A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 215

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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 215
“So.”
“Huh?”
The Seven Oddities who had been swimming froze under the weight of that tone.
“What in blazes are you doing coming to Deng Peak?”
“Thievery, gambling, smuggling, assassination, kidnapping, fraud. Normally we run the Back Alleys of Deng Peak, but only when the rains come and the waters swell do we dabble in piracy!”
Piracy was a profession, apparently.
Their pitiful attempt to maintain some semblance of past glory was almost touching in its desperation.
“How proud.”
The moment Nam Goong Baek’s lips curled into a smirk.
“I don’t know which Nam Goong you are, but you’re the pathetic one!”
A rotund pirate with the character ‘二’ tattooed on his belly in ink drew the curved blade at his waist and charged.
Crack!
The slashing blade embedded itself not even an inch from Nam Goong Baek’s feet.
Yet he didn’t even blink.
Through his expanded perception, he already knew someone was quietly cutting through the water from behind.
Ragged breathing, trembling arms.
He could tell their technique wouldn’t be particularly refined.
Splash-splash-splash!
Seizing the moment, the Dengfeng Seven Oddities scrambled onto the raft in unison.
Each wielded a crude curved blade in hand.
Nam Goong Baek remained utterly composed.
‘Still, this is tedious.’
A swarm of flies wouldn’t kill a wolf, after all.
‘But I need to reach Hong Seol quickly.’
By now the sun had dipped below the horizon, and darkness enveloped everything.
Yet the Bamboo Forest visible in the distance remained eerily silent. That troubled me more.
Nam Goong Baek pressed strength into his Yongcheon point, bending and straightening his knees slightly.
The pirates on the raft turned ashen.
“Is he going to do it again?!”
“Just hold on! Everyone plant your blades in the logs and brace yourselves!”
Thunk!
Crack!
Rough blade marks appeared across the timber from every direction.
In that instant, Nam Goong Baek launched himself into the air.
Sway!
The raft lurched violently.
The Dengfeng Seven Oddities, eyes squeezed shut against the surging spray, exchanged relieved glances.
“We held strong, boss!”
“Now let’s finish this in one breath!”
But this time, Nam Goong Baek had not stepped on the platform.
Instead, he pushed one side of the raft with the technique of a thousand-pound weight, as if shoving a swing.
Next, he shifted one foot lightly and pushed the other side.
His movements were so graceful they could have been called a dance.
“Some old woman who taught me the sword said something like that.”
The raft, which had seemed to wobble slightly at first, began to experience increasingly violent oscillations.
“If you fall for the same technique twice, then it’s the victim’s fault.”
The moment the swaying raft tried to return to its position, it surged upward as if about to flip in the opposite direction.
Then again.
And again after that.
“Aaaahhhhh!”
The water bandits were scattered into the air like black ash being brushed off roasted sweet potatoes.
Splash! Splooosh!
The massive raft, which had moved freely beneath Nam Goong Baek’s feet, finally came to rest only after scattering all of the Dengfeng Seven Oddities.
Only the scars left by rough-edged curved blades remained embedded in the raft like wounds.
The water bandits who had been thrown far away this time remained unconscious, drifting across the waves.
“I thought it wouldn’t be the end!”
“You!”
Nam Goong Baek dodged a vicious palm strike that came rushing at him by leaning his body backward.
“Are you the First Oddity?”
Before his eyes spread a corpse-pale palm.
It was the old man who had been standing at the bow of the raft with his hand to his forehead.
His face was covered entirely in age spots, and an ominous blue light swirled around both his hands.
The struggling Seventh Oddity brightened.
“Our eldest brother’s epithet is the Ghost Hand Elder!”
An old man with the hands of a ghost.
Nam Goong Baek narrowed his eyes, assessing his opponent’s strength.
‘This man possesses the most profound inner energy here.’
Indeed, the ominous Orthodox Sect aura rising faintly was deeply unsettling.
The old man met Nam Goong Baek’s gaze with eyes that burned like embers.
“Tormenting the Ghost Hand Elder’s younger brothers—you certainly have nerve!”
“The age difference seems too great to call them younger brothers. How about calling them grandsons instead?”
“A green brat showing no respect to his elders in the Martial Arts World.”
“For someone claiming to be an elder of the Martial Arts World, the epithet ‘Ghost Hand Elder’ is far too unfamiliar.”
