Episode 2 1. The Solitary Female

'I can't do it, I'll have to leave the crowd.'

Yeoni, a young female wolf from Musan nearing estrus, had no greater determination in her life than that.

'If this happens, I'll either be raped to death by my brother-in-law or bitten to death by my sister.'

Wolves were originally a pack species. Leaving the current group meant a big change, such as marriage or death.

But Yeon was desperate.

'There must be another group in the eight provinces of Joseon who won't accept a small wolf like me.'

Yeon thought hard for a long time with her small but bright head.

No matter how you think about it, leaving the herd was a big risk now that the females are in heat. Nevertheless, there was a reason why Yeon decided to leave the group.

'I can't live like this.'

Yeon was a loner in the group. It was because she was out of sight of Rang, the female 'head' of the head and her real sister.

Of course, it wasn't like that at first.

Their parents, who were the dominant male and female, died one after another from being bitten by a mad bear. It was very sad, but the sisters who took charge of the wolf pack as the heirs of the male and female leaders quickly regained their strength.

The energetic older sister Rang became the lead female that day and commanded the group.

Until then, it was a good time for his younger brother, Yeon. Even if they didn't get along well, because of Yeon's personality, there was no reason to pretend to be her sister.

The problem was with Daegwang, a male wolf who became Yeon's brother-in-law.

Originally, the three werewolf beasts were like siblings who grew up together as children.

Daegwang, who is about the size of his father's old village, has been chasing after Yeon's butt since he was little, and he did that even when he grew up.

Yeon also had no thoughts at that time, so he just thought that when he grew up, he would become a partner with Daegwang.

Maybe I should have noticed then. Unni Rang's gaze when she saw me and Daegwang's affectionate appearance was fierce.

Even though Daegwang had no talent for using his hair, he was thick-boned and tall from an early age. His hunting skills were fine as long as he stopped. To be honest, there was no male like Daegwang in the same group.

Daegwang chased the kite until the sisters' tail hairs were still growing and the first heat came. The year was appropriately matched to Daegwang, and the two seemed to be preparing to become a pair soon.

And from then on, Rang, the lead female, began to show his tyranny.

There was a kite in the center of the target of the arrow that Rang was aiming at.

The kite, which is about to go into heat for the first time, was as sensitive to rank as any other female. Whether hunting, sharing the caught prey, or gathering for a nap, Yeon was bitten by Rang out of nowhere. Her claws mercilessly scratched her face and limped her legs.

Daegwang, as well as other males, tried to stop the sister fight. However, there was no room for interfering because it was a battle for rank between females.

In the tacit western competition, Yeon was literally defeated.

Originally, it was a kite that was almost half as small as Rang and had a weak bite. Even when hunting, it was the side that attracted prey by rolling its head rather than using force.

The temperament was also different. It was fitting for Rang to rule as his boss. Jigo was a person who couldn't live with vases. However, the kite was the one who differentiated between giving up moderately and holding on firmly.

In the end, Yeon gave up on Daegwang.

He was obviously a good male, but he didn't think it was necessary to have a relationship by pretending to be with his sister.

Besides, if Daegwang really wanted to make Yeon his female, he would have done it if he left Rang's group and became the leader of the new group.

"How long are you going to live being run over by your sister? You, too, try to challenge old man Rangi, Yeon."

Instead of stepping out directly, Daegwang took a kite. With a whisper in my ear, I slowly fanned the flames of the kite.

It wasn't something I didn't understand. Her older sister, Lang, had a lot of initiative in the group. The older uncles and aunts were also stubborn, but they wouldn't leave the group of capable Rang, who would make sure to procure food.

It was the same with Daegwang. The assurances of identity and safety that Lang provided were substantial for leaving the area's largest pack of wolves and chucks to claim a kite.

In a word, to Dae-gwang, kite was a gyereuk. It's a pity that I have it, and it's a waste to give it to someone else.

Dae-gwang had no courage, and Yeon was not desperate for him. He thought it was just that much of a relationship with Daegwang.

And that year, the first heat came to my sister Rang.

Daegwang pursued Rang's backside instead of Yeon's backside. He thought it was done.

Until Daegwang kept flirting with Yeon even after making a pair with Rang.

"Yuna, I will never forget your smell."

Unbeknownst to Rang, Daegwang continued flirting with Yeon.

"No matter how much I chase other female tails, nothing compares to your scent, Yuna."

Yeon was dumbfounded.

Apparently, Daegwang had finished mating with Rang, who was in heat. For humans, it was like a marriage.

