A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 60

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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 60
“Welcome!”
With business slow and Jeom So Yi nowhere to be found, the innkeeper himself—who doubled as the proprietor—rose from his seat to greet the guest.
“Are you dining alone?”
Nam Goong Ui Gyeol ignored the woman’s cordial greeting, folding his arms as he swept his gaze around the establishment.
As expected of an inn with scarcely any patrons, there were no suspicious characters in sight—
“What? Isn’t that the adulterer from back then?”
Just then, the cheerful voice of the Woman in Black Hat rang out.
“What!”
Nam Goong Ui Gyeol jolted upright as if struck by lightning.
The Woman in Black Hat sat by the window, tilting a wine cup to her lips.
Whether from stale ingredients or simple disinterest, the food on her plate remained largely untouched.
Sensing the disturbance, the warriors shot into the inn like arrows.
“Lord! What is the matter!”
Yet Nam Goong Ui Gyeol spared them not a glance, his eyes fixed upon the woman with a glare fierce enough to burn. His face had flushed crimson, like iron thrust into a furnace.
“I—I—what in the world are you talking about, young lady?”
While Nam Goong Ui Gyeol seethed like a boiling cauldron, the woman’s expression remained one of utter bewilderment.
“Come now—you followed me around because you fancied me back at that place where the Storyteller was. Or did I misread you?”
“I—uh—”
Flustered, Nam Goong Ui Gyeol froze like stone. The woman tilted her head and murmured softly.
“Did I misjudge you? No, that can’t be. There couldn’t possibly be two such enormous heads in all of Hefei.”
His subordinates began to whisper among themselves.
“Now that you mention it, didn’t the Lord go out to the Market District with the Family Head last time?”
“I heard he came back speaking of gossip he’d overheard on the streets about the Family Head and the Medicine Master. Could it have been that day?”
Though they spoke in hushed tones, Nam Goong Ui Gyeol’s keen ears caught every word.
The woman pressed further still.
“But then I learned you’re a married man—a husband with a wife, yet you chased after another woman like some lovesick fool. How is that not adultery?”
Nam Goong Ui Gyeol’s face drained of all color, as though he might crumble to dust.
“That’s—that’s—that’s not—!”
I was merely tailing you and got caught, so I had no choice but to make excuses!
But if he spoke the truth, this young lady—clearly the daughter of a prestigious clan—would undoubtedly challenge him to a life-or-death duel.
Unable to reveal the facts either way, Nam Goong Ui Gyeol’s heart burned black with anguish.
“Enough. I’m waiting for someone anyway, so why don’t you leave?”
The woman waved her hand dismissively, her sharp nails catching the light as she groomed them.
Then, suddenly, she set her hand upon the table and spoke.
“Hmm? When did the aura of that little one outside disappear?”
In that instant, Nam Goong Ui Gyeol’s fevered mind cooled as though drenched by a waterfall.
The warriors in the inn exchanged glances.
Whoosh!
Without hesitation, the Changcheon Division warriors shot toward the door.
– Miss!
– Miss Hong Seol!
But the empty street was already devoid of any soul.
* * *
Unconscious, I lay crumpled like dust carelessly heaped upon the damp earth floor.
Above me, someone whispered in hushed tones.
“Is she… dead?”
“No. Looks like she’s asleep from a pressure point strike. Let me release it.”
A small hand pressed firmly against my body.
Only after a considerable time did a faint groan escape my lips.
“Ugh….”
The surroundings were pitch black, and a musty, moldy stench permeated the air.
‘Where on earth am I…?’
I had been walking with light steps toward the Inn just moments ago.
Something pressed against several points on my body, and then my consciousness had grown dim.
‘Perhaps I was put to sleep by a pressure point strike. But who? And why?’
I forced my hazy eyes open.
“Eeek!”
Startled, I let out a sharp cry. Filthy faces were staring down at me.
“Who… who are you all?”
I jolted upright.
From lying on the cold ground, every inch of my body ached.
As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see the children surrounding me more clearly.
There appeared to be at least thirteen or fourteen of them.
‘What is this? They’re all dressed differently.’
Some wore relatively neat clothing, while others wore tattered rags patched in countless places.
The only commonality was that they were all skeletal thin, like kindling.
“Do you have any food on you?”
A beggar boy, half a head taller than me, spoke without preamble.
The boy with half-closed eyes clutched his stomach, clearly ravenous.
“No, I don’t.”
