Living with the Dangerous Beast-Chapter 32: The Tiger Hunters

“With bright yellow eyes and a body as big as a house, he told us that it moved incredibly fast. The gravekeeper is 90 years old, and he said that he had never seen a creature that big and horrifying in his entire life. He even soiled himself while running down the mountain.”

“I see. But why shouldn’t I go up the mountain for the next few days?”

When Sohwa asked, still looking at the cloudy Mount Yeehwang, the man’s voice brightened.

“The authorities have sent tiger hunters.”

Her eyes widened in surprise.

“...What?”

As she turned around and dumbly asked again, the man answered with a relieved smile.

“Tiger hunters who specialize in catching tigers! I saw them this morning. They were all burly, with fierce eyes, and long rifles slung over their shoulders.”

Sohwa’s eyes wavered helplessly in shock.

Her trembling fingers let the water scoop slip and fall to the ground.

“There are a dozen or more of them, so they should be able to catch the tiger, don’t you think?”

Staring blankly at the laughing man, Sohwa suddenly turned and started running.

“Miss, where are you going? That mountain is dangerous! You might get shot! Miss!”

* * *

Overwhelmed with urgency, Sohwa transformed into a fox as soon as she left the village and sprinted up the mountain.

She hadn’t run this swiftly through rough brush on all fours in ages.

“Tiger hunters?! No, this can’t happen!”

As she bounded up the rocks like an agile rabbit, a blood-curdling scream pierced through the air.

Her fur stood on end as she raised her head.

It was the cry of a vixen.

Sohwa hesitated, her senses on high alert, as the vixen’s dying voice began to shout.

“Help! Please help!”

The voice sounded familiar; it was Miho, the red fox she had met before, desperately calling for help.

Sohwa’s large eyes darted back and forth in confusion.

Surely, someone else will help that poor fox, right? Someone must hear this distressing cry and rush to help!

‘I have to find the tiger hunters first.’

Dohwi might be in danger.

Sohwa tried to ignore the cries and closed her eyes tight.

“Help me! Please, someone come save me! Please!”

In the end, Sohwa couldn’t ignore Miho’s desperate voice and changed direction.

Following the cries, she finally found Miho struggling in a thick bush that reeked of chicken.

“Why is there chicken blood in such a rough place like this...?”

Peering through the brush, Sohwa froze.

There, a red fox larger than her was caught in a snare, hanging upside down by one leg.

“Save me! Please, save me!”

Miho’s glossy fur was soaked with blood as she struggled to free herself from the snare.

The sight was so shocking that Sohwa fell back in horror.

‘How much pain she must be in. My goodness, you poor thing!’

Miho was too exhausted to even change her form.

Seeing Miho, Sohwa thought she had to quickly transform back into her human form.

Otherwise, she might end up like Miho, caught in a snare and dying!

Quickly transforming into a human, Sohwa cautiously approached Miho, looking around for more snares.

“How did this happen?”

“What do you mean, how? Those damn humans set a trap with bait, and I got caught!”

Indeed, the ground was suspiciously littered with chicken blood, and pieces of a slaughtered chicken were conspicuously placed on a log.

The log was connected to a twisted wire.

But no matter how hard she tried, Sohwa couldn’t loosen the wire with her bare hands.

“Hurry, get me out! It hurts! It hurts!!”

The snare tightened the more Miho struggled.

Her thrashing made it even harder for Sohwa to free her.

“Hold still!” ƒreewebɳovel.com

“Hurry! It hurts so bad!!”

“Oww!!”

Miho’s frantic thrashing left scratches on Sohwa’s hands from her sharp claws.

Blood dripped from her hands, but freeing Miho was the priority.

‘If it were me caught here, I’d be dead already.’

Only a healthy and well-fed fox like Miho could survive this long.

If a weakling like her were caught, she would have died long ago.

Just the thought of getting caught in such a snare made Sohwa feel dizzy, and she didn’t even notice the cuts on her hands as she struggled to free the snare.

Bang!

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, splitting the air like a crack of thunder, followed by a deathly scream.

Yelp!

Miho’s body jerked violently once before going limp.

“...!”

She was dead. Miho was dead.

Slumping to the ground, Sohwa’s hands trembled as she heard the ominous voices of men behind her.

“Haha! Bullseye!”

“Nice shot, bro!”

“Hahaha! At least we got a fox, I guess it’ll be enough to save face!”

Their boisterous laughter echoed through the mountains.

Tears welled up in Sohwa’s eyes as she looked at Miho’s lifeless face.