A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 108

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 108
‘How shocked must my brother have been.’
Recalling that moment, Hong Seol clenched her trembling palms into fists.
‘Once I become a true member of the Martial Arts World, incidents like this will only increase. I can’t afford to be frightened and cry every time!’
Otherwise, my brother would worry.
Hong Seol gazed at Nam Goong Baek standing beside her. His eyes were still swollen and red, which tugged at her heart.
At that moment, Dang Family Master Dang Won Pyung approached Hong Seol’s group.
Hong Seol spoke.
“How is Young Master Dang Cheon Gang?”
“Cheon Gang is receiving treatment at the Yi Yak Hall. Thanks to taking the internal injury medicine in time, his life is not in danger.”
‘What a relief!’
Hong Seol exhaled quietly where no one could see.
Dang Won Pyung examined Hong Seol, Dang Yi Woon, and Nam Goong Baek carefully.
That these young children had fought the Ghost Soul Demon and achieved victory was beyond belief.
In fact, ordinary children would not have answered Dang Cheon Gang’s request in the first place.
“You received Cheon Gang’s request and came to rescue Ji Gang and In Gang. All while standing against that vicious Ghost Soul Demon.”
He bowed deeply.
“Thank you. I will not forget this debt. After this trial ends, I will surely reward you separately.”
Then, Ji Gang, her hair tied back in a single knot, stepped forward hesitantly.
“Um, Brother Yi Woon.”
Dang Yi Woon looked at this distant cousin.
“Thank you for saving us. In gratitude for that, In Gang and I have decided to forfeit the first trial.”
“What?”
Dang Yi Woon’s eyes widened.
Ji Gang was a child who hated losing more than anyone else.
‘That’s why I thought if it were Brother Cheon Gang or In Gang, they might continue searching for the Strength Pearl, but Ji Gang…’
“If you had abandoned us and left, surely by now you would have obtained the Strength Pearl, Brother.”
In Gang, her hair hanging loose, also spoke with doll-like blinking eyes.
“Ji Gang is right! So please, go find the Strength Pearl now. Then the first trial will be your victory, Brother Yi Woon.”
Dang Yi Woon turned to look back.
Hong Seol, who had barely wiped her face clean, was covered in blood but had not a single injury.
Nam Goong Baek’s eyes were somewhat swollen and his wrists ached, but not so severely that he couldn’t move.
Most importantly, both of them had fire in their eyes. Reading their intent, Dang Yi Woon spoke with dignity.
“Then, I will continue the challenge.”
* * *
The path that Il Jjik Yi and Yi Jjik Yi had found remained viable.
“This way, Brothers! Oh, watch out for the rocks below.”
With the competitors gone, there was no need to hurry.
Thanks to this, Hong Seol’s group could travel without burden.
Before long, they discovered a pond.
The size was roughly comparable to the Martial Arts Arena where Hong Seol had once fought Nam Goong Jong Woo.
The water of the Pond was so crystalline that even the minnows darting along the bottom were plainly visible.
Splash.
Dang Yi Woon, having removed his shoes, steeled himself and stepped into the Pond.
The water was pleasantly cool, and even at its deepest point, it barely reached his knees.
The bottom was completely carpeted with smooth pebbles.
“It appears someone deliberately created this Pond.”
At Hong Seol’s words from the water’s edge, Dang Yi Woon nodded.
“From what I’ve heard, our distant ancestor, the Green-Robed Patriarch Dang Yi Bing, created this Pond.”
“Dang Yi Bing?”
The name sounded familiar.
“Ah, the one who built Dujiangyan!”
Hong Seol clapped her palms together as the memory surfaced.
A modest Pond created by the man who had constructed that magnificent embankment depicted in paintings.
The thought that today’s objective, the Martial Pearl, lay hidden within it made my heart race with anticipation.
“Everyone, look there!”
At Dang Yi Woon’s words, Hong Seol and Nam Goong Baek peered across the water.
Within the transparent Pond, a single orb the size of two child’s fists combined was visible.
Even from a distance, the sphere radiated brilliantly with five colors.
“That’s… the Martial Pearl!”
Splash, splash.
Dang Yi Woon, submerged to his knees, walked toward the orb as if entranced.
Just as he bent down thoughtlessly to retrieve it, he suddenly froze.
Then he straightened and turned back toward Hong Seol and Nam Goong Baek.
His hands remained empty.
His complexion had grown deathly pale. Something had clearly gone wrong.
“What on earth has happened?”
“Let’s go see.”
“Yes!”
Hong Seol nodded and courageously stepped toward the Pond. At that moment, Nam Goong Baek suddenly turned his back and bent his knees.
Understanding his intent, Hong Seol waved her hands in protest.
