A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 148

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

Chapter 148
* * *
Meanwhile, the children left behind the adults spoke very little.
At most, Yang Do Jin and I exchanged only a few words.
“There’s less to do than I thought. Right, Hong Seol?”
“Yeah. When you come with the adults, that’s how it is, I guess….”
I answered while tapping the ground lightly with my toes.
‘This is strange. What did I do wrong…?’
Even as I exchanged words with Yang Do Jin, my older brother Nam Goong Baek remained silent.
The sight of him reminded me so much of when we first met that my heart grew anxious.
As the two of us talked, Maeng Woo Hee, apparently bored, suddenly spoke to Nam Goong Baek.
“Hey, silver-haired one, how old are you?”
With only children around, Maeng Woo Hee’s tone became far more boisterous.
It was only natural, having lived her entire life as a Valley Master.
“…Ha.”
Nam Goong Baek, already irritated, turned his head away as if to say don’t talk to me.
But Maeng Woo Hee proved to be a formidable opponent.
“What, are you too embarrassed to tell the truth because you look so old for your age? I’ve already figured out that your silver hair is actually premature gray.”
“….”
When Nam Goong Baek showed no reaction to her continued teasing, Maeng Woo Hee turned her gaze toward me.
“How old is that young master from the Nam Goong Family?”
I glanced at Nam Goong Baek’s expression before answering.
“He’s eleven years old!”
“Oh, so he’s the same age as me. Then, has he married yet?”
I was so taken aback.
At the unexpected question, Nam Goong Baek nearly spat out the water he hadn’t even drunk.
I shook my head vigorously. Then Maeng Woo Hee pressed further.
“Then is there a betrothed already arranged?”
This time, I didn’t answer immediately and asked in return.
“…Why do you ask?”
“Why? Because I too must marry soon to solidify my position as Valley Master.”
Hm?
At those words, I furrowed my brow slightly.
“I’ve always thought about it. I’d like my second husband to have a fair complexion and a pretty face.”
‘Second’ husband?
In that moment, the three children from the Central Plains doubted their own ears.
Among them, Nam Goong Baek was the most shocked.
He muttered in disbelief.
“Not even the first one…?”
But Maeng Woo Hee paid no attention whatsoever to the atmosphere around her.
“My first husband simply must be the most valiant warrior in all of Nam Man! His chest should be broad and muscular like this!”
Maeng Woo Hee gesticulated wildly with both hands as she spoke.
“And he ought to have three or four scars across it—the kind that look like tiger claw marks!”
That was what a proper Nam Man warrior should look like, after all. Hehehehe!
Listening to Maeng Woo Hee’s words, I found myself reflecting.
‘A warrior like that… I feel like I’ve seen one before…’
But my thoughts were interrupted when Yang Do Jin spoke up.
His expression betrayed utter confusion.
“Hong Seol, didn’t you say that Five Poison Valley is a sect that specializes in poison…?”
So why is the Valley Master so fixated on a muscular physique?
Yang Do Jin asked the question. But I had no answer to give him.
“I don’t know, maybe it’s just her preference?”
At those words, Yang Do Jin swallowed hard and gathered his courage to ask.
“Then what is your preference, Hong Seol…?”
But his question was immediately drowned out by Maeng Woo Hee’s booming voice.
“And my third husband should be…!”
“Sigh.”
Nam Goong Baek, unable to endure Maeng Woo Hee’s endless chatter any longer, let out an exasperated breath.
He looked as though he would stuff candle wax in his ears if he could.
His blue eyes were rapidly losing their luster from exhaustion.
‘I’m actually starting to miss that snake woman from the Sa Cheon Dang Family…’
At least then I could shoot her with a numbing needle to silence this loud-mouthed girl.
Yet Maeng Woo Hee continued to ramble on. Perhaps this was her own way of relieving tension.
“You there, the one in rags!”
“M-me?”
“Yes. Your name is Yang Do Jin, correct?”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
Yang Do Jin answered, bewildered by the sudden attention.
“You’re not a bad candidate for a husband either, from what I can see.”
Caught off guard by this sudden turn of events, Yang Do Jin jumped to his feet.
“W-what are you saying, Valley Master! Surely that wealthy young master over there would be far more suitable than me!”
Whoosh.
Yang Do Jin’s finger pointed directly at Nam Goong Baek. In response, Nam Goong Baek’s gaze turned glacial, radiating a chilling killing intent.
But Maeng Woo Hee paid no attention, lost in her own contemplation.
“Both are acceptable, but if I were to take two husbands from the Central Plains, I wonder what the Council of Elders would say about it…?”
Hearing this, Yang Do Jin stole a glance at me. But I kept my expression unreadable.
As a result, Yang Do Jin’s unease only grew with each passing moment.
‘I really hope the Master defeats the Human-Faced Spider and returns soon.’
So the Valley Master will stop this ridiculous talk about potential grooms…
Just as Yang Do Jin was thinking this.
Screeeeeech….
His exceptionally keen ears caught an unnatural sound.
‘Could it be… that sound!’
In an instant, Yang Do Jin’s eyes widened to their absolute limit.
“It’s… the Human-Faced Spider!”
“What?”
Upon hearing those words, Hong Seol’s mind went blank.
‘The Human-Faced Spider is here… could it be that…?’
Did it… happen to Grandfather?
Her thoughts kept threatening to scatter. Hong Seol shook her small head forcefully and swallowed hard.
‘It can’t be. It can’t possibly be…’
