There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 231

A Dragon Horse (龍馬) is a type of mythical creature born from the union of a dragon and a horse.

If this were real, I would have thought I had fallen into a fantasy world instead of Joseon [Korean kingdom from 1392 to 1897], but there’s no way the secrets of the world would be revealed now.

However, Great Master Muhak clearly stated that it was not an ordinary horse but a Dragon Horse.

“Do you know why this temple is called Shinreuk (神勒) [Divine Restraint]?”

“Of course.”

Yi Seong-gye nodded as he spoke.

Great Master Muhak also nodded as if it would be easier to talk.

Seriously, these old men are talking about things only they know.

But I quickly stepped forward and said.

“I don’t know.”

Hey, let me know too.

At my question, Great Master Muhak smacked his gleaming forehead.

“Ah, so much time has passed since then, so that could be the case.

It may be that His Highness the Crown Prince does not know because it happened before he was born.”

Great Master Muhak added unnecessary remarks before continuing his explanation.

“Do you perhaps know Great Master Naong?”

Of course, I know.

Isn’t he the Team Rocket’s mascot who tells you who he is when you ask?

“Looking at that guy’s expression, he seems to be thinking useless thoughts again.”

Yi Seong-gye said, looking at me with a pathetic gaze.

Useless thoughts? That’s too much.

I pouted and said.

“I don’t know well.”

“He was a renowned high priest at the end of the Goryeo Dynasty [Korean kingdom from 918 to 1392] and the teacher of Great Master Muhak.”

After hearing the explanation, it seemed like he was such a famous figure in the Buddhist world that if you didn’t know him, you could be mistaken for someone completely ignorant of religious matters.

Great Master Muhak expressed his gratitude for Yi Seong-gye’s explanation and continued.

“Anyway, that Great Master Naong personally traveled around the country to save the people who had fallen into misery, and the people of this Yeoju [city in South Korea] also received his help.”

“What kind of help are you talking about?”

When I asked, Great Master Muhak replied.

“This Yeoju was known as a land where the terrain was gentle and the land was fertile, so the people lived comfortably.

However, during the reign of King U [Goryeo Dynasty ruler], one day a violent Dragon Horse appeared and trampled on crops and bit people, causing hardship in the lives of the people of Yeoheung, despite its fertile land.”

“Yes, when Shin Woo [King U’s personal name] was on the throne, such things happened especially often. It seems that it was because the country was about to fall.”

Yi Seong-gye added from the side.

He’s trying to justify the founding of Joseon at every opportunity.

Great Master Muhak pretended not to notice Yi Seong-gye’s propaganda and nodded before continuing his explanation.

“People set out to catch the Dragon Horse, but because it was half dragon and a divine creature, it was impossible with ordinary strength. So, the people of Yeoheung asked the master, who was known for his great spiritual power at the time.”

“Did he accept?”

“Yes, the master, feeling sorry for the people’s plight, brought a mysterious shackle to catch the Dragon Horse and put it on him. So, the Dragon Horse was helplessly bound by the shackle and could no longer do violent things as before, so people named the temple Shinreuksa to praise this achievement.”

“Then isn’t everything resolved?”

At my question, Great Master Muhak shook his head.

“That’s not the case.

After this Dragon Horse was confined to Shinreuk, it only acted as a good horse (良馬) for a long time, so it seems the attendant novice monk didn’t know well. So, perhaps because it was loosely tied, the Dragon Horse suddenly escaped the shackle and ran away. It was said to be an ominous event, so it has been kept quiet until now…”

“When did that happen?”

“I heard it was around the time of the founding of the country.”

Then it’s been a while since the incident?

The Dragon Horse, which had terrified the entire land of Yeoju, escaped, and now they’re asking for a solution?

As if reading my expression, Great Master Muhak quickly added.

“The Dragon Horse did escape, but thanks to being enlightened by the master, there have been no reports of it committing violent acts since then. For a while, it was not found again either.”

