A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 204

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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 204
By the narrowest margin, Won Mok unleashed Shaolin’s signature technique, the Eighteen Arhat Hands, deflecting the attack away.
A brilliant flash.
Golden light blazed forth once more.
The darkness receded from Jin Mok’s eyes.
Yet Jin Mok seemed unable to command his own body as he wished.
His face contorted in anguish, Jin Mok stumbled backward before collapsing to the ground.
“Master! I’m terrified! Save me!”
But the sinister demonic energy that had erupted from the Golden Needle and Jade Liquid acupoints had already saturated every inch of Jin Mok’s body.
“I will help you!”
Won Mok hastily crossed his legs beside the prostrate Jin Mok and sat down.
Raising his index and middle fingers, he pressed them against Jin Mok’s acupoints and entered a meditative state to channel his inner energy.
Won Mok’s body blazed with golden light far more brilliant than before.
The Great Vehicle Prajna Heart Technique.
He was channeling the inner power infused with Buddhist energy cultivated over a lifetime, attempting to suppress and contain Jin Mok’s demonic corruption.
Drip, drip.
Beads of sweat fell from Won Mok’s forehead.
The technique was working—Jin Mok’s breathing had become slightly more steady.
“Seize them!”
“Demonic Cult members! The Demonic Cult has infiltrated Shaolin!”
At the commotion, the golden light radiating from Won Mok’s body abruptly ceased.
When he opened his eyes, burly monks had already encircled him.
They had Jin Mok’s limbs pinned firmly to the ground.
Emerging slowly from behind them was Jang Gyeong Hall Master Won Gwan.
“Ah, Amitabha Buddha.”
Won Gwan recognized Jin Mok at once.
A sneer twisted across his broad face.
“So the rumors were true—the child born between a courtesan and an Arhat Monk has indeed become a member of the Demonic Cult.”
Won Gwan raised one hand with a sharp gesture.
“Monks of Janggyeonggak, form the Geumgang Hangma Formation!”
The Dining Hall Master Won Mok’s eyes widened in alarm.
“Hall Master Won Gwan, no! This child did not learn demonic arts of his own volition!”
As if deaf to his desperate plea, the monks swiftly arranged themselves into formation.
Though not as formidable as the One Hundred Eight Arhats’ Geumgang Hangma Formation, it was still devastatingly powerful.
“Hah!”
As they released their inner energy in unison with a shout.
A scream erupted from Jin Mok’s lips as he lay helpless.
“Aaaaaaahhhhh!”
Jin Mok’s limbs convulsed.
“Aaaaaaahhhhh!”
His body convulsed in agony, as though his breath might cease at any moment.
Won Mok, startled, crawled forward on his knees and grasped Won Gwan’s pant leg.
“Please, I beg you—stop this, Senior Brother Won Gwan! I am begging you like this.”
Yet Won Gwan merely shook his head, a faint smile playing at his lips.
All the while, Jin Mok thrashed violently against his captors, his body writhing.
“Ahhhhhhh! Master, please, help me—ahhhhhhh!”
At the unbearable screams, Won Mok’s teeth ground together audibly.
“The Abbot! The Abbot will come and witness all of this!”
“As you well know, Senior Brother, the Abbot is currently training alone elsewhere. No one can disturb him. And there is no risk of sound escaping from this place.”
Won Gwan, whose gaze had been fixed on his subordinates maintaining their formation, spoke with unwavering confidence.
“And what would be wrong with the Abbot seeing this, Senior Brother? I am merely disciplining a Demonic Cult member according to our laws.”
“You—do you truly believe the Abbot would say such a thing, knowing that you concealed the Golden Cat Sect?”
In that instant, Won Gwan’s expression transformed completely.
“So you did know, Senior Brother?”
“Indeed! When you served as the Guest Reception Hall Master, a man came to Shaolin.”
The Guest Reception Hall was where Shaolin received and entertained visitors.
“He stayed only one night like any other guest, but I saw it clearly with my own eyes—you receiving something made of gold from that man and concealing it.”
And I even witnessed that man transform into a cat and vanish.
“A relic from a lost sect falling into your hands! Greed seized you, and there were no eyes watching nearby.”
Won Mok’s words were true.
Won Gwan had intended to sell the Golden Cat Sect later and amass a fortune, or use it to protect himself.
In Jianghu, one never knew when or where poison might strike, and Won Gwan’s martial prowess was unremarkable.
The greed of a single monk named Won Gwan had rendered the Golden Cat Sect a treasure lost forever.
“Until now, I held my silence to avoid creating discord, but I will remain silent no longer.”
Won Gwan’s complexion turned ashen under his senior brother’s condemnation.
Yet his face soon regained its color, as shameless men’s faces inevitably do.
Instead, he turned and intimidated Won Mok, his senior.
“Discord? Do you truly claim you kept silent all this time for the sake of avoiding discord, Senior Brother?”
A laugh of disbelief escaped him.
“You hoped, didn’t you? That this child who became a Demonic Cult member might return to Shaolin, coveting the Golden Cat Sect.”
Contempt overflowed from Won Gwan’s face.
“That perhaps he might meet with you and change his heart. You have cultivated the Great Prajna Heart Sutra all this time for that single hope, have you not?”
To purify that child’s body, should he have learned demonic arts, and to keep him bound to Shaolin.
“When you heard from the Abbot that a Demonic Cult spy might come to Shaolin seeking the Golden Cat Sect, how delighted you must have been.”
