episode_0234

*** ***

Wow!!

Nurubuchi, Nimagalchen, and Sudalcha enjoyed magic performances for four days in a row. Every time a magic performance was performed, the crowd grew exponentially, but the story had nothing to do with the three people.

“As expected, the wife named Heukmyo and the lord Hocheonan are definitely outstanding.”

All magicians were popular, but among magicians, Black Cat and Hocheonan were especially popular. Ho Cheon-an’s magic skills were on a different level from other magicians, and Black Cat, who followed him, was popular for his magic skills as well as his appearance.

“But…don’t that black cat woman look a little familiar?”

Nimagalchen frowned at Nurbuchi’s remarks.

“Ugh, how can you say such frivolous words? I think you need to be more aware of yourself as a monk.”

“No, really…I look like someone…who is it?”

“Stop talking nonsense and just watch the magic!”

[Now, it’s on fire!]

The magic performance included the first performance ending with an amputation magic and the second performance ending with an escape magic. Today’s performance was the second performance that ended with an escape magic.

The escape magic that announced the end of the stage began. Chains were wrapped around Corn’s entire body and numerous locks were placed. Afterwards, after the corn was hidden with a cloth, Ho Cheon-an sprinkled oil on the cloth without hesitation and lit the fuse.

The citizens of Lhasa screamed and cheered as they watched the fuse gradually burn out. Although the three people had already seen magic once, they even forgot about the conversation and widened their eyes.

The oil-soaked cloth was burning brightly and people were so immersed in it that they even forgot about breathing. The cloth is all burned, and will the Corn Magician still be alive?

The three people at Podalap Palace let out an exclamation.

“Oh my, I missed it today too.”

“It’s truly terrifying. Since the nearest seat is not close to the stage, it is difficult to feel the presence of people in the tent.”

The tent is all on fire and all that remains is black ashes and chains!

[It’s truly amazing! Did the Corn Magician really succeed in escaping? Or did he just disappear, leaving behind nothing but ashes? Let’s all call the corn magician!]

corner! corner!

The corn magician came running out from the back of the stage, and the magic show ended with great success.

The three people put the appropriate amount of money into the basket of a worker who had been a security guard before the performance but was now a collection agent, and then started to return to Podalap Palace. Nurbuchi, who was chatting lightly about the magic he had seen today, suddenly sighed.

“Now that I think about it, I don’t know how many more days I will be able to see magic performances.”

Nurbuchi asked in response to Nimagalchen’s sigh.

“What’s going on?”

“We were there every time a magic performance was performed, so we had no way of knowing, but it seems like the cheers from the magic performance could be heard all the way to Podalap Palace.”

“Hmm…”

“Now that we’ve been looking into it for three days, the justification for investigating magic has actually weakened…”

Ottercha said politely.

“For now, just pretend not to notice.”

The three people’s eyes met and they nodded silently. Once the investigation into magic is over, going out will also be over.

“Do you understand? Unless the palace lord directly asks. Let’s keep it quiet for now.”

“Of course.”

And as soon as the three arrived at Podalap Palace.

“Tell us everything that is happening in Lhasa.”

I was summoned to Lanojingbu, the lord of Podalap Palace.

*** ***

Lanojingbu, the lord of Podalap Palace, carefully prepared his attire. Not only did I wash my entire body thoroughly in hot water, but I also purified my clothes by boiling them to remove all impurities.

“Are you ready?”

“Of course.”

Ranojingbu visited a place in Podalap Palace with his wife, Chai Rang. It was a place so hot that anyone who visited would think it was a blacksmith shop.

“Sara, we are here.”

“Welcome. Mother, father.”

Sara, the head of Podalap Palace and who turned fifteen this year, stood up with the support of her maids and greeted the two people.

‘The details…’

Ranojingbu, the lord of Podalap Palace, carefully examined the details of his daughter, Ranosara. Compared to yesterday, I desperately hoped that today would be better, but as expected, there was no improvement in the details. No, it got worse.

