A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 77

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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 77
“Nam Goong Wi sealed that object within the Ancestral Shrine deep inside the Training Cave of the Nam Goong Family Estate.”
“The Training Cave, you say…?”
At Hong Seol’s words, Nam Goong Baek’s gaze shifted toward the low mountain that cradled the back of the Estate Grounds.
“It’s a cave used for cultivating martial arts. There are several scattered about in that direction.”
“Why would the Changcheon Sword Master conceal such a precious elixir so carefully?”
Shouldn’t something so valuable be preserved for whenever it might be needed?
Nam Goong Baek answered Hong Seol’s question.
“It was because of the Heavenly Demon.”
The Heavenly Demon!
The unexpected name flooded my chest with dread. My voice trembled as I recalled what I had learned through the Chronicles of the Demonic Wars.
“Surely the Nam Goong Family, the Sichuan Tang Family, and the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace joined forces to poison the Heavenly Demon…”
“Exactly. And what would happen if such a Heavenly Demon obtained the Golden Dragon Jade Blood Elixir?”
“The Orthodox Sects of the Martial Arts World would have been annihilated.”
Chills raced across my entire body. Had that come to pass, Nam Goong Baek before me would not exist in this world.
Neither would Grandfather Nam Goong Ho, nor Patriarch Nam Goong On and Medicine Master Bing Yu Hua, nor Heuk and Jeok.
“Thus the Changcheon Sword Master received the Golden Dragon Jade Blood Elixir, which the Sichuan Tang Family had created and safeguarded, and sealed it deep within the Training Cave of the Nam Goong Family Estate.”
Nam Goong Baek continued slowly.
“And he arranged it so that unsealing it would absolutely require the aid of our ally, the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace.”
“I see. But surely the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace was utterly destroyed in an attack by the Demonic Cult…”
“Indeed. Tell me, Seol—do you know another name for the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace?”
“Yes!”
“Oh, you do?”
“The Nam Man Beast Palace!”
A soft chuckle escaped from the corner of Nam Goong Baek’s lips at my confident answer.
“Not that one. The Southern Barbarian Beast Palace once bore the alternate name of the Yin-Yang Palace.”
“The Yin-Yang Palace?”
“The secret martial art passed down through the direct bloodline of the Yin-Yang Palace is the Yin-Yang Divine Art.”
Upon hearing this, I clapped my hands together.
“So the Changcheon Sword Master designed the seal to require the Yin-Yang Divine Art to unseal it!”
Nam Goong Baek looked at my face with startled eyes.
I realized my mistake and clamped my mouth shut.
Nam Goong Baek’s lips had begun to tremble slightly.
“Seol… you already knew…?”
“Ah, well, that is…”
Flustered, I hung my head low.
Nam Goong Baek’s expression turned hollow.
“Since when?”
“…Since long ago. I happened to overhear it on the day the Medicine Master returned.”
I answered while trying to avoid Nam Goong Baek’s gaze.
‘The mouse man told me. He said he overheard it by chance while passing Yi Yak Hall.’
To cure the Nam Goong Family Estate’s eldest young master, the Yin-Yang Divine Art was necessary.
And now that the Yin-Yang Palace had vanished, only Hong Seol, who suffered from the Yin-Yang Severed Meridian affliction, could master the Yin-Yang Divine Art.
“W-well, I don’t know the details. I only heard about the Golden Dragon Jade Blood Pill from my brother today.”
Nam Goong Baek said nothing.
At that, Hong Seol felt a sudden surge of worry.
‘What if he gets angry that I overheard the conversation between the family head and the Medicine Master?’
Should I honestly tell him that it was actually the mouse man who overheard it, not me?
‘But then I’d get scolded for hiding the mouse man’s existence all this time….’
The mouse family might even be driven out of the Nam Goong Family Estate.
While Hong Seol wrestled with her thoughts, Nam Goong Baek’s frost-laden voice fell like a blade.
“Tell him you won’t undergo the Piercing Palace and Blood Extraction.”
“Pardon?”
At his unexpected words, Hong Seol’s eyes widened in surprise.
“But….”
“It means picking through and kneading each damaged meridian one by one. It will be exceedingly painful. Moreover, there’s a chance that….”
He drew a deep breath before continuing.
“You could lose your life in the process.”
Just as Hong Seol had teetered on death’s threshold days ago when her meridians ran wild.
Watching her gasping weakly, breathing in shallow gasps, how many times had I sworn an oath?
That I would never again push this small child into such peril.
Even if the one who would benefit was myself.
‘Seol is the only family I chose to keep by my side.’
From Nam Goong Baek, who had steeled his resolve, an icy aura emanated. His voice emerged slightly hoarse.
“Promise me, Seol. That you won’t undergo the Piercing Palace and Blood Extraction.”
