A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 139

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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 139
Yet Nam Goong Ho found no comfort in that possibility.
Hong Seol had only just begun to overcome the wound of being abandoned by her parents.
‘Even if Seol Ah were a child of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, what would truly change?’
And what if her biological parents had also cast her away?
Then the child’s wounds might never heal at all.
As that thought crystallized, Nam Goong Ho opened his mouth.
“But Dang Family Master, the Central Plains are vast. Merely because a rat and a horse can communicate doesn’t mean we can determine Seol Ah’s origins so definitively!”
“In fact, the secret manual of the Twelve Beast Martial Art has recently been discovered in Nam Man.”
At those words, a gasp of astonishment escaped Nam Goong Ho’s lips.
“Isn’t that the exclusive martial technique of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, thought to have vanished?”
It was said that whoever mastered it could commune with twelve beasts and command them freely.
“Indeed. And the Twelve Beast Martial Art can only be learned by the feline humanoids of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace.”
At that moment, Tian Tong Gai raised his hand sharply.
“Let me tell you the rest of the story.”
All eyes turned toward him.
“After Hong Seol met you, I conducted a secret investigation of my own.”
Nam Goong Ho’s brow furrowed at those words.
How dare the Beggar Sect investigate a child under his protection without permission.
‘I’ll hear what he has to say for now, but if it’s nonsense, I’ll have words with him!’
Yet such an opportunity never came to him.
The news Tian Tong Gai brought was far too astonishing.
“Nine years ago, when Je Gal Seon, the lady of the Myo Family Estate, became pregnant with her first child, the physician attending her suddenly died of unknown causes.”
‘Sudden death… you mean she died abruptly?’
Hong Seol’s face went pale as she quickly traced characters in the empty air with her hand.
Hiccup.
“And that vacant position was filled by an outside physician whom Je Gal Seon brought in from somewhere. After that, as you all know…”
The corners of Tian Tong Gai’s mouth curved with meaningful intent.
“…Hong Seol was born.”
Hiccup.
“Now listen here, Tian Tong Gai!”
Nam Goong Ho thundered out suddenly.
At his outburst, Hong Seol’s hiccups ceased.
Nam Goong Ho lowered his voice and growled at Tian Tong Gai.
“Mind your words. If you speak baseless rumors…”
You would only inflict fresh wounds upon a child whose heart was finally beginning to mend.
“Nam Goong Ho, why not verify it yourself?”
“Verify it? How?”
“The Dang Family Master said the secret manual of the Twelve Beast Martial Art has been discovered, did he not? So if you go to Nam Man and obtain that manual, couldn’t you then confirm whether Hong Seol is truly a child of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace?”
“But…”
Tian Tong Gai spoke softly to the hesitant Nam Goong Ho.
“Perhaps this is what the child truly wishes for.”
Those words struck Nam Goong Ho like a thunderbolt.
“G-Grandfather.”
Small hands gripped his sleeve tightly. It was Hong Seol, her brows now furrowed in a figure-eight of distress.
“I… I don’t understand what you’re talking about at all…”
Hong Seol’s expression as she looked at Nam Goong Ho was nothing but confusion.
“Does this mean I might have a real mother somewhere else?”
Her eyes brimmed with undisguised anxiety.
“Then who am I? Who is my real family?”
I can’t make sense of any of this.
Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks at any moment.
Nam Goong Ho quickly bent down to meet Hong Seol’s eyes, his voice firm and resolute.
“No matter what anyone says, Seol Ah, you are our family. That will never change, whether you are a cat-human from Myo Ga Jang or from the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace.”
Though Hong Seol didn’t know it, Nam Goong Baek stood at a distance, his fists clenched, nodding in agreement.
He seemed to be restraining himself from rushing to Hong Seol’s side at that very moment.
Nam Goong Ho gripped the child’s shoulders and whispered.
“You know, don’t you? That I—that all of the Nam Goong Family cherish you dearly.”
Hong Seol nodded.
But the way her eyelashes fluttered rapidly as she glanced around suggested the turmoil in her heart remained.
Nam Goong Ho opened his mouth, his voice heavy.
“The Southern Barbarian Beast Palace vanished into history long ago. Even if you truly are a child of that place, finding your real family would not be easy. I worry that you might be hurt again by digging into your past. However…”
Nam Goong Ho continued, his voice tinged with a sigh.
“I also wish to respect your wishes.”
Sincerity resonated in his words.
“Seol Ah, what do you want to do?”