Originally, a healthy male wolf had to look sideways when he was a bachelor, but after mating, he had to be faithful to his female and future pups. At least Yeon thought so.

"Get your snout away, Daegwang older brother."

Daegwang, who came back with the lost leg part of the prey he had hunted, released the crane and waved his hand.

"Why are you doing this? Come to your senses."

Yeon was just embarrassed and did not understand.

That year, Rang was in heat, and Yeon was not. Yeon rather thought it was a judgment made by God. It was taken for granted that Daegwang paired up with his older sister who was sexually mature first.

"I am speaking from the bottom of my heart. Daegwang's older brother has already become Rang's companion. But you keep flirting with me like this, are you crazy?"

Yeon thought that the male, who had even mated with her sister, would go crazy when he kept pushing at me.

"Is there any way to stop someone from living with me?"

Even so, I was sensitive about the relationship because I was severely sorted out by my sister.

"Go and take care of Rang-sister, and keep an eye on the cubs like rice cake toads."

Yeon was sincere. There was not even a grain of rice left in Dae-gwang's regret.

To be honest, he was a bit nasty too. Daegwang got a wife named Rang, but it was a fight with nothing left for me.

The kite was unable to find a mate for the next heat to come. Daegwang, the 'head' among males, and Lang, the 'head' among females. It was because all the other 'body' wolves who were hit by these two wolves turned away from the kite.

In an instant, Yeon was caught up in a quarrel and became a duck egg in the Nakdonggang River.

"Don't do that, Yuna. Isn't that what I'm trying to do with you now?"

Daegwang ignored Yeon's words not to come closer and continued flirting.

He even said this.

"Rangi is so energetic. I couldn't even play the first night like the first night because I was scared. I couldn't even inflate mine inside the cage."

Yeon was frightened and took a step back.

"Boo, inflate it? What are you talking about?"

She was still a virgin. She knew there was an intimate act between the males, but she didn't know the details.

Then, Daegwang raised his snout and tail, hinting at something precious.

"When it comes into heat, the female rubs her body over and over, becomes sensitive, attaches her buttocks to the male's snout, and makes a fuss. Then all the males in the neighborhood freeze and chase only that female. Then, when the female decides on a male to mate with, the male rides on the female's back and fucks him for a while… ."

it's inflated Fuck you. So that the seed can properly implant in the womb.

"The two genital organs are tangled together in a knot like a twine. The feeling at that time, uh, I can't even say it. Without leaving a single drop, everything is wrapped up inside the female. In that state, you ejaculate three or four more times. They do it again and again until they both collapse from exhaustion."

Daegwang let out a fishy laugh, as if he would be cheap just thinking about it.

"Sometimes the temperamental females whimper and scream that they are in pain, but the males have to hold on to their necks and endure. that's how you get pregnant So, can I do that with ferocious Langi?"

"Well, why are you saying that to me! Go away!"

Yeon almost inadvertently pushed Daekwang away, who was talking about something rude. It was such an embarrassing moment that if she was in human form, she would have turned red to the tip of her nose.

Yeon transformed into a human and escaped Daegwang.

"Don't even think about coming after me… !"

All of Musan's wolves could transform into humans.

However, the wolf's nature and traits did not go anywhere. It was only his appearance that changed into a human form.

Although there are occasional advantages to being in human form, most wolves prefer to remain as beasts.

In human form, they neither hunted nor escaped the cold. Occasionally, when drying hair was too much trouble, there were also wolves wearing human skins and washing by the waterfall. However, most of them have forgotten that they can change into human form.

"Humans are inherently wicked and cunning, and the moment they realize that you are a wolf, they will catch you alive, cut off your skin, throw the meat away at wild beasts, and turn your tail hair into a scarf."

Furthermore, the sisters' parents instilled human danger in them from an early age.

Lang, a mountain beast by nature, never left the wolf form after reaching adulthood, but the kite was different.

It was a kite that had been transforming into a human since childhood. Even after her head grew larger, she would occasionally change into human form to tour her village.

As Rang grew up and his hair grew thick, he disliked the crane and hated it if he had a human form. So, of course, he assumed that Daegwang was like that too.

'If I run away in human form, Daegwang's older brother will lose interest.'

However, a strange thing happened.

Like the kite, Daegwang also transformed into a human as if he were doing somersaults.

Kite jumped up when he saw a tall, tall young human man with reddish skin like he had been a wolf.

Of course, both wolves were naked human figures, but they didn't care that they were beasts.

