Chronicles of the Lazy Sovereign

Chapter 6: A Tangled Journey (4)

"Liar!"

It was his fault for trusting.

Trusting him was the mistake!

Contrary to his words, Wi Sanho had yet to return even after quite some time had passed. He couldn’t tell the exact time, but judging by the sun setting, it seemed several hours had already gone by. Yet, there was no sign of Wi Sanho coming back.

Tossing under the shade of a tree, Wi Yeonho looked at the corpses with an uneasy expression.

“Ugh.”

He might have been able to sleep comfortably if only there weren’t any corpses nearby, but this was his first time seeing dead bodies in his life. Having them sprawled out right in front of his eyes made him anxious and uncomfortable, and Wi Yeonho couldn’t fall asleep properly.

“If it’s going to be like this, he should’ve just taken me with him!”

Of course, he knew well enough that what he said didn’t make any sense.

Even if that Lust Demon was just a rapist, if he used demonic arts at the level of the Demonic Cult’s upper ranks, he would be several times stronger than Wi Yeonho. If Wi Yeonho went along, he’d only be a burden. Moreover, with his level of movement arts, in an urgent situation he’d be nothing more than dead weight.

Still, if he said he’d return quickly, shouldn’t he have returned quickly?

The sun was already setting.

The mountains at night were extremely dangerous. What was he supposed to do if the sun fully went down?

The thought of the frail Wi Yeonho having to descend the mountain alone was horrifying.

“…Are there tigers in this mountain?”

It wasn’t a situation where he could confidently say there weren’t. They were deep enough in the mountains that it wouldn’t be surprising if a tiger or two roamed around.

Besides, wasn’t this the perfect situation for a wild animal to pounce?

The sun was setting, and corpses—which wild beasts loved—were lying right in front of him.

Wi Yeonho began to grow uneasy.

“What should I do?”

Waiting here for Wi Sanho to return was probably the best option, but unfortunately, Wi Sanho had already been gone for several hours.

To beat up just a single Lust Demon, he was taking too much time.

Of course, there was no way that Wi Sanho—of all people—could’ve lost to a perverted demon.

Not just because he was his brother, but because Wi Sanho was genuinely absurdly strong.

Among those of his age group, few could rival him. Even across the entire Martial World, it was hard to imagine there were many with capabilities on par with Wi Sanho.

At times, it felt like Wi Sanho was even stronger than Wi Jeonghan. Wi Yeonho, whose martial knowledge was shallow, couldn’t be sure, but it was unthinkable that a mere Lust Demon could pose any threat to Wi Sanho.

“Ugh.”

That said, something had definitely happened. Otherwise, there was no way he would be this late.

“Sigh.”

Wi Yeonho staggered to his feet. He had to come up with some kind of plan. If he kept lazing around like this, he really might end up as tiger food.

Even laziness had its time and place—there was no such thing as laziness more important than one’s life.

"First, maybe I should climb a tree or something..."

Just then, a mournful sound reached Wi Yeonho’s ears.

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

With a slightly stiff expression, Wi Yeonho looked up at the sky.

Far off in the distance, he could see dark thunderclouds rapidly approaching. His eyes twitched slightly before he turned his head.

Two horses and two corpses were in view.

"This is really... the end."

Wi Yeonho was growing increasingly sorrowful.

Swooooshhhhh!

Just then, a torrential downpour began pouring over Wi Yeonho’s head.

"Ugh, how did I end up like this..."

Gritting his teeth, Wi Yeonho trudged up the mountain.

Rumble.

"Ah, damn these useless, dead-weight horses!"

He kicked at the rear of one of the horses that kept shaking its head.

"You call yourselves horses? You’re horses, right? If you’re horses, shouldn’t you be carrying people?"

Wi Yeonho had already wiped from his memory the fact that these horses had carried him up until now. The moment the rain began falling, the horses had become nothing more than burdens.

"They say being kind only gets you screwed!"

What worried him most as the rain fell were the corpses.

If left as they were, it was obvious they’d become food for wild animals. But he couldn’t very well carry them, either—he had to do something. After hurriedly burying the corpses, the rain began to pour down like madness, and if he didn’t find shelter soon, it was clear he’d end up with a serious illness.

Getting sick would be lucky. Spending a night out in the mountains in the rain after dark was extremely dangerous.

His body temperature could drop rapidly and kill him, or worse—if a pack of wild beasts attacked in the darkness, it would be a truly horrific end.

He had to find shelter from the rain as soon as possible.

There was no chance of finding shelter along an open mountain path. In desperation, Wi Yeonho began climbing the mountain, searching for a cave or at least a thickly wooded area.

At first, he tried going downhill, but the horses kept slipping, so he had no choice but to climb upward instead. The problem was that the horses, which had been the best option on the road, turned into utter idiots the moment they entered the mountains.

They kept slipping on even the smallest slopes, and Wi Yeonho had to all but lift them onto his back to drag them up the mountain.

And that was while pulling both horses—including Wi Sanho’s.

"Ugh, I can’t just leave them behind either!"

No sane person would even think of dragging horses up a mountain.

Of course, at first, Wi Yeonho had planned to leave the horses behind.

But when he saw them standing still in the downpour, soaked and motionless, he suddenly felt sorry for them and just couldn’t bring himself to abandon them.

"I’m such an idiot!"

