As Prophet - Chapter 210



Only Noblemtl

Episode 210. Requiem – Burning Incense and Bowing a Hundred Times

When they came back out onto the main road, a group of Yejin soldiers ran like the wind toward Gupabal. Dalcheon tilted his head. It seemed like they were going to take a different route than when they came.

It seems that there were many regrets about leaving in less than a day, so many soldiers were busy pillaging. They probably started pillaging because it became impossible to occupy this land and officially accept it after placing Yeo-ui, the leader of the Il-dae clan, on the throne.

The thing can be remade. As long as no one gets hurt, that’s fine. I went into the castle through the wide-open Donuimun Gate. The men who had betrayed me changed their appearances to those of the poor people. It was still dark, so I thought I had to do something, so I quietly closed the door, but I didn’t lock it.

The anxious sorrow of those who have to live here again seemed palpable. A person who has betrayed once will betray again. There is a high probability that this will happen. No, there is a high probability that he will feel no guilt at all about betraying once more.

The goal has been achieved, but there is nowhere to go.

Dalcheon thought of Baek Sa-ban’s house and turned his head. The palace was no place for me. The military tent set up in front of Gwanghwamun might be more comfortable, he thought.

I was thinking about going to the school building, but I shook my head. I chose to stay here and teach the children, but I didn’t think that was where I would be. I headed north along the main road toward Gwanghwamun, passed Uijeongbu, and turned right.

I thought there would be some remnants, but they all disappeared in an instant. In any case, they are really fast at running away. They are good at fighting and move freely, but when they gather, they gather from all directions and increase their firepower. Their voluntary, active, and strong sense of purpose comes from hunting. They disperse and drive their prey, and when the time comes, they take down their target in one breath. Their retreat is also fast. Occasionally, a dozen or so cavalrymen would run, but they would soon disappear.

Dalcheon turns at Dongsipjagak and heads north, heading towards Sogyeokso.

* * *

“Come here!”

The tightly closed door didn’t know how to open.

“Open the door!”

It didn’t seem like they had all disappeared along the evacuation line. There was a human presence beyond the closed door. They were hiding so secretly that they didn’t seem to exist, but Dalcheon could clearly hear the bastard’s breathing rising and falling.

“It’s Taebaek Sanin! Open the door!”

Even though they revealed themselves, there was no answer. They locked the door because they were afraid of the enemy, and they did not know that the enemy had already retreated, so they did not open the door. There are not many ways to persuade a frightened person. Why did they not evacuate? Could there be another reason? Did they suffer because they helped during the chaos? They have many thoughts because they did not open the door. They are discriminated people.

“If you don’t open the door, I’ll come in and scold you!”

There was a sound of a door opening from inside, and then a rustling sound. After a while, the side door opened, and a student whose face I didn’t recognize stuck his head out.

“How did you come here?”

“It’s Taebaek Sanin. Who are you?”

I flinch at the word ‘sanin.’ It seemed as if I knew that they were beings different from us.

“I am a student.”

“Anyone else?”

“I went to evacuate, went to work, and so on.”

“I have to give you one pavilion.”

“That’s not for me to decide.”

“I decide.”

“Who are you? This is a Taoist temple.”

Dalcheon’s gaze narrowed.

“You bring a woman into a Taoist temple? Do you want to die?”

At the word woman, the guy finally flinched in surprise and stepped back. I pushed through the space the guy had retreated into.

“that is…….”

“Get the woman out and follow me!”

Dalcheon turned around and headed towards the Taeiljeon building.

* Taeiljeon: A sacrifice was made to the Seven Stars and other stars. The statues were all of women with their hair down.

“I’ll be there soon, so hurry up and get things done.”

“It’s still chaos outside. I can’t tell a helpless woman to go out.”

“A man who lusts after a helpless woman is talking nonsense. The enemy has retreated and the castle is empty, so let us go!”

“Is that so?”

The student bows his head and lowers his body. This is the world of Confucian scholars. Everyone is yelling at me without exception, so I lower my head and look at them, but I can’t help but feel suspicious.

Dalcheon entered, sat down, and relaxed his body. Although he was lacking, he was still better at Taoism. He said all sorts of things, but he was a born Taoist.

After sitting cross-legged, I straightened my head and back. After gathering what I saw, I turned back to what I heard. After briefly releasing my breath, I closed it and turned back, then emptied my mind.

It seemed as if I could hear the Master’s words, ‘Emptiness is having no thoughts inside and not being entangled in things outside. When the mind gathers with the will, it naturally becomes stable.’*

* In the left-handed tactic of the Nabusan Gongdam Seonsa.

After gathering my thoughts in the hallway (the lower hall), I let go of all my obsessions and discarded all distracting thoughts.

As I waited with a relaxed mind, a ray of sunshine rose and a thought occurred to me. It was as if I had gone back to the time when I first started studying.

All was done. The work from now on was theirs. They returned and settled into the stillness of time. They could feel the movements of the soldiers who had cautiously entered the castle from afar, and the vibrations of their surprised shouts and hurried steps.

As the sun rose from the seated Dalcheon’s body and soared towards the sky, pure white flower rain fell like snow. It was a time that had become familiar, but it was another place where it should have been originally.

How much time had passed? The student who had lit the yard sent the woman away and came in cautiously. He looked at Dalcheon, who was sitting cross-legged, and then bowed respectfully. Even I could see that he was not ordinary, and although he had a young face, he seemed to feel that he could not easily deal with him. I waited without saying anything, and Dalcheon relaxed.

“Where did the manufacturing adults and the special adults go?”

“Both of you participated in the defense of Heunginjimun. When retreating, one went to Namhansanseong and the other went to Bukhansanseong.”

“What about other people?”