At those words, the child, who had been turning her head as if searching for someone, locked eyes with Tian Tong Gai.
The small girl asked earnestly, almost pleading.
“Didn’t you say before, Elder Tian Tong Gai, that my mother loved me dearly?”
“Yes, I did. The divination showed as much.”
“I’ve always wondered about it. My mother abandoned me, so she must have hated me… but then why do the divinations keep saying she loves me?”
Her voice trembled with emotion.
“This mark is the same.”
The child suddenly rolled up her sleeve, revealing a crimson snowflake-shaped mark on her skin.
“Every time I see this, I remember what my mother told me when I was a baby.”
Tears gathered like dewdrops on her long eyelashes. Her trembling lips parted.
“Hong Seol, this is a mark that shows how much your mother loves you…”
Her eyes had drifted into the past, gazing into the void as if lost in a dream.
Her gaze was like that of one wandering through a reverie.
“So why did my mother send me to Dae Chuk Mountain? Why did she…”
The child’s eyes grew clouded as she returned to reality.
“Do you think I wished I were dead?”
“…Mm.”
Nam Goong Ho let out a deep sigh upon witnessing her state.
It seemed unlikely that the child could grasp true happiness in her future without first resolving her past.
The child continued hesitantly, her gaze fixed on the tips of her shoes.
“You might think me shameless or ill-mannered, but… if it’s possible, I want to know.”
She struggled to hold back the tears threatening to burst forth.
“Who I am, and who my mother truly is—the one who really loved me….”
Plip.
The moment her tears finally fell to the ground, rolling down her cheeks.
The adults present all reached the same resolve in their hearts.
They would find this child’s true mother.
To do so, they would need to depart for Nam Man with haste.
* * *
The Three Martial Oddities.
The name was amusing, but in truth, they were great elders of the Martial Arts World.
Once they set their minds to something, matters progressed with remarkable speed.
“Let us head to Nam Man. Since you were already planning to go that way, Tian Tong Gai, you’ll be joining us, yes?”
“Of course, Nam Goong Ho! I’ll send my finest messenger bird to the Nam Goong Family Master. Otherwise, he’ll be too worried to eat properly.”
“I’ll prepare several detoxification pills. Nam Man is rife with all manner of poisons, after all.”
Dang Won Pyung spoke with equal determination, unwilling to be outdone by Dang Yi Mu’s words.
“I’ve already made contact with a merchant guild to serve as our guide. You need only join their caravan departing in one week.”
Time flowed onward.
Before long, only a single day remained—just one more day until departure.
The evening air hung lukewarm and still.
A crescent moon rose above the pond in the back garden adjoining the Guest Hall of the Dang Family Estate.
“Tomorrow, and I’ll be leaving beloved Sichuan behind.”
Hong Seol and Dang Yi Woon were alone together by the pond in the back garden.
It was because Dang Yi Woon had coaxed her into viewing the Dang Family Estate’s back garden one last time.
Hong Seol rested her chin on the railing, puffing out her cheeks as she asked.
“By the way, where are Yang Do Jin and Nam Goong Baek?”
“The Beggar seems to have been taken along by Tian Tong Gai… As for my brother, who knows.”
Dang Yi Woon averted his gaze, pretending ignorance despite knowing the answer.
“That’s strange….”
Hong Seol tilted her head in confusion, unable to understand.
Lately, she had scarcely seen Nam Goong Baek’s face.
The only time she could see him was during meals, and even then, Nam Goong Baek frequently skipped eating.
‘Is he too busy training?’
Ever since being captured by Dok Bi Jo that last time, her brother’s demeanor had somehow changed.
Her gaze was honed sharp as a blade, and the way she wielded her sword was equally serious.
Hong Seol lowered her lashes, lost in thought.
‘Somehow it feels like I’ve been pushed to the sidelines… which is a little disappointing.’
Her grandfather had been delighted at the prospect of returning to the Nam Goong Family Estate, where she could begin earnest sword cultivation, but still.
It was a gentle breeze that stirred her hair and pulled Hong Seol from her reverie.
“Hmm?”
When she lifted her head, Dang Yi Woon’s face filled her entire vision.
Following Hong Seol’s lead—her small hands gripping the railing, her chin resting upon it—Dang Yi Woon bent at the waist and pressed his cheek against the railing as well.
“The wind blowing from this direction is quite refreshing, isn’t it?”
In Sichuan, the wind’s direction always shifts once evening falls.
In that moment, his face caught the moonlight and shone brilliantly.
He looked exactly like the beautiful young master from the painting Hong Seol possessed.

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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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