The sky is gradually clearing, the air is still fresh, and the smell of dewy grass wafting in the wind. It was this kind of morning tranquillity that Axe loved to meditate on the earth.
However, just as the White Tiger Demon King closed his eyes because he had just entered the human world, his ears twitched at the unfamiliar sound at the entrance to the forest.
In fact, this was the first time anyone had entered the forest in the past few months to search for gold debris on the mountain. That's because Axe scared away anyone who came by transforming into a giant white tiger.
But there were still those who dared to test their guts on him.
'Then, how did you know there was treasure there, Dad? You said no one has ever survived from there, right?'
'What does the treasure you want look like? I need to know about it, Dad,' the young man Rajoo asked his father.
The father, Sameer, was silent and felt his son's statement was true. He didn't even know the treasure clearly, so how could he answer Rajoo's question?
But Sameer's greedy mind and the thought of having a lot of treasure pushed him away and made him forget his common sense. The old man ignored the big news about the war over the gold-digging area, which ended with the death of everyone who entered the forest because of one giant white tiger demon.
'What Rajoo said is true. What if this place is indeed haunted? Is the myth of the giant white tiger demon true?'
'But, it seems like the forest is fine and quiet. Is the rumor a lie and deliberately created to scare people away from coming here?'
Sameer started muttering in his heart, thinking about the awkwardness he felt. But the image of getting drunk to his heart's content and the naked body of the comfort woman continued to make him ignore the danger and the treasure whose whereabouts were unclear.
'Ah, to hell with danger. I'm not the one going there, am I? Rajoo is the one who will go inside that place,'
'I'm sure the treasure exists. Who knows if it's there or not if you don't try?'
Sameer kept muttering in his heart as he imagined the abundant treasure Rajoo would get for him.
'You don't need to think about that. Just go to the place I told you about, Rajoo. Hurry up and find the treasure for your father, son!' Sameer kept urging Rajoo to go to that place.
'But, Dad?'
'But what else? Don't talk so much and get out of here. Don't waste your time thinking about things you don't need to think about!' Sameer was getting angry.
'Fine, if you want it that way, Dad.'
Since Sameer didn't want to waste their precious time, they desperately entered the haunted forest.
"Hmm, what a greedy man. For the sake of wealth and women, that man is willing to sacrifice his son. Geez, why do I have to have human trash again?" Axe complained. He had just wanted to meditate, but an uninvited guest entered his place.
Although the distance from the forest's edge to Axe's place was quite far, he could hear any sound around him, including human hearts.
Axe didn't own the mountain because it was a human world. However, based on its location from the demon world's perspective, the forest and mountain were still the territory of the white tiger demon palace.
The only difference was the magical portal separating the two worlds.
Axe is also a Tiger Demon King who likes peace and quiet, so there's nothing wrong with him protecting the place from humans' mischievous hands.
Back to Sameer and Rajoo. They had been walking for two hours when they finally arrived at the forest's center, near the giant tree where Axe was perched.
"Here you are, so excited," Axe sneered, which Sameer or Rajoo couldn't hear.
"Is this the big tree, Dad?" asked Rajoo without looking at his father.
"Hmm, it might be. They say that the main gold mine on this mountain is marked by one peach tree among thousands of rubber trees. You see this one, there's only one of its kind, right?" Sameer began to probe without mentioning that the rumor was that many died when trying to get close to the peach tree.
"Yes, I think there is only one peach tree. Then, where is the treasure, Dad? Come on, let's find enough gold and go home. I'm afraid to stay here too long," Rajoo began to worry.
"There are two of us; what are you afraid of? There's nothing here but gold, haha!" Sameer was getting cocky.
'But, Dad. I feel like someone is watching us, but I don't know where it is," Rajoo expressed his fear. Of course, the young man was scared because Axe was watching them, "Come on, where is it, Dad?"
"Under this peach tree. I'm sure of it," Sameer replied. He was sure because he was following his dirty inner voice and the rumors he had heard.
Sameer picked up the hoe they had brought. While Rajoo was still staring at the tree, he felt he had eyes to see what they were doing.
"Argh!!!" Sameer's shout instantly broke Rajoo's reverie.
"Dad!" He also shouted when he saw his father's body lying on the ground without letting go of the home, "Dad, what's wrong with you? Ah, it's so hot!" He shrieked spontaneously and flung his hands away.
In his cries of fear, the young man was also puzzled because his father's body was stiff and, to the touch, felt very hot, as if he had just been struck by lightning. Sure enough, within minutes, Sameer's body was blackened, starting with the hand holding the hoe and then spreading to the rest of the body.
"Dad, what happened to you? Please say something!" He called out as he kept trying to touch his father's hot body.
"He's dead. Grrrrr…"
The sound of a ferocious beast-like groan startled Rajoo. His crying instantly stopped, replaced with fear, as if his spirit was about to be ripped from his body.
'Y-you? Ti-tiger, forgive me! Please don't kill me, Demon!' Rajoo cried out in fear. He tried to run but kept falling because his body was so weak in the face of so much fear in the blink of an eye.
How could he not be scared when he saw a giant white tiger growling angrily before him? Of course, Axe tried to be patient one last time.
"You've seen how the punishment for greedy humans like you is, right? Your father is an example. Tell the people outside this forest not to come into my place again, or you'll all be like your father!'
"I'm letting you out to be a living witness to the humans out there. Go!!!"
Axe, the giant, snapped at Rajoo with an angry tiger roar. At the same time, Axe's giant hand swung out to knock the unconscious Rajoo and Sameer's stiff, charred bodies to the edge of the forest.
"What a nuisance!" He muttered in annoyance. Axe didn't bother to change his gigantic form as he flung his body into the vast grassland.
Mixed with laziness, Rajoo and Sameer's arrival was a good excuse to cancel meditation. Of course, the exciting thing was to sleep all the time.
***
At the edge of the forbidden forest, hundreds of people had gathered around, trying to understand what the frightened Rajoo was saying. Crying and hugging his knees, Rajoo stammered out what he had experienced.
What Rajoo said as a living witness to the horrors of the forest and the giants within certainly scared the humans. Add the hunk of black gold in his hand that mysteriously appeared and Sameer's charred body that could not be touched at all due to the heat.
Of course, no one wants to deliver their lives and wants the same fate as Sameer.
Rajoo and Sameer's gruesome incident led the humans there to name the forbidden forest the Forest of Black Gold. Using the money from the sale of the black gold, everyone agreed to fence the perimeter of the banned forest so that no human would have the same fate as father and son.