"Are you really crazy? What are you going to do if Rangie sees it?"

Lang hated humanizing not only himself, but also the pack's wolves. I didn't care because I was already out of sight.

"It's strange, Yuna. When you do somersaults and transform into a human, the moon-like breasts on your human body sway, and seeing that, I feel frozen here."

Daegwang, who had turned into a human, had a strange-looking object attached to his lower body.

When in the form of a wolf, it is usually well hidden, but when it is in the form of a person, it stands tall and shows an ugly appearance. There was nothing to be ashamed of.

"Heh, heh... ! Brother-in-law, please don't do this!"

"Speak more about that brother-in-law, Yuna."

Daegwang's hair seemed to finally turn.

I wanted this to be a big deal.

Kite quickly changed into a wolf form again. If I was caught like this, I wanted to be put under that male right away, but that was the same in human form anyway.

I'd rather have a quick wolf to run away.

Daegwang was right and changed into a wolf again and chased the kite.

The kite ran towards the waterfall, save me. If I tasted the cold water, I thought my brother-in-law's stretched legs would be a little better.

'That male is really crazy!'

My brother-in-law treats me as an object of entertainment, but Kite was just to die for.

Yeon threw all the curses she knew and threw herself into the waterfall.

Daegwang also flinched as if he were about to jump in, but backed away as if he was reluctant to taste the cold water as much as ice water.

That day, I was able to avoid the great light.

But Yeon was in complete trouble after that. Even if it wasn't so, the other 'body' wolves didn't fit the kite well into the pack because it was caught between Daegwang and Rang.

Yeon did everything she could to avoid being alone while eating her eyes. He even tried to look good, but there was not much he could do as he was out of sight of Rang, a powerful man.

I had no choice but to wait for Rang to get pregnant quickly and be distracted by giving birth and raising babies.

'I just have to endure for a year.'

Yeon gathered patience and endured the time of endurance.

There was also a way to find another group, but it's been a long time since I've already become an insignificant female who is in a 'tail' of a group. I wondered if the situation would change even if I went to another group.

'If it wasn't for Daegwang's older brother, he might have already had a baby by pairing up with a suitable body wolf like Shik-i's older brother or Cheol-i!'

In the past, there were many males who liked kites even though they were weak, because they were brothers and sisters of Rang, the 'head', and they had a sense for hunting. However, no one showed any interest in Yeon now that he was swept away by his passion overnight and became a tailbone of the group.

It was because he knew how even though Daegwang waggled his tail at Rang in front of him, he kept sniffing Yeon's butt from behind.

If he shows interest in Yeon, it is obvious that Dae-gwang will take his anger out on him, so which male will like her?

Now that he sees it, Dae-kwang even suspects that he might have partnered with Rang knowing that Yeon would end up in this situation.

It was said that she was trying to have fun with her younger sister after making a pair with her older sister.

'Heaven's madman... !'

As a kite, I was going to go crazy and jump.

But a further four months later occurred. Kkuyeokkkuyeok endured another year, and it became the winter of the following year. The time of estrus has arrived.

When the females come into heat, the males come into heat naturally. Rang, who failed to conceive last time, drove Daegwang, the new groom, to say that he would definitely look after the baby this time.

It was a very grateful situation for Yeon. Rather, the winter of that year, when the couple was busy mating and did not pay attention to me, was the most peaceful for Yeon.

The problem was that the kite was also in heat.

It was the first estrus of his life.

It was so painful. It was seven days that seemed like there would be no more pain in the world than that.

With the body of an animal, the kite wandered all over the mountainous region of Musan, crying and spraying its scent here and there. There was a female in heat here, and I wandered frantically looking for a sturdy, sturdy wolf male that would cling to my rump and sow seeds deep into the womb.

The males of the same group did not help. The scent of the kite warmed her body, and she sneaked closer, but in the end she only backed away because she was afraid of getting involved with the kite.

It was clear that Daegwang had threatened. I didn't know if it was that or if Lang had threatened her. If the kite was discovered with its buttocks interlocked back and forth, it would be kicked out of Musan after the buttocks were mashed with its teeth.

'I'm going to kill a wolf like this... .'

Kite couldn't sleep the whole time during heat. I stayed up all night with tears in pain, gasped for heat, opened my eyes again, rubbed my buttocks against trees, stones, and grass, and writhed and passed out again.

It is difficult to stay in heat even if you stay with a male, but the kite that endured seven days and nights without a male to help it was completely a living corpse.

