As Prophet - Chapter 21



Only Krnovel

Episode 21. Forbidden Land

“Then, what about this guy Baek Ui-hyung?”

“Personally, it’s my sugar. I studied in the mountains for a while, but I won’t go back to the mountains.”

“That kid?”

“I will go back to the mountains. I will come out into the world for a while. I heard that I will learn about the world. Until now, I have looked down on the unmanned and underestimated their abilities.

“Going through this incident, I thought that my government’s shallow thinking could endanger the country. But what’s even scarier is the narrow-minded discrimination of the officials lining the left and right sides of this street and the countless Confucian scholars behind them.”

“Oh, oh. This is the Three Military Commands, but please do not say such things to other government offices. I am concerned about the history that has been manipulated by them, so how can I discriminate against them? However, if I hear things like the Way and the Immortals, I will say that you are deceiving the people with absurd and groundless rumors.”

Baek Sa-ban bowed his head silently. It was an inconvenient truth. Discrimination was carried out openly, and the oppression of Buddhism was especially unspeakable. They were prohibited from entering Hanyang, and all temples on the plains were torn down. The materials for the temples were used to build buildings for the aristocratic families, and seowons were built in their place. The local government had the temples make things like ink and paper that they needed, and they mobilized monks to do various types of labor. It was common for flower-viewing noblemen to visit temples to carry palanquins, and the brutal practice of decapitating Buddhist statues was also frequent. Most of the Buddhas that were left with only a torso, like a headless corpse, were the work of Confucian scholars.

Another belief, a belief system different from their own, was not recognized and had a long history of oppressing them. When a high priest appeared by chance, they were accused of deceiving the people and sent into exile by making up crimes that did not exist. It was common for people to die on the difficult exile journey.

The mountain people and the hermits disappeared from their sight. The old tradition of those who usually traveled around the mountains and fields to pray and study and then came down from the mountains and fought the enemy in white when the country was in danger disappeared. The country became weak and the long peace was so great that even a small Japanese invasion shook the country.

While walking along the mountain path, I occasionally saw people wearing bamboo hats and black clothes, but now I can’t find them no matter how hard I look. The Tao of immortality has lost its pulse, and ambiguous pseudo-Taoists are deceiving the people.

“That’s why I omitted it from the report. I didn’t really like hiding someone’s achievements, but I couldn’t help it because I didn’t want to take credit and giving credit could be detrimental to myself.”

Perhaps the group already knew that things that were taken for granted were not so. In a world where Neo-Confucianism was the mainstream, there was no place for a sage.

The commander slowly got up, came in front of Baek Sa-ban, lowered his body, and spoke.

“It’s an inconvenient truth, but we may have to reflect a lot in the distant future. I hope that Baek Hyeon-ryeong’s wise decision will prevent things from going in the wrong direction.”

“thank you.”

The commander stood up again and looked around.

“I hope this matter will never be brought to another place. If we cannot express our gratitude to someone who fought for our country, how can we not throw him into the devil’s den?

And please, don’t tell anyone else about this. They won’t dig into it like we did.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

“Congratulations on your boarding. Please forgive my rudeness in saying what should have been said first.”

The work was done. Baek Sa-ban stood side by side with Baek Ui-hyeong, bowed deeply to everyone, and left the Samgunbu General Affairs Office. Why did he come to Samgunbu first? Wouldn’t it have been right to go to the Ministry of War first? Baek Sa-ban sighed deeply and headed to the Ministry of War.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dalcheon rode his horse toward a place he was told not to go. Geumwon (禁苑)* was a military training and hunting ground located in Yanggeun (the old name for Yangpyeong).

* Geumwon (禁苑): A place where logging and individual hunting were prohibited. It was managed by a magistrate, and there were twelve chiefs (守場人). In addition, a separate military officer was dispatched for surveillance and inspection, and was called a gamgo (監考). If a civilian entered Geumwon without permission, he would be punished by a hundred sergeants, and an official who failed to prevent it in advance would be punished by a three-grade deduction.