But she had heard this cave was a dead end.
Yet from the direction Grandfather had disappeared, what returned was the very monster he had boasted of capturing.
There was only one answer.
Grandfather had fallen to the monster.
To that Human-Faced Spider that crunches human bones between its teeth.
“No, this can’t be…”
My heart pounded violently, and my fingertips turned ice-cold. It felt as though I had been poisoned by a deadly toxin.
That was when it happened.
A human face with a sickly yellow smile suddenly materialized from the darkness.
Whoosh!
An enormous creature swung itself through the air using the silk threads hanging from the ceiling like a rope.
The ghastly yellow grin drew closer in an instant.
Yang Do Jin screamed until blood rose in his throat.
“Everyone, get back!”
The children quickly dodged, each gasping for breath.
Hong Seol remained rooted in place.
Staring blankly toward the direction where Nam Goong Ho and Tian Tong Gai had vanished.
“…!”
“No!”
Before Nam Goong Baek could even draw his sword or Yang Do Jin could rush forward.
The Human-Faced Spider bared its venomous fangs and lunged at Hong Seol’s throat.
That was the moment.
Crack!
My fist—soft as cotton, hard as stone—drove straight into the center of the Human-Faced Spider’s forehead.
“You wretched creature!”
Every ounce of the martial power I had received from Dok Bi Jo was concentrated in that single blow.
Boom!
The Human-Faced Spider flipped backward with a tremendous crash.
Apparently startled, the creature thrashed about, unable to immediately right itself.
But that was far from the end.
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!
The kitten’s fierce fists rained down mercilessly upon the Human-Faced Spider’s belly.
It was the Five Boundary Divine Fist—a supreme technique of the Nam Goong Family, no, of Hong Seol alone.
“Spit out our grandfather, you wretched creature!”
The yellow patterns on the Human-Faced Spider, which had been laughing moments before, trembled as if struck by an earthquake.
“Kyaaaah!”
Who was striking whom, exactly?
As Hong Seol’s fists flew relentlessly, tears streamed down her cheeks without restraint.
Screeeech!
The startled Human-Faced Spider shot silk from its rear toward the ceiling.
Splat!
The Human-Faced Spider, now suspended on its own silk thread in mid-air, rolled all eight of its eyes menacingly toward Hong Seol.
It seemed this was the first time such a tiny human had attacked it with such ferocity.
But Hong Seol had no intention of letting the Human-Faced Spider escape.
She had to find her grandfather’s bones, even if they were inside that creature’s belly.
“Sniff, sniff! Won’t you spit out our grandfather? Then I’ll make you spit him out!”
Whoooosh.
Hong Seol drew upon her inner force. She intended to scale the wall using the Heavenly Wind Divine Method.
The Human-Faced Spider, facing her challenge, ominously twitched its rear.
Screeeech!
In that instant, a sound rang out as if the very air itself were being torn asunder.
Whoosh!
A shadow, swift as a wild beast, seized Hong Seol by the waist.
It was Maeng Woo Hee.
Splatter!
The spot where Hong Seol had been standing moments before was now covered in white, sticky silk.
Had she been even a moment slower, Hong Seol’s small fists, eyes, nose, and mouth would all have been sealed shut by the web.
“Uh… uh…”
Hong Seol, barely saved, stood with her face streaked with tears, blinking her eyes.
“You!”
Maeng Woo Hee’s sharp rebuke cut through the air.
The playful demeanor from moments before—all that nonsense about husband material—had vanished without a trace.
With her stern expression, Maeng Woo Hee resembled a venomous spider herself.
“The Human-Faced Spider is no ordinary foe. How could you charge in so recklessly!”
Though her tone seemed harsh, it was laced with genuine concern.
It appeared that Maeng Woo Hee became quite the nag once she grew close to someone.
At that moment, Hong Seol cried out through her tears.
“V-Valley Master! That creature definitely swallowed our grandfather!”
“Wh-what!”
Maeng Woo Hee fell into deep thought and drew a breath. Yang Do Jin, too, became lost in contemplation and barely managed to speak.
“M-Master!”
It was then that Nam Goong Baek’s cool voice rang out.
“Seol Ah.”
“Brother Baek!”
It was a term of endearment she hadn’t heard in so long. At that gentle tone, Hong Seol felt her emotions surge uncontrollably.
Nam Goong Baek, meanwhile, remained composed. He pointed with his long fingers at the Human-Faced Spider suspended in the air.
“Look at the size of its belly, Seol Ah.”
Hong Seol steadied her breathing and examined the Human-Faced Spider carefully.
It was so small it couldn’t have swallowed a single baby goat, let alone a human.
“Wh-what…?”
Hong Seol blinked her eyes.
Something didn’t add up.
Just moments ago, she was certain it must have devoured her grandfather… or so she thought.
Following Brother Baek’s words and examining it slowly, she felt as though an entirely different world was coming into view.
Nam Goong Baek continued softly.
“I don’t know what happened deep in that cave, but the Former Patriarch of the Nam Goong Family would never fall to something like that.”
Only then did Hong Seol’s mind settle.
‘That’s right. I was thinking too hastily. Grandfather must be safe.’
If even she had managed to strike the monster’s head successfully, there was no way her grandfather and the others couldn’t have dealt with it.
The moment that thought crossed her mind.
Hong Seol felt Maeng Woo Hee’s muscles beside her tense sharply.
“L-Look at that…!”

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