A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 114

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

Chapter 114
* * *
Deep in the night.
Hong Seol was taking a stroll through the Back Garden.
Excitement had seized her, and sleep simply would not come.
Nam Goong Baek, hastily throwing on an outer robe to follow her, was there as well.
One of the Fierce Snake Squad’s warriors quietly escorted them from a distance.
“To think I shall soon be able to channel my inner energy….”
Hong Seol extended her palm into the air as though trying to capture the falling moonlight.
Her small, leaf-like hand trembled gently. Seeing this, Nam Goong Baek asked.
“Are you truly so pleased?”
“Yes!”
Hong Seol answered at once, her smile radiant. Then she pressed her hand to her chest.
“My heart is racing.”
….
Nam Goong Baek seemed to have more to say, his lips moving before he abandoned the thought.
Only his clenched fist betrayed the turbulence of his heart.
After a long silence, he finally spoke, as though resigned.
“You said it would take time before beginning the Yin-Yang Meridian Opening Method, yes?”
“Yes, they said I must spend about a week carefully cultivating my breathing and preparing my body. Both I and the elders must do so!”
Nam Goong Baek lifted his gaze to the full moon hanging in the sky.
Just then, clouds drifted across it, casting a shadow over his face.
“…I see.”
His melancholy was profound, yet there was nothing more to say.
‘Dangerous or not, if Seol wishes it, what can I do….’
Nam Goong Baek sighed quietly, beyond Hong Seol’s hearing, and lowered his gaze.
That was when it happened.
Rustle.
The sound of leaves brushing came from behind.
Nam Goong Baek shielded Hong Seol behind him and called out sharply.
“Who goes there!”
“It is I…. Elder Brother.”
Dang Yi Woon emerged from behind the Stone Lantern, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.
“Brother Yi Woon!”
Unlike the delighted Hong Seol, Nam Goong Baek’s eyes turned fierce upon seeing him.
“That fellow….”
It seemed the resentment from their martial contest had not yet faded.
Dang Yi Woon approached a few steps and spoke to Hong Seol awkwardly.
“I saw you leaving and followed to make sure you didn’t accidentally touch any poisonous plants.”
How convenient. And here I thought he had cut ties completely.
Nam Goong Baek’s face contorted with rage.
“…Whether you touch poison herbs or swallow toxins yourself.”
His menacing words made Dang Yi Woon’s face flush crimson. He clasped his hands together and bowed his head deeply.
“I’m so sorry about wearing the poison mask earlier, brother!”
His apology carried genuine sincerity.
But Nam Goong Baek, arms crossed, had no intention of forgiving him so easily.
‘If he’d only put the poison mask on me, I might overlook it.’
But he actually kicked Hong Seol!
That presumptuous fool.
I hated the thought of Hong Seol marrying into Sichuan, but I despised the idea of her being rejected by that wretch even more.
Soon, Nam Goong Baek’s lips parted, brimming with hostility.
“If a simple apology could resolve everything, why would the Government Office and Thunder Prison even exist?”
Sensing Nam Goong Baek’s ominous mood, Hong Seol spread both arms and stepped between them.
“Come now, Brother Yi Woon is apologizing so sincerely.”
At those words, Nam Goong Baek suddenly felt something surge up from within his chest.
‘She must be suffering too, yet she’s trying so hard to smile….’
This young thing in the world, this pitiful, helpless little kitten….
…or so thought Nam Goong Baek, a self-proclaimed cute baby wolf three years older than Hong Seol.
Watching Hong Seol smile ‘so hard’ for Dang Yi Woon’s sake made his heart feel as though it might burst from anguish at any moment.
‘So Hong Seol really has taken him to heart. She’s even defending him!’
All the more reason not to let his anger subside easily.
Nam Goong Baek glared at Dang Yi Woon menacingly.
“I won’t let you off the hook whenever I….”
“Brother!”
Hong Seol suddenly thrust her face close to Nam Goong Baek’s.
And she smiled brightly.
“Come on, yes? You need to accept Brother Yi Woon’s apology.”
Her sparkling eyes were right before his nose.
Nam Goong Baek instinctively stepped back, his face flushing red as he averted his gaze.
“Come on, brother!”
Hong Seol grasped his sleeve with her small fists and shook it insistently.
With his only sister acting this way, he had no choice but to yield.
“…Very well, I accept that fool’s apology.”
At that, Hong Seol’s face flushed with joy.
“Now then, a reconciliation embrace!”
At her words, Dang Yi Woon’s mouth fell open in bewilderment.
Nam Goong Baek too wore an awkward expression, pretending to ignore her.
“Come on!”
Hong Seol urged them repeatedly, pulling both young masters’ hands forward.
“I’m truly sorry, brother….”
“Yes, well…”
The two young masters pretended they couldn’t win and patted each other’s backs with stiff arms, only to spring apart the moment their skin made contact.
“Ugh.”
“…Sigh.”
Their groans of disgust and long sighs came as a bonus.
In any case, the three children, having made peace at least outwardly, decided to continue their evening stroll together on friendly terms.
