[BotB] Chapter 9

"If anything happens, you can turn into a fox. Then they'll think you're just a small fur ball and pass by."

"...."

Sohwa was somewhat offended by Dohwi's dismissal of her as a fur ball, even though he was dismissive of the favour he had received.

'That guy doesn't even recognize the favour I've given him....'

Hmph, as Sohwa turned her head with a snort, Dohwi blamed the monk of Oge-am, unaware she was upset.

"I told you not to meet him. You can't trust what that fool says."

"You shouldn't refer to the monk like that, Dohwi."

When Sohwa admonished him earnestly, he, who had been holding her hand, stopped walking all at once.

"Don't you remember? What you saw before."

Dohwi's voice dropped ominously.

"Seven years ago, in the cave down there... Try to remember."

Sohwa's eyes shook uncontrollably at the words. It was a memory she had worked hard to forget.

"You saw it clearly with your own eyes."

"...."

"It was shaped like a huge snake, wasn't it?"

As Sohwa recalled the past, she gasped in fear and astonishment. He strengthened his grip on her hand as she shook her head and tried to plug her ears. Dohwi pulled her small hand hard. With a screech, a footprint was drawn on the dirt floor. Dohwi whispered to Sohwa, who had been pulled right under his nose instantly.

"You screamed in horror."

Recalling the incident as if the mistake was right before his eyes, he scowled.

"How disgusting were those scale marks stuck tightly to that pale skin..."

Sohwa gasped at the voice, filled with disgust. Before she knew it, her teeth were chattering.

The incident happened like an unexpected accident. It was seven years ago. At that time, Sohwa relied more on the monk and went to Oge-am whenever something happened. However, the monk often left his seat in winter. If she visited three times, he was there maybe once.

Just then, Dohwi said he saw the monk praying in the cave. Sohwa had also seen the monk come out of the cave on the mountainside a few times.

'Why should I go there.'

Sohwa wanted to discuss the future of the mountain with the monk in order to fulfill her duty as the owner of Ihwang Mountain for its endless prosperity.

"Monk! Monk! The raccoons keep stealing the strawberries! At this rate, all the strawberry seeds I've planted will dry up!"

But the monk was not there. The cave was so large and deep that Sohwa was a little scared, but she went inside lightly. At that time, she dared to do so because Dohwi was right next to her, holding her hand tightly.

"He must be inside, Sohwa. Let's go further."

"Monk...? Monk, are you inside?"

That's how they walked a few steps in and saw 'it'.

"Yikes! What, what, what is that?"

Seeing the grotesque, pale thing, Sohwa fell flat on her face in surprise.

"Oh my, please spare me! Please spare me, my lord!"

At first, she thought it was a snake. It was so big that it filled the cave and then some.

"Just eat me if you're hungry! Spare this young one and just eat me!"

Beside Sohwa, who was begging with her hands clasped, Dohwi laughed and spoke gracefully.

"It's okay, Sohwa. This is the skin of a snake that has shed."

Sohwa didn't even know that snakes wear or shed skins, so of course, she didn't know what shedding meant. Dohwi explained that an old snake sheds enormous skin every hundred years to grow bigger.

He had a lot of knowledge about various things, even though he didn't even know his own species from a young age, so he often imitated a teacher.

"It's strange... I definitely saw the monk wandering in this cave. You saw it too, right, Sohwa?"

"Uh, yes. Let's get out of here...."

Dohwi didn't specifically say that the monk was a snake, but even Sohwa, as dense as she was, could figure out that much. It seemed strange that the monk appeared to bypass the ten years of changing landscapes.

His speech and generous nature made her think he was a teacher from the clear Mount Ihwang River far away, but it was clear that the monk's true identity was a centuries-old snake.

Since then, Sohwa visited the monk only once out of the five times she would have gone. And even that one time, she never went alone without Dohwi.

"Don't meet that fool anymore. He's not very helpful and only makes you anxious."

"But... but he's not like that."

"Do you still believe in that snake?"

"Dohwi! You can't talk about the monk like that. And... Maybe the monk isn't a snake."

As she frowned sternly, warning him not to pre-judge something that wasn't certain, Dohwi, who had been staring at her, sighed.

"I'm just worried. You never know when he might eat you."