A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 142

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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 142
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Hong Seol’s party had finally entered Nam Man territory after passing through Yunnan, the southernmost region of the Central Plains.
The roads grew increasingly treacherous, making it abundantly clear that few people traveled through this area regularly.
Dozens of horses and a dozen carriages had to advance along what barely qualified as a path.
“Hmm?”
The man leading the procession looked up at the sky and tilted his head in puzzlement.
“The Black Eagle that’s been following us since Sichuan has disappeared.”
He was a merchant of the Golden Silk Merchant Guild, which belonged to the Sa Cheon Dang Family, and had made the journey to and from Nam Man several times conducting trade.
He knew the roads as intimately as the lines of his own palm and was well-versed in Nam Man customs.
“Indeed. I thought I saw it circling three times in the sky earlier.”
A martial artist riding alongside the merchant’s horse chimed in agreement.
Few knew that this was Dok Bi Jo’s farewell to Hong Seol inside the carriage.
“Farewell, you furry thing. If fate allows, we shall meet again—just as peach wine found its way to me across the long years.”
A warrior of the Fierce Snake Squad, dressed in green robes, wiped sweat from his brow with his sleeve.
“Nam Man truly is oppressively humid.”
“Once we enter the dense forests, it will be worse. The roads are so treacherous that we should count ourselves fortunate if we don’t develop blisters on our backsides.”
The merchant’s words seemed to have jinxed them.
Thud!
The carriage wheel rolled forcefully through the grassland that barely deserved to be called a path.
Nam Goong Ho, who had been sitting in the carriage with his eyes closed, frowned and asked.
“The roads are rougher than expected. Seol Ah, are you alright?”
“Yes!”
Hong Seol, who had been craning her neck to watch the sky where the eagle had vanished, nodded with a bright expression.
“What about you, Baek?”
“…I’m fine.”
Nam Goong Ho suddenly studied Nam Goong Baek’s pallid face.
Before departure, Nam Goong Baek—who had spent all his time in the Sa Cheon Dang Family’s Training Ground—had not a trace of color in his complexion. Nam Goong Ho sighed inwardly.
‘I truly cannot fathom this boy, cannot fathom him at all.’
At one point, he had acted as though he would never touch a sword again.
Now he acted as though nothing existed but the blade, making it impossible not to feel his inner turmoil.
‘And why has he become so taciturn?’
He had been close with Seol Ah for a time, but since leaving Sichuan, he had avoided even meeting her eyes.
Seol Ah, who had tried several times to engage him in conversation, had now given up, spending most of her time with her eyes closed, attempting to sleep.
Yet Nam Goong Ho was pleased.
‘At last, Baek seems determined to properly master martial arts.’
Now that Seol Ah’s Yin-Yang meridian had been completely healed, it was only a matter of time before he returned to learning the Yin-Yang Divine Art.
‘Then Baek’s detoxification cannot be far off…!’
The mere thought made him want to dance with joy.
Yet as with all things, children grow straight only when their elders maintain proper discipline.
Nam Goong Ho forced the smile from his lips and asked.
“Baek, why have you suddenly taken to honing your blade?”
“There is an opponent I must defeat.”
The unhesitating manner of his response pleased him greatly.
Nam Goong Ho asked nothing further, leaning back against the carriage with a faint smile playing at his lips.
‘If our Seol Ah can safely confirm her bloodline, I’ll have nothing to worry about.’
Even if she were confirmed as a direct descendant of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, that clan had long since been extinguished.
‘Should her biological mother still live, I need only persuade her to come and dwell with us at the Nam Goong Family Estate.’
And I possessed the confidence to accomplish such persuasion.
I need not even step forward myself—there were countless ways to manage it.
My son Nam Goong On, blessed with a handsome visage and a silver tongue.
Or Elder Nam Goong Mu Young, who possessed both an inexhaustible purse and remarkable cunning.
‘When it concerns Seol Ah, both would cast aside all hesitation without my even speaking.’
“Hehehehe!”
His laughter rang louder than intended, and from atop the carriage came a rasping, phlegm-laden voice of reproach.
“What thought has brought you such delight?”
It was Tian Tong Gai, the Beggar Sect Master.
He sat upon the carriage roof, waving a blade of grass idly.
Though the caravan leader had repeatedly urged him to rest within the carriage, Tian Tong Gai stubbornly insisted upon that uncomfortable perch.
The reason soon became apparent.
“Run faster, Do Jin! You must move swifter still!”
“M-Master! Huff, huff!”
“A beggar with feet so sluggish? One misstep and you’ll be caught by some noble household’s servant girl and beaten senseless! Kekekeke.”
“Huff, huff!”
Yang Do Jin, clad in tattered shoes, bore the unmistakable marks of having tumbled across the road countless times.
