Love Ballad of the Tyrant King

Chapter 44: Jaseung, Climbs a Mountain
The old woman shouted while rubbing her eyes and yawning.

“You brats! Did you really have to come bother this old woman at the crack of dawn just to brag about your little romance?”

At her words, Baek Seolyoung’s face turned red.

“Grandma, it’s not like that.”

“If not, then what is it!”

Then Lee Jaseung answered with a somewhat shameless look.

“We came because we were hungry.”

“What? You brat, if you're going to wake someone up just to demand food, go wake your own mother!”

“She’s dead.”

“Then your father at least!”

“My father passed away too.”

“Damn it! What were they in such a rush for, dying so early?”

“That’s what I’d like to know.”

Baek Seolyoung listened to the two with quiet surprise.

How could someone talk about something like that so casually?

She knew she could never say those things so easily.

“Come in.”

The old woman went inside first, and Lee Jaseung followed. Baek Seolyoung followed behind them.

Staring at Lee Jaseung’s face, the old woman asked,

“Did you drink?”

“Yes.”

“Young people these days, always drinking. Pathetic.”

“It’s not all the time. And I don’t think that’s something the owner of a tavern should be saying. Isn’t it a good thing when sales go up?”

“So you know how to talk back just because you can fight a little! Sit down. I’ll make something to help settle your stomach.”

Watching them, Baek Seolyoung was genuinely surprised. Their casual conversation at the door earlier, and now this. They seemed like they wouldn't get along at all, but when did they get so close?

And another thought followed.

As she watched the old woman walk into the kitchen to prepare food, she started to think maybe Lee Jaseung was right.

To her, the old woman had always seemed like a great mountain. Always there, with a perfect presence.

"Perhaps that’s why she’s waiting more.”

Lee Jaseung’s earlier words echoed in her ears.

While looking toward the kitchen, Baek Seolyoung quietly asked,

“What kind of person do you think she is?”

“I’m not sure.”

Lee Jaseung genuinely seemed like he didn’t know much about the old lady.

But one clear thing was that he felt as if their fates were somehow connected. That’s why he had shown up here out of the blue. Sometimes, he just felt like seeing her.

This time, he asked the same question.

“What kind of person is she?”

“She’s the kindest person in the world. Though sometimes scary.”

Just then, the old woman’s voice called out from the kitchen.

“I can hear you, you brat! And scary my ass! I’m someone who gets up in the middle of the night to make hangover soup for young punks!”

At that, both Lee Jaseung and Baek Seolyoung smirked softly.

In truth, she really wanted to ask her something else. After hesitating for a moment, she finally opened her mouth. She felt like this might be her only chance.

“When did your parents pass away?”

“When I was very young.”

“How?”

“We were poor.”

“What?”

“My mother got sick. It was a disease with a crazy expensive treatment. My father worked day and night, borrowed money, even sold our home, but he couldn’t save her. After my mother died, my father lived like a ghost for about a year, then passed away too.”

Lee Jaseung spoke about his painful past very calmly.

She was able to tell it wasn’t because he didn’t care about them. It was because the scab over his wound had formed and peeled off so many times that it no longer hurt.

‘When would I ever be able to do that?’

Even now, just thinking of her father made her chest ache unbearably.

“Your father must have really loved your mother.”

That was truly love through life and death.

“Maybe. But he was very selfish.”

“What?”

“He had a child. He should’ve forced himself to keep living.”

“I’m sure he wanted to. But it didn’t go the way he hoped.”

“You sound like his lawyer.”

“I understand how he must have felt.”

“Have you ever been in that kind of love?”

Of course not. But if she ever did fall in love, she wanted it to be like that.

A love where she was everything to the other person.

A love where the other person was everything to her.

At that moment, the old woman came out of the kitchen with a tray of soup and several dishes.

“Eat up!”

Just the sight of it was impressive. The smell alone made their mouths water.

“You made this just now?”

Considering how the old woman usually just threw something together, the meal before them was astonishing.

She grinned and said,

“When I decide to do something, I do it right.”

Baek Seolyoung took a piece of the tender meat and put it in her mouth.

“Wow! It even tastes amazing.”

“You brat! Then are you saying all the food I gave you before tasted like crap?”

Baek Seolyoung giggled.

“Well, it’s not really a place you come here for food, right?”

That’s why the place was always empty. The owner was rude, cursed at customers, and the food was usually nothing special.

But this food was genuinely delicious. It was far better than the famous dishes of White Ram Inn.

“It’s really good.”

Lee Jaseung slurped some soup. The hot and spicy broth cleared his head.

“Congratulations on the win.”

“Thank you.”

“I knew you’d win.”

Baek Seolyoung asked with curiosity,

“How did you know?”

“I told you already, didn’t I? That he looks like he’s hella good at fighting.”

That made both Lee Jaseung and Baek Seolyoung smile.

“Now, it’s time to keep your promise.”

“He made a promise with you?”

Lee Jaseung answered for her.

“I told her I’d buy her some tasty liquor.”

“Huh? I made that same promise too.”

The old woman had asked both of them for a drink.

“Well then, let’s go get that drink, shall we?”

As the old man stood up, Baek Seolyoung was startled.

