Chapter 114

Dori ran frantically down the mountain, not even daring to look back in fear that Wonwoo or the man in black might be pursuing him.

Having been confined in the hut all this time, he hadn’t realized until now—perhaps because of the heavy rain that had poured for several days—the mountain was collapsing in places, and even huge trees had been toppled. The ground was muddy and treacherous.

‘Even if Haban came, he wouldn’t have been able to find me…’

Dori stifled his sobs and ran with all his might. His fur, filthy with dirt and dust, whipped violently in the wind. After running as if his life depended on it, Dori finally skidded to a halt before a cave.

Huff, huff.

‘…No one’s here, right?’

He was so out of breath. His chest heaved rapidly as he struggled to steady his breathing. He wanted nothing more than to collapse right where he stood. But even in his exhaustion, Dori circled the cave’s perimeter, carefully scouting his surroundings.

‘Could it be…?’

His golden eyes darted nervously as he rolled about in caution.

Once, he had crawled into a cave without realizing it was occupied and had ended up scrambling away in a panic. That past experience made him especially wary now.

‘Damn novel!’

In the original story, after escaping the hunter’s hut, “Dori” immediately stumbled upon a cave and rested there. Naturally, Dori had assumed this cave was the same one. If it hadn’t been for the heavy breathing echoing off the cave walls—grr, huff huff—he would have come face-to-face with its actual owner.

In any case, after circling and meticulously checking the area, Dori finally returned to stand at the cave’s entrance.

‘No footprints… at least.’

With the soil this wet and sinking underfoot, if anyone had been here, there would surely be tracks left behind. By that same logic, however, his own footprints would be visible once he entered.

Instead of rushing in recklessly, Dori nudged a small stone into the cave and waited.

No reaction for a long while.

It seemed this cave truly was unoccupied. Finally reassured, Dori crept toward the entrance—then hesitated mid-step.

‘It must be closed off inside, right?’

Caves like these usually had only one entrance.

If someone suddenly appeared, wouldn’t escape be nearly impossible?

He looked down. His fox tracks were clearly imprinted in the soft mud. Wonwoo or the man in black might follow them here. Perhaps staying outside would actually be safer…

Dori glanced toward the entrance again, hesitating once more, then scanned his surroundings anew, searching for any broad rock or terrain where he could stay alert to all directions.

But there was nothing suitable. He couldn’t climb a tall tree in this state either. And with the rain, he couldn’t start a fire, which meant he wouldn’t be able to fend off the cold of night.

Having spent his childhood at an orphanage near a mountain famous for stargazing, where fatal falls and serious accidents occurred every year, Dori knew well that the real danger in the mountains began at night—not just the plummeting temperature, but the lurking wild beasts.

‘That’s why even Wonwoo won’t move around easily.’

He had seen Wonwoo stabbed in the stomach, after all.

With that thought, Dori changed his mind and decided to rest in the cave for now.

‘This isn’t too bad.’

The cave seemed long abandoned. Moss covered the ceiling and walls, sparing him the trouble of gathering leaves from outside.

The thin layer of soft soil on the floor stayed dry, untouched by rain. With just a bit of moss, it would make a decent enough bed for the night.

‘It’d be nice if I could make a fire, but that’s probably asking too much.’

If the wind blew wrong, smoke would pool inside; worse, Wonwoo or the man in black could spot the smoke.

‘I can’t just trust the novel.’

In the story, Dori had escaped hunters, rested safely in a cave, and fled without issue—but things had already diverged. Instead of leaving the palace by choice, he had been kidnapped by Wonwoo, and the threat wasn’t a hunter but a man in black.

After some deliberation, Dori settled in a spot hidden from view from the outside, collapsing onto the softest patch he could find. He didn’t even have the strength to scrape together moss. His whole body ached.

‘At least I got away from there…’

But what exactly had happened? Who was that man?

Even after much thought, he couldn’t figure it out. If the man wasn’t sent by Haban, then who had sent him? And why had he come?

‘He was suspicious from the start.’

If he were truly a hunter, he wouldn’t have approached so silently. He hadn’t even knocked; he had swung his blade the instant the door opened, as if targeting something specific inside.

But what could someone hope to steal from an old hut deep in the mountains?

‘A vendetta, maybe? Could he have been after Wonwoo from the start? …But why?’

Considering Wonwoo’s personality, it wouldn’t be strange if he’d earned grudges a hundred times over.

Dori lay down, resting his head against the cave wall.

The food Wonwoo had given him barely staved off his hunger, and exhaustion pressed down on him.

As his tension finally eased, the memory of that life-or-death moment replayed vividly in his mind.

‘Stay over there, quietly.’