Rano Jinbu skillfully managed his facial expression and asked Ranosara.

“So, what did you do today?”

“Masarai read the book.”

Ranosara slowly told me the contents of the book. It was about a dervish monk wandering around the world and enlightening people about various Buddhist teachings.

“So the monk went to a cave to avoid the rain…cough. Cough!”

Ranosara, who was a little excited about the interesting content, coughed, and the waiting doctor hurriedly offered her some decoction and made her lie down.

“Sara, let’s talk again tomorrow.”

“…Yes.”

Ranosara lowered her head. For Sarah, who lay in a hospital bed all day, a visit from her parents was one of the few blessings she had.

But that time was cut off so much because of his cough, so of course he was disappointed.

Rano Jingbu and Chai Rang had no choice but to keep their mouths shut at Ranosara’s disappointed look.

…Waaah!

And a faint roar breaks through the silence.

“…What’s going on outside?”

“Hmm. It looks like something is going on in Lhasa.”

“Somehow, he looks happy.”

Ranosara listened and showed interest. Lano Jingbu straightened his face and smiled. Sarah, whose immune system was severely weakened, was unable to leave her home. This was because unless a hot fire was lit around the room to drive out the evil spirits, the disease would quickly settle in Sarah’s body.

She had to be interested and curious about things outside…Sarah couldn’t leave this place.

“Something bad may have happened outside.”

“…I guess so.”

“Yes. Instead of wasting our mental energy on useless things, let’s focus on fighting off illness.”

“Yes.”

Lanosara covered herself with a blanket and lay down. Finally, the two people who held Ranosara’s hand were about to leave.

“Father, Mother.”

The two people’s feet stopped.

“I’m curious about what’s going on in the city.”

“…I see.”

Ranosara said with a grin.

“I’ll find out.”

A small smile also appeared on Sarah’s face.

“Thank you, father.”

“Okay.”

Chairang, who left Sara’s residence, shed tears. Lanojingbu sighed and patted his wife’s shoulder.

“Don’t be too upset.”

“Sigh, but…when did that child leave Podalap Palace? Just trapped in that room…”

Lanojingbu silently rubbed his wife’s back. Ranojingbu, who calmed Chai Rang down and escorted him to his room, suppressed his anger and walked quickly through the interior of Podalap Palace.

It has already been more than three days since the cheers outside were heard even inside Podalap Palace. Although disturbances in the city were rare, they were not unheard of, so Rano Jinbu did not pay much attention to them.

Podalap Palace was merely a guardian of monks and not the ruler of Lhasa.

Rano Jingbu barely controlled his mind so that his anger didn’t just become an expression of his anger. Yes, there is no correlation between my daughter being sick and the joyful cheers of the citizens of Lhasa.

It was not the duty of a Buddhist disciple to force others to be unhappy and sad just because I was unhappy and sad.

‘Let’s not get angry, just take action not to disturb the child’s rest.’

“Heavy duty!”

“Palace Lord.”

“The commotion of Lhasa is crossing the walls of the towering Podalap Palace. I am afraid that it will interfere with the spiritual practice of the secret hermits and monks. Let’s quickly investigate the cause.”

“Even if you didn’t, Sudalcha left the palace and said he would investigate.”

“Otter tea?”

Rano Jinbu’s anger subsided a little. Otter tea was a relative of Ranojingbu.

‘Yes, you still understand my feelings at least a little.’

Hearing that his relative’s younger brother had already taken action to resolve the situation before he had to worry about it, Ranojingbu smiled happily, even if only for a moment.

That is, until the words of the lieutenant continued.

“You left three days ago… Seeing the commotion growing as the days go by, it doesn’t seem to be an ordinary incident.”

“…What?”

Lano Jinbu’s eyebrows drew an inverted shape again.

