< Episode 58: Business (1) >
-Shoot!
In the pouring rain Great Lord Seopchun the third king of the main building of the Cheonjihoe stuck out his tongue.
‘For some reason the rain seems to get heavier as I come to the riverside.’
At this point I wonder if crossing the river will be possible even if the ship is large.
As I climbed up the high hill I saw a river that was a torrent of water itself and I was very worried.
Then the only manor in the village appeared before their eyes.
Although it was extremely shabby compared to the grandiose-sized manor in the Cheonjihoe inner city I could see that it was certainly quite wealthy for such a small river village.
Meng Wuyak looked at the manor and said.
“It looks like there are quite a few people inside.”
At his words Mok Gyeong-un nodded his head.
As expected crowds of people could be felt inside the closed manor and smoke was even rising between the tile roofs.
“It would be employees. “Let’s go inside first.”
Nie Chun took the lead and walked to the front door.
As he was holding the doorknob and trying to knock he saw what looked like a signboard attached to the side of the gate and said with a strange look in his eyes.
“My lord.”
“Why are you doing that?”
“It looks like the owner of the boat is not an ordinary village magnate.”
“If it’s not ordinary is it extraordinary?”
“Look here.”
The signboard that Nyeopchun pointed to had the following written on it.
[平難四等臣]
“A contributor to the peace crisis?”
As Mo Qingyun read it Meng Muyak who came closer frowned and said
“It seems that the owner of this manor was a government official who contributed to his work.”
“Are you a government official?”
“yes. “Judging by the fact that the plaque was hung right next to the gate he may have been a government official who achieved meritorious service and lost his hometown.”
“Oh my. “What day is today?”
Nyeopchun clicked his tongue.
Even in guest rooms they met people who may have been related to the crown or the imperial palace.
However if the owner of this manor was also a government official it could be said to be truly sophisticated.
Of course contrary to the reactions of these two people Mok Kyung-un said that he did not mind this at all.
“Do you need to care whether you were a government official or not? “We just need to rent a boat and cross the river.”
“That’s…what you’re saying is correct.”
That was correct.
This situation was just unfortunate.
Soon Seopchun grabbed the doorknob and knocked on the front door.
-thud! thud!
Perhaps because the rain was so strong there was no reaction inside.
At this Nie Chun shouted and knocked on the door.
“Is there anyone inside?”
-thud! thud!
After knocking a few times the front door opened.
-Kkiik!
The front door opened and a woman in her mid-twenties wearing a paper raincoat appeared accompanied by two sturdy-looking men.
Looking at them like that a strange thing appeared in Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes.
‘Hmm.’
It seemed that he was not the owner of the boat that the guesthouse owner had told me about.
However it seemed related.
The owner of the inn and the old man named Beom also said that all the owners of the boat were dying.
She appeared to be in her mid-twenties. Her face was quite haggard and her complexion was dark and listless so she might have been the boat owner’s daughter.
“What are you doing at this late hour?”
“Excuse me but could I meet the owner of the manor?”
“….”
The haggard-faced woman gave no answer to Nie Chun’s question.
Rather she glanced at the military flag worn on her Nie Chun’s waist and then she asked.
“Are you presumptuous to say this but are you just a visitor passing by the river? Or are they people who came after seeing the hearing in front of Seoksamjang in a nearby county?”
Nie Chun frowned at the woman’s words.
He said he came to see the owner of the manor but the question he asked was somewhat strange.
I understood that he was asking if he was a passenger trying to pass the river but I couldn’t understand what Cheongmun in front of Seoksamjang was talking about behind him.
A hearing is literally a text asking for help.
Seopchun who was puzzled by this soon wondered what it had to do with them and tried to answer the former.
“We are going….”
“I came after watching the hearing.”
At that time Mok Gyeong-un suddenly interrupted Seop-chun and spoke.
‘Master?’
Nie Chun was startled and looked at Mo Qingyun.
Their only purpose was to rent a boat to cross the river.
However if you say that you came to see a hearing that you don’t even know about and then ask what the content is…
“Ahhhh.”
At that time the haggard-faced woman let out an exclamation and her eyes became red.
‘huh?’
