As Prophet - Chapter 4



Only Krnovel

Episode 4. Samshinsan

“Dalcheon has returned.”

The magistrate was looking down at the pond water behind Naea, which had turned black.

“Dalcheon?”

“It looks like it got caught in a whirlpool and was blown far away.”

“Ahem. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Yes. Rather, I testify that Yun Gaedong intentionally sank the ship.”

“okay?”

“They say they started a fire in the old furnace and added wood such as bows to make the fire bigger. They fought with the rebels to stop it, but they drowned most of them and did not kill them.”

“We couldn’t stop the ship from sinking.”

“Yes. The ship is already half-burned… … .”

The magistrate’s eyes lit up.

“What should I do?”

“We need to arrest him and question him.”

“I would have said no and gotten away with it.”

“I am concerned about the hardships of many people.”

“What can I do when I’m already in the water?”

“He sunk the ship on purpose. He must have gained more than that. We must recover as much as we can from it.”

“Wouldn’t it be okay if he gets paid more than my fare?”

“I can’t just leave him alone.”

The magistrate expressed his reluctance to arrest Yun Gaedongi for some reason. He let out a sigh of suspicion that was welling up in his chest.

“Did you have a secret agreement with Yun Gaedongi?”

The magistrate’s face was distorted in pain.

“He said he would compensate me as much as possible.”

“Is that the maximum that we can get without having to collect any more taxes from the people?”

The magistrate shook his head.

“There is no way.”

“I will catch you. Be determined.”

“What are you going to do?”

“We need to investigate him, expose his crimes, and confiscate his assets to minimize the damage.”

“It’s already over. It’s annoying, but… … .”

The spleen shook its head.

“Leave it to me. I will catch him.”

“I don’t think he did it alone.”

“It was waterproof?”

“There were rumors about this incident as well. It seems that His Majesty wanted to move the main office to the center, but it seems that those who tried to stop it had their hands in it. Think about it. Where would you use a local official who can’t even properly collect taxes? It seems like he made things turn out like this. Even if Yun Gaedong-i had no thoughts, he could have done this on his own!”

“Are you saying that this is a political trick to prevent the magistrate Na-ri from entering Hanyang?”

“That’s right. So there’s nothing to be gained by catching Yun Gaedongi and investigating him. Even if you punish him and confiscate his assets, he’ll probably think it’s just a political show to try to make up for his mistakes.”

The spleen took a deep breath. This kind of thing cannot wait for time.

“I’ll arrest you first.”

“There won’t be any.”

“yes?”

“I must have gone to Hanyang to report the results of the war to the high-ranking officials.”

“How do you know so well?”

“I suspected him as soon as I heard the news. I looked into it here and there, but there was no answer.”

The spleen bowed its head as it straightened its body.

“I will do my best.”

“Oh, don’t do that.”

“I can’t stand it, I’m so angry.”

The spleen turned around.

* * *

He was a magistrate who had high expectations from his family as the first successful candidate in a long time from the Baek family. He had been appointed as a local government official in many places, but there was a rumor that he would soon be promoted to Hanyang. He worked well in every town he went to and was praised by the people, and he was especially good at increasing household income by planting mulberry trees on empty land. He persuaded the local officials who were not moving to open up land and plant mulberry trees. Even in winter, the smell of silk being unraveled wafted from every house. There was a rumor that he was the best at the ten things that His Majesty had the local officials focus on, and it was a time when rumors were circulating that he would eventually be promoted to Hanyang.

It was a time when the elders were very worried that his grandfather would be pushed out of the political strife and the family would become weak, so the Baek family’s wish to become a county magistrate was one of their most fervent wishes. It was also the family’s wish that Bi-jang, who was preparing for the military service examination, would throw everything away and become the county magistrate’s Bi-jang. He felt sorry for the family who had to support his studies in the past, but he also had hopes that he could take the military service examination again after serving as a Bi-jang.

“Whew. What do you want me to do?”

The boy was sitting on the porch of the long corridor that connected to the spleen.

“What should I do with this?”

“Why? Wouldn’t it be okay if we just catch that guy?”

“They say that Yoon Gaedong-yi was trying to disparage the achievements of County Magistrate Na-ri at the behest of high-ranking officials in Hanyang. They think that arresting him, interrogating him, and trying to compensate for the losses is pointless. They think that it would be better in the long run for the politicians in Hanyang to crush him as they want.”

Dalcheon glares and shakes his head. Although he is young, his thoughts are clear.

“Huh, what kind of calculation is that? And what about the people who suffer in the process?”

“They say it’s because there aren’t enough main offices, but I have nothing to say.”

Dalcheon blinked his eyes and fell into thought. A military officer came with a bowl of noodles. He was an officer named Hodong, and he was one of the best people selected from this area. He was quick-witted and did the necessary work in a timely manner. He was good at archery, and from a distance of about a hundred paces, he hit his target almost every time.

“You must have had a hard time coming this far. Please eat this.”

“Thank you. This was the taste.”

It was too hot to hold the bowl with one hand, so I stepped back, put the bowl down in the space created, and ate absentmindedly.

“More than that, are you really unharmed and in good health?”

“Thank you for your concern. I’m fine.”