“Oh, Brother! I’m perfectly fine.”
“I’ve heard cats don’t care for water.”
“That’s true, but….”
Hong Seol’s face flushed with embarrassment.
“I… might be heavy. I’ve been eating a lot of Sichuan cuisine lately because I’ve grown fond of it.”
At that, Nam Goong Baek chuckled as if it were nothing.
“You couldn’t possibly be heavy.”
“In that case….”
Emboldened by his words, Hong Seol clung to Nam Goong Baek’s back.
“Ugh!”
In that instant, one of Nam Goong Baek’s knees buckled and gave way.
“Oh, Brother! Are you alright?”
Hong Seol cried out in alarm, but Nam Goong Baek did not respond.
With a distressed expression, Hong Seol craned her neck to peer at his face.
“Brother?”
Not long after, his back began to shake with soft chuckling sounds. Hong Seol cried out with a note of resentment in her voice.
“Brother!”
“I was only teasing.”
“…That’s mean!”
“I’m sorry. You’re just too adorable.”
Nam Goong Baek straightened himself with ease, laughing.
“Hmph.”
Hong Seol, who had been whimpering, relaxed and buried her face against his back.
Brother Baek’s back was reassuring, and it carried the pleasant scent of fragrant oil.
‘It’s warm.’
The tension melted away from me naturally.
With this back to lean against, I felt I could witness the corpse of the Ghost Soul Demon ten times over without complaint.
Soon, the two of us arrived beside Dang Yi Woon, who stood gazing blankly into the water.
Still perched on Nam Goong Baek’s back, Hong Seol asked.
“Brother Yi Woon, what is the matter?”
“Ah… look at that.”
Dang Yi Woon quietly pointed to a luminous pearl gleaming beneath the water’s surface.
The sphere, as large as two of Hong Seol’s fists pressed together, bore inscriptions carved by someone’s hand with striking clarity.
Hong Seol read the characters inscribed there, one by one.
“This… pearl must not be moved. Should the pearl be displaced… Dujiangyan will collapse.”
Beneath those words, the name Dang Yi Bing was carved with unmistakable precision.
“The Green Robed Patriarch Dang Yi Bing? The one who built Dujiangyan carved these words upon the pearl?”
Dang Yi Woon nodded.
“It could be a forgery.”
At Nam Goong Baek’s words, Dang Yi Woon shook his head this time.
“No, the Dang Sect possesses examples of the Patriarch Dang Yi Bing’s calligraphy passed down through generations. The characters carved here are unmistakably identical to them.”
Hong Seol tilted her head in puzzlement and asked.
“But how could moving a single pearl cause Dujiangyan to collapse?”
Dang Yi Woon answered with a grave expression.
“I’ve heard that the construction of Dujiangyan employed much of the Dang Family’s mechanical engineering techniques.”
Dujiangyan was no mere dam. It was a monumental project that controlled not only the river itself but also the springs and groundwater that emerged throughout the region.
“This area contains vast quantities of water pooled beneath the earth, and regulating that volume is said to be the crucial technique for maintaining Dujiangyan.”
If that were the case, it would be no surprise if the pearl here were one of the mechanical devices employed in its construction.
Dang Yi Woon bit his lip finely.
“So perhaps… the words written here are genuine.”
“If, if Dujiangyan collapses, what will happen?”
It was Nam Goong Baek who answered in a quiet voice.
“Floods will sweep through that region. The river waters may very well surge into the villages where people live.”
At those words, Hong Seol felt a chill of dread.
Suddenly, she recalled the family of the tangerine merchant she had met in the Market District not long ago.
The small hand of the child who had given her tangerines for free, and even that sweet-tart juice.
“Brother, if that happens, the tangerine merchant’s family too….”
They would perish or be gravely injured.
At Hong Seol’s fearful words, Nam Goong Baek sent a telepathic message.
– I will strike that serpent beast unconscious by the back of its neck.
Hong Seol shook her head in alarm.
It had been the same when Ghost Soul Demon died—Brother always resorted to violence whenever anything involved Brother Yi Woon.
“No, no, if possible, perhaps through words….”
– This concerns both my grandfather’s life and the position of Family Master. Can mere words convince him?
“That may be true, but… still!”
In the midst of their bickering.
Dang Yi Woon, who had been lost in thought, lifted his gaze.
Though it was only a moment, his face had grown haggard from the depth of his contemplation.
“Brother, and Seol Ah.”
At Dang Yi Woon’s voice, Nam Goong Baek quietly prepared a hand strike beneath his sleeve.
Dang Yi Woon spoke calmly.
“I have decided to abandon this orb.”
“…What?”
At the unexpected declaration, Nam Goong Baek released the tension from the hand strike he had prepared.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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