Nyeop-chun was at a loss for the woman’s reaction.
Doesn’t she have any doubts?
Then the woman put her hands together and lowered her head and she spoke in a tearful voice.
“thank you. “Thank you very much for coming.”
‘!?’
Her reaction seemed like she was desperately grasping at straws.
What on earth is happening that causes this reaction?
As she looked puzzled Mok Gyeong-un casually asked her.
“I came here for the hearing but I would like to see my master first. Is that possible?”
‘ah!’
At these words Seopchun nodded her head as if she finally agreed.
She was a very sharp woman when asked if she was just a passenger crossing the river.
Rather than talking about their purpose out loud she thought that taking a indirect approach like this would be a way to check whether the manor owner was really capable of driving the ship or not.
In response to this neck-cultivating question her woman raised her head let out a deep sigh and said
She said “I can show you the details of her father but for some time now she has not even been able to come to her senses. “All of this seems to be the karma of that time.”
‘Ah…was it real?’
At her words Nie Chun looked at Meng Wuyue with a troubled look.
Meng Wuyak also couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.
She was in a hurry; if she couldn’t cross the river she might not make it to the rendezvous point in time for her due date.
On the other hand while they were worried about this Mok Gyeong-un showed interest in something else.
Mok Gyeong-un’s gaze was not on the woman but behind her beyond the gate.
‘It’s shaking.’
I could feel the energy of a vengeful spirit lurking inside the manor.
It was so cold and distant.
Moreover it must have been going on for quite some time so the entire inside of the manor was caught up in this strange energy and was becoming heavily stagnant like a sinking ship.
[I heard that the nobleman of that house was possessed by a water spirit.]
‘Is this what it meant?’
It seems that what the old woman who owned the inn said was not just a rumor.
But what was strange was that I felt this level of intimacy only when I opened the front door.
It seems like someone artificially blocked it like the Sihyeolgok cliff…
‘Hoo. Is this it?’
Mo Gyeong-un’s gaze turned to the six amulets meticulously pasted between the cracks in the gate.
When Mok Gyeong-un saw this he immediately realized what was happening.
‘Six directions and four directions.’
I don’t know who did it but it seemed like he was a fairly skilled radiographer.
A great deal of power was felt in the amulet.
‘It hasn’t been long since I put it on.’
After absorbing the magical power of King Shihae and the Three Eyes Mok Gyeong-un whose main power had risen to a level almost comparable to that of Bang Il was able to vaguely guess when this talisman was formed just by the energy flowing from the talisman.
hereto
“I guess a skilled radiologist came here?”
The woman responded to these words with her wide eyes.
“How did you know that?”
“You seem to be skilled in talismans. “In addition to the gap in the main gate it must have been posted on the back gate and the wall on the east and west sides right?”
“that’s right! that’s right! “I didn’t know because he was covered in a bamboo robe. Could it be that he is wearing a bamboo robe?”
The reason she asked this was because Mok Gyeong-un did not wear the uniform worn by monks.
Mok Kyung-un smiled and answered her question.
“Although my skills are mediocre I studied martial arts under a famous master.”
‘Insignificant?’
Hearing Mo Qingyun’s words Nie Chun and Meng Muyak clicked their tongues.
He possesses magical magic skills that even allow him to reattach the severed arm of someone so how can he say that he is insignificant?
It was pointless humility.
Of course from the perspective of a woman who didn’t know this she just shook her head in gratitude and said.
“Why did you come here through the heavy rain on this late night? “Thank you very much.”
“no. But do I have to stay here?”
“Oh look at my sanity. They kept leaving the guests standing in the rain. “Please eat inside.”
She led the group of Mok Gyeong-un into her manor like that.
She went inside and introduced herself.
Her name is Woohyang and she is said to be the first daughter of the manor owner.
Her attitude was friendly throughout perhaps because Mok Kyung-un and his companions came to see the hearing.
But not her two men escorting her.
The whole time she was leading the way she was glancing at me with a disapproving look in her eyes.
So the young man said
-Those sentient beings must be very unpleasant.
-I see.
-It looks good because the muscles are well developed but looking at the clunky steps it seems like he only learned martial arts not martial arts.
-I don’t think I’ve mastered martial arts.