“They were chased on the map and on the road.”

“Then you?”

“You told me to guard this place. So I just stood there as if I didn’t exist.”

“What about the woman?”

Dalcheon’s expression became stern.

“sorry.”

“If you see a woman or a tiger appears in your dream, you must use martial fire to boil her fiercely and train her fiercely to change her. It is the calling of a Taoist to firmly defend against the yin demons.”

“I was wrong. I was moved when no one was there. I hope you don’t tell the adults. If they come back and find out, they will be angry. Then I won’t be able to live here.”

“Is this part of your livelihood?”

“Yes, I am embarrassed.”

“Students can make all sorts of mistakes. But why study and learn? To elevate themselves to a better being.”

“Yes. I will do better from now on.”

If you already admit your mistake, it’s just nagging to say more.

“Go over there and read the 『Okchugyeong』*.”

* 『Okchugyeong』: A Taoist scripture that originated in the Song Dynasty. The official title is 『Guchun Eungwon Noeseong Bohwa Cheonjon (설) Okchugyeong [九天應元雷聲普化天尊(說)玉樞寶經]』. During the Yuan Dynasty, the 39th angel of Jeong Il-gyo, Jang Si-seong, wrote 『Okchugyeongjipju (玉樞經集註)』 and spread 『Okchugyeong』 to the public. Jeong Il-gyo recited 『Okchugyeong』 in his daily prayer ritual. In the 12th century, in the Southern Song Dynasty, the ten characters of the title ‘Guchun Eungwon Noeseong Bohwa Cheonjon’ were called the Ten-Character Sutra, and it was said that if you recite it diligently, you can escape from hardship and disaster. Since even a fool can recite the Cross, related beliefs became very popular among the common people of the Song Dynasty.

“All right.”

“It’s a bee.”

“thank you.”

Dalcheon sat down next to him and began to recite the Okchugyeong. He was a young man of twenty-six. It was late to start, but it was a good age to study. As he read in a clear voice, Dalcheon stood facing the seven stars and other stars, burning incense and comforting the souls of those who died in the battlefield.

These are people who lived in poverty. There is no guarantee that those who died in war will return to their noble families. Regardless of their status, it is very sad. Even if they fall into hell and suffer, there is no place to complain. But isn’t that student reading roughly while muddle-talking? Dalcheon pointed it out right away.

“Read it carefully!”

While the guy stopped reading the sutra at Dalcheon’s suggestion and was absentminded, Dalcheon read the same part the guy was reading, word for word.

“Sun-ah-ja-chang-yeok, Ma-ja-hyeong, Geum-il-yuk-gwi, Bul-tae-bang-so, Gu-yeo-ja, Cheong-ryong-pi, An-byeong-u-baek, Hopi-ho-rang, Nam-ju-jak-pi, Gu-seol-bok-hyeon, Mu-pa-jil-byeong, Shin-haeng-gwi-sin, Man-man-gil-wol, Sok-geo-cheon-ri, Om, Geup-geup, Yeo-ryul-ryeong, Saba-ha.”

** From the original text of 『Okchugyeong』.

The student was surprised when Dalcheon recited it word for word without even looking at him.

“Did you memorize it all?”

“Then you have to memorize it, or just read it?”

“You are smart.”

“It’s repeated.”

The student shrugged his shoulders and poked his head through them.

“Memorize it all! This is a punishment for reading roughly.”

“How can this long thing… … . And that word is like that word, and that word is like that word.”

“It’s called the Urgent Pay Rate Law. Please do it urgently.”

* Urgent, urgent, like a decree: A command that means, ‘Do it urgently, like a decree.’

The student frowned. He turned to face the statue and began reading again. Dalcheon spoke loudly.

“From the beginning!”

It was a dark night, and it wasn’t even dawn yet, so he wondered what he was doing, but an unknown force emanating from the person compelled him. He had an ominous feeling that he had to do it.

He reads the sutra and burns incense himself. He bows respectfully and seriously. He does not hold a staff(?) or wear formal attire. The blood-stained clothes that lingered in the air were stained with a dark red color. The silver armor that could be seen between the flowing blood-stained clothes was as creepy as a drop of water. Did he come from rolling around in a blood hole?

There was no rice cake, no fruit, no tea, and of course no alcohol. They burned incense and bowed a hundred times without any preparation. It was more solemn than formality, so the students read the sutra diligently. They rang the bell twenty-four times, read the sutra again, and then burned the temple.

As we continued to do it together, I began to understand. He was comforting the souls of those who died in the war. As I stayed in place and repeated the ritual until dawn, the words of the sutra, which I did not even know the meaning of, gradually became familiar. I began to understand the meaning of the words to repeat. I felt that if I repeated it a hundred times, I would be able to memorize it to some extent. You cannot tell someone who has memorized it repeatedly that it is useless if you try it.

As dawn approached and day broke, he stirred and got up.

I looked up at the sky from the wide courtyard in front of Taeiljeon. I wondered if the student would do something else, so I followed him down and stood next to him. No matter how I looked at him, he had a young face. He looked to be no more than sixteen or seventeen years old.

He stood facing north, stretched out both arms, slowly raised and lowered them, and the air around him changed completely. The student flinched and politely folded both hands forward. Dalcheon’s lips trembled.

“The untimely disaster is the heavens’ warning against the future. We pray with all our heart to offer sacrifices, so please look upon us and quickly remove this difficult disaster.”

As the dawn light dimly shone, a group of Taoists entered the Sogyeokseo. They clearly had come a long way, but Byeolje, who knew Dalcheon, raised his hand to prevent them from barging in and joined the first rite. The student who had been guarding the Sogyeokseo ran over and told them what had happened the night before, and Byeolje nodded and took a step forward.