When Kite finally woke up, most of the other females were also out of heat.

Although the female wolves, who had spent a period of passionate sexual love, showed signs of struggle, each one had a very proud snout. The males next to me were so sincere in supporting my females. I wondered if I could live in sorrow for a wolf without a mate.

Daegwang was also clinging to Rang's side at that time. Seeing Daegwang carefully licking Rang's fur, as if the world was precious, Yeon couldn't help but tremble.

My eyes were so cold that I burst out in anger. I wondered if that male was the one who had been chasing me while dangling things between his crotches.

'Everyone endured heat after hard work. But I am alone again, without a groom or a child.'

Yeon felt his eyes darken.

Sure enough, some of the females, including Lang, started to get full after that time.

was pregnant

The belly of females who had gone through estrus protruded and their nipples swelled up. Seeing the females around her who were fawning over their males and running small errands, the kite secretly groaned.

'Let's wait one more year. If she gives birth to a baby, she will be a little bit harmful.'

The kite held out.

When my sister warms up and gets distracted by the puppies, her guard against me will fade a little. At that time, I didn't even know if I would be able to mate with a good male even if I was stupid.

Then things will get better. I will have a family, and I will be able to give birth and raise my own children.

'If that happens, this loneliness and sorrow will end.'

So Yeon continued to stick to the group, ignoring Daegwang who was flirting with him again.

Then it happened.

Suddenly, Yan's stomach began to swell.

At first, it was thought that he had gained weight due to the aftereffects of heat. However, the milk also began to circulate. It's a little bit, but the milk oozes out, the body is languid and sleepy all the time, and the good neck makes me want to dig a tunnel.

It was an imagined pregnancy.

'A virgin is pregnant.'

The kite has completely become a complete mess. It was a shock worse than the opening of heaven and earth.

Originally, female wolves were a tribe with frequent imaginary pregnancies. Usually, in a pack of wolves, only the male and female leaders mate and often give birth to cubs. So, if the lead female was mutilated, other non-pregnant females in the herd would occasionally display false pregnancies in order to care for the offspring.

'I said it's a symptom that can often appear in females who haven't mated even after they're in heat... .'

That slander would happen to me too.

Yeon was so unfair.

'I've never touched a male's tail hair, let alone mated during heat... !'

What was more speculative was that Lang had misunderstood the fact.

"You, you ignored the warning and ended up fighting my brother on the butt!!"

It's been four months. The fight of love was right.

Rang attacked Daegwang, her husband, with her belly swollen due to pregnancy. He was there with the kite.

Daegwang, who was unable to properly resist Rang because she was a female with her own child, was beaten with mucus.

Next came the kite. Yeon screamed at the sound, almost biting off one ear from Rang.

"sister! It's all a misunderstanding. It's unfair! I mean, I'm not really pregnant!"

But there was no way to prove it. Yeon, like the other pregnant females, had swollen breasts and a slightly bulging belly.

The only one who knew the truth was the kite herself, who had never mated with any male during this period of heat.

"Grrr, to find out if you've been pregnant for a long time, you can split your belly open! If it's Ki, I won't forgive the two bastards who had incest!"

"Keong kong! kong! Shut up, Kkiung!"

Yeon screamed like crazy as she rolled around on the dirt floor with her sister, who misunderstood it properly. It was when she was being bitten to the point that she wanted to die like this.

Daegwang abandoned his job.

"No, Yuna!"

Daegwang rushed at Rang while calling Yeon's name.

I usually lived under the pressure of Lang, but Daegwang was also a male. When Daegwang, who was huge and weighed more than twenty crowns (三十貫, 75kg), collided with strength, Lang's body fell out.

Rang's body soared upwards with a terrifying sound, and then was slammed downward with force.

"Uh, sister… !"

Yeon was cold and ran to Rang. A fire broke out inside. I was wondering what the situation was.

'Daegwang, he's like a madman! What if you take my side here! Make my sister misunderstand more!'

It may have been an action to buy Yeon's favor, but it seemed to Yeon that it was nothing but a crazy thing. It was a stupid act that further fueled misunderstanding.

I immediately rushed over and looked at her sister's condition, and even with the eyes of Yeon, who had no knowledge in medicine, it seemed that her condition was not good.

"Billion, ah… !"

Lang let out a scream of pain and fell to the floor.

The other wolves in the crowd came stealthily and began to look after Rang.

Only then did Daegwang slowly come to Rang's side and rub his snout against her mouth. His pupils quivered anxiously and his tail flapped wildly. It felt like something was wrong.