Wi Yeonho grumbled nonstop as he pushed at the horses’ rumps.

"Get up! Go on! What the hell did you eat to get this heavy?!"

Rumble.

The horse shook its head in refusal, but there was no way it could withstand the force pushing it from behind.

Whinny!

After slipping several times, the horse violently resisted and kicked backward with its hind legs.

Thud!

Struck by the horse's kick, Wi Yeonho screamed as he was flung away.

"Aaaargh!"

Tumbling down a steep slope, there was no way he could stop himself easily.

He rolled for quite a while before finally coming to a halt when his body slammed into the cliff wall at the base of the incline.

"Ugh... damn, my back. That cursed beast!"

He was doing all this to keep them from being left behind, and instead of being grateful, they had the nerve to kick him!

Determined to turn that damn beast into horse jerky, Wi Yeonho pushed himself off the ground—only to slip again.

He had placed his hand down, but the ground had suddenly sunk beneath it.

"Huh?"

Wi Yeonho stared closely at the spot he’d touched.

At a glance, it just looked like a pile of fallen leaves and twigs, but underneath, there was nothing.

He brushed away the leaves around it.

A large hole spanning the ground and wall revealed itself.

It was a cave entrance, large enough for several grown men to pass through side by side without trouble.

Wi Yeonho poked his head into the cave.

It was a lucky find, but if a bear or something had taken shelter inside, he might be risking his life just by looking.

"Anyone in there?"

Fortunately, he sensed no presence from within the cave.

Wi Yeonho climbed back up the slope, pulled the horses down, and led them into the cave.

The cave was much larger than expected.

It wasn’t quite deep, but the round hollow was far more spacious than most pavilions.

He had gotten lucky and found shelter from the rain.

Rumble.

Whether they realized they'd found a dry place or not, the horses slowly approached Wi Yeonho.

"Ugh, I can’t even hit you."

The horse that had kicked him looked at him with clear, innocent eyes.

He wanted nothing more than to give it a good whack, but thanks to it, he had found this spot. A sin and a merit—he had to let them cancel each other out.

Wi Yeonho led the horses inside the cave. As long as they could get out of the rain, it didn’t matter where they were.

"Ugh."

Having loosely tied up the horses, Wi Yeonho stripped off his clothes. They were already soaked and caked in mud.

If he kept wearing them, he was sure to catch a cold.

Wi Yeonho opened his bundle in search of dry clothes to change into, but the bundle was just as soaked through as everything else.

"Alright, let's see. In situations like this, you're supposed to find dry branches and make a fire..."

But where in this downpour was he supposed to find dry branches?

"Ugh, might as well die instead of trying."

Knowledge always sounded impressive, but when you were actually in the situation, it often turned out useless.

Besides, Wi Yeonho was a man who gave up quickly.

He loosely tied the horses to a rock jutting out from the ground, then slumped down and pulled out some jerky. The meat was damp and had a fishy taste, but all he could do was chew it with a forlorn sigh.

"What kind of mess is this... They weren’t lying when they said leaving home meant suffering."

What made it even sadder was the fact that he hadn’t left home because he wanted to.

The rain fell harder and harder, and the idea of leaving the cave became less and less realistic.

"…It can't be helped."

It looked like he’d be stuck here for at least a few days.

There was nothing Wi Yeonho could do now except hope Wi Sanho would return during that time.

He left a simple marking at the entrance of the cave.

If it was his brother, he would be able to find him just by the footprints and that mark.

Wi Yeonho pulled out a blanket from the bundle and wrung out the water as best he could.

Then he spread the blanket out on the ground and lay down.

"I don’t care anymore! I’m just going to sleep!"

He grimaced as the cold seeped into his back.

But it wasn’t like there was any way to dry the blanket.

It was annoying, but what else could he do?

Wi Yeonho was a man who knew how to accept his situation.

Slowly, he began to drift off to sleep.

The fatigue that had built up over the past few days surged in all at once.

Wi Yeonho slept like the dead.

A day passed, then two, but he showed no signs of waking.

‘How much time has passed?’

Outside the cave, the rain was still falling.

And the horses he had tied up before going to sleep were nowhere to be seen.

‘And that’s why you can’t trust animals…’

After all that hardship, bringing the horses in and giving them shelter from the rain, they couldn’t even be bothered to wait and ran off…

So this is why they’re called beasts.

Of course, Wi Yeonho never once considered the fact that he hadn’t given them so much as a blade of grass to eat or a drop of water to drink over the past two days.

Wi Yeonho closed his eyes again.

There was no moving until the rain stopped anyway. In that case, getting a bit more sleep was the best use of his time. He drifted back to sleep.

Another day passed just like that.

Now, only the faint sound of Wi Yeonho’s breathing echoed within the cave.

Then, something strange occurred.

Wi Yeonho’s body slowly began to lift off the ground.

It was truly a bizarre phenomenon.

Though still asleep, Wi Yeonho’s body, along with the belongings scattered around him, gently floated upward. Then, little by little, he began to drift through the air toward the cave wall.

Sssssk.

Even as he approached the cave wall, Wi Yeonho’s body did not slow down.

And yet, interestingly, he passed right through the wall.

Only the traces of his stay remained in the cave. Wi Yeonho himself had vanished.

As if it had all been an illusion, he disappeared as though he had never been there in the first place.