A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 219

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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 219
Hong Seol could no longer contain herself and cried out the name that had haunted her heart.
“Baek Elder Brother!”
With that, she bolted forward, her bundle of acupuncture needles slung across her shoulder.
Every fiber of her being yearned to throw her arms around his neck and collapse into his embrace, yet she could not.
What if Baek Elder Brother’s condition had worsened in her absence?
What if he was suffering greatly?
“Hah… hah…”
Instead, Hong Seol approached him breathless, her gaze boring into Nam Goong Baek’s face with unwavering intensity.
‘He’s grown thin…’
The gauntness that had deepened in Baek Elder Brother’s cheeks pierced her heart.
It was then.
“…Seol Ah.”
He suddenly placed his hand upon her small shoulder and drew her toward him with deliberate force.
Hong Seol blinked, allowing herself to be guided along.
Nam Goong Baek lowered his head, bringing his face close to hers.
His silver-tinged eyelashes lay within her immediate sight.
Had he drawn any nearer, those delicate lashes might have brushed against her cheek.
‘What is this feeling…?’
Thump, thump…
Overwhelmed by an emotion she had never experienced in her entire life, Hong Seol felt her heart might burst from her chest.
“This is the last time.”
Nam Goong Baek’s voice resonated low and quiet.
“…Just once more, as the last time.”
Touch.
In the next instant, Hong Seol’s and Nam Goong Baek’s foreheads met.
Thump, thump.
Between the thin skin, anticipation and anxiety pulsed in unison.
The two remained with their eyes closed for a time.
And after a long while had passed.
Hong Seol felt the hand gripping her shoulder gradually slip away.
Nam Goong Baek’s expression had already returned to its usual composed indifference.
As if to dispel the awkward atmosphere, Nam Goong Ho interjected.
“That wretch has been dogging your footsteps the entire time, it seems.”
“Ah…!”
Only then did Hong Seol recall the suspicious presence that had followed her on the path to the Kiln Site, and how it had vanished.
“So Elder Brother was protecting me from the Demonic Cult’s spy…”
Without thinking, Hong Seol clasped both hands tightly against her chest, her fingertips trembling with overwhelming emotion.
“Well, not entirely. I did capture the last one myself.”
Nam Goong Ho said this while gesturing toward a boy being carried by one of the Changcheon Sword Masters.
“That kid…!”
“…!”
In that same instant, both Hong Seol and Nam Goong Baek recognized the face, their eyes widening in shock.
The Shaolin Mercenary who had worked alongside Jin Mok—the boy who had hired the Dengfeng Seven Oddities to pursue Hong Seol.
He hung limp and unconscious, his vital points struck.
“I intend to send this boy to the Martial Arts Alliance. Perhaps we can extract some information about the Demonic Cult from him. After all, it’s where all the intelligence of the Central Plains converges.”
“I see!”
Hong Seol nodded in agreement, then spun around to face Nam Goong Baek.
Her eyes sparkled with brilliant luminescence.
“I want to show you that Grandfather and Elder Brother’s protection of me has borne fruit!”
“…?”
Nam Goong Baek blinked, bewildered by her cryptic words.
Hong Seol pulled down the small bundle she had been carrying on her back all this while.
From within emerged an exquisite purple jade case. Scattered across its surface were delicate pearl-like patterns, and its lustrous clarity marked it unmistakably as a superior piece.
Yet Hong Seol did not hesitate—she hurled the jade case against the ground, shattering it.
Clang!
From the fragments emerged a golden token radiating brilliant luminescence.
It was no larger than an adult’s palm.
Upon the circular golden token, engraved alongside wisps of rising mist, was the lithe figure of a swift cat.
Like the sacred artifact symbolizing an entire sect, merely gazing upon it inspired reverence.
Yet for Nam Goong Baek, its significance carried a different weight.
‘This is Seol’s only memento from her biological father….’
And yet Hong Seol held it out to him without the slightest hesitation or reluctance.
“Please accept this, Elder Brother! It’s the Golden Cat Sect token!”
As casually as if she were offering him a sweet from the Market District, her gesture carried not a trace of doubt or stinginess.
“…Elder Brother?”
Hong Seol’s bright smile faltered into confusion.
Nam Goong Baek had not reached for the Golden Cat Sect token at all—instead, he remained silent for a long moment.
Nam Goong Baek gazed down at the Golden Cat Sect token in Hong Seol’s hands.
He could reach out and take it.
‘But is surviving this way truly the right thing to do?’
“Seol Ah, I appreciate your intention, but I will not accept the Golden Cat Sect token.”
His refusal was clear and resolute.
“What? But Elder Brother!”
Nam Goong Baek turned away, leaving Hong Seol’s startled cry behind him.
Her reaction was precisely what he had anticipated.
