A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 146

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

Chapter 146
“People from the Central Plains! How dare you lump us together with them!”
“Then what are you, if not from the Central Plains?”
“We are no mere Central Plains folk. We are the cherished friends of the previous Valley Master.”
“What?”
The Elders’ faces darkened at the absurd claim.
Yet Tian Tong Gai lied with the ease of a seasoned deceiver.
This was precisely why Hong Seol had chosen Tian Tong Gai over Nam Goong Ho.
‘Grandfather wears every emotion on his face.’
Nam Goong Ho looked visibly anxious even now.
Fortunately, all eyes remained fixed on Tian Tong Gai, sparing him scrutiny.
“Though it remains unknown, the previous Valley Master was a cherished correspondent of mine.”
“Preposterous! In all my years, I have never heard tell of the previous Valley Master exchanging letters with any friend in the Central Plains!”
An Elder of O Dok Valley snorted derisively. But Tian Tong Gai pressed on undeterred.
“Then pray tell—why would we journey so far from the distant Central Plains to reach this place?”
The Elders fell silent at his forceful tone.
“It is to aid the Valley Master, who has lost her father. After all, she is the daughter of my cherished friend.”
The Elders began whispering among themselves at his confident assertion.
“Could he truly be a friend of the previous Valley Master?”
“Given that we have traded with merchant houses in Sichuan, it is not entirely impossible…”
“You are all being deceived by this cunning Central Plains tongue!”
The Elder who had bellowed since Hong Seol’s arrival now shouted with veins bulging from his neck.
In an instant, the mood shifted in his favor.
“I cannot believe the previous Valley Master held this man in friendship without seeing proof with my own eyes.”
As he spoke, the Elder’s gaze swept up and down Tian Tong Gai’s tattered, patched clothing.
‘Oh no.’
Reading that look, Hong Seol’s shoulders tensed slightly.
Once, the Medicine Master of the Nam Goong Family had told her something.
One must always dress neatly to earn people’s trust.
Of all people, she had put forward a beggar!
‘But… Elder Tian Tong Gai will manage!’
She had orchestrated everything herself, after all.
Hong Seol’s bright, gleaming eyes turned toward Tian Tong Gai.
‘Elder, now is the moment to show them!’
“There is no help for it. Behold this.”
As if hearing Hong Seol’s unspoken words, Tian Tong Gai withdrew a cloth-wrapped object from his robes and presented it.
When the Elders unfolded the muslin, their eyes widened to the size of bear’s paws.
“This… this is…!”
Within lay an ancient short blade forged from cold iron.
It was the one Hu Gae had retrieved from the Human-Faced Spider.
Tian Tong Gai spoke with unmistakable pride.
“Do you recognize whose possession this is?”
At that, the Elder Judge who had been growling moments before let out a groan.
“…This is unmistakably the Valley Master’s short blade. I witnessed with my own eyes when he had characters engraved upon it to commemorate the resumption of trade with the Central Plains.”
“Ah, so your eyes do work properly after all? I thought perhaps your vision was failing, given how you were scrutinizing my appearance with eyes as narrow as a flounder’s just moments ago.”
At Tian Tong Gai’s cutting remark, the Elder Judge bit his lip and said nothing.
Watching this, Tian Tong Gai inwardly clicked his tongue.
‘Truly a remarkable child.’
He recalled the events of last night.
“This short blade belongs to the previous Valley Master, not Wu Hen Shen Tou.”
“How can you be so certain?”
“Look—the calligraphy engraved on the blade and the characters carved on that pillar there share the same handwriting style!”
“Well, what a thought to compare them like that….”
“Yi Woon once identified who had written characters carved on a river monument simply by observing the handwriting style. Since then, I’ve made a point of studying calligraphy wherever I go.”
“…!”
“Hehe, that final stroke curving upward is unmistakable! The characters carved here also align perfectly with the previous O Dok Valley Master’s character.”
See what others cannot see.
Indeed, these were characters befitting the previous O Dok Valley Master who had reopened relations with the Central Plains through his expansive vision.
Hong Seol’s strategy—using the short blade to emphasize her connection as a friend of the previous Valley Master—had struck true.
“This was sent to me by the previous Valley Master as a token of friendship. Now will you believe in my relationship with him?”
“Ugh….”
Then Maeng Woo Hee’s cool voice rang out.
“What are you all doing? Show proper respect to a friend of the previous Valley Master.”
The Elders bowed their heads one by one toward Tian Tong Gai and Hong Seol’s group.
“A friend of the previous Valley Master is also a friend of O Dok Valley. Welcome.”
“We apologize for our rudeness. We hope you will forgive us with a generous heart.”
-Is this sufficient?
Tian Tong Gai sent a transmission while glancing sideways toward where Hong Seol stood.