Suddenly, the place became deserted. It was the season when farmers would be out in the mountains and fields during the farming season, but not a single person was visible. The grass was lush and the fields were wide, making it a good place to ride a horse. I saw a sign that said “Forbidden” as I came in, but I didn’t care. I just had to run away quickly.

‘Ahem. It doesn’t look like a horse. It’s not talking.’

I muttered to myself and ran quickly through the wide fields. There weren’t many roads where I could run as much as I wanted, but I found a good piece of land and ran, and my heart felt relieved.

‘Are you armed?’

Baek Ui-hyeong’s explanation quickly passed through Dal-cheon’s mind. There were twelve chiefs, officials, and a supervisory officer, so there were fourteen people. Even if hundreds of people blocked them, he had a plan to escape. In order to conserve his horse’s strength for that time, he did not speed up but ran at a leisurely pace.

It was a beautiful day with spring scenery passing by like a painting and flower pollen fluttering in the wind. I tied my horse to a small hill with no people around and sat down.

“Whew, I like it here.”

He muttered to himself and prepared a place on the ground. He laid down the fur that had been placed on the horse’s back and sat cross-legged. While sitting, he tilted back and forth and left and right, then sat upright and observed his breathing. He stood still like a monk in meditation and observed his breathing. His search for good land and good places was for study.

The boiling mind from running calmed down, and I immediately regulated my breathing and immersed myself in the practice of the mind method. With the plains clearly visible ahead of me, the cool breeze and warm spring sun were good for studying. I quickly did the small heavenly circle once and then a couple more times, and the spring sitting cross-legged rose slightly from the ground. It was called the Bukong Samadhi*.

* Bukong Samadhi: A phenomenon that occurs when one momentarily passes a stage due to some enlightenment while practicing Un-gi-jo-sik.

It’s not that I didn’t feel it, but I just let it be. He said that if you get carried away by the strange things that happen while studying, your studies won’t deepen. As his studies deepened, he slowly sank again. Behind him, a silver ray of light spread like a fan, and after a while, it changed into a yellow gold light. Whether he knew it or not, he just stared at his breathing. Between his half-open eyes, his eyes flashed blue and then gradually sank.

At the end of the study, I felt the ground vibrate. No, to be more precise, I could see someone coming as if I was looking at the palm of my hand. I felt two horses running along the path next to the small stream that flowed next to the hill. And I saw an old breath that seemed to be watching, though it wasn’t approaching. Dalcheon took a deep breath and rubbed his hands together. He rubbed them together as if he was putting out a fire.

“Oh my!”

After a while, two people appeared hundreds of feet away from a low mountain ridge. They were the chieftains, I guess. Dalcheon hid his horse behind the bushes and hid himself behind a tree.

“What? What is there! There’s nothing there.”

Dalcheon’s forehead furrowed. If he hadn’t found it, but someone had ordered him to come, he should have taken care of the person who had ordered him to come. He didn’t move, but could he be the main character whose breath was as cool as the autumn wind blowing leaves? It wasn’t good. With that much energy, it would be right to get out of the way.

The two men searched the surroundings, but there was no sign of them leaving right away. It was clear that they had heard the order and came to find them. It was not far, and if they moved now, they would be caught right away. Dalcheon held his breath and waited for them to leave. After searching the surroundings for a while, they grumbled and disappeared the way they came.

After confirming that the two people had disappeared into the mountain ridge, he took out his horse and ran in the opposite direction. He could smell a pungent scent in the wind. If there was someone who could notice his studies from a distance, this was definitely not a good place. He thought he would have to look for it separately again and set off on his way to Yangju.

They say the day you go is a market day. A group of soldiers were blocking the road and checking people coming and going. They were worried about my status because I was riding a horse, so they couldn’t press me hard and spoke politely.

“Give me your badge.”

