A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 138

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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 138
‘Why, why aren’t Il Jjik Yi and Yi Jjik Yi moving?’
Their underdeveloped bodies, adorable pink paws, and soft white fur remained exactly as I remembered them.
But their whiskers no longer trembled with breath, and their small chests no longer heaved.
“No, this can’t be…!”
A cry of anguish tore from my throat.
Dang Won Pyung, observing Hong Seol’s expression, suddenly gestured with his eyes.
At once, the servants and warriors hastily vacated the space.
In an instant, only Nam Goong Ho and the Three Martial Oddities, Dang Won Pyung, and the four children including Hong Seol remained.
Throughout it all, I stood frozen in place.
Standing on my hind legs in despair, thinking of the Young Rats’ parents who would never hear the news, my heart ached.
‘I’m sorry, uncle, auntie…’
Tears that had pooled in my eyes finally fell, patter, onto the floor.
Now there was only one path I could choose.
Vengeance.
‘The Changcheon Master once said that when someone harms my family, it is only right to repay them.’
As I steeled my resolve and looked at the Dang Family Master sitting there like a mountain, I imagined a massive serpent with its mouth gaping wide.
My knees trembled uncontrollably.
‘But for the sake of avenging Il Jjik Yi and Yi Jjik Yi!’
A murderous aura rose clumsily from my entire body.
Swallowing the heat rising in my throat, I clenched my fists and spoke.
“What… what exactly did you do to these children?”
Dang Won Pyung opened his mouth as if bewildered.
“That is…”
It was at that very moment.
Il Jjik Yi, who had been limp, quietly opened his eyes.
“Master…?”
Soon after, Yi Jjik Yi also yawned widely and stirred.
“What’s going on…?”
As they peacefully looked around and realized they were in the Dang Family Master’s palm, they leaped in shock.
“Mom!”
“Save the rats!”
The Young Rats scurried away and climbed up my wrist.
“You two! You… you were alive…?”
Only then did my senses return, and my entire body trembled like aspen leaves.
“…Did you perhaps attempt to collect a blood debt from me through these rats?”
Dang Won Pyung shook his head as if exasperated.
“Heh, your boldness certainly resembles a child of the Nam Goong Family… but your real name isn’t Nam Goong Seol, is it?”
At those words, the atmosphere in the reception room froze instantly.
My eyes trembled violently.
‘Oh no, I’ve been caught! I lied, so I’m going to be punished. What do I do?’
In that moment, a warm and weighty sensation pressed against the trembling back of my hand.
The hand belonged to Nam Goong Ho.
“Just as the Dang Family Master suspected. This child is not from the Nam Goong Family.”
He kept my small hand firmly covered beneath his own as he continued with emphasis.
“But I regard her as my own granddaughter. Moreover, it was I who instructed her to use an alias. So blame me instead.”
Unexpectedly, Dang Won Pyung’s expression remained unchanged as he continued speaking.
“Thank you for being truthful with me. If I may, I have one more question. Is that child perhaps a cat-human?”
“What!”
Even Nam Goong Ho could not help but be startled by those words.
“What grounds do you have for such a suspicion?”
“I asked first, Elder. Or rather, Senior.”
Dang Won Pyung changed his form of address.
He was asking for an honest answer not as the patriarch of the Nam Goong Family, but as a senior of the Martial Arts World.
“Hmph, well.”
Nam Goong Ho studied Dang Won Pyung’s eyes, as if trying to discern his intentions.
The patriarch of the Sichuan Tang Family—a long-standing ally of the Nam Goong Family, yet perhaps more similar to the Orthodox Sects in many ways.
‘But this man has apparently thwarted multiple assassination attempts against Dang Yi Woon during this time.’
Moreover, he had gracefully accepted defeat in the Young Master Selection Tournament, which ultimately ended with Dang Cheon Gang’s loss.
There was undoubtedly something that gave him pause about this man.
‘Since things have come to this point, it would be better to lay everything bare and see what cards he holds as well.’
Nam Goong Ho asked as if making a final confirmation.
“…Can you promise not to reveal this?”
The answer came immediately.
“I swear by the honor of the Dang Sect. Should this word ever escape beyond the Dang Sect’s walls, then my death shall come by poison.”
Death by poison was the most shameful end for anyone in the Dang Sect.
Nam Goong Ho glanced around at everyone remaining in the Reception Room. Then, after meeting my eyes one last time, he seemed to reach a decision and opened his mouth.
“As you say, this child is indeed a cat-human.”
“…Just as I thought.”
“Since the Elder has given me an answer, the Dang Family Master must also speak truthfully. How did you know this child is a cat-human?”
