A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 132

—————

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

—————

Chapter 132
Seeing this, Dok Bi Jo asked with an even more mischievous tone.
“You like Hong Seol, don’t you? You want to marry her later, right?”
“What nonsense are you spouting!”
As expected, he bristled immediately.
Dok Bi Jo felt laughter bubbling up inside her at any moment.
The young wolf’s ear tips burned a vivid crimson, like heated iron.
It seemed as though water poured upon them would sizzle and boil away.
Yet Nam Goong Baek continued shaking his head vigorously.
“Seol is my younger sister. I would never harbor such feelings for her, not even in death!”
He had fallen right into her trap.
In that instant, a delicious thrill surged through Dok Bi Jo’s heart.
Just moments ago, Hong Seol had finished her cultivation and slowly opened her eyes.
‘The young wolf seems unaware that the furry bundle has awakened.’
Dok Bi Jo’s mischievous expression suddenly transformed into a radiant smile.
“Did you complete your cultivation properly?”
Dok Bi Jo’s gaze had already shifted toward Hong Seol, who was examining her own palms.
In that moment, Nam Goong Baek froze.
‘She didn’t hear everything, did she?’
Everything, including the talk about marriage with his younger sister.
Nam Goong Baek unconsciously brought his trembling hand to his chest.
‘Why am I like this?’
Though he couldn’t explain why, his unruly heart pounded wildly of its own accord.
‘I didn’t say anything she shouldn’t have heard.’
Even reviewing everything he had said, there was nothing wrong—absolutely nothing wrong—yet somehow…
His mouth felt inexplicably dry, and guilt washed over him. It felt as though he had uttered something he absolutely should not have.
‘Perhaps my recent illness hasn’t fully healed yet…!’
Nam Goong Baek attributed his state to his lingering poor health.
With that thought, his breathing gradually eased.
Meanwhile, Dok Bi Jo had already drawn closer to Hong Seol.
It was to assess the condition of the child who had just completed her cultivation.
Though Hong Seol’s face appeared haggard from the effort, her dark eyes sparkled with brilliant light.
The moment Dok Bi Jo gazed into those eyes.
Flutter.
Hong Seol’s sleeve billowed outward as if cradling the air itself.
Nam Goong Baek’s eyebrows twitched at the sight.
‘A breeze?’
But the bamboo leaves around them remained perfectly still and silent.
Which meant that was entirely Hong Seol’s inner energy.
“You’ve done it.”
Dok Bi Jo smiled warmly.
“You’ve fully integrated the inner energy I gave you into your own. Impressive, little furball.”
At the praise, Hong Seol’s cheeks flushed a rosy pink.
“Thank you, Benefactor!”
Hong Seol hastily bowed her head in gratitude.
The child’s body trembled with the exhilaration of reaching a new realm.
“I’m so grateful, Benefactor!”
“Benefactor? That doesn’t suit me. I merely paid you back for the peach wine.”
“But you’ve given me such precious inner energy!”
Within Hong Seol’s tiny dantian swirled fifteen years of cultivation that Dok Bi Jo had transferred—a pure inner strength that would have been half again as much had it not been depleted during the body-cleansing technique.
Even so, what remained was a formidable accumulation of power.
Hong Seol spoke hesitantly.
“That’s far too expensive a price for wine…”
“It matters not. Even without the wine, I’ve long been waiting for the day I could pass this inner energy I’ve cultivated to someone worthy.”
“Really?”
Hong Seol’s eyes widened in surprise. Seeing this, Dok Bi Jo smiled gently.
“Aren’t you curious? About why I came to Hefei, which lies within the Nam Goong Family’s territory?”
“I am!”
“Then would you like to hear my story?”
Dok Bi Jo sat upon a rock and patted the empty space beside her.
Hong Seol immediately scurried over and sat down eagerly.
Nam Goong Baek remained standing a few paces away, leaning against a bamboo stalk, his guard still raised.
Yet his ears were perked up, betraying his curiosity.
Noticing this, Dok Bi Jo let out an amused laugh before beginning her tale.
“I was once of the Orthodox Sects. I was the successor to the Yang Family, now extinct.”
The story that began with those words stretched on and on.
How in her youth she met the Daoist Wi Mu Seop and received the transmission of the Two-Heart Divine Technique.
How this allowed her to master both the martial arts of the Unorthodox Sects and the Orthodox Sects simultaneously.
How she sealed away the Orthodox martial arts for a lifetime and lived as a leader of the Unorthodox Sects.
“But after my reversal of fortune, this world began to appear different to me.”
Less hateful, and somehow more precious.
