Chapter 78

It was when I had taken a proper rest and was feeling better that I set off for Baeyun Gorge.

“Keek…”

Thus, I arrived at the entrance of Baeyun Gorge by carriage. I was gripping the wall while retching violently. Lin gently tapped my back with a worried look in her eyes.

“Master, are you okay?”

“No…”

I couldn’t even say I was fine as a formality.

Was riding in a carriage this difficult? Of course, from the perspective of a modern person who traveled by car, a carriage journey was certainly a chore, but who was I?

Wasn’t I a slave merchant who roamed the towns? I shouldn’t be struggling through a carriage ride. That time had long passed.

But this time, it was different. With countless experiences riding in a carriage, I could certainly declare that it was not the same.

It was nobles who faced the sudden ambush of a horde of monsters or the appearance of bandits. It was not the first time that solid ground rose up and the carriage flew into the air or that an unexpected landslide almost overturned the carriage.

I almost crossed over to the afterlife while riding in a carriage. We were not unaware that this misfortune was caused by the Gumiho.

“I’m sorry, Master…”

“It’s alright. Thanks to you, I’m safe, aren’t I?”

That was true.

While Lin had caused quite a bit of trouble, it was still true.

After a series of troubles, we somehow returned to Baeyun Gorge.

The gorge, shrouded in eerie fog year-round, always put me in a bad mood. The eerie cries of yokai echoed countless times throughout the valley.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it has…”

Lin looked tense. Her tails stood upright, and she flinched at the loud cries of the yokai, her body shuddering.

Lin had spent her whole life engaged in deadly chases with yokai. Trauma was not something that could be easily shaken off just because her tails had grown longer.

‘Adorable.’

I felt a bit guilty, but that thought came to me first.

With her growing tails, she had become a fox that did not know how terrifying the world was. It had been a while since I had seen her in such a weak state.

Indeed, a slave was the cutest when relying on her master. It was the best when she couldn’t do anything by herself and cried out, “Master, help me!” It was regrettable in that sense.

“Let’s go in.”

We attempted to enter the gorge.

As I walked through the foggy valley filled with will-o’-the-wisps, I recalled the time I had come here with Seira. Back then, Seira had panicked, saying this wasn’t her job and had tried to run away.

When I mentioned that I would run away and leave all the beastkin behind, I remembered her crying and reluctantly following me.

‘That girl is now living with me…’

I left behind the memories of the past.

Walking closely with Lin, the entrance to the village began to appear.

“Really… I was so lucky to meet Lin that day. Why is it so complicated? Don’t you think?”

The terrain resembled a maze, and with the fog, it was a structure that outsiders would never find. If one entered and got lost for even a moment, they would tremble in fear surrounded by yokai until they starved to death or were devoured.

Moreover, outsiders had to dispel the barrier to enter the fox den, so in that regard, Lin appearing in front of me that day was indeed a stroke of luck.

“That’s not luck…”

“Huh?”

“Uhm, never mind. Just talking to myself. Let’s go in.”

We entered the fox den. A little fox, playing outside, flinched and ran to call the adults.

One by one, the Huayo tribe began to emerge from outside, watching me and Lin with wary eyes.

“Who are they?”

“I don’t know. They don’t seem to be beastkin?”

“Th-that pink fur…! Huayo?!”

“Huayo? Huayo has returned?”

The Huayo tribe began to murmur. Was this how Americans reacted upon seeing Columbus? They approached us, unable to suppress their curiosity while remaining cautious.

“Though it’s different from how I remember, it’s definitely Huayo. No doubt about it.”

The Huayo tribe, which had troubled Lin for generations. They must have sighed with relief when Lin disappeared from Baeyun Gorge. Finally, Hongho had vanished. They must have thought that yokai would no longer be a threat.

But soon they would realize.

“Where have you been? Do you have any idea how much we’ve suffered because of you?”

How important Lin was to Baeyun Gorge.

“Ever since you disappeared without a word, the yokai have become more ferocious, earthquakes have occurred at all times, and an unexplained plague has spread. This is all because you are gone!”

“What’s all this commotion?”

Pushing the Huayo tribe aside was an elderly Sammiho with a staff. The village elder, in simpler terms, the village head.

While Yu Hwa might be older by a wide margin, the level of sorcery they wielded was significantly different, making the elder appear much older.

“Elder, Huayo has returned.”

“Huayo?”

The fox elder’s eyes widened more upon seeing Lin than those of the other Huayo tribe members.

“You, your tail…”

“What about my tail?”

Even as an elder, it seemed the Sammiho could see through Lin’s transformation. Well, she was really the only member of the Huayo tribe who knew that Lin was a Gumiho.

It seemed there was no longer any meaning in hiding it, and anyway, it was something that had to be shown for future progress. I nodded at Lin, and she released her transformation. Her tails expanded to five.