-It could have been government troops.
-Are you interested?
-okay. Even though the steps are clunky both of them naturally keep pace even though they are not conscious of it.
-Hoo. okay.
The two young men were walking side by side and their steps forward coincided.
Their walking postures were also quite similar which would seem to be a mere coincidence.
-Looking at this the manor owner may have been a military officer.
-iced coffee.
Mok Gyeong-un also nodded her head in agreement.
When I think about it the plaque on the side of the gate that says “Pyeongnang Gongsin (平難功臣)” also means that the person contributed to pacifying the tribulation.
In addition judging from the fact that it had people who were presumed to be government soldiers as guards it was highly likely that the owner of the manor was a retired military officer as Cheongryeong said.
At that time Seopchun came closer and whispered to Mokgyeongun.
“I’m sorry my lord but are you trying to help the manor owner?”
“Because I have to take a boat.”
If he was in good condition he could have been intimidated into driving the boat but the situation was the opposite.
“That’s right but….”
“Let’s see first. “I wonder if it’s because something between us has stuck.”
“yes?”
Nie Chun was puzzled by Mo Gyeong-un’s words.
I wondered if he was doing it to help the owner of the manor who was said to be dying through some mysterious magic like when he attached Mong Wuyak’s severed arm but when he said he was checking to see if something between them had stuck I couldn’t understand what he meant.
So I asked carefully.
“What do you mean it’s something in between?”
“Maybe it’s something like a vengeful spirit or imaemangryang.”
“….”
Instead it became even more confusing.
Aren’t vengeful spirits and imaemangryang words that are hearsay and border on strange?
I couldn’t understand why the lord was saying this but the manor owner’s wife Woo-hyang who was leading the way said.
“The benefactors of Cheongmun who came first are guarding the main temple where my father resides.”
“The parish?”
“Yes the broadcaster named Lee Mun-hae said that tonight is the critical night…”
Mok Kyung-un nodded at her words.
As expected the closer we got to the main temple the stronger the feeling of bitterness became.
With this level of energy the level was definitely not low.
“ah! “There’s someone over there.”
It pointed to the front of the main church building visible beyond the pavilion to the right.
Mokgyeongun who saw this had a strange look in his eyes.
‘huh?’
Under the tiles and eaves of the main hall there was a man leaning against the wall and drinking from a gourd.
This man was not very tall but her muscles were so well developed that she was twice as big as an average person.
But what stands out more than this is her hair which is so short that it is almost bald. And it was a prayer beads filled with broken eggs that she wore around her neck.
‘Are you a monk?’
Her attire and demeanor made her look like a monk.
In a way she was someone who felt similar to a demonic monk.
At that time her sister-in-law opened her mouth.
“Oh my. “How could the author be in a place like this?”
“Do you know someone?”
She answered that question with Mong Wuyak not Nie Chun interjecting.
“This is Jae-jeong a magician.”
“A fortune teller?”
It was an unusual nickname.
The term ‘bokma (伏魔)’ literally meant subjugating the devil (魔).
In fact there was an organization that used this title and it was Shaolin Temple (少林寺) which is said to be the birthplace and center of Jeongdo martial arts.
There were monks in Shaolin Temple who received various precepts and titles and the title Bokma is usually given to monks who practice Buddhism and martial arts simultaneously.
Contrary to the title of ‘Buddha’ which would be used by a monk practicing Buddhism the atmosphere he gave off was rather rough and had the harsh smell of blood.
These questions about Mokgyeongun were quickly resolved.
“That person is an apostate monk from Shaolin.”
“Apostate monk?”
“yes.”
Apostolic monk.
He is literally a monk who was excommunicated for breaking the precepts.
Mok Gyeong-un nodded his head as if he understood these words.
“iced coffee. “It must be because of the killing system.”
Killing.
A monk practicing Buddhism must not kill a living thing.
It was no different from a monk at Shaolin Temple which is said to be the center of martial arts.
To Mo Qingyun’s words Meng Wuyue shook his head and responded.
“no. “I was excommunicated because I was too greedy for alcohol.”
‘!?’
< Episode 58: Business (1) > end
ⓒ Hanzhongwolya