“Then Great Master Muhak called us because…?”

“That’s right. Recently, that Dragon Horse has reappeared.”

Great Master Muhak nodded as he replied.

The villagers who remembered its notoriety were horrified and sought out Naong Hwasang again, but he had long since disappeared from the world.

They asked his disciple, Muhak, for help as a substitute, but Muhak confessed that it was not easy to catch him again because he did not have as much spiritual power as his master.

“Wouldn’t it be possible to report it to the authorities or gather hunters to drive it away?”

“If we do that, the Dragon Horse will surely die. Although it was a beast that boasted of its violence, it has already been enlightened by the Buddha.

Even now that it has reappeared, it has not caused any particular harm other than eating some of the crops. As a Buddhist, how can I drive this divine creature to its death?

I think it would be better to let it live out its life as it is, but the villagers are uneasy, so I had no choice but to ask the Supreme King for help.”

I nodded at Muhak’s words.

Yi Seong-gye, the dragon slayer who collectively made the West Sea Dragon King clan dive to 20,000 leagues under the sea, could handle not only the Dragon Horse but even its grandfather.

‘Well, it’s probably because he believed that his grandfather could capture it without killing it.’

Capturing that rogue Dragon Horse would be difficult unless it was a master hunter like Yi Seong-gye.

“Something interesting has happened for the first time in a while.”

Yi Seong-gye clapped his knees and said.

“I will accept the Great Master’s request.”

“I knew that His Highness the Supreme King would gladly step forward. Your grace is boundless.”

“There’s no need to thank me. It’s all for the people.”

Even though he says it so eloquently, he’s happy because something has come up to relieve his boredom.

I really can’t stop him.

I shook my head.

===

Our party set out to find the Dragon Horse with great enthusiasm, but the Dragon Horse was not easily seen.

“It seems that once it escaped, it only developed the habit of running away.”

After hearing the news that the Dragon Horse had been sighted, we rushed to the scene, but only a few heads of cabbage were pulled out from the edge of the field, and the culprit was nowhere to be found.

It would be easier to catch its tail if it ran wild as it did during its heyday, but it only leaves behind ambiguous damage and runs away.

“As I said, it seems that it can’t think of harming people because it’s been eating temple food for years.”

“It could just be old age.”

‘Isn’t it a bit old that the Dragon Horse was running wild?’

Since it happened roughly during the reign of King U, it’s been at least 20 years.

If it’s a legendary Dragon Horse, I can’t even guess how long its lifespan would be.

However, there are actually no dragons, and I have never heard of offspring being born between reptiles and mammals even in modern times, so I can only assume that they mistook a wild horse with a bad temper and strangely good strength for a Dragon Horse.

If you think about it that way, it shouldn’t deviate much from the normal lifespan of a horse.

‘I heard that the lifespan of a horse is originally about 25 to 30 years, so it’ll probably die soon even if I leave it alone.’

It’s rather amazing that it’s still alive.

It must have already finished growing up 20 years ago when it was widely known for its notoriety.

It’s certainly worthy of being called a Dragon Horse.

Anyway, even if it was violent in the past, its temperament may have died down due to aging.

This seemed like a more believable theory than the sound of it being moved by the Heart Sutra remix played at Shinreuksa.

However, Great Master Muhak shook his head.

“Although it is a beast that cannot speak, it is definitely thanks to the enlightenment of the Buddha.”

“…”

Religious belief is something that cannot be broken by rationality.

I’m a tolerant person who respects all religions except for cults, so let’s just go with that.

“It’s just a flea trying to jump. It must be hiding in the mountains. It’s probably coming down to steal crops from the fields only when it needs to.”

Yi Seong-gye asserted.

“Then we can search the mountains.”

At my words, Yi Seong-gye snorted.

“Although Bongmisan [mountain in South Korea] is a small mountain, how long will it take to search this entire mountain?