Yet despite his flushed face, there was no sign of surrender or complaint.
Witnessing this, Nam Goong Ho found himself questioning whether he had grown too lenient.
‘Upon returning to the Nam Goong Family Estate, I must focus on training the children for a time.’
I cannot abide seeing my own fall behind the Beggar Sect or the Sa Cheon Dang Family.
It was the moment Nam Goong Ho resolved this firmly.
The carriage came to a halt, as if to rest briefly.
Hong Seol, pressed against the window, tilted her head curiously.
“Grandfather, does Nam Man also have the Nok Rim?”
“No, Seol Ah. There is no Nok Rim in Nam Man.”
Having encountered so many old masters of the Nok Rim who harbored grudges against him, it seemed she had grown accustomed to thinking of them first whenever the carriage stopped.
‘All of Seol Ah’s worries stem from my own failings.’
Nam Goong Ho pressed his palm to his brow and exhaled deeply.
In that instant.
Countless presences caught upon his keen perception of qi.
“…!”
Nam Goong Ho sharpened his perception and surveyed the surroundings.
Far in the distance, within the dense forest, countless paired lights flickered endlessly.
At first glance, one might mistake them for fireflies, but….
No matter how dark the forest, fireflies in broad daylight made no sense whatsoever.
They were all human eyes.
Eyes filled with murderous intent, trained directly upon us with nocked arrows.
“At least a hundred of them…!”
Moreover, each and every one was clearly a formidable martial artist.
Yet the experienced merchants of the Golden Silk Merchant Guild remained unperturbed.
“Ah, here we go again.”
The caravan leader at the front dismounted and stepped forward boldly, offering a respectful salute toward the forest.
“We seek passage from the Golden Silk Merchant Guild. Our guild has been conducting trade with Five Poison Valley for well over three years now.”
Five Poison Valley was a martial sect that had recently risen to prominence in Nam Man.
Five tribes formed a single sect, and they were said to possess poison mastery as formidable as the Sichuan Tang Family.
Hong Seol swallowed hard, recalling what she had heard in Sichuan.
‘Decades ago, after the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace that once ruled Nam Man fell, Five Poison Valley rose to fill that void….’
The people of Nam Man rarely trusted Central Plains folk, and establishing trade had been arduous work.
The Golden Silk Merchant Guild had been the first to accomplish it.
They were the very Sichuan merchants who had brought Hong Seol’s group this far south.
The merchant, accustomed to such situations, began to coax the hidden warriors of Five Poison Valley with honeyed words.
“How did you find the silk we presented last time? This visit, we’ve brought equally fine goods…. Eh?”
Despite the smooth words, the other side offered no response.
Creak.
Only the sound of bowstrings being drawn tighter could be heard.
Eventually, the exasperated merchant spoke with a sharper tone.
“This puts us in a difficult position. Surely the Fierce Snake Squad’s Valley Master would not wish for trade with the Golden Silk Merchant Guild to cease!”
The moment the merchant invoked the Valley Master’s name.
“How dare you speak the name of the previous Valley Master!”
An indignant roar erupted.
“Capture the Central Plains folk alive!”
A thunderous cry shook heaven and earth. Immediately, Nam Man warriors clad in beast hides emerged from the undergrowth.
“Waaaaah!”
With a war cry, a rain of arrows poured down from the sky.
Thunk, thunk-thunk!
The sound resembled a downpour drumming against the carriage roof.
Whoosh!
The arrowheads that pierced through the carriage roof were stained an ominous black.
“Mother!”
Hong Seol flinched in terror, her shoulders tensing. Nam Goong Baek moved to embrace her as usual but hesitated.
“Fall back!”
At those words, Hong Seol quickly ducked behind Nam Goong Ho.
Nam Goong Baek had already drawn his sword and was surveying the surroundings for any sign of movement.
Clang! Clang clang!
From outside came the sharp ring of blades clashing fiercely. Yet it seemed our side was outnumbered and struggling.
“I’ll go take a look. Baek, you protect Seol Ah well!”
Nam Goong Ho yanked open the carriage door and rushed outside.
The scene outside was already chaos.
Tian Tong Gai, who had been sitting atop the carriage, had apparently seized Yang Do Jin by the scruff of his neck and made off with him for some reason.
Who said the Beggar Sect valued righteousness and honor?
“Damn this old fool!”
As Nam Goong Ho ground his teeth, someone craned their neck and shouted once more.
“Capture the Central Plains people alive!”
“What?!”
That voice was strangely familiar.
As Nam Goong Ho drew upon his inner energy, the air around him suddenly thrummed with power.
In that instant, a transmission from Tian Tong Gai resonated in my mind.
-Stop, Nam Goong Ho!

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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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