A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 125

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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 125
“Seol Ah, when you receive the Pursuit of Blood technique, you must never doubt the one channeling it.”
“What happens if I do doubt?”
“If your body rejects the other person’s energy, both you and the channeler will be in danger.”
Nam Goong Ho had softened his words by saying “danger,” but the perceptive Hong Seol understood what he truly meant.
‘He means I could die.’
The realization sent a chill through her. Even knowing Nam Goong Ho was being considerate, Hong Seol couldn’t help but ask with a trembling voice.
“W-what if my heart won’t settle?”
“Think of the things you love.”
Nam Goong Ho gently pressed the soft bridge of Hong Seol’s nose as he spoke.
“Sweet confections you enjoy, friends like those in Pal Shin Woo, or the pleasant afternoon naps of midsummer—things like that.”
‘Things I love.’
In that moment, what came to Hong Seol’s mind was the azure sky.
A blue so vivid that breathing it in seemed to turn her skin the same shade.
There had been a time when she was so dispirited that she could only see her own feet, never knowing such a clear sky existed in this world.
But now Hong Seol understood.
That sky existed for her.
Grandfather Nam Goong Ho, Family Master Nam Goong On, Medicine Master Bing Yu Hua, Elder Nam Goong Mu Young, Grand Master Nam Goong Ui Gyeol, older brothers Heuk and Jeok….
And even older brother Nam Goong Baek.
As she recalled their radiant faces, her heart grew steadfast and strength surged through her.
‘That’s right—Grandfather Nam Goong Ho would never allow anything to harm me!’
So I should simply trust and surrender to this.
Reassured, Hong Seol let her body relax completely.
“Good.”
At Dang Yi Mu’s approving voice, her heart melted—but only for a moment.
“Agh!”
Excruciating pain began.
It surpassed anything Hong Seol could have imagined.
The energy of two masters of the highest realm, beginning from both her wrists, crawled through her meridians with their own force.
It was nothing like when Nam Goong Ho had guided her cultivation before.
The pain was like splitting and widening something forcibly attached, like stitching raw flesh together.
“Mmph…!”
Hong Seol’s jaw clenched around the cloth she bit down on.
“Hngh!”
Crystal tears welled up in her eyes unbidden.
It hurt far more than stubbing her toe on a stone, far more than scraping her knee on the rocks of the Training Ground.
‘I want to stop.’
At that fleeting thought, Hong Seol shook her head with fierce determination.
‘I can’t give up here!’
If I do, older brother Nam Goong Baek will die.
I had no intention of standing by and watching it happen.
My brother had protected me so many times over the years.
When I even faced the Ghost Soul Demon not long ago, he was willing to offer his own arm.
This time, it was my turn to repay that kindness.
‘From this moment on, I will never be separated from anyone I love!’
The small kitten clenched her jaw.
But steeling her resolve did nothing to ease the pain.
It felt like being pierced by a metal skewer heated to a glowing red.
Or perhaps like having only her neck above the surface of a frozen river.
“Ugh!”
The agony of being crushed in a mortar felt as though Hong Seol would lose consciousness at any moment.
“You must not lose your mind!”
Dang Yi Mu’s urgent cry reached her. Each time, the child desperately clawed her way back from the brink of fading awareness.
“Hnngh!”
As Hong Seol bit down on the cloth to endure the pain, Dang Yi Mu and Tian Tong Gai were each fighting their own battles.
‘How can there be a single meridian left intact in this child’s body…!’
Dang Yi Mu gritted his teeth.
The Yin-Yang Meridian Opening Technique.
According to what Wan Li Yi Xian had told Nam Goong Ho, the first task was to massage and repair Hong Seol’s meridians.
‘So it really does consume half a decade of cultivation as they said!’
Half a decade.
Thirty years of accumulated inner energy, gathered morning and night, poured out all at once.
Yet it seemed endless.
The inner energy flowed in endlessly, only to leak back out of the child’s body like water passing through a sieve.
‘If only this energy would accumulate in the child’s dantian, at least it wouldn’t feel so wasteful!’
Like snow melting in spring sunshine, Hong Seol’s damaged meridians greedily consumed the inner energy of both masters.
Soon beads of sweat formed on both masters’ foreheads.
How much time had passed?
The two masters’ eyes met simultaneously, and they nodded at each other.
They had done it!
Carefully ensuring their energies did not clash, they completed the full circulation through Hong Seol’s body.
It was not merely circulating energy through the body once. They had massaged and healed the damaged meridians with their inner energy, making it an extraordinarily arduous task.
But it was not yet over.
Now they had to tame the yin and yang energies that were continuously damaging Hong Seol’s meridians day and night.