I kept munching on noodles with just a spoon. I don’t think I usually do this, but today I felt sloppy. And something had changed. It was just a feeling, but it felt like the old, upright, and clear energy had disappeared and I was looking at a pile of loose, sloppy water grass.

The feeling of a person does not change much from its original form. You can change clothes or make it look a little lighter or in a different color by putting on makeup, but the feeling of a person that a person sees hardly changes. The reason why the feeling of childhood does not easily disappear even as time passes is because the uniqueness of temperament is connected to the original nature.

The spleen tilted its head. It was so different from before, or even from two weeks ago. The face, physique, and habits were the same, but the smell it gave off seemed like it was being performed by a completely different person.

“What happened?”

“Yes? You know. A lot has happened.”

“Don’t tell anyone that you went to Samsin Mountain.”

“It’s true.”

“It is a conceptual and ideological expression of the stages of study, and it is not an island that stands out a few hundred miles away from here.”

“It’s definitely something that’s hard to find and hard to bring down to reality.”

“Even if it exists, it’s just a pie in the sky for many people who can’t implement it in reality. They won’t believe it, and instead, they’ll think you’re strange.”

“It’s the same place, but the time is different and it appears that way because it’s in the same time zone and has slipped through a rift in space.”

“Yes, no matter what you say, it’s not me. If I walk thirty steps from here, there’s a side street. If I go the other way, there’s none. That’s the truth, and not being able to determine the direction and distance is fiction.”

“Ugh. What about me?”

“You have to ride on the three curves, get caught in the whirlpool, float on the vast ocean and see the straight path shining golden, and when your legs suddenly touch the rocks, you have to look somewhere else. You have to hold on to the crossbar floating on the water and float down on it. During the day, you have to look at the angle of the sun, and at night, you have to find the right direction, and you can get there in three days.”

“Yes.”

“If it happened this time and it doesn’t happen again, it can’t be seen as a universally existing order. It’s like a history that collapsed as a one-time event. That’s because it doesn’t happen again.”

I had to persuade him for a long time to stop talking about Samshinsan. But as I was talking, I suddenly thought that his change might be related to that crazy nonsense. But I didn’t ask him. If I asked him one question, he would have responded with a hundred words, but I didn’t have the time to do that right now because my mind was complicated.

My sitting posture used to be upright, but it was a little crooked and now it was loosening to the side. It didn’t seem to be because I was tired.

“What happened? Was it by chance…?”

“It’s fate. I heard you went to Samshinsan.”

The person who asked is wrong. Isn’t the same thing being said over and over again?

“Whew, stop it. I was just asking if there had been any changes in the priest’s martial arts.”

“Hmm, I see. That’s what you meant. Then I’d like to say this. So, it has changed a bit. It has moved away from the form and formula. I guess you could say that the degree of freedom has increased.”

“Because of chance?”

“Experience has taught me that the principles I once held dear were not all that important.”

“Freedom… … .”

Dalcheon looked at Bijang’s expression and added a word.

“If the ultimate goal of studying is to elevate myself, I think that state of elevating myself can be expressed in the language of this place as freedom.”

“That’s a difficult question. It’s probably easier to explain it in terms of strength, or not being able to be defeated by anyone.”

“I thought it was something very mental. If I were to become another me living here, how would I change? I think it would be a state of being free from the various environmental factors that limit me, that is, unhindered. I think it is the strength and mental maturity to achieve this.”

“You have truly become a Taoist.”

“I am a Taoist, death penalty.”

“That’s right. I’m the spleen here.”

“I came out to learn about the world, and I still come to the same conclusion: I think the ultimate goal of human society is freedom.”

“Not abundance?”

“I realized that what we want from abundance is a state of no want, and that even that is a state of freedom.”

“So that’s where Samshinsan Mountain abandons people.”

It was half a joke, but Dalcheon smiled faintly and agreed. It seemed like he was acknowledging that something had changed there.

“Yes.”

“Then what are the duties here?”

“However, that does not mean that those who live here should neglect their duties.”

“Then doesn’t that contradict your studies of wanting to be free from this place?”

“If you don’t have any concerns, it doesn’t matter. There are things you have to do to make a living. There are also things you do by using tricks to talk to people because you want to keep it for yourself. There are also things you don’t want to do but have to do because your superiors tell you to do them. But if you don’t get caught up in it, it’ll be okay.

I came down to learn about the world. It’s about relationships between people. Some people farm, some do business. There are also boatmen who transport the goods. In that sense, duty means that each person faithfully fulfills his or her assigned role. You have to do well. They say that it wasn’t given to you. That’s why it’s called a calling, but you have to do it really well. You have to do your best.”

“Ahem. If that’s what you mean, then I agree. Of course I should. But can you do that without being tied down by it?”

“First, you must not be distressed. Because of that, your mind must not be distressed. The body is distressed. So it is impossible not to be distressed, but even if the body is distressed, the mind can be at peace. You must not be dragged along.”

“Ahem. You sound like a monk.”

“In terms of studying the mind, they are all the same.”

“Then it’s for black beating… … .”

“That was difficult for me too. I thought, why study swordsmanship when I’m pursuing the high rank?”

“But it’s unmanned.”

The spleen spoke first, and Dalcheon followed suit. It was the Master’s language.

“He is a Taoist.”

No matter what they started with, the two of them ended up there. There was nothing to be gained by talking any further.