“I’m still young, so I haven’t gotten my license yet.”

“Who lives where?”

“My name is Dalcheon, and I live as a guest at the house of Na-ri Baeksa-ban in Yangju.”

“Baek Sa-ban Nari?”

“He was the magistrate of Gyeongsan County, but he has recently been promoted to the position of Minister of War. Today, he went to Hanyang to pay his respects at the Ministry of War, and as his personal attendant, I am currently touring the surrounding area.”

“If you say Yangju Baekgajang, people will understand.”

“Oh, yes. Can I go?”

“for a moment…….”

But when I looked closely, I saw that the one who wasn’t riding a horse was just letting it go. When I looked closely, I saw that one of the soldiers who was with him was riding a horse and running quickly towards the back. And that was the direction that Kang Mu-jang was in.

“Why are you only arresting and questioning me?”

“There is a reason for that.”

The guy grabbed the reins tightly, perhaps worried that the horse would run away. Dalcheon’s horse turned its head and resisted, but what could the horse do when he held the reins and applied strength? Dalcheon felt sorry for the horse and got off the horse. The guy quickly tied the reins to a tree on the side of the road.

“What did I do wrong to deserve this?”

“We didn’t say anything.”

“Please send it. I left early in the morning and was hungry, so I was on my way back quickly.”

“Please wait, it will only take a moment.”

“I wish I knew how much time is.”

“It won’t take even a moment.”

Dalcheon made a gesture as if he had given up and walked to the other side of the road. He didn’t say anything, perhaps because he thought there was no need to worry about the horse running away since he was holding on to it.

“Tell me honestly, what’s the problem? Aren’t other people just passing by?”

The officer who had been pressuring Dalcheon glanced back and spoke quietly.

“It appears that someone has trespassed in the restricted area.”

“He rode a horse?”

“That’s right.”

I recalled the blue breath that I could clearly feel, though it was invisible. He couldn’t possibly be the manager of the ban. He wouldn’t be acting like a manager with such inaction. But I wasn’t sure.

Soon after, a group of horses came running, creating a gust of wind. As soon as they arrived, they jumped down, and their horsemanship was superb. They moved as one with their horses, and they jumped down from the running horses and landed beautifully, showing the appearance of a master.

“I am Cheolmuwoong, the supervisor of Geumwon.”

“Yes? Is Mr. Cheol there too?”

They are picking on other people’s surnames as if to retaliate for having argued over their family name.

“Yes. The main building is in Gyeongju.”

“Oh, yes. But why did you keep me?”

“Someone has invaded the gold mine.”

“So you’re going to arrest all the riders?”

“Hmm. It’s a place where it’s harder to see people on horseback.”

“I think it would be excessive to doubt me… … .”

I pushed forward confidently because I was sure that no one would find out. As expected, I felt Cheolmuwoong hesitate. As I studied deeper, I could see people’s hearts moving. I don’t know the content, but I could see signs of change rising.

“Someone important told me to definitely catch him.”

“It’s dinner time. I have to go.”

“We will inspect all the riders nearby and if there are no problems, we will let you go.”

Dalcheon let out a hollow laugh.

“Such a violent method! Don’t you know that people are the most precious and important thing in the world?”

“That is the situation. Let me ask you a few questions. Where do you come from, Confucius?”

“My name is Dalcheon, and I am a guest at Baekgajang in Yangju. I came here for the first time yesterday and am looking around the area. I don’t even know where Geumwon is.”

“Yangju Baekgajang… … ahem.”

“It was the secret of Baek Sa-ban Nari, the magistrate of Gyeongsan. He has now gone to Hanyang to pay his respects. So-saeng was traveling around to familiarize himself with the geography of the new place.”

“Have you ever entered the gold mine?”

“I don’t even know where the money is.”

Cheolmuwoong was very suspicious of Dalcheon, but he had nothing to say when he denied it. He kept picking on him and asking him all sorts of questions, but he had nothing to gain.