaves brought from Jirisan Mountain in the far south. They are called Ujeon. They are picked before Gokwoo and then dried.”

The words are ambiguous. I couldn’t tell where the monk Wonju started and what he did. It sounded like he was saying that he did everything else.

“thank you.”

He lifted the small white cup with both hands and put it to his lips. An old fragrance lingered faintly. On the day he accompanied his master a long time ago, he felt sorry for Dalcheon who had been left to one side, so he asked him to taste the tea. He told him to prepare it himself, and he also taught him how to select tea leaves. The tea ceremony (茶道) was something he had learned from the monk in Wonju.

“I left in a hurry to buy some tea, so I didn’t bring anything with me.”

“Ahaha, I’ll just accept your heart.”

Dalcheon explained the quarrel with Takbalseung and asked if the temple’s circumstances were that difficult.

“It is difficult. When wasn’t it like that? Jin-mook, that guy was too much.”

“Is your Buddhist name Jinmok?”

“Yes. I raised him as a warrior, but as time goes by, there is nothing left to do.”

“There’s a rumor that a Taoist monk was born in Jirisan in the south.”

“I’m thinking about sending him that way. He has a lot of strength, but he has nothing to do. He’s always talking nonsense here and there, and it’s a headache. He’s a pure monk at heart.”

“How are the fields?”

“Everything has been taken away. They are taking it for various reasons, but there is no way out. If we reclaim the land, they will take it as the king’s, too. It is so difficult that I could die. It is called a rural field.”

“Why that?”

“The middle class people also had to do the work, but they didn’t do it. They said that they would do the work by making fields, and the fields they reclaimed that way belonged to the county, and things like that.”

“I heard you make me do a lot of different things. Isn’t that a job?”

“We make paper, make ink, and offer it to others.”

“Things aren’t going so well.”

“It seems like a symbol that it would be better if you left because it was too hard to bear.”

“You want me to empty the temple?”

“Yes.”

“What if it empties?”

“Then we’ll tear down the house and build our own house out of wood.”

“You covet the treasures of the temple.”

“It’s not just one or two guys. There are a lot of them causing trouble, so it’s hard to know what’s going on.”

The harassment of Buddhist temples is not something that started yesterday or today. It has continued steadily since the founding of Joseon. If they refuse and rebel, they make up crimes that do not exist and file a complaint to Hanyang, and they boast about it as an achievement of our Confucian scholars.

“What can a monk like us do? We support the monks who are studying. As long as there is at least one person who is studying, we will do our best. If that doesn’t work out… …”

The conversation was not continued. It must have been something that should not have been said.

“What if it doesn’t work?”

“It’s a thought that sets fire to everything brilliantly and leaves.”

“Oh, you want to set fire to the temple? No.”