Living with the Dangerous Beast-Chapter 113: No Escape

Of course, it was true that he had pursued Sohwa despite knowing she was married. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

He had planned to claim her, a creature brimming with fresh, potent spiritual energy, stain her with his presence, and ensure she was abandoned by the mountain lord.

Once she was cast away, Hochun had intended to consume the pitiful widow to the bone and flee without a trace.

It was also true that he had used this very method to devour countless wives and absorb the spiritual power of both husband and wife.

By these means, he became a nine-tailed fox without undergoing proper training.

“Humph. What did our Dohwi ever do to deserve this? You were the one who hid your true nature from the start!”

“You insolent wench!”

“Ow!”

The nine-tailed fox flicked Sohwa on the forehead.

He couldn’t stand the sight of her trembling in fear only to glare at him in defiance when her husband was insulted.

“You’re the problem, you little wench!”

Hochun’s seven-segmented fan bore the skin of a young man, the geomungo carried a young man’s voice, and the mask of bangsangsi contained the spiritual power that allowed him to maintain his youthful guise.

However, because of Sohwa, he had lost all three.

He could no longer mimic the appearance of a young man.

To reclaim what he had lost, he needed immense power.

“If I eat you alive, I’m sure I should be able to reclaim my powers.”

Sohwa was steeped in the mountain lord’s spiritual energy.

Compared to the widows he had devoured in the past, this silver fox alone would provide far more strength.

“I’ll wear your skin and bring down that wretched mountain lord.”

The nine-tailed fox’s gnarled hand clamped down tightly on Sohwa’s nape.

“I’ll devour you whole, not even leaving a scrap behind.”

He considered starting with her soft, hind legs, shoving them into his mouth.

“My teeth aren’t what they used to be, so bear with me if I have to chew a lot.”

But just as Hochun was about to consume the silver fox in his grasp—

“Ha! I might not hunt well, but I’m great at running away!”

Sohwa was inexperienced in everything but uniquely adept at fleeing.

Using her flexible body, she twisted free from his grip and darted away, her tail streaking behind her.

‘Dohwi, where are you? Please, save me!’

She ran, desperate and blind, calling for her beloved husband out in her heart.

* * *

“Stop right there!”

The frail body of the old fox couldn’t keep up with the swift, disappearing form of the young silver fox.

Without his enchanted tools, Hochun’s vitality had deteriorated, dulling even his ability to sense presences around him.

But the dense forest did not hold only the two foxes.

Another being, who had been silently following their trail, was now hot on their heels.

In his weakened state, Hochun failed to notice this.

“You wretched fox! I told you to stop right there!”

Just as he screamed out desperately, someone tore through the mountain path, sinking sharp teeth into Hochun’s ankle.

“Aaaaagh!”

The attacker wasn’t content with just toppling its prey.

Its sharp fangs tore into Hochun’s arms, legs, and finally, his neck.

With terrifying efficiency, the predator brutally snapped the nine-tailed fox’s spine and ripped its limbs apart.

“You dare—”

No matter how many centuries Hochun had lived, to her, he was nothing more than a helpless prey.

The guardian of the west.

One of the Four Divine Beasts, the celestial white tiger, Beomhee.

Standing over the mangled corpse, she planted her paw firmly on it, her blue eyes gleaming with menace.

“Baeksom is mine.”

* * *

Panting heavily, Sohwa ran as if tumbling down the rugged mountain path.

Her breath hitched, scraping her throat, but she couldn’t afford to stop.

Behind her, a predator far more terrifying than the nine-tailed fox was now chasing her.

With the light frame of a fox, Sohwa had the advantage on uphill terrain, but the ruthless hunter herded her relentlessly toward downhill slopes.

“Yip!”

Unable to control her momentum, Sohwa tumbled head over heels, rolling all the way to the edge of a cliff.

‘This is it.’

She thought.

‘There’s no way out now.’

Behind her lay the precipice; in front of her, a predator even more fearsome than the cliff loomed.

Even if she crawled into a badger’s burrow, that beast would shove its paw inside, hooking its sickle-like claws into her and dragging her out.

‘I’m going to be caught no matter what.’

Realizing this, Sohwa’s legs froze.

She couldn’t move a single step.

Collapsing on the spot, she panted heavily, helpless.

As always, she wished for her beloved tiger to appear and save her.

But the tiger standing before her wasn’t Dohwi.

A stark white coat with black stripes.

For the first time in her life, Sohwa faced a white tiger.

It was Beomhee.

“Grrrrr....”

True to her title as one of the Four Divine Beasts, Beomhee was as massive as Dohwi.

Unlike Dohwi’s golden eyes, the gaze of the white tiger Beomhee burned with a blue flame.