“Hu-Huayo has five tails!”

“More tails than the elder?”

“What?! How did this happen? Why does Huayo have five tails? Could it be… a Gumiho?!”

The small commotion intensified uncontrollably, like throwing a stone into a pond swaying in the wind.

Boom!

A huge crashing sound echoed from outside the fox den. It seemed the Bear Ghost had come nearby.

“…It seems it will be difficult to talk quietly here. I will guide you inside.”

I followed the fox elder into the deeper part of the village. The Huayo tribe kept a certain distance, following us.

Was this how it felt for animals in a zoo? It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

We entered the elder’s home. It wasn’t just the foxes of Baeyun Gorge looking at us in wonder. Lin also turned her head continuously, observing the inside of the house.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve never been inside before…. I’ve always just looked from the outside. The inside looks like this…”

With curious eyes, Lin murmured her impressions as she explored the house. I couldn’t hide my shock. I felt a sense of daze.

‘No way, these damn kids. She’s been living here for years, and this is her first time entering the house?’

I knew from the text that she had only been eating potatoes for every meal and curling up in the corners of the village, but hearing Lin’s impressions in real time filled me with anger.

Good thing I had no power over her. I was on the verge of exploding in anger and almost overturned everything.

“Please, sit comfortably.”

The elder casually told us to sit comfortably, but there were no sofas, not even chairs. The only thing was a stiff mat made of intertwined plant stalks.

Of course, it wouldn’t do to stand, so I sat down awkwardly. Lin, as if it were only natural, settled right between my legs in a seated position.

The elder’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Who are you? Why does Huayo follow you?”

“I am this child’s master. And please stop calling her Huayo. She has a name now: Lin.”

“I see. You are the one who brought out the Gumiho.”

The old man. See, he calls her Gumiho instead of saying not to call her Huayo. He refuses to call Lin by her name.

“If someone hears, they might think I’ve kidnapped her. She came to me of her own free will.”

“Hand over the Gumiho to Baeyun Gorge. The Gumiho must stay in Baeyun Gorge.”

“Hmm. Why is that?”

“That is… the situation of our Huayo tribe. I cannot speak of it to outsiders. And staying with the Gumiho will put you in danger as well.”

Surely, he wasn’t unaware of his own position, yet he was acting all high and mighty. Is he going to keep going on like this?

This is unacceptable.

You people are going to face some loss.

Since the Huayo tribe had gathered outside to watch, it was the perfect environment. You all should listen.

“Are you worried that if Lin disappears, you won’t be able to uphold your destiny?”

“How do you know…!”

Finally, I was getting the desired reaction.

To sort out what was confusing, first, there were three nicknames for Lin.

The first was Hongho, the bringer of misfortune.

The second was Huayo, the bringer of disasters.

The third was the Gumiho, who breaks destiny.

All of these nicknames lead back to Gumiho. It was absurd to think that just because she had a bit of pink fur, she would cause supernatural phenomena. Pink has no faults or sins.

Just as a black-haired barbarian does not eat everyone she runs into. It just so happens that the Gumiho was coincidentally pink.

This was the story.

Once upon a time, in the age of barbarism, there was no boundary between beasts and beastkin.

The beings that roamed the earth were all loyal to their primal instincts. They had no language or reason, and only the sounds of trampling the earth and howls filled the world.

However, among them, there was one particularly special tribe: the Huayo tribe. The foxes, who wielded the mystery of sorcery, were smarter and more cunning than other tribes.

Thinking themselves superior to everyone else, the proud foxes gazed upon the heavens to manipulate the world as they wished. For the existence of a destiny meant restrictions on their actions.

But as one can tell from the outcome, the rebellion ended in failure. The Gumiho, defeated in war, lost its power and was sealed away, while the Huayo tribe that participated in the rebellion was trapped in Baeyun Gorge.

And so, a thousand years passed.

In the distant past, all Huayo tribes knew of the Gumiho’s existence in Baeyun Gorge, but as time passed and generations changed, they gradually forgot.

As the tales were passed down through a millennium, it was inevitable that some things would be lost along the way.

In that state, the seal weakened, and the Gumiho awakened. However, as no one recognized the Gumiho, the Huayo tribe referred to it as Huayo.

The current generation of the Huayo tribe still uses the derogatory term Huayo, learned from the previous generation, without even knowing what Lin truly is.

‘They’ve even forgotten the roles bestowed upon them.’

The Huayo tribe, surviving after failing their rebellion, was given a new destiny by the heavens. Their role was to monitor the Gumiho and prevent it from leaving the outside world. Yet, they could not prevent Lin’s escape.

Destiny is a command from the heavens, and a lifespan granted by the heavens, so those who violate their destiny have but one fate.

“Oh, perhaps I’ve gained foresight. I can see your destinies. Huh. You’re fated to die soon, you know?”

Hey, kids.

You’re going to die soon.