I answered apologetically. The beggar boy’s expression fell, and he retreated to a corner, burying his head between his knees.
“That’s Yang Do Jin. He’s been here the longest, so that’s why he’s always searching for food.”
The words came from a pretty girl with a cunning expression.
“Wait… you….”
I was certain I had seen that face somewhere before.
Though when I had met her, she had worn Nam Goong Jeok’s appearance.
“Could you be… Deng Xiao Xiao?”
“You know me?”
Huh!
It was my mistake. Hong Seol quickly made an excuse.
“I heard rumors about it before. About the talented only daughter of the Deng Family Estate. She has a gift for acupoint striking techniques….”
It was true that I had heard such things from Nam Goong Ui Gyeol.
Hong Seol hesitated slightly before adding her own observation.
“…And that she’s incredibly beautiful.”
“Oh my, really?”
Deng Xiao Xiao, her face flushing, slapped Hong Seol’s shoulder with a sharp smack.
‘She’s incredibly bright.’
The moment Hong Seol thought this, Deng Xiao Xiao’s expression darkened completely.
“Ugh, but why doesn’t Young Master Nam Goong Baek even spare me a glance?”
Her face looked as if she’d dug herself into an underground tunnel a mile deep.
Hong Seol blinked, thinking to herself.
‘Cancel that—cancel that! This girl’s moods swing all over the place.’
When Hong Seol said nothing and left her be, Deng Xiao Xiao dug even deeper.
“If I die here like this… would Young Master Nam Goong Baek finally look at me…?”
As Deng Xiao Xiao seemed to be digging herself into an impossibly deep hole, Hong Seol changed the subject.
“I’m Hong Seol. You’re the one who unblocked my meridians, right? Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
Behind Deng Xiao Xiao’s shrugging shoulders, I could see the bright faces of children.
Most of them seemed younger than me.
Still, the fact that I wasn’t alone brought some comfort to my heart.
Hong Seol asked carefully.
“How did you all end up here? Where is this place? Who brought us here?”
The children spoke one by one in turn.
“Nobody knows. I was taken four days ago by a wanderer who came to our house while my parents were working in the fields.”
“I was taken a week ago while I was peeing in the back alley of the Market District!”
“I was taken the other day while I was washing my feet at the stream bank!”
Everyone was busy speaking their piece. But the beggar boy remained silent until the very end.
Perhaps he was too hungry to have the energy to speak.
“Sigh.”
After hearing their stories, Hong Seol let out a long breath.
In the end, it meant that none of them knew why they had been taken or who had taken them.
“Is there no way to escape?”
At those words, all the children shook their heads in unison.
“How old are you all?”
“I’m six.”
“Seven.”
“Five… Waaaah! I miss my mom!”
The small child suddenly burst into tears, and Hong Seol wrapped him tightly in her arms.
‘I’m eight years old, so I’m the oldest! I need to comfort these children.’
Just as Nam Goong Baek had once done for me when I wept.
Hong Seol fought back her own tears and spoke to the child in her arms.
“What’s your name?”
“So Rang. I’m So Rang.”
“There, there! Stop crying now. Your big sister is here, so don’t worry. I’m eight years old!”
“R-really?”
Perhaps such an unconvincing boast had worked.
As Hong Seol gently stroked the child’s back, the five-year-old’s sobs subsided almost instantly.
Deng Xiao Xiao marveled at this.
“I’m eight too. You’re really mature for your age.”
Hong Seol wiped the grime from So Rang’s face, then surveyed her surroundings.
“This looks like an underground chamber. The walls are all earth, and there’s only one door.”
This was Deng Xiao Xiao’s assessment.
True to her words, as I felt my way along the walls in the darkness, my fingers brushed against a rusted iron door.
“When does this open?”
“It usually doesn’t.”
Deng Xiao Xiao answered. Hong Seol pressed further.
“Then how do they give us water and food?”
If more than a week had passed since our capture and we were still alive and well, someone had to be providing us with sustenance.
I knew this from experience—from the days I spent starving in a storage room.
“Once a day, when they bring that awful barley gruel, that’s when it opens.”
Deng Xiao Xiao pointed to a spot below the door.
There was a small hatch fitted with iron hinges—barely large enough for an adult’s head to pass through.
“As you can see, it’s not big enough for us to escape through.”
Deng Xiao Xiao sighed as she spoke.
“But who knows? If we starve and become thin enough, maybe we could slip through there.”
That was when I heard footsteps approaching from somewhere distant.

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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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