A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 209

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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 209
“Welcome!”
As a customer happened to enter and the Pawnshop Owner became distracted, I leaned close to Baek Gu’s ear and whispered.
“Little one, you can understand what I’m saying, right?”
“Yelp (Yes, I can).”
I set the puppy down on the floor and crouched before him.
Baek Gu shook his body once and settled obediently in front of me.
As if waiting for my next words.
“Good boy.”
I stroked Baek Gu and spoke.
“From now on, you need to listen carefully to what I’m about to tell you. Your owner, Grandmother…”
I bit my lip and lowered my eyes.
“She has passed away.”
“Yelp (What does that mean, miss)?”
The innocent young Baek Gu did not understand my words.
Likely because he had never experienced death before.
“For a while now… or rather, for more than a hundred nights, you won’t be able to see Grandmother.”
“Woof (That can’t be)!”
The puppy suddenly sprang to his feet and barked loudly.
“Tch, what a racket!”
The Pawnshop Owner, who had been attending to the customer, began to approach angrily, but quick-witted Dang Yi Woon blocked his path.
“Master, I’ve brought the leaf tea for our guest.”
The visiting lady brightened at the sight of the handsome Dang Yi Woon.
“Oh, is this young man a new worker you’ve hired?”
“Yes, indeed. Haha!”
With Dang Yi Woon between them, the owner and customer exchanged cheerful laughter.
Thanks to this, I avoided being thrown out and gently patted Baek Gu.
“Yelp (So now I’ll never smell Grandmother again)?”
I nodded heavily. Baek Gu’s ears drooped sadly.
“Yelp (Why? I was such a good puppy…. I kept waiting and listening to Grandmother’s words)….”
Sadness gathered in Baek Gu’s innocent eyes.
“Whimper (…Did Grandmother abandon me)?”
“No!”
I pulled Baek Gu’s small body into a tight embrace.
“Never think that.”
“Yelp (Did I eat too much food? Or was it because I chased the cats)…?”
“It’s not that. Grandmother had to leave suddenly because something urgent came up. When a very long time passes… you’ll definitely be able to see Grandmother again.”
“Yelp (I see)….”
The innocent young Baek Gu seemed to believe my words.
In that moment, a question arose in my own heart.
‘If little Baek Gu can meet his grandmother, then perhaps one day I might see my mother again, even though she’s gone.’
As for my father, whom I have no memory of meeting—that’s a different matter.
Hong Seol still occasionally recalled the lullabies her mother had sung to her in childhood.
‘I wonder what mother’s face looked like. I want to be held in her arms again. I want to hear her voice once more….’
Hong Seol swallowed down the longing that threatened to overwhelm her.
“This is not the time for such thoughts.”
I had so much to do.
I needed to find the Golden Cat Sect and free Nam Goong Baek from his addiction, and I had to liberate Yi Woon as well.
And I had to reunite this little puppy with his family too.
“Do you remember your grandmother’s son?”
Baek Gu’s eyes lit up instantly.
“Woof! Our big brother! He’s so handsome with that deep tan, and he’s incredibly strong! When he comes home, he scratches my belly like this!”
Baek Gu seemed quite proud of his brother, his demeanor brightening.
“Where is this brother of yours right now?”
“Whimper… I don’t know. He only comes by very rarely.”
“Is there anything distinctive about him?”
“Whimper… He smells of earth. There’s always dirt under his fingernails too.”
Hong Seol sighed inwardly.
What Baek Gu had described were simply the characteristics of an ordinary farmer.
Given Baek Gu’s small size and his reliance on scent to perceive the world, perhaps that was the best description he could offer.
“Whimper… His hands are very rough when he scratches my belly, and oh!”
Baek Gu’s eyes brightened, and he eagerly tapped his front paws on the ground a couple of times.
“Woof! He has a big mole on his cheek!”
Hong Seol rose to her feet.
That much information would be enough to search for the man.
“Good. Then wait here until I bring your brother back. Can you do that?”
“Woof! I’m very good at waiting!”
Hong Seol nodded and called out to the Pawnshop Owner.
“Owner, could you look after this dog while I’m away?”
“Eh? But….”
The owner’s expression twisted.
Before he could refuse, Hong Seol spoke quickly.
“I’ll pay you generously for caring for the puppy.”
Her voice was so quiet that the hired worker chatting animatedly with a customer couldn’t hear it.
She couldn’t let her brother know she was spending the silver she’d exchanged for her freedom on a shabby dog.
“Then, I’m counting on you!”
Hong Seol hurried out of the pawnshop before the owner could refuse.
By now, the rain outside had stopped.
As I ran through the wet streets, I pondered the question.
“I can communicate so well with a puppy, so why can’t I seem to get through to Nam Goong Baek….”
A sigh escaped her lips.
A shadow slipped silently behind Hong Seol as she rushed forward, her head bowed low.