How many years has this old man been hunting? Can’t I catch just one horse? Don’t worry. That Dragon Horse is already in my pocket.”

===

After a while.

I stared at Yi Seong-gye with narrowed eyes.

“You said it was in your pocket?”

“Huh? That can’t be happening?”

Yi Seong-gye wore a troubled expression.

In the meantime, Yi Seong-gye had been acting like an expert, setting up numerous traps.

Traps set up meticulously, bait smeared with paralyzing poison, and hunting dogs in charge of tracking and driving.

However, the trap that Yi Seong-gye spent half a day setting up only caught stones scattered by the Dragon Horse, it pooped on the bait, and the dogs returned whimpering after being beaten black and blue.

What a cunning fellow.

‘What is he, Wolf King Lobo [reference to a cunning wolf from folklore]?’

I clicked my tongue at the Dragon Horse’s cleverness in avoiding everything.

The strong guy has become wiser as he gets older.

“I’ve never seen such a cunning guy. Now it’s war, war!”

Yi Seong-gye was jumping up and down.

‘War.’

Wars between humans and animals are rare, but there are a few cases in history that can be called wars.

One is the war with the emus in Australia.

The Australian army even mobilized modern weapons to exterminate the native emus, but it failed miserably.

Well, they lost to rabbits too, so it seems that the Australian army has traditionally been weak against animals.

However, unlike these failure cases, there was also a war in which humans won completely.

That is the war with sparrows in China.

‘Thank you, National Geographic.’

Thanks to that, I had a sense of how to catch the Dragon Horse.

“How about trying this?”

Yi Seong-gye and Muhak initially shook their heads at my suggestion, but there was no other way.

In the end, I picked up a megaphone in front of the people of Yeoju gathered at Shinreuksa and shouted.

“Is everyone gathered?”

“Yes.”

Ages and genders varied.

It was truly everyone who lived in this area.

‘The young guys actually look more annoyed.’

Rather, the middle-aged and older people who had directly experienced the Dragon Horse’s tyranny readily stepped forward to cooperate with my request with a determined attitude.

“Just thinking about what that guy did decades ago makes my blood boil!”

“He’s only been quietly stealing from us now, but he’s not someone who won’t suddenly change. I’m really relieved that Your Highness will catch him.”

I nodded with satisfaction at their reaction.

I really like that attitude of protecting my village.

“Then let’s all depart! I will give a great reward to anyone who finds or catches the Dragon Horse!”

At my command, the people began to flock to Bongmisan.

Each of them held a gong and a pot in their hands.

The sight of the people hitting gongs and pots and waving flags as they climbed the mountain was truly spectacular.

“…To catch it with such a crude method.”

“Even a clever guy won’t be able to avoid this.”

Quantity has its own quality.

Not all Chinese people are hunting masters, so how could they have caught hundreds of millions of sparrows?

It was all thanks to tormenting the sparrows so relentlessly that they got tired of flying.

Indeed, the wisdom of 4,000 years of China cannot be ignored.

‘If we drive it like this, will even Dragon Horse or Kang Gunma [famous Korean general] be able to withstand it?’

“Wouldn’t it be dangerous for the people to enter the mountains recklessly?”

When Muhak asked with a sullen look, I said confidently.

“Bongmisan is a shallow mountain, so there won’t be any fierce beasts other than the Dragon Horse. Besides, if so many people flock to it, even fierce beasts won’t dare to attack.”

The same goes for the Dragon Horse.

It might have been able to bite people when it was in its prime, but now it’s a washed-up has-been that runs away at the sight of people.

I’ll have to see if it still has enough wildness to break through this encirclement.

Great Master Muhak looked at me with a sullen expression.

“You must not harm divine creatures recklessly.”

“Ah, of course.”

I’m just going to catch it.

Just when I had barely reassured Great Master Muhak, a voice popped out from among the people.

“I found it!”

“Really?”

At No-boon’s cry, I quickly stood up.

That’s right, how could it not be caught when we’re doing this?