“B-but brother….”
Hong Seol called out to him carefully, but it was in vain.
Nam Goong Baek’s expression was resolute beyond measure.
“Now!”
At his pressing tone, Hong Seol, who had been keeping her lips tightly sealed, suddenly cried out.
“You’re being foolish, brother!”
“What?”
At Hong Seol’s words that struck him with unexpected weight, Nam Goong Baek’s vision flashed white.
It felt as though someone had driven a fist directly into his solar plexus.
“I’m… foolish? Why?”
“I decided to undergo the Piercing Palace and Blood Extraction of my own volition! It wasn’t something anyone forced me to do.”
At those words, Nam Goong Baek’s mind went blank.
“I desperately want to become someone capable of wielding inner strength. That’s why….”
Hong Seol trailed off, her head bowing deeply.
Hearing those words, Nam Goong Baek’s heart plummeted.
‘So Seol wants to recover and return to the Myo Family Estate.’
In An Hui Province, upon hearing news of Je Gal Lady, the image of Hong Seol’s wavering eyes surfaced in my mind.
Indeed, how could the Myo Family Estate reject Hong Seol now that she had overcome her severed meridians and mastered martial arts?
They would likely welcome her with open arms.
Suddenly, my breath caught in my throat. It felt as though someone had seized my collar and shaken me.
‘One day, Seol will leave my side.’
I had always assumed I would be the one to depart first, never once considering that someone might abandon me.
‘Should I try to persuade her to stay? Or perhaps beg her?’
Nam Goong Baek’s mind went blank.
Both were things he had never attempted in his entire life.
And above all, no matter what he did, it seemed unlikely that Hong Seol would listen to him.
‘To an eight-year-old child, a mother is the entire world.’
So when Seol eventually said she wanted to leave…
‘Perhaps I should send her off with a smile.’
Even if we could never laugh together as we once did.
The Myo Family Estate and the Nam Goong Family were not on good terms, after all.
I lowered my head, my heart heavy. Seeing this, Hong Seol tilted her head in confusion.
“Older brother?”
This was clearly different from the deliberately sorrowful expression he had worn moments before. Now, he truly looked deeply sad.
“Older brother…?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
Nam Goong Baek lifted his head and forced a smile.
“Are you truly all right?”
“Of course.”
“Really…? Oh, a messenger bird!”
Hong Seol’s eyes widened as she looked up to comfort Nam Goong Baek.
A familiar bird circled above the Estate Grounds of the Nam Goong Family.
That bird with blue-tipped wings was surely a messenger bird that traveled between Sichuan and Anhui.
“The Poison King must have sent a reply!”
Hong Seol sprang to her feet as she spoke.
‘Did Snake Grandfather agree to perform the Severing Meridian and Blood Reversal technique for me?’
Unlike the excited Hong Seol, Nam Goong Baek’s face had turned ashen.
“Let’s go check, older brother!”
Hong Seol dashed ahead, her footsteps quick and light.
Nam Goong Baek remained behind, watching her figure disappear.
After lingering in thought for a moment, absently fiddling with pebbles, he suddenly rose with fierce determination.
“That’s right—I’ll be so good to Seol that she won’t even think of leaving.”
Until she forgets even the character for Myo. I will fill her heart so completely with affection for the Nam Goong Family that she cannot bear to depart.
Nam Goong Baek gazed down at the surface of the pond. His resolute face shimmered there in reflection.
“I can do this.”
Nam Goong Baek clenched his fist and hurled a pebble across the pond’s surface.
Then he spun around sharply and followed Hong Seol.
The pebble he had thrown skipped across the water without pause until it reached the far bank.
* * *
At Chang Cheon Pavilion, Nam Goong Ho and Nam Goong On sat facing each other across a low table.
“The Changcheon Division has discovered traces of the beasts who abducted Hong Seol, Father.”
Sinews rippled visibly across Nam Goong Ho’s hand as he gripped the cloud-patterned porcelain teacup.
“Where?”
“Deep in the mountains beyond an underground chamber—a place that would take an ordinary person four days to reach on foot.”
“Have they been captured?”
Was it the scar? Or perhaps those cold, piercing eyes?
Today, Nam Goong Ho’s face appeared even more menacing than usual.
“No, Father. They were all dead.”
“Poison?”
“The work of an outsider.”
“What?”
Nam Goong Ho jolted to his feet in shock.
“Are you saying that masters powerful enough to elude the Changcheon Division were slaughtered without resistance?”
Meanwhile, Nam Goong On remained composed, sipping his tea with measured breaths.
“Please, Father—calm yourself and hear me out.”
Nam Goong Ho, looking somewhat abashed, settled back into his seat. Then Nam Goong On spoke.
“There is something else that troubles us.”

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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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