As Prophet - Chapter 73
Only Krnovel
Episode 73. Everyone has limits.
Dalcheon realized belatedly that these guys were interested in the podium while talking.
“Hehe, hehe. You can’t ascend to the immortal realm with just one green dragon. I can tell you for sure. Are you two looking for an easy way? Do you want a world where your stats increase without studying, and where the immortal realm descends without you even doing anything, and where it rains flowers?”
The conversation lingered on where my intention had begun, leaving the two of them speechless and stammering.
“That’s why… … .”
“There is no such medicine. For such medicine to work, it takes hundreds of years of causality to accumulate. Why would a snake wait a thousand years to become a dragon? That is why I do not put in effort into training.”
People who have lived easy lives tend to look for easy solutions. People who know that nothing is achieved without effort do not even think about such things. The reason why people say that luck is more important than effort in the world is because they know that luck does not follow them. It is because they know that they have to fill the rest of their lives with difficulty through their own efforts alone.
The Grand Prince cautiously requested what he had hoped for in the end.
“If you could teach us a little, wouldn’t we be able to study in our spare time? I saw the green dragon and thought of medicine, and if we mix some herbs, wouldn’t it help us study?”
Dalcheon blinked. If what he wanted was not the podium but the lower-level study of making medicinal herbs, then I could easily help him.
“You don’t believe the absurd story that taking medicine increases your stamina, do you?”
The general swallowed thickly. He didn’t have to ask himself that question. In fact, that was what he wanted.
“Actually, that’s what I wanted. I eat green onion as if I was eating ginseng to gain strength… … .”
Dalcheon smiled brightly. Although he is a person who has studied, his level of consciousness does not exceed that of an ordinary person seeking blessings. It is not the strong will of a seeker who wants to make himself better through his own efforts so that the world’s suffering that forces him will no longer be suffering. He looks for easy causes and effects, such as “I took medicine and woke up feeling stronger.” Does that mean that he is a “good person” who forcibly attaches a reason to it? Trying to make people believe that blessings came because they are good people hides the hope that those who make up society will live together with good hearts. Being good is social. Can we open new horizons by breaking free from the limitations of this world with social things? Dalcheon shook his head.
“Two of you, where does it hurt?”
Both of them shook their heads at the same time. It was obvious what would happen next.
“Ahem. So you want to take medicine and become stronger?”
The two stood side by side like school children and nodded.
“Ahem. Deer antlers have the effect of restoring yang energy, replenishing vital energy, strengthening the body, and harmonizing the body to remove toxins. * The properties of the powdered bone, upper, middle, and lower limbs are different. Ahem.”
* 補肜腎血, small 血血, 調衝骨, 調衝任, 托瘡毒
“… … .”
“If you look at the ‘Pobakja’, it says, ‘There are many deer in Jongnamsan, and one male always mates with dozens of females.’ They are animals with strong stamina. Of all the animals, only the deer antlers have blood flowing through them. Since the hot blood pushes the cold bones out, they have strong yang power. So they are very good for people with insufficient yang energy. However, for people with a lot of heat in their heads, they are close to poison. The fact that they have good medicinal properties means that if taken incorrectly, the side effects can be significant. And these horns were ones that would fall off soon. Fully grown horns fall off and new ones grow. They should not be called deer antlers, but green horns. Their medicinal properties are not very good. They fall off on their own in late spring, and the newly grown young horns are dried and called deer antlers.”
It sounded like a long explanation, but it wasn’t really necessary. The two people blinked with trembling faces. They have a knack for making people’s thoughts go this way and that way.
“Danggui, cornelian cherry, musk, um… … and a few more herbs are needed… … Let’s do it. First, today’s banquet is for the person who passed the exam. The venison is dry, so I’d like to have that minced pork to go with it. Ahahaha!”
Dalcheon looked at the pig and the deer alternately and examined them closely. He was most satisfied with the sheep.
“There’s some meat left, so we can share it with the nearby villages. Hahaha!”
He keeps smiling. The prince, who is feeling down after hearing that the medicinal properties of green tea are not good, asks about the product.
“Is that sewer really a hundred years old?”
Dalcheon laughs brightly again.
“People these days speak so frivolously. You shouldn’t hang important parts of your life on that.”
I can’t tell if it’s a hundred years old or not.
“Hasn’t it been a hundred years?”
“Hmm. It’s definitely something old and good.”
It makes the listener’s thoughts move back and forth, saying it is neither this nor that. It is to say that we should see something that goes beyond these two extremes, but that is not something that can be pointed out in words. That is why Dalcheon’s explanation is rambling and the listener’s thoughts are thrown around in confusion.
“Is it a good remedy?”
“Oh, where would you go to sell medicine? I didn’t know that the Grand Princess was so obsessed with medicine.”
“I’m impatient because no matter how much I study, my studies don’t get any better.”
“You need to study hard and learn over time to get better.”
It’s a conversation that doesn’t seem to have a conclusion. They’re just people who want something to happen, but Dalcheon just laughs.
“I guess you think you got first place.”
“There probably isn’t a bigger animal around here. Not a deer, not a pig.”
“I don’t know. Maybe they’ll catch the mountain owner.”
“Are you the owner of the mountain?”
“Tigers. Tigers. Korean tigers are big. There are also bears.”
“Is that a big Joseon bear too?”
“Haha, ahahaha.”