“You! Impudent little wretch!”
The old man fell directly into Nam Goong Baek’s verbal trap.
All the frustration from constantly dealing with his foolish younger brothers and Dang Yi Woon had finally borne fruit.
‘To fall for such a cheap trick—he’s an amateur.’
The moment Nam Goong Baek inwardly dismissed his opponent.
Boom!
His palm struck Nam Goong Baek’s left shoulder with vicious force.
“Ugh!”
In that instant, Nam Goong Baek felt a pain so intense it seemed to stop his breath.
The point of contact with the old man’s palm felt as though it were being torn away.
A master of such caliber that it was unbelievable he could be lumped together with the water droplets scattered about.
“Is it an Ice Technique…!”
Nam Goong Baek’s refined lips trembled as he barely steadied his swaying frame.
“Tsk tsk, how does this old man’s Nine Yin Frozen Bone Palm taste? Does the numbness pierce to your very bones? Does it feel as though your meridians are freezing solid?”
Nam Goong Baek remained silent, wincing with a muffled groan.
True to the old man’s words, his palm technique was swift and merciless.
“Today I shall teach you arrogant whelp the proper etiquette for addressing an elder of the Martial Arts World!”
Before Nam Goong Baek could even respond, the old man lunged forward with both palms extended.
Crash!
In a flash, Nam Goong Baek gritted his teeth and pushed back against the incoming dual palms.
With an ice technique, evasion without contact would have been ideal, but there was no opportunity for that.
‘I have to deflect with my wrists at least. If I expose a vital point, it’s over.’
The strike to his left shoulder alone had been devastating.
A direct hit to a vital point would likely be fatal.
“Ugh!”
Yet even in that brief moment of deflecting the old man’s dual palms with his wrists, the damage accumulated relentlessly.
Before long, a thin, brittle layer of ice clung to the surface of Nam Goong Baek’s garments.
As he moved to brush it away, he froze. His wrists throbbed as though pierced by blades.
The old man chuckled.
“You seem to be in pain. Tell me, does this live up to being called the Ghost Hand?”
“…No, not at all.”
It was a jab at his pride. The old man’s jaw tightened.
“You dodge the vital points well enough, but… how about this!”
Ghost Hand Elder extended both palms toward Nam Goong Baek.
Crash crash crash crash crash!
The two exchanged blows in mere seconds.
The movements were twice as fast as before.
But Nam Goong Baek’s shock came for a different reason.
‘Not the vital points?’
The Ghost Hand Elder’s attack pattern, which had relentlessly targeted vital points, had changed.
Boom!
“Finally caught you!”
Nam Goong Baek’s two hands were now locked against the Ghost Hand Elder’s palms.
It was precisely because Nam Goong Baek had sustained a wound to his palms in their previous encounter that his movements were slightly slower than usual.
“Kekekeke!”
The old man laughed, spraying spittle.
“Now that a proper Nine Yin Ice Bone Palm has fallen into someone’s hands, you’ll never be able to wield the Nam Goong Family sword you’re so proud of again!”
* * *
Whoosh.
A small spark of light flew up from Hong Seol’s delicate palm.
“Ohhh….”
Following the trajectory of the firefly’s ascent, Hong Seol’s head tilted upward as well.
Between the verdant bamboo leaves, thousands upon thousands of lights traced beautiful arcs across the darkness.
In the profound silence, the pure beauty was overwhelming.
Hong Seol found herself speechless for a long moment.
“What do you think?”
It was Dang Yi Woon, standing beside her.
Hong Seol’s expression was dreamy and enchanted.
“…It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like this in my entire life.”
“Hmm.”
Dang Yi Woon cleared his throat.
“Sichuan has a Bamboo Forest just as lovely, filled with fireflies like these.”
Dang Yi Woon’s attempt to casually suggest she move to Sichuan fell flat.
Hong Seol was lost in thought, her cheeks puffed out and her lips pouted.
“Brother, fireflies are insects, aren’t they?”
“Uh, y-yes, I suppose they are?”
At Dang Yi Woon’s words, Hong Seol’s mind immediately conjured Nam Goong Baek.
Her fastidious older brother who despised insects.
As Hong Seol turned back to Dang Yi Woon, her dark eyes sparkled with mischief.
“Brother, let’s make a bet!”

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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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