Dang Yi Mu went first.
Crack!
Dang Yi Mu’s energy, traveling through Hong Seol’s meridians, immediately sank its fangs into the ice-cold yin energy.
In that moment, he was startled.
‘What in the world is this child! How can such powerful energy be raging so fiercely within her meridians?’
Tian Tong Gai was equally astonished. He was nearly dying as he seized the throat of the scorching yang energy raging within Hong Seol’s meridians and worked to break it of its wild nature.
If I guide each of those energies along their own path without letting them collide,
then from that moment on, those energies will become this small child’s strength.
But conflict always brings pain in its wake.
Each time the energies tumbled and rolled within the cramped meridians, the child clenched her small jaw and endured.
‘I have to succeed!’
When the energies gathered from the three meridians finally struck the Baihui point at the crown of her head with a resounding crash,
“Ugh!”
An indescribable shock coursed through Hong Seol’s small frame.
Tears burst forth so suddenly that she nearly spat out the cloth she’d bitten down on.
And in the next moment,
endless tranquility descended upon Hong Seol’s body.
* * *
The pale light of early dawn filtered across Nam Goong Baek’s eyelids.
“Is it morning already…?”
He licked his parched lips with his tongue. His blue eyes, bloodshot from two sleepless nights, burned as if sand had been cast into them.
It had already been four days since Hong Seol entered the Training Cave.
Throughout that time, Nam Goong Baek had stood guard outside without eating or sleeping.
He’d managed only a few sips of water that Dang Yi Woon had brought.
Though the Dang Family Master had brought over a dozen warriors from the Fierce Snake Squad, Nam Goong Baek refused to leave his post.
‘I must protect Seol.’
It was the least he owed to the small kitten who had so bravely stepped forward to undergo the Yin-Yang Meridian Opening Technique for his sake.
Standing guard before the Training Cave entrance was not only the Fierce Snake Squad and Nam Goong Baek.
Dang Yi Woon, who knew that Hong Seol had entered the Young Master Selection Tournament for him, had also remained at his post the entire time.
But the one whose presence loomed largest was none other than the Sword King, Nam Goong Ho.
From the first day, he had sat in lotus position before the Training Cave entrance, sealed shut with a massive boulder, and his aura was overwhelming.
Though his body could no longer channel inner energy, the sharpness in his eyes burned brighter than anyone’s.
Even when servants brought food, they often retreated without daring to speak, intimidated by his presence.
Though his expression remained utterly composed on the surface, Nam Goong Ho was inwardly consumed by anxiety.
‘This is taking far too long.’
Wan Li Yi Xian had confidently assured him that two days would be more than enough to completely heal Hong Seol’s meridians.
Yet it was already the fourth day.
‘Surely… Seol Ah hasn’t… something hasn’t gone wrong….’
He wanted to move aside the stones blocking the entrance and venture inside.
Such an urge welled up in him four or five times within a single hour.
The only place his mind could settle was on his grandson standing at a distance.
Though his grandson’s expression showed no outward change, Nam Goong Ho could perceive it.
The faint resentment etched into Nam Goong Baek’s face.
He blamed Nam Goong Ho for having taught Hong Seol the Yin-Yang Meridian Opening Technique.
Each time that emotion became apparent, Nam Goong Ho closed his eyes. And he prayed earnestly.
That Seol Ah would emerge safely.
If he failed, it would not be Nam Goong Ho alone who would be destroyed.
Many people in the Nam Goong Family Estate had already grown fond of that small kitten.
“Grandfather.”
At the sudden sound of Nam Goong Baek’s voice, Nam Goong Ho’s tightly closed eyes snapped open.
“…Too much time has passed.”
“Hmm.”
“Would it not be wise to check inside?”
“…That cannot be. Wait.”
“But Seol Ah…!”
“Did I not say it cannot be done! If we so much as touch something carelessly while the Grand Technique is being performed, those inside will suffer grave calamity!”
At Nam Goong Ho’s hushed rebuke, Nam Goong Baek clamped his mouth shut.
That was the moment.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
A deep, resonant sound like thunder emanating from within someone’s body reverberated through the air.
One of the Fierce Snake Squad’s warriors furrowed his brow and looked up at the clear sky.
“Is it about to rain?”
Everyone wore puzzled expressions.
But only Nam Goong Ho and Nam Goong Baek understood what it was.
Nam Goong Baek cried out in astonishment.
“Grandfather!”
“Yes, I know.”
The corners of Nam Goong Ho’s mouth lifted slightly.
“…Heavenly Thunder Divine Form!”
That small child, Seol Ah, had actually done it.

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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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