The ones who returned were holding small animals like rabbits and deer. Of course, they were animals that could be cooked if they wanted to get meat for a feast, but they were nothing compared to the deer and large pig that the two people had caught. When everyone returned after a little while, Dae-gun and Mok-hyung declared that they were the best.
* * *
The smell of meat being prepared and grilled over a fire was overwhelming. Even wild animals came swarming around, wondering how they knew to come. After cutting the meat into appropriate sizes, Baek I-jeong and Baek Ui-hyeong took it to a nearby village and shared it. Baek Ui-hyeong stopped by a liquor store to buy a bucket of liquor, and a smile never left his face.
“Wow! You’re a Jangwon!”
“Thanks to the governor. I did as he told me and it was easy.”
“He is the pride of the family. Everyone is happy that he has passed both civil and military exams.”
“I passed the exam late because I was a loser.”
“If you get an official position… … you will leave, right?”
“They say Hamgyong Province will go somewhere, but it hasn’t been decided yet.”
“You are going far away. Then what will happen to you, Your Majesty?”
Baek Yi-jeong seemed worried that Dal-cheon would follow Baek Ui-hyeong.
“Why? Are you afraid that the governor will leave with you?”
“yes.”
“Should I tell the adults? Can you arrange a marriage for me?”
Baek Yi-jeong’s face turned red. He turned his head toward the wind as he rode his horse, rocking along. He was only twenty-one years old, not young. It was a shame that he had set his heart on the Taoist. It was not without fault of his brother-in-law to have brought him close without thinking.
“No. I already know that it won’t work. I don’t want to get married.”
“Yes. That’s why I felt relieved. Nothing bad would happen. But it stayed in your mind.”
“He was a good person, so I just felt drawn to him.”
“Honest isn’t always better.”
Baek Yi-jeong shook her head in the wind.
“I’m going to go as far as I can. I realized that the link between me and the Lord is studying. If I learn and become more skilled, won’t this awkward youth also go away?”
“I knew how you felt before, but I didn’t care because it wouldn’t work out anyway. I’m sorry.”
“Isn’t there anything you can do about it, sir?”
“So are you saying you’re just going to live your life looking at it?”
“I am determined to live while studying.”
Baek Yi-hyeong let out a deep sigh. The road along the water was beautiful. Behind the long green grassland along the water, the mountain ranges formed a gentle curve. Across the river, the purple sky lifted clouds above the green mountains, and the distant end, which fully accommodated the hearts of those who had reached the infinite boundary, made them forget the human world that was excited by lust.
It would be nice to spend a year like this. If I wander freely, I will be able to forget the pain of fate, and I may be happy just by looking at what I had hoped for.
“How about martial arts? Progress.”
Baek Yi-jeong bows her head humbly.
“It’s still the same.”
“You seem to be working hard, but you haven’t seen any significant improvement?”
I didn’t have time to look around because I was preparing for the military service exam. I feel sorry for looking back so late. I should have paid attention to it more often, but I usually don’t. I can’t hold more than one or two things in my heart. That’s because I’m human.
“Compared to before?”
“It’s incomparable to that time. The studies of the past, when I only swung a small sword for self-defense, were just a dance.”
“Oh, then isn’t it a lot better?”
“What the Lord said, well, um… … I value the words that if you can’t surpass a certain level, you’ll be stuck there.”
“Oh.”
Yi-hyeong belatedly sensed that Lee-jeong’s studies had deepened. He could read the invisible confidence hidden behind his skilled humility. It sounded like he was saying, ‘He’s already improved, but he hasn’t surpassed his goal.’
The realm is not something that can be said lightly. Not only is there no one who reaches it, but there is really no one who goes beyond it. It is extremely rare. Above all, those who reach that realm do not associate with people like us. Where would one be babbling when one is facing the greatest task of one’s life?
“It seems like your studies have deepened.”
“I just work hard.”
“No matter how nicely you package it, a sword is ultimately a murder weapon that kills people. There is talk of the Way and comparing it to art, of course there is that aspect to it, but in the end it is a killing technique. It is largely a relative aspect. All you need to do is defeat your opponent.”
“mister.”
“I realized that no matter how hard I tried, it wouldn’t work, so I gave up my excessive hopes and my mind became at ease. After that, my swordsmanship improved, and I even lost the slightest fear in the previous battlefield.”
Baek Yi-jeong swallowed thickly as if recalling what he had heard.
“Mental problems make work difficult. But they also help with studying.”
“It depends on the mind. Those who say it is impossible and difficult will have no choice but to live that way. They will only live in a world where things are impossible. Look at how easily the governor handles things. He has no trouble asking others to handle things that are not his specialty. It is because he has no trouble in his mind. He is a person who has never learned anything other than the sword at a young age. I don’t know if he has attained the realm of ultimate freedom because he is free, or if he has become free because he has surpassed the realm, but he is truly free now. Doesn’t the mind of the person watching feel at ease?”
Where profound enlightenment has passed, its traces remain for a long time. Baek Ui-hyeong studied in the mountains and did not attain the ultimate enlightenment, but he did acquire the necessary amount of study for a military officer. If you think about the original goal, it may be considered regression, but he completed the necessary amount of study appropriately.
Everyone has limits. Not everyone can overcome them. They build their own walls and live within them. Experts have their own limits, and beginners have their own limits. When they didn’t know, they would have decided to climb the mountain and worked hard, but when they got off, they already had the necessary amount of martial arts. They were good enough to teach soldiers, and even if they fought one-on-one, they wouldn’t lose unless they were really good.
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