Red blood was pouring out between Rang's hind legs.

Due to that sadal, Rang lost the first pups in the belly.

"Coke, Coke! It is sad to lose a calf, but it often happens to young females."

In the end, Grandma Soon-yi, the older female of the pack and with little knowledge of human herbalism, closed the case.

"Yeon-i's symptoms of an imaginary pregnancy aren't very common, but they can be present. Moreover, in the yard that her sister was pregnant... ."

Grandma Sooni clicked her tongue and pointed her snout in the direction of Daegwang.

"What if a male, covered in the scent of a pregnant sister, wandered around the kite?"

In the end, Yeon's imaginary pregnancy was also Daegwang's fault.

There was nothing more embarrassing for Yeon. My stomach was very bloated. But there was no way.

After Lang's recovery, Yeon tried to clear up this misunderstanding with her sister. By that time, the symptoms of Yeon's imaginary pregnancy had disappeared.

"Kyong-! Don't wander around me! You hypocrite!"

However, Rang's heart was completely closed. No matter how hard he tried, it was to no avail. Her older sister gave her no room to clear up her misunderstanding.

The sisters eventually became less than enemies.

* * *

This was what happened until last year.

Contrary to expectations that she would have to endure a little bit, Yeon's situation did not improve at all even in the spring when the female wolves' gestation period was over and the cubs were born.

Out of the box, Yan began to be completely culled from Rang's group.

Until her sister lost her baby, Lang's hatred for kites was still at a warning level. Although he was a 'tail', he still felt like he belonged to her sister's group.

However, after Rang lost a baby last year, the situation completely changed.

Before, they could even share the food they hunted together. Even though it was barely caught while claiming to be the most dangerous bait station, I was able to get my share of food that way.

Even when sleeping or moving in groups during the day, there were one or two who tipped the kite that they were leaving.

Although it was out of the way, it did not openly bark at the kite or show aggression. Lang knew it and tolerated it.

But now it was different. The group left without a word while the kite fell behind. She secretly changed her sleeping area at night, and even when she hunted, she filled up her marital count without leaving her alone. When she woke up, the group had already abandoned me and moved on.

The same tail wolves, who usually took care of the kite knowingly or unknowingly, began to turn away from her. Some hot-blooded young males even openly bared their teeth at her kite.

"go away! The bane of this group! Rangi lost her baby because of you!"

To be precise, I didn't lose it because of the kite. It wasn't Yeon's fault, it was Daegwang's fault. However, they were not a group of individuals who would care about Jin.

"Err, don't get in the way and get out of here!"

"Kleureung, Kiung, moan! grunt!"

Kite had to pretend to obey the friends who usually caught butterflies and ran around the field with their tails down.

The emptiness was hurt. More than anything, it was unfair and felt like my heart would explode.

Yeon was just a victim of madness by her sister's fiancé, Daegwang. It was rather this side that suffered damage because of Daegwang and the Lang couple.

However, I couldn't just walk away from the crowd. Rang's group, which covered the deep valleys of Musan Mountain, overlapped with the Mad Bear. The bear was a carnivorous bear, rumored to hunt herbivores, wolves, leopards, and whatever else it caught sight of. His sister's parents were also killed by the bear.

If he got out of the crowd, it was obvious that he would be the only one who would look bad.

'I have to endure... . I have to endure in the crowd.'

It was a difficult day for Yeon to even say that it was difficult.

My appearance was ridiculed to the point of being ridiculous. Because of Daegwang, she couldn't find a partner in time and even had an imaginary pregnancy. That alone was embarrassing, disrespectful, and hurting my pride. But now he was kicked out of the group and left to die alone.

'That day' was also Yeon-eun alone.

The group, divided into twos and threes, searched the forest thicket for nuts.

Yeon could barely fit into a small group of female tail wolves in Lang's pack. She was in a position to keep an eye on him and follow him.

'Oh, it looks cheap.'

Kite's tail was trembling thinly from holding back his urine. I wanted to go to a corner and cool off, but in the meantime, I was holding back until the whole group rested, fearing that the group would abandon me again and move on.

Suddenly, among the nearby nut bushes, I heard two females giggling.

Yan's ears perked up. The sound of the two whispering among themselves came faintly through the wind.

"… Maybe what Kite said is really all lies."

"Rangi lost her first cub. Obviously, the kite, that female, must have been playing tricks behind the scenes pretending to be innocent."

