A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 23

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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 23
Nam Goong Ho stroked his chin thoughtfully, his gaze fixed upon the Martial Arts Arena. There, Hong Seol stood bewildered, staring down at her own palms.
“So the girl can only channel her inner energy once—that’s her limit.”
“What kind of body does she possess, exactly…?”
Nam Goong Ui Gyeol pressed his lips firmly shut.
Though countless questions burned within him, he sensed the Estate Patriarch would not answer straightforwardly.
It was customary never to reveal secrets of martial arts, even to allies.
Such knowledge could determine life and death in the martial world.
Instead, Nam Goong Ui Gyeol posed a different question.
“If she can only use her inner energy once, how does this match conclude?”
“Heh heh.”
At Nam Goong Ho’s laughter, Nam Goong Ui Gyeol shifted his gaze toward the arena.
“The match is already decided.”
There lay Nam Goong Jong Woo, sprawled flat on his back, his face streaked with tears.
* * *
“What—what just happened…?”
I had no idea how many times I’d tumbled across the arena floor.
I was certain I had victory within my grasp.
The instant I thrust my wooden sword forward, two small hands pressed against my chest and drove inward.
In that moment, my ears rang with a deafening explosion.
Emanating from my own chest.
“Ahhh!”
A searing shock tore through my back. It felt as though an impossibly heavy boulder were crushing my entire body.
I lost my grip on the wooden sword and could only tumble helplessly across the ground.
From where I lay, the bright, innocent face of the young girl filled my vision.
Then I felt the rough texture of wood against the back of my neck.
Hong Seol had picked up the wooden sword I’d dropped moments before.
Though she struggled to properly control the heavy blade, its tip wavering unsteadily.
Yet the tide of battle had already turned.
I forced my parched lips open and managed a whisper.
“I concede….”
The girl before me, breathing heavily, broke into a radiant spring-like smile and withdrew the wooden sword.
As Hong Seol’s face disappeared from view, the vast blue sky filled my entire vision.
Ah, the Nam Goong name.
I have lost to a girl of unknown origin—I have fallen one step further from that name’s glory.
Sorrow rose to choke my throat when—
“Jong Woo, are you hurt?”
A voice filled with concern called from beyond the arena.
It was Nam Goong Mu Young, my grandfather. The moment I heard that voice, rage surged within me.
‘This is all because Grandfather brought in a fake Nam Goong.’
Within him, resentment swelled like a rolling snowball.
‘If I had truly inherited Nam Goong blood like Nam Goong Baek, I would never have lost to someone of such lowly origins!’
“Jong Woo, Jong Woo!”
At the continued, pitiful calls, Nam Goong Jong Woo turned his head away entirely.
“This match is the victory of Hong Seol!”
Uwaaaaaa!
A roar of cheers that seemed to shake the heavens crashed down like waves. Hong Seol’s cheeks flushed a rosy pink, like a perfectly ripened peach.
‘I won!’
Me, cast out from home because I couldn’t use my inner strength, defeated a child of the Nam Goong Family!
My small heart thundered with joy.
The referee, witnessing this, cleared his throat and continued.
“Ahem. Therefore, I hereby proclaim that Hong Seol has officially earned the status of disciple to the Nam Goong Estate Patriarch.”
What?!
Hong Seol’s eyes widened in shock as her mouth fell open.
‘If I had lost this match, I wouldn’t have become Grandfather Nam Goong Ho’s disciple?’
Hearing this, my heart sank heavily.
When Nam Goong Ho had asked if I wanted to learn martial arts, I had nodded carefully.
I had answered that way naturally because I thought I would be learning from him.
With the patriarch away, I had assumed Nam Goong Ho was busy and had temporarily entrusted me to Nam Goong Ui Gyeol.
Training with Nam Goong Ui Gyeol was enjoyable, but I still preferred Nam Goong Ho.
‘I’ve always dreamed of the day I would receive teachings from Grandfather and become unbreakable as diamond!’
What would have happened if I had lost by the slimmest margin!
Hong Seol cast a resentful glance at Nam Goong Ho standing below the arena, completely forgetting her past terror of him.