When the intruder burst into the hut, Wonwoo had quickly realized there was only one enemy. He shoved Dori toward the wall, positioning himself fully between Dori and the attacker.

While the two men squared off, Dori had crawled into a corner, curling up tightly. With the stranger blocking the door, he couldn’t even transform into his fox form to escape.

Trembling, he watched the scene unfold as the masked man in black scanned the hut, as though searching for something.

‘You… you were sent by that human bastard, weren’t you?’

‘……’

At those words, Wonwoo was the first to speak.

The man in black merely rolled his eyes toward Wonwoo without responding.

‘Humans are always like this. Never keeping their promises. My fault, really. Should’ve suspected it the moment he told me to stay here for a few days.’

‘……’

‘Not that you can answer me anyway.’

Wonwoo’s tone turned increasingly mocking. The hostility radiating from the man was focused entirely on him, as though they shared some unspoken history.

‘Wondering how I know you can’t talk?’

‘……’

‘The peony^1 on your mask—I saw it in the palace. Everyone working under that human has no tongue, just like you.’

No tongue?!

At those words, Dori’s memory flashed—during the Dongcheon^2 incident, when he followed Haban to the altar, the black-clad assassins who attacked them had all been tongueless.

Realizing this man was connected to that event, Dori instinctively perked his ears, sensing he might overhear something crucial.

But before he could learn more, the man in black lunged at Wonwoo. In the darkness of the hut, the sharp blade cut through the air.

For an ordinary human, dodging would have been impossible.

‘Not so fast!’

But Wonwoo wasn’t human—he was a beastman. His dynamic vision and hearing far surpassed a human’s, and his agility was exceptional. Hadn’t he been one of the finest fighters in the Red Fox Village?

In fact, he moved even more nimbly than when Dori had last seen him in that village. Wonwoo dodged the sword, seized the hilt of a larger blade, and—

Clang!

Crossing both blades, he blocked the follow-up attack and forced the man back with sheer strength.

‘What your master’s looking for isn’t here. So stop wasting your time and get lost!’

‘……’

Clang! Clang!

Steel clashed in rapid succession. Even in human form, Wonwoo’s frame was broad and muscular, and his dual-wielding was deft and fluid.

As he deflected lethal strikes aimed at his vitals, the force of his counters snapped the leather cord strung across the walls, causing hanging animal hides to tumble to the floor.

Whoosh! Chunks of meat dangling from the ceiling fell one after another with each swing of the blades.

Huddled in a corner with his hands over his head, Dori trembled violently, inching along the wall in hopes of staying unnoticed by either fighter.

‘Judging by how desperate he is, was he sent to kill me?’

‘……’

‘Or maybe… both of us?’

Wonwoo blocked a downward slash with his long blade, then used the shorter one in his other hand to slip into close range. The masked man responded by angling his sword toward Wonwoo’s chest, willing to trade his life for Wonwoo’s.

‘Tch.’

Wonwoo quickly parried with the other blade and leapt back.

Huff.

Even for Wonwoo, evading constant deathblows wasn’t easy, especially against someone willing to die in the process.

Right then, with both men fully focused on each other, Dori seized the chance. Inch by inch, he crept toward the door—then bolted, flinging it open and sprinting outside.

‘…You!’

Wonwoo’s furious shout rang out behind him.

Abandoning his opponent, Wonwoo turned to chase after Dori—

‘Urk!’

Dori had barely dived into the bushes when a chilling death cry froze him.

Blood dripped onto the ground behind him.

While Wonwoo was distracted, the masked man had driven a blade into his stomach.

Even so, Wonwoo cast Dori a venomous glare before turning back to engage his attacker, retreating toward the dense forest—likely trying to find a moment to transform into his fox form.

Dori didn’t hesitate. He shifted into a fox and ran for his life.

Had the masked man not attacked Wonwoo first…

Dori shuddered at the thought, panting heavily. It had been a narrow escape. He might have gotten away, but Wonwoo…

‘Is… is he dead?’

No—he’d seen him dash into the forest at the end. Surely Wonwoo had transformed and escaped.

Shaking off the horrific thought, Dori forced himself onward. Despite despising Wonwoo, the fact that he had escaped while the other fought for his life weighed heavily on him.

For now… he didn’t know.

What mattered most was finding a way back to the palace.

^1 Peony: In East Asian cultures, the peony often symbolizes wealth, honor, and nobility. Its appearance here may indicate affiliation with a specific elite faction or covert organization tied to the royal court.

^2 Dongcheon: A significant ceremonial site or altar within the story’s setting; during an earlier event there, black-clad assassins with severed tongues had attacked Haban and Dori.