They passed through the Round Gate after crossing the Pond, where lotus flowers bloomed in profusion.
Dang Yi Woon pointed ahead and spoke.
“If we go this way, we’ll reach the Poison Chamber.”
The Poison Chamber?
It was a name that didn’t exist in the Nam Goong Family, but Hong Seol could roughly infer what it was.
‘It must be a place where they research poisons.’
I had heard it mentioned once before from Dang Family Master Dang Won Pyung’s lips.
“Even our family’s Poison Sect failed to identify the true nature of the poison used to harm Dang Bo Young this time.”
‘That was one of the reasons Grandfather Snake was taken to Thunder Prison.’
At that thought, my chest suddenly felt heavy.
‘What if the Yin-Yang Opening Blood Technique fails?’
Despite my efforts to suppress it, sweat continued to seep into my small palms.
‘If I lose the martial contest against Young Master Dang Cheon Gang, Grandfather Snake will be left bearing a false accusation. Is there truly no way to find the real culprit?’
At the very least, if I could identify what poison was used, I might be able to find the perpetrator.
Hong Seol bit her lower lip and fell into contemplation.
Meanwhile, Dang Yi Woon seemed eager to show off the Poison Chamber of the Sa Cheon Dang Family to Hong Seol and Nam Goong Baek.
“You could say it’s a place that researches every poison in the world. And there are so many materials! Venomous snakes, poison moths, scorpions, oleander, venomous spiders…”
Dang Yi Woon puffed out his chest proudly, but Nam Goong Baek’s face turned pale as if he were feeling nauseous at the explanation.
He truly despised insects.
It wounded his pride to see Seol helpless before mere insects.
Yet he hesitated to refuse, for the thought of leaving Seol alone with that fellow Dang Yi Woon troubled him.
At that moment, Hong Seol noticed a faint shadow.
“Oh? There’s someone over there.”
“At this hour?”
Dang Yi Woon rubbed his eyes with a puzzled expression.
Hong Seol’s words were correct.
Beneath the bright full moon, a man crouched low, his hands moving busily. Around him bloomed an abundance of flowers.
Judging by his soil-covered hands, he appeared to be tending the Flower Garden.
“…?”
At the unexpected sound of footsteps, the man turned his head to look at Hong Seol’s group.
His long hair was half-tied back with a wooden hairpin fastened carelessly, and he wore a peculiar object made of wooden frames across his face.
The wooden frame was wrapped around translucent crystal that had been thinly carved.
He too seemed quite startled, as if he hadn’t expected to meet anyone here at this hour.
‘That person…!’
Hong Seol recognized him immediately.
‘He’s the man I saw at the Patriarch’s Residence the day I decided to undergo the Samok Road Test.’
Dang Yi Woon, meeting her gaze, cupped his fist in a reluctant salute.
“Lord Dang. You’re out at quite a late hour.”
Dang Song Baek, the Poison Chamber Master covered in dust, brushed his face clean and rose to his feet.
In doing so, his cheeks became completely smeared with dirt.
He cut an oddly clumsy figure.
“Young Master Dang Yi Woon. So Young Master Nam Goong Baek and Miss Hong Seol are here as well.”
Hong Seol’s eyes widened.
‘So he’s the Poison Chamber Master….’
As the Poison Chamber Master of the Sa Cheon Dang Family, it would be no exaggeration to say he understood poison second only to Grandfather Snake.
And yet he was so young!
‘By the time Grandfather Snake reaches his age, he must become an extraordinary person.’
The Jianghu truly was vast, and masters were plentiful.
Dang Yi Woon, in an unenthusiastic tone, prompted the children to greet him.
“This is Dang Song Baek, Master of the Poison Chamber of the Dang Sect.”
“Nam Goong Baek pays his respects to you, Senior.”
“Hong Seol pays her respects to you, Senior.”
As the two bowed respectfully, Dang Song Baek straightened and smiled warmly.
“Ha ha. Senior? That’s far too generous a title. We’re merely fellow travelers walking the path of martial arts together.”
The way he spoke in formal language suggested a rather gentle disposition.
Emboldened by this, Hong Seol finally asked what had been nagging at her.
“Um… what is that thing on your face, Lord Dang?”
“Ah, this?”
Dang Song Baek pushed the wooden frame upward and answered.
“It’s called spectacles.”
“What are they for?”
“When handling poison, they protect the eyes from harm. I invented them myself.”
“Wow… that’s amazing!”
Hong Seol expressed genuine admiration.
Indeed, she’d heard that the Dang Sect had developed advanced techniques for crafting poisons, so many of them possessed exceptional manual dexterity.
“But what brings you to the Poison Chamber at this hour?”
Dang Song Baek asked Dang Yi Woon.
‘Huh?’
In that instant, Hong Seol sensed his demeanor had grown subtly cold.
Lifting her head cautiously, she found Dang Song Baek still smiling with an unruffled expression.
‘Was I mistaken?’
But glancing back at Dang Yi Woon, Hong Seol realized she hadn’t been imagining things.
He too bore a rare expression of discomfort.
“We came out for a night walk. I was showing them around various parts of the Inner Fortress… I didn’t realize you would still be here at this hour, Lord Dang.”

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