Won Gwan’s eyes, filled with scorn, lashed at Won Mok like a whip.
“Tsk, a follower of Buddha harboring a Demonic Cult member…”
Won Mok could say nothing in response.
Emboldened, Won Gwan commanded his subordinate monks.
“Show no mercy to the Demonic Cult member! Maintain the formation of the Geumgang Hangma Formation!”
“Yes!”
The monks of Janggyeonggak, blindly loyal to Won Gwan, answered as one.
Won Gwan seized Jin Mok’s throat as he writhed in agony and shook him violently.
“Speak, you whelp of the Demonic Cult. Where did you hide the Golden Cat Sect?”
“Ugh….”
Jin Mok could barely open his eyes against the pain.
“Speak at once! Tell me where the Golden Cat Sect is!”
Thud!
In that instant, Won Gwan tumbled forward.
Standing behind him was the Abbot of Shaolin, Won Cheong, who commanded the One Hundred Eight Arhats.
Sprawled on the ground, Won Gwan barely recognized him.
“A, Abbot, you were in meditation. How did you….”
The Abbot of Shaolin, second to none in his fiery temperament.
“Won Gwan, you wretch!”
His whiskers bristled and his eyes blazed as he glared at the Jang Gyeong Hall Master Won Gwan.
“Did you truly deceive me and hide this thing called the Golden Cat Sect!”
“That, that, that is….”
Won Gwan, his flesh rippling with fat, wrapped his head in both hands and trembled violently.
The monks of Janggyeonggak were no different.
They served in Janggyeonggak precisely because they had failed to become One Hundred Eight Arhats.
In martial prowess, they could not compare to the Arhats.
The Abbot’s voice turned glacial.
“Your crimes will be punished severely once this situation is resolved.”
The Abbot recognized the face of Jin Mok lying on the ground and asked sharply.
“Won Mok, can you suppress this child’s demonic energy with the Great Prajna Heart Sutra?”
Understanding the Abbot’s concern for Jin Mok, he was offering an opportunity.
“…Yes, yes! Abbot!”
Won Mok pushed through the monks and approached Jin Mok.
“Jin Mok!”
“M, Master…?”
Jin Mok, barely opening his eyes, finally showed a look of relief.
“The golden shadow I saw in my dream was you, Master….”
Though his words were somewhat delirious, he was alive nonetheless.
“Amitabha Buddha, thank you, Amitabha Buddha…!”
The moment Won Mok sat in lotus position to unfold the Great Prajna Heart Sutra again, he saw it clearly.
A cat’s pink tail peeking out from behind the Abbot, then vanishing.
And in the next moment.
The mercenary “Fur Ball,” who had disappeared from sight, rounded the corner and appeared.
‘Could it be that this one…the Abbot…!’
* * *
The afternoon of my first day at Shaolin.
Hong Seol had finally gained the opportunity to wander the Sect Grounds alone.
It was thanks to Bul Mok Hani’s errand—to gather some water spinach from the Vegetable Garden that had run short.
‘While I’m at the garden, he probably meant for me to catch my breath as well.’
It was a considerate gesture toward someone who had worked so hard, but Hong Seol had no intention of resting.
‘Since I don’t know how the search for the Golden Cat Sect will unfold, I should scout the surroundings.’
However, as I wandered the Sect Grounds, I soon released a heavy sigh and abandoned my patrol.
Perhaps because it was broad daylight, there were far too many watchful eyes.
And there were certainly no buildings a mere laborer could slip into.
Then a place caught my attention.
Surrounded densely by tall trees stood stone pagodas of various sizes arranged in harmonious composition.
The stone pagodas, numbering at least fifty, gleamed crimson in the afternoon sunlight.
The name of this place was the Pagoda Forest.
It was truly a ‘forest made of pagodas’.
“Wow!”
I leaned my torso backward, shading my eyes with my hand as I marveled at the sight.
This caught the attention of an Arhat Monk passing by.
“Hey, you can’t just enter that place!”
“Yes, I’ll just look from outside!”
Despite my prompt response, I was already formulating a plan to slip inside.
‘A restricted area? That’s the perfect place to hide the Golden Cat Sect!’
Moments later, a small cat emerged from behind a tree and trotted away.
But as I boldly stepped into the Pagoda Forest, my spirits quickly dampened.
‘It’s enormous—far too enormous!’
I was considering whether I should give up and just go gather the water spinach.
Then, from the center of the Pagoda Forest, I sensed an unusual presence.
‘Could the Golden Cat Sect really be here?’
Filled with anticipation, I bounded toward the source of the presence on all fours with lightning speed.
But there was no Golden Cat Sect—only an elderly monk sitting in lotus position.
With his eyes closed, he appeared to be in deep meditation.
‘Who is this old man? He’s clearly a Shaolin Temple monk, judging by his yellow robes… but…’
I examined his face carefully.
His eyebrows, which rose sharply on both sides, conveyed an intimidating temperament.
‘Whoever he is, it doesn’t matter! If I accidentally disturb him, I might trigger a deviation in his cultivation. I should leave.’
Not long after I turned my footsteps away.
‘Hm?’
My nose twitched.
A pungent smell wafted from somewhere.
‘F-Fire?’
Startled, I leaped onto a nearby pagoda.
From there, I could see the situation stretching far into the distance.
Hong Seol’s eyes widened at the sight unfolding before her.
‘No, this can’t be happening!’
Crimson flames spread outward from the elderly monk seated in lotus position.

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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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