Judging by the bright smile blooming on the child’s face, it seemed he had played his role well.
“Ahem!”
Tian Tong Gai cleared his throat and spoke with finality.
“Therefore, we intend to assist the Valley Master in dealing with the Human-Faced Spider. In the Central Plains, we do not leave unpunished those who have taken the life of a friend.”
What?!
At Tian Tong Gai’s words, the Council of Elders erupted like a disturbed hornet’s nest.
Most of the noise concerned whether it was proper for these Central Plains people to interfere in O Dok Valley’s affairs….
But Hong Seol could understand.
‘They’re certainly calculating.’
The scenarios in which Maeng Woo Hee might be killed by the Human-Faced Spider.
Only then would their own clan have a chance at producing the next Valley Master.
But if, by some chance, the Valley Master succeeded in eliminating the Human-Faced Spider with the aid of these Central Plains people….
The possibility of their successor becoming the Valley Master vanishes entirely.
Yet to refuse would be to completely suppress a proposal to avenge a departed friend’s enemy.
Though different from the Central Plains, Nam Man too is a place where righteousness and honor hold sway.
One cannot simply disregard such principles.
After prolonged deliberation, the Council of Elders finally fell silent.
They had reached consensus.
“The Council of Elders hereby permits the participation of these Central Plains guests!”
Done!
Hong Seol smiled brightly.
That evening, a grand banquet was held late into the night to welcome the late Valley Master’s cherished friend.
* * *
The next morning, Hong Seol and her companions set out toward the cave where the Human-Faced Spider dwelled.
The cave, they were told, lay deep within a damp and gloomy forest.
Crunch.
The moment I stepped lightly upon the sodden fallen leaves.
Yang Do Jin suddenly cried out, his expression grave.
“Don’t step there, Hong Seol! Just looking at it makes my skin crawl.”
He promptly turned his back to offer assistance.
“I’ll carry you!”
Hong Seol hesitated, then glanced sideways.
Whenever such situations arose, Nam Goong Baek would always approach and turn his back to help her.
Yet he, who had been keeping his distance from me lately, heard everything but took no action.
He simply walked ahead, eyes fixed forward.
Eventually, Hong Seol’s face grew melancholy as she shook her head.
“No, I’m fine, Do Jin.”
When Hong Seol spoke casually to Yang Do Jin, Tian Tong Gai, who had been walking ahead, suddenly looked puzzled.
“Now that I think about it, how old are you this year, Do Jin?”
“…E-eight years old, Master!”
“Huh? Is that so?”
Tian Tong Gai, his expression bewildered, looked Yang Do Jin up and down.
“That beggar boy has surprisingly good development for his age. Anhui is a prosperous place, but…”
Had he secretly eaten a rabbit or something?
While the perplexed Tian Tong Gai scratched his ruddy nose, Yang Do Jin kept glancing nervously at Hong Seol.
If it were discovered that he was actually ten years old, he might be expelled from Pal Shin Woo.
“Hey, Hong Seol, why are you so quiet?”
“It’s nothing.”
Hong Seol smiled softly.
Yet her gaze remained fixed upon Nam Goong Baek’s back.
Just then.
“You have arrived.”
At Maeng Woo Hee’s voice, the group came to a halt.
The cave was already teeming with members of the Five Poison Valley who had arrived first.
The Council of Elders all wore the same irritating smiles.
The warriors escorting Maeng Woo Hee appeared solemn, yet deeply troubled.
They seemed genuinely concerned about allowing only Maeng Woo Hee and these mysterious Central Plains visitors into the cave.
In particular, the face of the warrior Ya Pae was worth observing.
He looked as though worry had robbed him of sleep.
‘Hm…? That expression is exactly like the one Baek wears when he looks at me.’
The moment Hong Seol had this thought, Maeng Woo Hee spoke.
“This is precisely where the Human-Faced Spider makes its nest.”
Before them yawned a deep cave, its entrance gaping wide with an unsettling appearance.
From within, an invisible, oppressive aura seemed to seep outward.
Hong Seol swallowed hard.
Despite believing herself thoroughly prepared, sweat began to bead across her palms.
Everyone sensed the ominous weight of the moment, each inspecting their weapons with meticulous care.
Nam Goong Ho and Nam Goong Baek checked their swords, while Tian Tong Gai and Yang Do Jin examined their green bamboo staffs.
Maeng Woo Hee inspected the blade of the axe tucked into her belt, its edge stained with a dark, viscous poison.
Hong Seol, too, quietly counted the antidote pills nestled in her robes with her fingertips.
‘With these, I should have no trouble even if the Human-Faced Spider’s venom strikes me!’
They were crafted by the Dok Geomi Elder of the Dang Sect, a man obsessed with spiders, so their efficacy was beyond question.
And there was one more thing.
An item that seemed prepared precisely for this moment.
It was something the Dang Family Master, Dang Won Pyung, had placed directly into Hong Seol’s hands before they departed Sichuan.

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