“At this hour? The sun’s about to rise.”

The old woman marched forward and replied.  

“There’s no such thing as day or night when it comes to drinking. We had hangover soup, so now we drink again.”

Lee Jaseung jumped up and followed her without hesitation.

Baek Seolyoung followed behind and thought to herself.

In their unpredictability, the two of them were exactly alike.

* * *

“What the hell is going on here!”

Hae Ryang screamed like a madman. More than twenty martial artists stood around, but no one spoke.

The Lord of the Righteous Chivalrous Sword Clan had been assassinated. It was an unthinkable event.

No one dared to open their mouth. In a situation like this, a careless word could get them killed.

“Who the hell did it!”

Hae Ryang lunged at a middle-aged man standing nearby.

Thwack!

His punch knocked the man back. He was the chief of Hae Cheon-in’s guards.

Thwack! Thwack!

Hae Ryang climbed on top of him and pummeled him, but no one stopped him. As the one responsible for security, the man had no excuse.

Then someone quietly spoke.

“That’s enough.”

It was Hae Gwang, Hae Ryang’s older brother. Unlike Hae Ryang, Hae Gwang gave off a calm and serious air.

“Our father died! How can you tell me to calm down!”

Hae Gwang narrowed his eyes and stared at Hae Ryang.

“If you cared so much about your father, then why did you participate in the tournament?”

“That’s…”

Hae Ryang couldn’t answer. Everyone knew he had been warned not to participate.

“Hmph! Why are you bringing up the past?”

Hae Ryang’s eyes narrowed, and his lips curled into a cold smile.

“You want to humiliate me in front of everyone?”

Everyone knew what he meant. Tension filled the room. Everyone believed Hae Gwang, the eldest son, was the heir.

But he hadn’t officially inherited the position. If someone pushed Hae Ryang to act, blood might be spilled within the clan.

Hae Ryang might have been immature and reckless, but he was more famous in the martial world. Though of course, people only liked the man in the rumors, not the actual man himself.

Hae Gwang no longer bothered with Hae Ryang and quietly asked another middle-aged man nearby. He was the clan physician responsible for autopsies.

“What was the cause of death?”

The man answered cautiously.

“We still need to investigate further, but… it seems to be the work of aDemonic Human. There’s Demonic Qi in the wound.”

Silence fell for a moment.

The Hidden Death Valley had forged the cause of death to make it look like the Demonic Cult’s doing. As top-class assassins, they had covered the tracks well.

If Hae Cheon-in had still had his inner Qi, it wouldn’t have been so easy. But he had been under the effects of Qi-Dissolving Poison at the time which made him completely defenseless.

Hae Gwang stepped forward.

Smack!

He slapped Hae Ryang hard across the face. When Hae Ryang tried to protest, Hae Gwang shouted first.

“Father died because of you.”

Even the reckless Hae Ryang was shocked.

“What?”

Hae Gwang’s glare sharpened.

“Tell us everything about the Phantom Demon you killed. Lie to me even once, and you’re dead!”

* * *

At the same time, Lee Jaseung and Baek Seolyoung were climbing a mountain.

“Didn’t you say we were going for a drink?”

At her question, the old woman leading the way replied,

“I did.”

“What kind of drink is so special that we have to go through training for it?”

She wasn’t entirely joking. The mountain they were climbing was on the outer edge of Heaven’s Gate and so treacherous that even seasoned mountain gatherers avoided it.

Of course, the three of them had Qi, so they climbed without getting tired.

“It’s really good liquor. Once you taste it, you’ll both fall in love.”

Lee Jaseung and Baek Seolyoung looked at each other after hearing her reply. They both sensed it wasn’t just some ordinary drink.

As they climbed, Lee Jaseung expelled all alcohol through his fingers. He felt he needed a clear mind for what was coming.

Baek Seolyoung looked around and sighed quietly. She had no idea where they were or where they were going. She was just following.

She had always been bad with directions. It was a side effect of never going anywhere alone. She was always accompanied by guards. The only time she had traveled alone was during the metal box incident.

Thinking of the iron chest made her somber. Her father had told her about its location before he passed.

He had come across it by chance in his youth, realized it was dangerous, and hid it far away from the clan.

She should have waited until she became the Lord of the clan to look for it. But Elder Yang had moved so quickly to take over that she had no choice but to act.

That’s how her location had been exposed and why she was being hunted.

And that’s how she met this man.

She glanced at Lee Jaseung.

Sensing her gaze, he turned his head. Their eyes met. Feeling awkward, she quickly changed the subject.

“Are you good with directions?”

“If I’ve been somewhere once, I usually remember it.”

He said it modestly. But the truth was, he had never once gotten lost or failed to find his way back.

“Even if it’s really complicated?”

“Of course.”

“That’s amazing.”

Half of her praise was sincere, the other half playful. But she didn’t think he was lying.

That was the feeling she got from being with him.

He could be prickly, annoying, and irritating.

But at least it never felt like he was lying.

That’s why she had to be careful.

Most betrayals probably came from people who gave off that exact feeling.

If you don’t trust, you can’t be betrayed.

How much further did they climb?

After nearing the summit, the old woman stopped.

“We’re here. This is the place!”