Chapter 71: The Unseen Force

“Uh…”

Just seeing Lee Taesung’s face brought back past trauma.

However, I wasn’t the same person I used to be.

The thought that Lee Taesung wouldn’t recognize me filled me with confidence.

For now, I decided to act as if I was meeting him for the first time, plastering a metaphorical iron plate on my face.

“Excuse me…”

I rubbed Silver’s back and approached Lee Taesung cautiously, ready to run if things went south.

“You…”

As soon as Lee Taesung saw my face, he slowly lowered his head.

Covering his face with his large hand, his shoulders began to shake slightly.

The strange gasping sound that followed told me he was holding back laughter.

A man laughing alone in the depths of the forest with his face covered anyone would think he was insane.

‘Ugh.’

I clutched the fabric over my chest as fear surged within me.

Noticing my reaction, Silver took a step back.

“This is too easy.”

Lee Taesung raised his head and removed the hand covering his face.

Revealed was his wide, upward curved grin the same expression he’d worn in the past when tormenting me.

“…!”

Experience told me immediately.

He was planning to treat me like a toy again.

I needed to get away.

Before I could voice this thought, Silver turned and bolted.

Whoosh!

An intense gust of wind battered my entire body.

Unable to hold my ground, I tumbled off Silver’s back.

‘I’m falling!’

The ground was a rough slope, scattered with jagged rocks.

Rolling down would be excruciating.

Instinctively, I curled into a ball to brace for the impact.

But before I could hit the ground, something soft yet strong wrapped around me like a rope.

It was Silver’s tail.

“Ah.”

Silver had caught me.

With a deep sigh of relief, I glanced around.

Fortunately, Lee Taesung was nowhere to be seen.

Not even someone like him could keep up with Silver Tiger’s full-speed sprint.

As relief washed over me and I began to relax

Boom!

An explosion erupted in the distance.

‘No way.’

I whipped my head toward the source of the sound and saw Lee Taesung racing toward us.

His speed was incredible, enough to keep up with Silver Tiger.

‘What do I do?’

At this rate, he’d catch us.

I had no choice but to make a quick decision.

‘He won’t kill me right away, at least.’

Lee Taesung preferred torture to outright killing.

If I got caught, I’d have at least two days before he decided to finish me off.

It would be a horrifying and painful time, but it was better than dying.

If Silver could bring Jinhyang back in the meantime, I’d win this game.

“Silver.”

“Grr.”

“There’s someone incredibly strong nearby. ”

“Can you bring them here?”

At my question, Silver closed his mouth.

Asking him to bring someone meant he’d have to leave me behind.

“If we stay like this, we’ll both get caught anyway.”

Saying that, I untied the ribbon from my tail.

To tie it to Silver’s tail.

Though his tail was thicker than my forearm, simply wrapping the ribbon would be enough for Jinhyang to recognize it.

“If you follow the river, you’ll find her. Please?”

Just as I tightened the ribbon to make sure it wouldn’t fall off, Lee Taesung’s hand touched my neck.

Meanwhile, Jinhyang and Yoon Bora, who had been following the stream, came to an abrupt stop.

A massive tiger was blocking one of the narrow paths along the ravine.

“Silver Tiger,” Yoon Bora muttered, pulling out her revolver.

Shoot first before you get attacked that was the obvious rule.

Her hand hovered over the trigger when Jinhyang reached out and stopped her.

“Unnie?”

Why was she stopping her?

Yoon Bora looked at Jinhyang in confusion, only for Jinhyang to point at the Silver Tiger’s tail.

Hanging there was Harang’s ribbon.

For a moment, Yoon Bora wondered if the Silver Tiger had harmed Harang, but she quickly shook her head.

There was no way Silver Tiger’s massive, clumsy paws could tie something so neatly.

Someone had to have tied the ribbon to the Silver Tiger’s tail.

‘Come to think of it, it’s not acting aggressive either.’

Normally, Silver Tigers attacked first and asked questions later.

Yet, this Silver Tiger showed no hostility.

“Do you think Harang sent it?”

“I hope so.”

As Jinhyang and Yoon Bora exchanged opinions, the Silver Tiger began to turn back the way it had come.

It walked slowly at first, glancing back as if to beckon them to follow.

“Shall we go?”

“Yeah.”

Their decision didn’t take long.

After all, Harang’s bell was tied to the Silver Tiger’s tail.

There was no reason to ignore such living proof.

Whoosh!

The Silver Tiger picked up speed, running faster and faster.

Yoon Bora had to sprint at full strength just to keep up.

“Unnie, why would the Silver Tiger lead us to Harang?” Yoon Bora asked, her breath slightly ragged.

“Who knows?”

Jinhyang answered calmly, her usual composure intact.

Yoon Bora clenched her fists in frustration at the stark difference in their stamina, realizing she still had a long way to go.

But Jinhyang didn’t seem to notice her.

She was lost in thought, considering the Silver Tiger’s behavior.

‘It must be…’

A memory from her student days came to mind a viral video of a Silver Tiger raising a kitten.

Silver Tigers had a communal instinct to care for the young of their group.

Sometimes, they even took care of other felines outside their species.

‘Technically, Harang does belong to the feline family.’

Given her age, Harang could be considered a kitten.

It was possible the Silver Tiger had accepted Harang as one of its own.

‘Fascinating.’

Jinhyang thought as she watched the Silver Tiger’s back while it ran ahead.

Harang’s behavior wasn’t that different from a kitten’s, after all.

Despite being caught by Lee Taesung, surprisingly, there was no torture.

According to him, I was merely “bait.”

Though he didn’t tell me what he was trying to catch with this bait.

I had no choice but to ask.

“So, what am I supposed to catch?”

I looked at Lee Taesung with an eager expression, wondering if he might want me to catch an abyssal fish.

But the words that came out of his mouth weren’t about fish.

“Jinhyang.”

“Huh?”

“All you need to catch is Jinhyang.”

“…?”

I stared at him in bewilderment, and he chuckled as if he found my reaction amusing.

“Why do you think I let that tiger go?”

“Why…?”

“To bring Jinhyang here, of course.”

With that, Lee Taesung grabbed me by the neck and lifted me.

“Gah, ack!”

I flailed my legs in the air, pretending to be in pain.

Why pretend? Because I wasn’t in pain at all.

Lee Taesung was holding back his strength, afraid he might actually kill me.