“It is this.”
Dang Won Pyung’s gaze turned to my shoulder. There, two white mice still clung to the seam, trembling visibly.
“…Mice?”
“Indeed. These two white mice have been frequenting this child’s quarters day and night. In another family, this would be unremarkable, but…”
Dang Won Pyung continued as if it were nothing special.
“As you know, we are snake-humans. And mice are…”
Our natural prey.
In that moment, Dang Won Pyung’s eyes seemed to gleam yellow.
“Normally, one can scarcely find a trace of mice in the Dang Family. Therefore, these mice must surely be ones this child brought with her.”
He explained calmly and deliberately.
“Moreover, traces of rodent bites were discovered along the Bamboo Forest Circular Path. Isn’t it only natural to assume that girl is commanding those creatures?”
“….”
“As far as I know, only one type of being possesses such an ability.”
The feline beastkin of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace.
No one spoke it aloud.
Yet every adult in that room already knew the answer.
“What happened to the birds and rodents?”
Hong Seol stifled a small whimper and lifted her round, innocent eyes toward the Dang Family Master.
In that instant, something in Dang Won Pyung’s chest lurched as though struck by a charging buffalo.
‘She’s adorable, curse it…!’
Dang Won Pyung cleared his throat with a soft cough, barely maintaining his composure.
“The rodents that emerged from the Quarters apparently fainted in shock the moment they encountered Maeng Sa Dae transformed into a serpent. When we checked, their hearts and breathing were perfectly fine.”
So that’s what happened!
Understanding the situation, Hong Seol felt her heart prick with guilt.
Dang Won Pyung’s expression suddenly turned wounded.
“Did you think I had done something terrible to your rodents?”
His eyes looked so forlorn that Hong Seol didn’t know what to do with herself.
“I-I’m sorry! Dang Family Master!”
Then Nam Goong Ho abruptly came to Hong Seol’s defense.
“That’s not entirely the girl’s fault, is it?”
Sensing their moment, Dang Yi Mu and Tian Tong Gai each added their own jab.
“What can you do about your frightening appearance? You look like you could swallow ten rodents in a single bite.”
“And besides, how viciously did you conduct yourself during the Young Master selection tournament?”
When it came to mocking others, the Three Martial Oddities moved in perfect synchronization.
“Now, now, you wound me, seniors!”
Yet despite his words, laughter clearly tinged Dang Won Pyung’s voice.
The Dang Family Master chuckled heartily, drained his cup, and spoke to Hong Seol.
“Now then, speak freely. Tell me—what is your relationship with these rodents?”
“That is….”
I could hide it no longer.
Hong Seol haltingly revealed my connection to Il Jjik Yi and Yi Jjik Yi.
Everything—from when I first met Jjik Jjik, to the remarkable fact that I could somehow communicate with the rodents.
Throughout her confession, Hong Seol had not once met Nam Goong Ho’s gaze.
‘Grandfather…. You must be disappointed in me?’
After all, I had hidden the truth about communicating with rodents all this time.
In a way, it might appear that I didn’t trust my grandfather.
“I didn’t mean to hide it on purpose, Grandfather. I just….”
Hong Seol hung her head low.
“…Seol Ah.”
Hong Seol couldn’t finish her words, but Nam Goong Ho understood what lay in her heart.
No matter how warmly everyone had treated her, the Nam Goong Family Estate remained a foreign place to a kitten.
In such an unfamiliar setting, she would naturally wish to conceal her differences from others.
“It’s alright. I understand everything.”
Nam Goong Ho held his silence and wrapped his arms around Hong Seol’s shoulders.
Her trembling frame reminded him of that day on Dae Chuk Mountain—the same fragile child seeking shelter.
“Breathe. That’s it.”
Just when it seemed she had finally calmed herself.
“I have something to say.”
“I have something to report.”
Tian Tong Gai, the Beggar Sect Master, and Dang Won Pyung, the Dang Family Master, spoke simultaneously.
“Please, Elder Tian Tong Gai, you speak first.”
“No, no—this is Sichuan, so the Dang Family Master should have the honor.”
Dang Won Pyung bowed respectfully and opened his mouth to speak.
“As you know, Sichuan lies close to Nam Man. Thus, our Dang Sect possesses some knowledge of the rumors surrounding the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace….”
At that name, Nam Goong Ho’s entire body tensed.
The Southern Barbarian Beast Palace—commonly known as the Cat Beast Palace.
Though it had been destroyed, its rulers had been feline humanoids for generations.
Dang Won Pyung was suggesting something.
That Hong Seol was not a child of the Myo Family Estate, but of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace.

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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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