A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 226

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

Chapter 226
‘Moreover, beneath that entry lay countless secrets about dragons.’
Among them were stories related to the Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak.
‘Ancestors, I thank you.’
Thanks to your knowledge, I can now speak with such confidence even before the Northern Sea Ice Palace Master.
Hong Seol offered a silent prayer of gratitude and smiled with unwavering certainty.
“The Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak that the Northern Sea Ice Palace lost—I will find it for you.”
It was an audacious proposal.
A heavy silence fell over the Palace Master’s Hall.
The Palace Master wavered between whether to scold this reckless young woman or to accept her offer.
In the end, what emerged from the Palace Master’s lips was hesitant skepticism.
“How can I trust such a promise? This could be a ploy to buy time!”
“One month. If I fail to find the Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak within that time, you may take my life.”
“Child….”
Bing Yu Hua, hearing these words, pressed her lips together tightly.
Though she trusted Hong Seol, she disliked the idea of wagering a life so carelessly.
‘Sigh, truly the Medicine Master is as compassionate as ever.’
Warmed by the sight of Bing Yu Hua’s concern, Hong Seol turned back to the Palace Master.
“However, if I find the Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak, you must grant complete forgiveness to the Medicine Master.”
“Child!”
Bing Yu Hua cried out in distress.
She believed that if Hong Seol earned such merit, it should be exchanged for an alliance with the Martial Arts Alliance instead.
“You must not take such risks for my sake!”
Yet the Palace Master had already accepted Hong Seol’s wager.
“Very well. If you find the Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak within one month, I shall forgive that child.”
“Ah, but I need something in return!”
“What is it?”
“Please provide the highest pavilion in the Northern Sea Ice Palace, a very swift boat, and six strong martial artists to row it.”
The Northern Sea people exchanged confused glances at Hong Seol’s request.
* * *
Four days had passed since Hong Seol confidently declared she would find the Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak.
Hong Seol remained in the Inner Chamber, playing xiangqi—a game she had brought from the Central Plains.
Seol Eung, who was keeping her company, asked with a worried expression.
“Miss, are you truly certain it’s alright to remain idle like this?”
“Of course it is.”
“But….”
Unlike the anxious Seol Eung, Hong Seol brimmed with composure.
“Checkmate!”
Hong Seol gazed down at the board and laughed heartily.
“See? Miss Seol! That’s what happens when you lose focus for a moment.”
Veins suddenly bulged across Seol Eung’s forehead as her lips curled into a sharp smile.
With a powerful flourish, she placed her piece down and cried out.
“Checkmate!”
It was a complete victory. I had been utterly defeated.
“Ah, I’ve lost again.”
I stuck out the tip of my pink tongue slightly.
“Here, this is the wager.”
“Thank you, Miss!”
At sixteen years old, Seol Eung still didn’t possess even a single decent silk ribbon for her hair.
She had no idea that I was deliberately losing to give her spending money.
“So, what shall we play next?”
“No, at this rate, in a month’s time I’ll lose my head! Are you really not going to do anything?”
“I’m preparing everything, Miss. So don’t worry—shall we make a different wager this time?”
“What exactly is your plan? Please tell me too.”
“It won’t be fun if you know beforehand. Instead, I’ll take you directly to the scene.”
Sigh.
Seol Eung heaved her shoulders up and then let them fall.
This young lady called Miao Hong Seol—whoever she resembled, her stubbornness was as unyielding as steel wire.
Just then, someone shouted breathlessly from outside my inner chamber door.
“Miss! The matter you spoke of has occurred!”
It was the Guard Captain, who had been keeping watch atop the highest pavilion of the Northern Sea Ice Palace.
He had been standing watch in shifts for four days straight on my orders.
Expending all his energy to sharpen his perception.
“A shadow, Miss! The enormous shadow you mentioned is rippling across the water’s surface!”
The moment had come.
At those words, I sprang to my feet with determination.
My large, dark eyes gleamed with anticipation.
“Let’s go, Miss Seol!”
“What?”
“It’s time. We need to set a boat upon the lake!”
* * *
The sky was crystalline, without a speck of dust.
A single boat cut across the tranquil lake.
It was like a landscape painting come to life.
“Heave!”
“Heave-ho!”
That is, if six martial artists from the Northern Sea Ice Palace weren’t rowing with all their might.
Standing upright at the bow, I let out a quiet sigh.
“Is it truly because the Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak has vanished? The rowing of the Beihai warriors seems rather sluggish….”
Suddenly, the boat surged forward.
‘To insult the Northern Sea Ice Palace!’
‘We’ll show you our mettle, Central Plains warrior!’
The Northern Sea warriors, teeth gritted, rowed with all their might.
Satisfied with the speed at last, I smiled softly and gazed upon the calm water’s surface.
Just as the lookouts had reported, a massive blue shadow undulated far beneath the surface.
Then it happened.
The blue sky suddenly began to darken as if stained with ink.
A deep rumble.
Accompanied by an ominous tremor from the earth itself.
The center of the water where the dark blue shadow had been suddenly caved inward as if being sucked down.
“What is this…?”
One of the rowers rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
“What, what is that!”
The hole, which had begun small enough to fit in both palms, was expanding uncontrollably.
Now it had grown large enough to easily swallow ten of their small boats.
One warrior who grasped its nature cried out in horror.
“A, a whirlpool!”
“What?”
The warriors, having lived where ice eternally froze and unaccustomed to water, turned pale.
Yet Seol Eung barely maintained her composure.
Though she gripped the gunwale as if her life depended on it.
“Excellent!”
Seol Eung glimpsed my eyes, still sparkling with anticipation.
Eyes that, at first glance, seemed almost mad.
I cried out in a sharp voice.
“We need to get closer to the whirlpool!”
The rowers turned ashen.
“It’s dangerous! We’ll be caught in the whirlpool!”
“Listen to me! This is our only chance!”
“No matter what, our lives are more important!”
The Snow Wind Squad warriors protested in unison.
Then my expression suddenly turned cold and grave.
Glancing at the warriors holding the oars, I muttered as if to myself.
“Does the loss of the Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak affect the courage of the warriors as well…?”
Upon hearing those words, the valiant Snow Wind Squad of the Northern Sea Ice Palace felt a surge of burning rage erupt from within.
“Aaaahhhhh!”
“We can do this!”
“We won’t be looked down upon by this Central Plains warrior!”
“Row toward the whirlpool at full speed!”
As a result, the boat surged toward the whirlpool at a frenzied pace.
Crack! Boom!
As lightning struck downward, a torrential downpour began to fall as if it would drown the entire world.
“Ahhh!”
“At this rate, the boat will sink!”
“Bail out the water, quickly!”
While the martial artists, who had known nothing but blizzards falling from the sky their entire lives, panicked in confusion.
Standing at the bow with one leg raised, I held a paper umbrella aloft while staring intently through the whirlpool.
Where was it? Where could it be?
My eyes searched relentlessly through the churning waters.
The moment the massive shadow within surged upward.
I had to seize that instant.
A long, drawn-out cry echoed.
The anguished wail of some creature, as if expelling something from within.
The painful roar of a beast rose from beneath the surface.
A spark of brilliance flashed across my large, dark eyes.
“Now!”
Splash!
Without hesitation, I hurled myself into the center of the dark, churning vortex.
A soft flutter.
It happened before the paper umbrella I had been holding moments before even fell to the water’s surface.
“Wait, Miss! Hong Seol, Sister!”
Seol Eung, gripping the boat’s edge, called out desperately, her voice breaking.
But the massive whirlpool had already swallowed me long ago.

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