A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 260

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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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Side Story, Episode 6
* * *
“Huh…? What brings you to the kitchen…?”
The workers hauling wine casks in the kitchen stared at Hong Seol and her companions with bewildered expressions.
Their eyes blinked in unison, their faces screaming utter confusion.
Hong Seol thrust her identification badge forward and demanded, “We’re from the Martial Arts Alliance! Where are the people who just left with this wine cask?”
“Those fellows just headed out that way, but…”
“Let’s go, Baek Elder Brother!”
Hong Seol and Nam Goong Baek bolted in the direction the workers pointed, moving like wind itself.
“They look like nobility of some sort—what’s this all about?”
“Did those Black Cloud Pavilion bastards cause trouble?”
As the workers chattered among themselves, the Innkeeper suddenly bellowed, “Stop your idle gossip and get those wine casks inside, now!”
“Y-yes, sir!”
The workers, who had been eagerly adding their own commentary, fell silent and hoisted the wine casks back onto their shoulders.
“Wait. Hah… hah…”
Someone burst through the door, breathing heavily.
It was Gyeon Young Hoo, who had rushed out moments before with Hong Seol and Nam Goong Baek.
He had returned to the tavern alone.
* * *
Thud-thud-thud!
Footsteps echoed through the desolate back alleys of Wuhan.
“Stop right there!”
“Hah… hah…”
Nam Goong Baek and Hong Seol pursued at least twenty dark shadows.
Hong Seol couldn’t comprehend it.
‘Even using the Heavenly Wind Body Technique, the distance isn’t closing?’
What was the Heavenly Wind Body Technique?
It was the Nam Goong Family’s supreme secret art—one that made the body light as a gentle breeze.
Yet she couldn’t even catch mere workers from the Alcohol House. It made no sense.
‘They’re definitely not ordinary people.’
If she succeeded tonight, she could dismantle the entire illegal drug trafficking operation in one sweep!
Hong Seol felt her heart racing with excitement.
‘If I accomplish this, perhaps the Commander will allow me to return home sooner.’
Now, Hong Seol naturally referred to the Nam Goong Family Estate as “home.”
“Seol Ah.”
Nam Goong Baek, who had been focused on the pursuit with his lips sealed, suddenly spoke.
“Where is that reckless fool Gyeon Young Hoo right now?”
“…Huh?”
“Gyeon Young Hoo, where is that reckless fool right now?”
“…Huh?”
Hong Seol let out a startled exclamation.
Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen Gyeon Young Hoo in quite some time.
I had been too focused on pursuing the shadows to notice his absence.
“Could he have been caught from behind?”
“That shouldn’t be the case. He’s more nimble than he appears.”
“Senior!”
Just then, a voice echoed from afar—it was Gyeon Young Hoo.
“See? I told you he was quick.”
The tiny figure rapidly closed the distance at a frenzied pace.
“Gyeon Young Hoo, where on earth have you been!”
At Hong Seol’s reproach, Gyeon Young Hoo answered with his spirits deflated, like a scolded puppy.
“Ah, well… I was in a hurry and went to the privy….”
It was a reason she couldn’t fault him for.
“How did you know we were here and manage to follow us?”
This time, Gyeon Young Hoo’s face brightened as he answered.
“Ah, I have an exceptional sense of smell, Senior!”
At those words, Nam Goong Baek’s brow furrowed.
‘Smell…?’
He felt an odd sense of dissonance.
But there was no time to dwell on that thought.
The shadows they were pursuing were growing increasingly distant.
“We can’t continue like this.”
The city district was nearly ending, and a dense forest stretched ahead.
It was clear that tracking them would become difficult once they entered that forest.
“Elder Brother, Gyeon Young Hoo! Before we enter the forest, let’s split into two groups and encircle them from front and back!”
“Good thinking. We need to settle this before the city district ends.”
“If one group takes a wide detour and cuts them off ahead, that should work!”
The two men eagerly voiced their agreement with Hong Seol’s plan.
Then Gyeon Young Hoo asked brightly.
“Who goes to the front, Senior?”
“….”
“….”
Nam Goong Baek merely raised his eyebrows, while Hong Seol continued running and deliberately avoided his gaze.
After a prolonged silence, Gyeon Young Hoo spoke in disbelief.
“…Wait, you’re telling me to go alone?”
Hong Seol smiled awkwardly and tried to persuade him.
“Judging by how you caught up to us, Gyeon Young Hoo, you must be the fastest….”
“No matter how fast I am, I can’t match the Young Master of the Nam Goong Family, can I?”