"that's right. I'm not kicking him out anyway because Rangi is my younger brother."

"It's clear you're using it."

When Yeon heard that, he bit his snout tightly. She seemed to be incontinent of the urine she was holding back.

Anyway, because Rang hadn't driven them out yet, Yeon was at least able to chase after the herd from the bare tail.

But that was no different from hearing an order to leave the group and die alone.

A wolf who has been bullied within a pack and left is not accepted by any other pack. Because rumors spread quickly.

Lang also wanted Yeon to get out. After all, it was tantamount to burying a kite in a wolf community.

What was more unfortunate was the treatment of Daegwang.

In the meantime, Daegwang asked for forgiveness from Rang again, and naturally permeated into the group again.

Yeon's heart burned with anger when she saw him pretending to be the sweetest and most obedient groom in the world, pretending that he had never flirted with me. It was only the kite that suffered the full damage.

The two female wolves continued talking.

"… Still, at first, I thought that Rangi-nim's behavior was a little harsh, but after going through this incident, I realized that Yeon-i was a bitch, too."

"Did you think so too? My sister was like that too, but when I saw that her expression didn't change, I thought something was wrong."

It wasn't that he didn't change his expression, it was that he couldn't.

Because there is no rush.

Yeon was originally like that. There was no significant change in facial expression. No matter how dark he was on the inside, his emotions seldom showed on his face.

"Look at how he's still holding on like a leech. Even though the whole group gives side like that. There are some really shameless things."

"I would rather fall prey to a mad bear than remain in the pack."

"Cunning bitch."

The sound of giggling gradually faded away.

The place where the kite stood on all fours smelt. In the end, it was because the nearby grass was soaked with urine because he couldn't hold back his urine.

Yeon blinked her eyes in despair. Only then did I have some time to look back on myself.

I thought this wasn't it.

'I can't live like this.'

Yeon thought as he ran frantically.

'I'll leave the group of older sisters before it's too late.'

Tears flowed from his calm eyes instead of worry about the future.

'Let's at least find a place where we can prepare for the next heat coming with winter.'

Now that things had come this far, there was no way she wouldn't leave her sister's group.

It was easy to say, but it was not easy to abandon a pack that had grown up once born to a female wolf. That was usually the male's business, not the female's concern.

'The best thing is to find a flock or mate with a nice young stray male and form a flock... .'

The odds of another wolf pack near Musan accepting the kite were slim.

Occasionally, stray males roam from mountain to mountain looking for a mate, but it happened like beans in a drought.

'I have to find a way to live alone.'

The most pressing problem was the season.

It was late autumn now. Before long, winter, the season of heat, would come.

'Until then, I have to somehow secure a safe place to endure the harsh heat and winter... .'

My saliva dried up at the thought of going through that horrible period of heat alone again.

Kite pricked his ears and nose even more, and searched all over the mountain.

Perhaps God helped Kite, who was worried about Taesan, but eventually found a small thatched house near the valley.

'Human House... .'

It was a very old abandoned thatched house.

There were collapsed parts here and there, and dry vines were growing thickly on the fence. There were a lot of trees around, so at first glance it looked like a rocky area.

'People who drive fire, called slash-and-burn people, sometimes build houses and settle elsewhere.'

Or, it was as if he had heard that there were people who committed crimes and ran away from the village and settled in the mountains.

In any case, if that house was really abandoned by humans, then it was Yeon's luck.

Yeon walked around the house for more than three days, checking whether the thatched house was empty.

Fallen leaves were piled up on the broken jangdokdae, and the furnace was covered with dust.

'It's certain that no one buys it.'

If it was an old thatched house like this, neither people nor animals would come in and out. The surroundings were thick with perennial trees, so there was no fear of being noticed by the herd or bears as long as the smell was removed.

Yan's expression brightened.

'If I use this thatch well, I'll be able to safely pass this winter.'

From that day on, Yeon went in and out of the thatched house, saying that every day was far away.

Being a loner anyway, no one in the group cared whether Kite arrived late or didn't attend the meal.

Occasionally, Daegwang would look at the delayed kite with suspicion, but he was busy taking care of Rang these days. He didn't seem to have time to pay more attention to Yeon.

'Yes, just stick to Rang's side like that.'

Yeon secretly wished that Daegwang would continue to draw attention to me.

Now it didn't matter whether they were called poisonous or tenacious like leeches.

Yeon made up his mind once again.

'It's going to survive on this mountain somehow.'

As time went by, late fall passed and early winter arrived.