As Prophet - Chapter 41



Only Krnovel

Episode 41. The Body – One Million Twenty-One Times

The next day, he sent the slaves to a nearby village. He planned to start a martial arts school, admission would be on a first-come, first-served basis, and he had them go around telling people that the teacher was Dalcheon, the young general who had suppressed the Japanese invasion. He said there would be a preliminary test, which would be jumping, wrestling, and watermelon.

There were many families who were unable to send their children to a private school due to financial difficulties, so most people were indifferent to the idea of ​​a martial arts school, but many listened at the promise that it would help their children pass the military service examination.

Meanwhile, Dalcheon obtained an awning from his family home and raised it high. He set it up like a temporary military barracks next to where the building would be built, and also placed chairs made from cut logs.

Sometimes I look down outside, as if I was checking if students were coming. I stick my head out and look down. I go to the entrance on the street and see that there is a sign on a tree that says, “Yangju Martial Arts School.” It seems like they thought students would flock if they wrote the words on a board and stuck them there.

After standing and waiting for a while, he sighed and went up to the school building. Mukhyeong was there. I felt him coming and going, but I didn’t even know he was coming. I thought, “What is this? What is happening?” and realized that I was wasting my energy waiting for Hakdong who never came. I said that it was important to keep a calm mind, but it seems I lost it.

“Oh! How did you get here? I was down here before… … .”

“I came running straight down to study.”

“aha.”

Mukhyeong, who was looking at the barracks that Dalcheon had built, shook his head. Something was off, something wasn’t standing straight. It would fall over if a strong wind blew. The heights were different, and the lengths of the ropes were different.

Without saying a word, he re-erected the barracks and tied the ropes tightly. Those who have done it before are good at it. He even replaced the stakes that were stuck in the ground, and the barracks stood upright. He took out the barrack cloth that was thrown on one side and neatly connected it to the side, and it looked much better.

“Oh, you’re good at it, Mukhyeong.”

“I’m used to this. I have something to tell you.”

“We’ve been talking for a while now, what are you talking about?”

“Let me tell you.”

“… … .”

“I want to enroll as a student at the school.”

“Oh, are you going to study and take the military service exam?”

“no.”

“But why?”

“I want to learn formally. Confucius’ martial arts.”

“Oh, I was thinking of taking the kids and teaching them… … And isn’t your teacher good at it?”

“You said it before. If you don’t cross the line, it’s the same there… … .”

“Phew. When did I ever say that?”

“That’s right.”

“Ugh. My words are hitting me in the foot. But I can’t live without saying anything.”

“You have already taught me to add breath, to make it a conscious breath.”

“Okay, then do that again over there.”

Mukhyeong bowed deeply.

“thank you.”

The school started with just one person. Although he was a student older than the teacher, Dalcheon taught with sincerity.

If you think about it carefully, he had no intention of teaching many children, nor any desire to make money doing this. To Dalcheon, the school was a kind of expedient to survive this life.

Should I call it a job? If he was a spleen in Gyeongsan-hyeon, he was a teacher of military officers in Yangju. What if there was only one person? What if there were ten people? If we had to live this time, and if we had to do something, I thought that it would be okay. I recalled my original intention and focused on teaching silent meditation.

“You should let your energy flow out. That is breathing. The flow of your energy, the movement of your muscles, and your mind should be focused on that. Put your heart and soul into each movement. You should release it at the point where it bursts out with a bang.”

Silent form stretched out his true energy with all his might. We do not do our best in all the laws. Things that we are already familiar with tend to flow away without awareness and meaning. However, Dalcheon pointed this out. Flowing like water is something that will happen later, and for now, he focused on gathering and releasing energy and breathing to help the energy during the sword practice.

As he said, the movement of the sword that had been swung millions of times changed. I didn’t like the awkward and uncomfortable shape.

“Okay. One more time. If you have the energy, place the spirit of the silent one there. Your heart must be there.”

“God?”

Mukhyeong, who had shouted without realizing it, asked while retrieving his sword.

“look.”

Dalcheon showed off his sword and then his own sword. It was clearly a different sword. It was a sword with a god on it. Could it be because he was riding on it? The swordsmanship was slow but powerful, and although it was dull, it stretched out his spirit.

“Was there a god there?”

“Try it. If my heart is not there, it is useless. At the moment of explosion, my heart must stay at the end. It is short but gorgeous, thin but sharp, and its end cannot be known.”

With the mind of a boy who first held a sword, he did as he was told. However, he did not become like Dalcheon. If everything could be taught with words, how could it be considered martial arts? Dalcheon looked pitiful. He repeated the command several times without softening his expression, and then told him to go and do it one million twenty-one times.

“Ugh. Are you saying that if you try it and it doesn’t work, you’ll do it a million and twenty-one times?”

“That’s why it’s called a physical exercise. It should be done that way, but it doesn’t work. I understand the words, I think that way, and I try my best to follow the body, but it doesn’t work. What can I do? I have to do it one million twenty-one times.”

“Is there any secret?”

“No. I, my body, have to realize it. To do that, there will be a time when you try it a million times and it goes off in a different direction. You have to get used to that movement with your body. That’s why I’m telling you to try it. Your body has to remember that moment without missing it.”

“Did Confucius do that too?”

“Of course.”

“Isn’t genius something that just happens once?”

“Oh, if you do that, who wouldn’t reach the extreme? Don’t try to take a break while talking for a long time, but continue when your breathing reaches the tip of your chin. When you feel like giving up, taking one more step is courage.”

“Oh, yes.”

If you can’t even speak… … .