Rano Jinbu was not a fool. No, the emotions contained in the shouts coming from outside were so clear that even a fool could understand them. Even his daughter, Rasa, could guess what he was feeling when he heard the faint sound that penetrated into the dormitory.

excitement. joy. wonderment.

I don’t know why, but what was going on outside was a joyful festival.

But it takes three days to figure out the ‘cause’ of such a ‘festival’? It’s been three days, but instead of getting the situation under control, it’s getting worse?

Lano Jinbu shook his fist.

The circumstantial evidence was very clear.

The otter car was out to play, not to investigate!

‘This guy…?!’

My niece was sick in bed, and now I’m making an excuse to go out and enjoy the festival?

“As soon as that bastard comes in, send him to the palace hall! All the martial arts monks who went out with that guy!”

“Yes!”

*** ***

Nimagalchen and Nurbuchi pressed their heads together without even making a sound. It was because of the palace owner who was showing off his violent spirit without any filtering.

“So, after watching the progress for three days, I guess you have a very good idea of what is happening in Lhasa right now?”

“Of course. Lord of the palace.”

Nurubuchi and Nimagalchel were annoyed when they saw Ottercha speaking in a relaxed and slurred tone.

Although Lano Jinbu’s momentum became stronger, Sudalcha calmly relayed the story about Hocheonan and his group.

“Magic…?”

“Yes. The name may be a bit strange, but I looked at it with my eyes wide open for three days and did not feel any strange energy.”

“Yes, it must be very accurate since we invested as many as three days to decide on a case that could have been made in just one or two days.”

Despite Lanojingbu’s cunning, Ottarcha continued to maintain a snarky attitude throughout the entire process. Nurubuchi and Nimagalchen just stared at the floor and broke into a cold sweat. No matter how close the two people are, they are like brothers, but why do they make such a fuss about something that could have been overlooked if they just pretended to reflect properly?

“Okay, have you tried asking for self-respect?”

“With what shame and justification would I ask them to respect themselves? Should we at least suppress the expressions that come from the Rasa people’s hearts? Or should we at least persecute those who use their talents to become self-reliant in a remote country?”

Lano Jingbu looked at the otter car with heavy eyes.

‘You were very determined.’

Ranojingbu read the firm determination on Ottercha’s face. Ranojingbu, who knew that a certain conclusion was already clearly in Sudalcha’s mind, decided to first figure out Sudalcha’s thoughts.

“So how do you plan to handle this now?”

“The reason they perform is because of financial issues. If so, wouldn’t it be enough to solve that problem?”

“…Let’s provide them with travel expenses?”

Lano Jingbu… I thought the opinion wasn’t as bad as I thought.

“If you simply give them money, they will not accept it either. So, I asked them to hold a performance inside Podalap Palace and raised a lot of money..”

“Not possible!”

Rano Jinbu screamed like a thunderbolt.

“Otter tea! This is the sacred Podalap Palace where monks and hermits practice! Let’s bring in entertainers and cause trouble in this sacred place of training? Are you out of your mind?”

“I am clearly sane. Brother.”

“Can’t I call you the palace lord!”

“Your brother is the one who is blind.”

Ottercha did not back down and raised his voice.

“What on earth are the lamas and secret monks you know? Are these people who would be angry if they caused a disturbance in Podalap Palace to comfort a sick child? Absolutely no!”

“This guy…!”

“The reason why my brother is so angry is not because he is worried that Sarah will be punished for causing a disturbance in this sacred space and that Sarah’s condition will worsen!”

Lano Jinbu could not answer.

“Brother, this is an opportunity. I’ve been wandering around looking at various cultural artifacts to get my Sarah’s medicine, but I’ve never seen anyone perform such a feat in my entire life. Would people with such talents ever come to Lhasa again? Sarah needs to live like a human being and feel joy to gain more strength…”

“Now.”

Ottercha closed his mouth. This was because a force on a completely different level from what it was now was emanating from Rano Jinbu’s body.

