Chapter 120: Big Cat in the Tree

Ren stood in front of a section of the massive tree trunk that looked exactly like every other section of the massive tree trunk. It was a wall of gnarled bark, completely choked by thick, thorny overgrowth and aggressive ivy.

It was perfectly hidden. If Vex hadn’t pointed a clawed finger and said, “It’s right there,” Ren would have walked past it a thousand times without guessing a cave lay beyond.

Ren gulped. Suddenly, her nerves spiked. Her palms began to sweat, making them clammy despite the freezing air biting at her exposed skin.

“Is… is he really in there?” Ren asked, her voice small. She was tired of Vex’s games, his riddles, and his perverted tactics.

“Just follow me.”

Vex pushed through the thicket of vines effortlessly, his height and strength parting the green curtain like it was nothing.

Ren scrambled behind him. But unlike the Fox Shaman, Ren was short, soft-skinned, and wearing a dress made of scraps.

“Ow. Ouch. Hey!”

The overgrowth fought back. Branches snagged her hair, and thorns scratched lightly at her bare arms and legs as she forced her way through the gap Vex had left. She felt like a weed whacker trying to fight a jungle.

But then, she broke through the resistance.

She stumbled forward, brushing a leaf out of her hair, and froze.

“Woah,” she breathed.

A beautiful, soft purple glow hit her face, illuminating her wide, awestruck eyes.

They were inside the tree, but it felt like another dimension. The hollowed-out cavern was massive, far larger than physics should have allowed for a tree trunk. The air here was still and smelled sweet, like crushed lavender and ozone.

Scattered throughout the dark, wooden space were large clusters of bioluminescent purple crystals. They grew from the floor and the ceiling, pulsing with a gentle, rhythmic light that cast long, dancing shadows. Vines draped elegantly from the upper reaches, blooming with small, glowing flowers.

It was so spacious and magical that Ren almost forgot they were standing inside a plant.

“It’s… it’s beautiful,” she whispered, her voice echoing slightly.

Then, her eyes fell to the center of the room.

There, resting on a plush litter of thick white furs surrounded by the glowing crystals, lay her tiger.

Kael.

He was in his beastman form, looking like a fallen warrior king. He was sleeping soundly, his massive, tanned muscular chest rising and falling rhythmically with each deep breath. His black stripes looked stark against his skin in the violet light, and his handsome face was relaxed.

Ren released a shuddering breath of relief. Her heart, which had been clenched in a fist of anxiety for hours, finally relaxed.

’He’s alive. He’s sleeping. He looks okay.’

But Ren knew better than to rejoice too soon. Looks could be deceiving.

’System,’ she commanded urgently. ’Check status.’

The blue screen flickered into existence, hovering over Kael’s sleeping form.

[Target: Kael (Tiger King)] [Status: Critical] [Feral Corruption: 97%] [Health: 3%]

Ren’s blood ran cold. The relief vanished, replaced by a surge of pure, unadulterated panic.

’Three percent?!’ she shrieked.

She whipped her head toward the corner of the cave where Vex was casually kneeling in front of a wooden chest, rummaging through it like he was looking for a lost sock.

“Vex!” Ren yelled, her voice cracking. “We need to cure him right now! He’s going to turn into a shadow beast any second!”

Vex didn’t even look at her. He continued to toss things out of the chest behind him—a dried frog leg, a scroll, a suspicious-looking metal ring.

“And how,” Vex asked in a bored, monotone voice, examining a rock before tossing it, “would you possibly know that? Do you have a spirit artifact I don’t know about?”

Ren’s mind raced. She couldn’t tell him about the System. She stumbled over her words, her hands waving frantically in the air.

“I… I can feel it!” she blurted out. “I can tell because… because of the Mate Bond! It’s screaming at me!”

Vex stopped searching.

He paused, holding a bundle of dried herbs in his hand. He didn’t turn around.

“The Mate Bond,” he repeated, his voice dripping with cynicism.

“Yes!”

“That is a myth,” Vex said flatly, tossing the herbs aside. “A tale spun by desperate females to keep beastmen loyal to only them. It doesn’t exist.”

“It is not a myth!” Ren cried, running over to Kael’s side and grabbing his large, limp hand. “I can feel it in my heart! I am slowly losing him! It hurts physically!”

Vex finally turned. In his hand, he held a strange, gnarly root that pulsed with a faint neon blue vein.

He looked at Ren, who was clutching the tiger’s hand like a lifeline. He tilted his head, his orange eyes unreadable.

“Why are you so hung up on this Tiger, Little Rose?” Vex asked quietly. “You already have the Snake King wrapped around your finger. Syris is powerful, wealthy, and obsessed with you.”

He took a step closer, the crystals reflecting in his eyes.

“Wouldn’t it be easier if the Tiger King died?” Vex asked, his voice low and testing. “Think about it. No more feral madness. No more conflicting husbands. You and your snake could live happily ever after in the swamp. It would be… convenient.”

Ren stared at him, horrified.

“Convenient?” she whispered.

She looked down at Kael’s sleeping face.

“He was the first beastman I met here,” Ren said, her voice shaking with emotion. “He saved me in every way that matters. He looks at me like I am the only star in his sky. He is big, and he relies on instinct, and half the time he doesn’t understand a word I say, but he loves me and my cooking with a purity that hurts.”

She squeezed Kael’s hand, tears pricking her eyes as she looked back at Vex.

“He is my heart. He is my family. And if I lose him… if I let him die because it’s ’easier’… then I don’t want to be here anymore either.”

The cave went silent.

Vex stared at her. For a long moment, the playful mask dropped. He looked at the small, fierce human woman willing to fight fate for a beast who was practically already dead.

Then, slowly, the mischievous glint returned to his orange eyes.

“Wow,” Vex drawled, breaking the silence. “That was very moving.”

He smirked, leaning against a crystal pillar.

“But are you sure,” he jeered, his eyebrow raising suggestively, “that it isn’t just because the Tiger King has a really, really big penis?”

Ren’s face went from pale with emotion to a tomato-red explosion. The whiplash of the mood shift nearly gave her a concussion.

“YOU!”

Ren sputtered, looking around for something to throw at him. “You have a heart of stone! You are garbage! I am pouring my soul out here!”

“I’m just asking!” Vex laughed, holding his hands up defensively. “I’ve seen it. It’s like a log. It’s a valid question!”

“Shut up!” Ren screamed, covering her ears. “Just shut up!”

She took a deep breath, clearing her throat aggressively to force the blush down. She needed to focus. Kael had minutes left.

“Okay,” Ren said, her voice shaking with suppressed rage. “We are moving forward. I am ignoring everything you just said.”

She gestured to the glowing blue root in his hand.

“How?” she demanded urgently. “How are we going to cure him?”

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