The ordinary tenant farmers on the roads, the loud-voiced storytellers, the women drawing water—all of them.
“So I thought: why not pass on this inner strength I no longer use to someone, and have it serve to benefit the world?”
From that day forward, Dok Bi Jo traveled seeking out the most promising disciples of the Orthodox Sects. Yet she rarely found anyone who truly satisfied her.
“I was searching for a child who was humble yet talented, and who would uphold righteousness and honor.”
Among all she encountered, Hong Seol was the one who caught her eye.
“My initial interest in you began because of something a Nam Goong Family warrior said.”
Dok Bi Jo spoke while recalling the bear-like Nam Goong Ui Gyeol.
“I had already heard from many places that Young Master Nam Goong Baek was exceptional. However…”
Dok Bi Jo spoke deliberately, ensuring Nam Goong Baek would hear.
“When asked who the most outstanding late-stage martial artist in the Nam Goong Family Estate is, that warrior hesitated to answer?”
Her crimson lips twisted with barely contained amusement.
“That surely means they thought of someone unexpected. So I looked into it a bit, and wouldn’t you know it—that Nam Goong Ho fellow has a girl he dotes on quite dearly.”
At the word “dotes,” Hong Seol stuck out her pink tongue playfully and giggled.
“I wanted to have a word with you, but you were always confined within the Nam Goong Family Estate, so I never had the chance. Just when I thought I might finally see your face, you furball got dragged away by those villains masquerading as the Black Bandit Gang….”
Dok Bi Jo blinked, recalling past events.
“I thought that was the end of it, honestly.”
Dok Bi Jo looked down at Hong Seol’s small face. The way those bright eyes gazed up at her was quite endearing.
Dok Bi Jo smiled bittersweet and stroked Hong Seol’s hair.
“Though I once served the Orthodox Sects, I am a martial artist of the Unorthodox Path. So even knowing you were there, I didn’t particularly think to rescue you.”
There was no need to speak such truth, yet strangely, I didn’t want to lie before this child.
“But you didn’t give up—you saved those children from the Underground Chamber. When I heard you exhausted your inner energy and collapsed for their sake, I was honestly… quite surprised.”
That such a child still remained in the Orthodox Martial World.
However, what reached Dok Bi Jo’s ears about Hong Seol’s deeds didn’t end there.
“The women of the Weaving Workshop continue their work thanks to you, I’m told. You even helped that courtesan who lost the ability to play the pipa trying to save a young servant.”
She spoke of the Wandering Minstrel Tavern.
“But my resolve became absolute on Changnyeong Mountain.”
Both fell silent, lost in memories suffused with peach blossom fragrance.
“A child who knows to offer peach blossom wine to a weeping woman—I felt it wouldn’t be wasteful to pour all my strength into helping such a one.”
Hong Seol, feeling oddly embarrassed, kept her gaze fixed on her own feet.
Dok Bi Jo’s index finger gently poked the bridge of Hong Seol’s nose.
“So today’s matter wasn’t me helping you. It was you helping yourself.”
Hong Seol’s eyes glistened at those words.
“You needn’t thank me….”
“…Waaah!”
Suddenly, Hong Seol wrapped her arms tightly around Dok Bi Jo’s waist, leaving her utterly dumbfounded.
The child sobbed, her shoulders trembling.
“Thank you, beautiful sister!”
“What!”
At this unfamiliar form of address, Dok Bi Jo jumped to her feet.
Hong Seol lifted her bright eyes to gaze at Dok Bi Jo.
“Ah, is that… not all right…?”
“No, it’s not that it’s not all right, it’s just, it’s not….”
Would the world think her conscience lacking for this?
“Really, me.”
Even that baby wolf watching her from a short distance away was snorting derisively.
But that bewildered expression only stirred Dok Bi Jo’s competitive spirit.
“Fine! From now on, call me sister, you furball.”
“Yes, sister!”
I’ve walked the Unorthodox Path long enough—what’s a little ridicule?
Go ahead and curse if you want.
‘Look here, you greedy little wolf.’
If the kitten you cherish is your older sister, then she is your older sister.
Dok Bi Jo lifted her nose toward Nam Goong Baek, who wore a displeased expression.
Nam Goong Baek shook his head so vigorously his jaw nearly dislocated.
Regardless, Dok Bi Jo patted Hong Seol’s small shoulders.
“We have no time, so let us end this conversation here. Only three days remain until the martial contest.”
At the unexpected words, Hong Seol’s mouth fell open slightly.
“What? What do you mean by that?”
Was the comprehensive martial technique training not the end?
Hong Seol blinked in confusion for a long moment, unable to comprehend.

—————

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

—————