As if waiting for those words, Nam Goong Baek raised his eyebrows with a smirk.
“I’m a servant, so I should be excluded, shouldn’t I?”
“Wow, seriously…. All the righteous and heroic figures of Jianghu are dead.”
Gyeon Young Hoo grumbled even as he drew upon his inner energy, accelerating his pace.
“You need to hurry, Senior. Even I can’t hold out long against twenty opponents.”
“Don’t worry, Gyeon!”
Hong Seol’s voice echoed behind Gyeon Young Hoo as he sprinted forward.
Gyeon Young Hoo’s figure rounded a corner and vanished from sight.
A steep hillside suddenly appeared before Hong Seol and Nam Goong Baek as they ran with all their might.
The shadows ahead were already bounding over the hilltop.
The moment the two of them pushed off the ground with force to catch up with the shadows disappearing from view.
“…Huh?”
Hong Seol and Nam Goong Baek came to an abrupt halt.
Below them stretched a dark forest.
That much they had anticipated.
The problem was that the beasts they had been chasing were nowhere to be found.
Gyeon Young Hoo, who had gone ahead, was also completely out of sight.
“Where did they all go?”
That was when it happened.
A chilling cry echoed from within the forest.
“Senior!”
Hong Seol’s eyes widened.
“It’s Gyeon!”
Screams followed in rapid succession.
“Whatever you do, don’t come in here!”
Nam Goong Baek and Hong Seol’s eyes met.
The next instant, they plunged into the forest without hesitation.
* * *
A clearing surrounded on all sides by dense forest. Three figures stood motionless in the center.
“Hehe….”
In the middle was Gyeon Young Hoo, his neck so hunched that his head seemed to be sinking between his shoulders.
“Ah, I just accidentally stepped on an insect and got startled, so I screamed….”
Hong Seol, her eyes vacant, let her shoulders sag as she released a hollow sigh.
Beside her, Nam Goong Baek looked as though blue flames might burst from his eyes at any moment.
“…Should I just kill him?”
It was crude language unbecoming of the Nam Goong Family’s heir.
Yet today, Hong Seol found she couldn’t blame Baek Elder Brother.
“Gyeon….”
“Hehe…. That’s why I told you, Senior. Not to come in….”
“Sigh.”
Hong Seol exhaled deeply, her shoulders heaving.
“At least Gyeon is unharmed….”
Hong Seol trailed off, her gaze sweeping across their surroundings.
The shadows of the Black Cloud Pavilion workers they had been chasing were nowhere to be seen.
But that wasn’t the only problem.
From the moment I stepped into this forest, I couldn’t discern any sense of direction.
We hadn’t even walked a few steps before the forest around us became impossibly dense.
Finding Gyeon Young Hoo at all could only be called a miracle.
“I think we’re trapped inside a formation, aren’t we?”
The vast forest was eerily silent.
Occasionally, the flutter of mountain birds could be heard, but nothing more.
At first glance, it appeared to be an ordinary forest, but those with keen spiritual perception—Hong Seol and Nam Goong Baek—could sense the truth.
We had fallen squarely into a trap.
“I should just kill this bastard…!”
Nam Goong Baek drew upon his inner power, his hand moving to strike.
“P-please, Servant, try to calm down.”
At Gyeon Young Hoo’s reckless tone, Hong Seol shook her head in resignation. She no longer had the energy to correct his manner of speech.
Still, she had to admit—the audacity of calling Nam Goong Baek “Servant” even while adding the honorific was impressive.
Gyeon Young Hoo raised his hand awkwardly and continued.
“I happen to know a bit about formation techniques….”
“Then you must also know what kind of formation this is?”
As Hong Seol showed interest, Gyeon Young Hoo’s eyes gleamed.
“Yes! I have good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?”
“The good news.”
Nam Goong Baek’s voice came from behind.
“I’ve suffered enough entanglement with a fool like you. It’s about time I heard something good.”
“Tch, Servant, your words are quite harsh.”
Gyeon Young Hoo wrinkled his nose and began his explanation.
“This is actually a harmless illusion formation. It merely binds the feet of those trapped within. It will naturally dissolve with time.”
At those words, hope bloomed in Hong Seol’s chest.
“How many days does it take for this formation to break?”
“Well, at most around three days?”
“Hah.”
Nam Goong Baek exhaled sharply.
“So I must remain trapped in this formation with you for three days?”
At that, Gyeon Young Hoo snorted.
“Servant, please just stay quiet. The real good news hasn’t even started yet.”
“Good news? What is it?”

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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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