‘If I accept the Golden Cat Sect token this time, Seol will push herself to the same extreme for me again next time.’
Therefore, a firm refusal was the right choice.
But Hong Seol was not a child who would simply obey Nam Goong Baek’s wishes.
Whoosh!
Hong Seol’s face flushed crimson with fury as she hurled the Golden Cat Sect token at Baek Elder Brother’s feet without hesitation.
Baek Elder Brother stood dumbfounded.
“What are you… doing right now?”
A rather sharp retort came immediately in response.
“I’ve thrown it away—the Golden Cat Sect token.”
As she spoke, tears began to glisten at the corners of Hong Seol’s eyes.
The memory of these past days—running so frantically to save Baek Elder Brother that her heels had worn raw—came flooding back.
“What?”
“I found this thing to give to you, Elder Brother, but since you won’t accept it, what am I supposed to do with it?”
“That… what in the world…?”
Baek Elder Brother felt as though his mind might scatter at this unprecedented display of Hong Seol’s defiance.
“Since I’ve discarded it, Elder Brother, you can pick it up and wear it or not—do as you please.”
“Sigh.”
Baek Elder Brother exhaled deeply, as if unable to believe what Hong Seol had just done.
She turned away with a sharp huff, her shoulders trembling with barely contained indignation.
“Tch, after all the hardship it took to obtain this for you, Elder Brother…”
“…Seol Ah.”
Baek Elder Brother carefully placed a hand upon one of Hong Seol’s shoulders.
At that, Hong Seol spun around, snatched up the Golden Cat Sect token, and thrust it directly before Baek Elder Brother’s face.
“Come on, Elder Brother! After all the trouble I went through to bring this, if you don’t accept it, I’ll truly hate you!”
Tears pooled at Hong Seol’s eyes as she stamped one foot repeatedly against the ground.
After a moment of silence, Baek Elder Brother released a weary sigh and finally conceded defeat.
“I’ll take it.”
Hong Seol’s movements froze instantly.
“Really, Elder Brother? No taking it back?”
“…Yes.”
He spoke the words, yet his hand felt impossibly heavy.
Hong Seol thrust the Golden Cat Sect token into the arms of the hesitant Baek Elder Brother.
Baek Elder Brother accepted the token and gazed at it intently.
Crafted from pure gold, the Golden Cat Sect token was remarkably weighty.
It bore the weight of Hong Seol’s desperate longing, layered with his own helplessness.
‘…Ah.’
The moment Baek Elder Brother slowly tucked the Golden Cat Sect token into his bosom.
The scent of blood that had lingered about his neck vanished as though it had never existed.
‘…The coughing up of blood has stopped!’
It was thanks to the miraculous function of the Golden Cat Sect token.
“Baek, your body—it seems to have improved, hasn’t it?”
At Nam Goong Ho’s question, Baek Elder Brother, who had been momentarily dazed, came to his senses.
“Yes, Grandfather. …Thank you, Seol Ah.”
“Hehe, how thrilling!”
Hong Seol bounced in place, her joy as genuine as if the victory were her own.
After all, she had been the one to search tirelessly for the Golden Cat Sect, and she had been the one to present it as a gift.
Yet Nam Goong Baek merely bit his lip in silence.
‘Powerless.’
Each time Hong Seol risked her life to aid him, the weight of his helplessness grew heavier within.
‘Is merely surviving enough?’
Nam Goong Baek swallowed a bitter smile.
At this rate, he would be nothing but a burden to Hong Seol for the rest of his life.
Moreover, the current state of the Martial Arts World was far from ordinary.
‘I must ensure that Seol Ah never again faces danger because of me.’
To do that, he had to grow stronger.
To grow stronger, he had to distance himself from Hong Seol.
He had to withdraw from everything that stirred his heart, dedicating himself entirely to cultivation.
‘There is only one answer.’
Nam Goong Baek’s expression hardened, and he spoke to Nam Goong Ho.
“Grandfather, upon our return, I intend to enter closed-door cultivation.”
Closed-door cultivation—a practice of severing all contact with the outside world.
It meant isolating oneself for an extended period, dedicating every moment to relentless training.
Before Nam Goong Ho could respond, Nam Goong Baek turned to Hong Seol and spoke.
“Seol Ah, you must cease your study of the Yin-Yang Divine Art.”
“What?”
Hong Seol blinked, bewildered by his words.
What in the world did he mean?
The Golden Cat Sect granted its bearer the ability to remain unharmed by all poisons, but that did not signify complete recovery.
‘If I stop learning the Yin-Yang Divine Art, I cannot obtain the Golden Dragon Jade Blood Pellet….’
Yet Nam Goong Baek’s shocking declaration was far from over.
“And… I believe it would be best if you left the Nam Goong Family Estate.”

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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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