Living with the Dangerous Beast-Chapter 67: Jealousy Clear to an Owl

“An immortal?”

“He was so beautiful! I was so mesmerized I thought my heart would stop!”

At least his face was. Remembering that beautiful face, Sohwa’s cheeks flushed involuntarily.

“More beautiful than me?”

“If you look at his face, there’s no other beauty like....”

“MORE beautiful than ME?”

Her shoulders were turned sharply. When she finally looked at Dohwi, she bit her lip at his intense gaze directed at her.

“That fairy... no, that immortal was beautiful and graceful, and you are handsome and....”

“Ah, so you saw an immortal who was more beautiful than me. That’s why my fox is so happy, I see....”

Dohwi’s lips curled up as if he was pleased, but it wasn’t a smile.

He pointed his chin towards the peak beyond them.

“Is that where you saw the immortal?”

“Y-Yes, that’s right....”

Dohwi smiled at Sohwa, who still didn’t know what to do.

“That’s the Imoogi you’re so afraid of, Sohwa.”

“What?”

Come to think of it, the split tongue had been suspicious. But she hadn’t even dreamed she would encounter the Imoogi taking a bath up close.

To be honest, she didn’t even want to think about it!

“I-I-I saw the Imoogi?!”

Sohwa gasped in shock. In her frightened mind’s eye, the fierce black dragon came at her with his jaws wide open.

‘No! No way! Go away!’

She frantically waved her paws, and the dragon within her imagination dispersed like a cloud.

Sohwa had a deep-seated fear of Imoogis.

That fear was so intense that she had even distanced herself from the monk she had admired so much on Mount Yeewhang.

“I told you before. An Imoogi who holds a grudge against tigers lives in the north.”

Sohwa’s bean-like black eyes widened.

“But why does that Imoogi have to hold a grudge against tigers? Of all things, why tigers...!”

‘What if that Imoogi came looking for Dohwi and caused trouble? What if he bit him? What if he choked him?’

Dohwi gently stroked her fur as he held her in his arms, but her frightened heart wouldn’t calm down.

‘Can I defeat an Imoogi if I had to fight against it? No way.’

Not once had she ever heard of a small fox defeating a dragon that could control the rain and clouds.

‘But maybe I have a chance. I succeeded in hunting after all. Yes, with these claws...!’

Sohwa repeatedly opened and closed her paws, which were slightly larger than those of a small fern.

How should she deal with that serpentine Imoogi with such a terrifying tongue?

Still, her only concern was protecting Dohwi from harm.

“I told you before. Don’t you remember?”

With a sly smile, Dohwi whispered to the trembling Sohwa.

“When it tried to ascend to the heavens to become a dragon, a tiger bit it by its neck and put it back to its place.”

“D-Dohwi, what do you mean...?”

“Hmm?”

Dohwi replied as if he had just remembered something.

“Didn’t I tell you that the ‘tiger’ was me?”

His tone changed from when he previously talked about the ferocious tiger that once ruled Mount Taeryong as if it were someone else.

Luckily for Dohwi, Sohwa didn’t have the energy to question why he had hidden from her that ‘he’ was actally that wicked tiger.

“Why did you do it? Why did you make so much enemies?”

“Well... You know me. I have a bad temper.”

She did... In fact, she knew very well. Sohwa just nodded, swallowing her words.

“He disgusts me. The idea of something that crawls on the ground daring to ascend to the heavens is absurd and infuriating.”

His shocking words hit Sohwa’s ears like a bolt from the blue.

“Because of me, rumors say he became a cripple with a severed tail.”

Despite the horrifying content of the story, Dohwi continued in a low, gentle voice as if he were just humming a lullaby.

“Shall we go pay a visit? We can see how he’s doing.”

“W-Where are you going? Visit what??”

Ignoring Sohwa’s flustered reaction, Dohwi headed towards the valley.

“The sage said it’s destined to become a Kangcheoli soon.”

“What? Kangcheoli?!”

Sohwa had heard that sometimes an Imoogi that failed to become a dragon would transform into a Kangcheoli, a monster that could never return to its human form.

The problem was that wherever this evil Kangcheoli resided, it would not rain, turning the land into a barren wasteland....

“Yes, it might be good to say hello before it turns into a hopeless monster.”

Dohwi spoke nonchalantly, his words terrifying Sohwa, who shook her head.

“Don’t go, Dohwi! I’m sorry! It’s my fault!”

“What are you sorry for? You were just captivated by a beautiful immortal, weren’t you?”

Though he spoke kindly, it was clear to even the owl watching them from the tree above that Dohwi was incredibly jealous.