* * *
After some time had passed, Hong Seol arrived at her destination: the Deep Mountain.
While all mountains held their own character, this place carried an unusually fresh and pleasant earthen fragrance.
“I must be close now.”
Standing on her tiptoes, Hong Seol gazed at the smoke rising in the distance.
It was unmistakably the smoke from a kiln used to fire pottery.
Before long, Hong Seol found herself before a kiln situated on a patch of firmly packed earth.
It was a surprisingly modest kiln.
“Is anyone here?”
At Hong Seol’s call, a man who had been breaking pine branches to feed the fire in the corner before the kiln stepped forward.
By his gaunt features, he appeared to be a man burdened by deep sorrows.
“Who might you be?”
Rather than answer, Hong Seol quickly assessed the man’s appearance.
It was the habit of a martial artist—to gauge one’s opponent at a glance.
‘His frame is sturdy and well-built, and his face is darkened by sun exposure from outdoor labor.’
Yet there was no sign that he had trained in martial arts.
That meant he was unlikely to be a Demonic Cult infiltrator at Deng Peak.
Hong Seol exhaled softly in relief.
She had spoken boldly before Dang Yi Woon, projecting confidence.
But in truth, she had been quite tense throughout the journey.
She had sensed several ominous presences trailing behind her the entire way.
Those presences had vanished the moment she entered the Deep Mountain.
‘I was simply being overly cautious.’
After taking a deep breath, Hong Seol looked again at the man before her.
‘The muscles in his arms have developed from kneading and mixing clay. And given how much mud clings to his cheeks….’
“…You’re a Potter, aren’t you?”
“Yes, that I am, but….”
The Potter stared at Hong Seol with a bewildered expression.
It was no wonder—those who came here to purchase fine ceramics were typically merchants.
Not a young lady dressed in such elegant silk garments as Hong Seol.
“Is this the Kiln Site where ceramic pillows are made?”
Hong Seol’s gaze had already shifted past the Potter’s shoulder toward the Storage.
Through the wide-open door, which allowed the wind to flow freely, she could see ceramics densely arranged on shelves and tables.
Yet their forms differed somewhat from the ordinary ceramics she knew.
The overall shape resembled a box with rounded corners.
But given the absence of a lid, it was clearly not a box.
The size was roughly two hand-spans, measured against Hong Seol’s own hand.
The pale surface was covered with countless pearl-like patterns, and a parrot motif adorned the upper rim with striking clarity.
‘That’s it.’
Hong Seol smiled faintly upon recognizing the object she’d been searching for.
A ceramic pillow.
An object designed to cradle one’s head during sleep.
Popular in summer for its cooling sensation and its reputation for clarifying both skin and mind.
‘I realized it the moment Jin Mok’s accomplice mentioned hiding the Golden Cat Sect at the Kiln Site.’
Songshan, where Shaolin stood, was also a place where excellent clay emerged from the earth.
The Kiln Site here had earned renown for producing ceramic pillows of exceptional quality.
‘Besides, a ceramic pillow’s shape is perfectly suited for concealing something inside, isn’t it?’
While the Potter wasn’t watching, one could simply bury it within well-kneaded clay.
The Golden Cat Sect hidden within the ceramic pillow would pass through two kiln-firing processes before ending up in that Storage—until the merchant company operated by the Demonic Cult came to collect it brazenly.
And the ceramic pillow containing the Golden Cat Sect would masquerade as trade goods, piercing through the surveillance networks of both Shaolin and the Government Office.
And the acupuncture needle held by the Golden Cat Sect will penetrate the border defenses of Shaolin and the Government Office by disguising itself as a trade good.
“You’ve come to purchase ceramic pillows?”
“Yes, might I see the merchandise?”
“Well, looking is certainly permitted, but…”
Disregarding the Potter’s lukewarm response, Hong Seol moved forward with measured steps.
The bewildered Potter followed, offering explanation.
“Our goods command quite a price.”
“That’s fine.”
As Hong Seol peered into the Storage, at least a hundred ceramic pillows came into view.
Seeing them, a question Dang Yi Woon had posed came to mind.
“Seol Ah, how will you know which ceramic pillow contains the Golden Cat Sect?”
To Dang Yi Woon’s words, Hong Seol offered no response—only a slight smile.
“Ah, seeing you smile like that, you clearly have a method but are keeping it hidden to surprise me?”
It wasn’t intentional concealment.
At that time, I simply couldn’t bring myself to speak.
The truth that there was no way to immediately identify which ceramic pillow held the Golden Cat Sect.
‘But instead, I have another method.’
Hong Seol turned calmly to face the Potter and spoke.
“I’ll purchase them all—every ceramic pillow here.”
Wasn’t that precisely why I sold the Young Master of the Sichuan Tang Family to the Pawnshop?
“Y-yes?”
“I said I’m buying them all!”

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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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