While I was doing something else after making him do the silent task, Baek I-jeong came up from below. Dal-cheon smirked and scolded him for coming now. Baek I-jeong seemed to have something to say, but Dal-cheon had already started and nothing else mattered. He focused on what he was doing. He did his best at everything. He forgot everything for just one student.

I waited for the school children who never came. For a moment, it felt like a thousand years. I made the mistake of thinking that if I put up a sign and let the neighborhood know, they would come right away. It wasn’t something I could do like calling up soldiers, just taking care of the ones who didn’t come. After going as far as my mind could endure, and experiencing a kind of resignation and surrender, I realized that just one student was precious.

I made Baek Yi-jeong do it and walked around the silent one for no reason. What use would this kind of instruction be to someone who had already reached the level of a master? He needed to calm his mind, but since he had already made up his mind while bowing down, it was as if he had already solved many difficulties. He would go further. Much of the progress depends on the mind. It was training to find something very spiritual that cannot be explained in words in the implementation of movements and the consciousness attached to them.

On the other hand, Baek Yi-jeong was starting again, one million twenty-one times. I am starting again, not knowing if I can do it all if I swing my sword all my life. It is because of some desire that I start even though I know I will not be able to do it all. No, it should be called a dream. It is because our dreams are what we do even though we know it is impossible.

Dalcheon emphasized breathing several times. He told her not to panic, but to breathe in sync with her movements, and to push out her movements with her breathing. Sweat was seeping from Baek Yi-jeong’s temples. Her hair, which was hanging down, gently curved and swept across the sky, and her jade-colored jacket swayed as if dancing. She realized once again that the woman’s sword was this beautiful.

After a while, I felt the vibration of several people coming, so I went out to meet them. I had a strong expectation that they might be students, but they couldn’t be. Who would send students here knowing what they were doing? And the steps they took on the ground were those of adults.

As I went out to meet him at the bottom of the hill, three or four workers came, including a carpenter who was repairing a boat. Oh my… … . Are they here to teach me how to row a boat?

“What’s going on?”

“I heard you’re building a house, so I brought some workers.”

Dalcheon thought of Baek Ui-hyeong. I am grateful for his concern. Without him, the world would be nothing.

“Home? Who said that?”

“Of course, Mr. Baek sent it.”

“Ahaha, I see.”

“He told me to go and take charge of it.”

“Come up here.”

The workers came up and saw two people swinging their swords, their mouths wide open. Two people were swinging their swords next to a white tent, and it looked like tigers and cranes running wild. The swordsmanship of the original tax law was lively and beautiful.

“What about them?”

“Yes, I am a student. I plan to establish a military academy here. I will teach those who are taking the military service examination, and also teach the young children in the neighborhood.”

“Oh. I saw the Baek family members going around promoting it.”

“Okay, okay. Leave them to their own devices and come here.”

Dalcheon pointed to the cornerstone that had been placed in place of the pillars and explained the shape of the building.

“This is the main building. It spreads out to the left and right, and you should have a veranda in the front, and the direction should be like this, and you should be looking at Ansan on the other side. This is the direction.”

“You’ve already built it all.”

“I only thought about the main building.”

The carpenter measured the length of the foundation stone and chuckled. It is not easy for an ordinary person to measure accurately.

“why?”

“You can upload it like this with a little modification.”

“Ahaha, I see. Okay, okay! Come here.”

Dalcheon went to the clean land next to him and drew a picture on the ground. This is the location of the building.

“This is the dormitory. Please make it like a long corridor with a porch in front. Put two porches in the middle of the dormitory. Since there is a porch in front, the pillars should be raised like this. This is the kitchen. We will be eating here.”

“yes.”

“This is the lecture hall. It’s where we study. We’re going to read and lecture, and we’re going to have one side with the wooden floor and the other with the ondol floor. In the summer, we’ll study on the wooden floor, and in the winter, we’ll study on the ondol floor. You can block the space in front of me, but make sure it doesn’t block the view of the main building.”

“All right.”

“This is the library and armory. I plan to call it Jangseogak.”

“yes.”

“The most important place is the training ground. There is a training ground in front of the main shrine. It is where the two of you are studying now. Another one is going to be used widely under the lecture hall. The floor needs to be wide and flat, and it needs to drain well. But I can’t give it a slope either, so I’m worried. If I just build it, there will be a ridge every time it snows or rains.”

“All right.”

“You can build a wing on the left and right of the main building, and there will be a warehouse, an armory, a veranda, and living quarters for the workers. There should also be a stable.”

“There was an armory earlier?”

“That’s a real weapon, this is a fake weapon, something like a wooden sword.”

“Oh, yes.”

However, there was no proper place to practice martial arts and horse riding. Although the land was wide, it was not easy to secure such a large area.

“Why are you doing that?”

“I need a place to practice shooting… … .”

“If you do it near the house, people will get hurt by the blind arrows. There is a lot of empty land nearby.”

“Just because something is empty doesn’t mean it has no owner.”

“There must be a way. Can I find out?”

“how…….”

“The neighboring landowners are known to the local people. Most of them are prepared by the great families or merchants of Hanyang.”

“You’re an absentee landlord.”

“There’s no need to feel bad about it. The important thing is that it’s a place to play.”

“Ahem, I see. And I need a place to practice horseback riding… … .”

Then the carpenter pointed to the stakes surrounding the area.

“Wouldn’t that be nice? Instead of looking for a wide open space, if you just circle around the school, you’ll get quite a distance.”

Dalcheon looked around the place the carpenter had pointed to. It was where the outer wall of the building was to be built.

“Huh, I see.”

I can’t do everything. It’s important to accept the opinions of those who know better. What’s difficult for me may be a very easy solution for someone else. He may have an answer that I don’t have.

Dalcheon doesn’t know anything about the world, but his humility helps him.