Beside him, Changcheon Master Nam Goong Ui Gyeol was also applauding with an expression that said he knew all along.
Realizing she alone had been kept in the dark about how important this match was, she felt deeply wronged.
‘This is too much.’
At this rate, I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight from the frustration.
Hong Seol scurried to the edge of the arena where she could face Nam Goong Ho.
“Well done, Seol!”
Nam Goong Ho quickly scooped up Hong Seol as she reached the arena’s edge.
His face overflowed with pure joy.
Held in his embrace, Hong Seol felt a strange sensation.
‘I was originally planning to scold Grandfather for not telling me the conditions of the match.’
But seeing his face light up with joy at my victory as if it were his own, the resentment I felt melted away without a trace.
Nam Goong Ho spoke first to Hong Seol, who had pursed her lips with a tingling nose.
“So, what are your impressions of deploying the Heavenly Thunder Divine Technique for the first time?”
At those words, Hong Seol’s eyes flew wide open.
“That’s right! How exactly…. I’ve never even learned something like that!”
Nam Goong Ho grinned widely.
“Do you know how lightning from the heavens is born?”
At his words, Hong Seol tilted her head while nestled against Nam Goong Ho.
“It occurs when yin and yang qi collide with great force. In our Seol’s body, yin and yang naturally wage war against each other.”
If two energies already asserting their dominance flowed so powerfully through the palms, and then those palms were pressed together before being placed against another’s body….
“Heavenly lightning would strike!”
“Precisely! Seol, thanks to your constitution, you’ve grasped the mysteries of the Heavenly Lightning Palm technique without any formal cultivation whatsoever.”
So I do possess an innate talent!
Hong Seol’s face flushed with joy as she paused to ponder before asking.
“Does that mean I used my inner energy?”
“Indeed. It was only because the thousand-year fleece flower root nourished your meridians that you could channel inner energy at all.”
“Wow….”
Hong Seol gazed down at her own palms in disbelief. Nam Goong Ho, seized by concern, hastily added.
“This was a one-time occurrence!”
“I beg your pardon?”
“If you continue to use your inner energy freely from now on, the meridians nourished by the thousand-year fleece flower root will tear apart all over again.”
“Then I can never use inner energy again?”
Hong Seol’s face fell once more. Moved by her dejection, Nam Goong Ho unconsciously caressed her puffed cheeks.
“That’s not the case. I’m investigating ways to cure your condition, so have patience.”
This was the truth.
He was sending people in all directions to locate his daughter-in-law, the proprietress of the Medical Pharmacy, Bing Yu Hua.
“If you practice external cultivation with me day by day, the time will come when your body is healed. Until then, let’s work diligently together. Do you understand?”
Hong Seol nodded with admirable composure. Then, after a moment’s hesitation, she whispered.
“Grandfather, I won the martial arts competition today. Is there perhaps a reward?”
Nam Goong Ho, hearing Hong Seol’s murmur, nodded generously.
He would have gladly uprooted the very foundations of the Nam Goong Family Estate for her.
“Yes, the victor has the right to claim a reward. I shall grant any wish. What do you desire?”
Hong Seol’s mind raced quickly.
Since this reward came so suddenly, she couldn’t ask for anything too grand.
Five sesame mooncakes?
Or perhaps ten candied hawthorn skewers?
As Hong Seol deliberated, her gaze caught upon something that tugged at her heart.
Nam Goong Jong Woo, still avoiding his grandfather’s eyes.
‘According to what Squeaky said, he got angry at his grandfather, calling him a fake Nam Goong.’
What does bloodline even mean?
Elder Judge Nam Goong Mu Young, who lacked for nothing, was anxiously shifting his weight beneath the Martial Arts Arena.
He feared his grandson might have suffered a grave injury.
‘A person who came to the Nam Goong name from the streets, just like me….’
That image weighed heavily on his mind.
‘Sigh, there’s no helping it.’
Hong Seol erased the mooncakes and candied hawthorn from her thoughts and spoke to Nam Goong Ho.
“Grandfather, I’ve decided.”
“Speak. What reward do you seek?”
“Please allow me to speak with Nam Goong Jong Woo alone.”

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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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