“Are you saying that the child is not behaving like a human being? Do you think I am comfortable with the reality that my daughter stays in her room? Wasn’t this a desperate struggle to somehow slow down the progress of Cheonhyeong? however! It’s you, and no one else, who speaks like that!”

Ottercha lowered his head.

“….It was a slip of the tongue. Brother.”

“You just backed off!”

*** ***

“So the practitioner…”

Rano Jinbu smiled as he looked at Sara, who continued the story from yesterday.

….Waaaa!

That is, until I heard a shout that was a little clearer than yesterday.

“You met the devil who tempted you in your dream and fell into crisis.”

Sarah paused for a moment but continued. Looking at Sarah like that, Rano Jinbu thought that he wasn’t sure if he was managing his expression properly.

Lanojingbu and Chairang listened to Sara’s words slowly.

I felt like I didn’t want to waste the time by getting excited like yesterday.

The three people who spent some time pretending not to hear the intermittent shouts got up from their seats.

‘You’re all grown up.’

Sarah didn’t ask about anything outside. Since he was a child with excellent intelligence from birth, he must have suppressed his curiosity after reading about the difficulties of Rano Jinbu.

A father who, let alone correcting his daughter’s birth defect, cannot properly convey any news from the outside world for fear that her daughter will say that she wants to see magic. Ranojingbu felt like his chest was congested and walked towards the castle wall.

I felt like my current feelings wouldn’t calm down if I didn’t get some air.

Wow!!

“I came here for no reason.”

Rano Jinbu let out a long sigh as the shouts became clearer and clearer. It was a castle wall that I climbed to relieve my frustration, but my heart became even more depressed.

‘Let’s go back… at least meditate and clear our minds…’

Just as he was about to turn his steps, Ranojingbu stopped when he saw the monks gathered at one point of the castle wall.

Rano Jinbu killed his presence and quietly approached there. As I got closer, I immediately realized why the monks had gathered.

This was because it was a place where you could see at a glance the stage of a magic performance where people were gathered together like a cloud.

“Can you see anything?”

“At least I can see it. That’s how you pay the price for not training regularly.”

“I will have to practice eye techniques intensively starting today.”

Rano Jinbu stood nearby and looked outside without saying a word.

“Huh, gasp!”

“Gu, palace lord!”

The monks who discovered the palace belatedly watched the palace and tried to put their hands together in admiration, but Ranojingbu did not blame them and raised his eyesight.

Rano Jinbu looked at the scene of the magic performance. On the stage, Yeo Il-ye’s pole magic was in full swing. In the blink of an eye, the dazzlingly spinning rods expanded from two to four and then returned to one.

The monks were frozen in place, unable to do anything, and Rano Jinbu continued to watch the stage where the magic was unfolding.

I saw magic, but what caught Rano Jinbu’s attention were the children. Nose dripping dogs on their parents’ shoulders, adolescent children gathered in groups of three and three with their peers to watch a magic show. The sight of Rano Jinbu smiling brightly and clapping his hands caught my eye.

Wow!

A child around Sarah’s age who screams and cannot take her eyes off the cutting magic. When all the magic performances were over, he thought for a while and put the money into the worker’s pocket.

Ranojingbu closed his eyes as he saw the girl running in the direction of the house with a proud smile.

Girls of that age can smile like that.

Rano Jinbu thought like that, as if he was awakening to something he had forgotten. He only looked at Sarah for a long time, and Sarah never showed such strong emotional expression.

‘It’s natural…’

How can the reaction that can come from being locked in a room and reading travel stories of ascetics or books written by monks, and the reaction of a girl who has witnessed a splendid spectacle that will take one’s soul away, be the same?

“Nurbuchi.”

“Yes! Lord of the palace!”

Even after watching a magic performance for three days in the best sari, Nurbuchi still had regrets and climbed the castle wall, which he could not see properly, and with his eyes wide open, he put his hands together in a cold sweat.

“Call in their representative.”

Rano Jinbu wanted to see Sarah’s bright smiling face.