A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 85

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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 85
The large medicinal herb basket strapped to her back contained the pipa she habitually carried with her.
“Really, if I were just to watch over that furry creature, I could have waited in Sichuan instead….”
Dok Bi Jo shook her head while pressing her temples with one hand.
“I don’t know why I had to come all this way, even disguising myself as a medicinal herb gatherer woman.”
Even as she spoke, Dok Bi Jo caressed the well-grown peach tree branch with a face tinged with regret.
So meticulously had it been tended that fragrant peaches hung abundantly from every bough.
A sigh-like sound escaped from Dok Bi Jo’s lips as she observed them.
“No wonder someone who loves peaches would cultivate them to such an extent….”
Dok Bi Jo selected a perfectly ripe peach, polished it with her sleeve, and took a bite. After chewing for a while, she reluctantly swallowed the flesh in her mouth.
Then she tossed the peach away. The round fruit rolled smoothly between the trees.
“Hmph. What’s so delicious about this.”
Despite her sharp words, Dok Bi Jo found herself unable to move her feet.
Thump-thump-thump.
Something rolled toward her and struck the toe of her shoe with a soft tap.
It was the half-bitten peach she had just discarded.
It seemed the place where she had thrown it was on a slope.
Dok Bi Jo quietly picked up the peach and brushed away the dirt.
Then she sat down in one spot and remained there for a long time, cradling the peach in her arms.
* * *
“Elder brother, let’s go to the Taoist Temple this time!”
Hong Seol grasped Nam Goong Baek’s hand firmly as they wandered through the grounds, constantly looking about in search of a Daoist priest without a moment’s rest.
“Are you so concerned about Grandfather?”
“Yes…. What if Grandfather dislikes it when he finds out?”
Hong Seol asked, lifting her round eyes.
Nam Goong Baek gazed into those eyes for a moment, lost in thought.
Nam Goong Ho, called the Sword King no less.
In this confrontation with Mu Gwi Geom, if someone were to show concern for him, his pride might be wounded.
But if that someone were Hong Seol….
“I think he would like it.”
Of course, witnessing such a sight would be deeply uncomfortable for Nam Goong Baek himself.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Now was not the time to distinguish between enemy and ally.
‘I will make Seol Ah grow fond of the Nam Goong Family Estate by any means.’
Unaware of his dark intentions, Hong Seol laughed brightly.
“Then let’s hurry and find the Daoist priest! We must help Grandfather.”
Hong Seol pulled Nam Goong Baek’s hand with vigor as she fell into contemplation.
‘Grandfather once told me that whenever a jiangshi moves, there is always a Daoist priest behind it.’
This place was a remote mountain valley.
Then the sorcerer must be somewhere nearby.
‘For six nights, appearing around the Hour of the Ox—between one and three in the morning—the culprit is most likely among the Changnyeong Sect’s disciples.’
But if I cannot openly examine the disciples within the temple grounds.
‘There is only one way.’
To patrol the grounds myself and secretly search for anyone suspicious.
Fortunately, Seon Hyo, the sect master of Changnyeong Sect, had granted Hong Seol and her companions freedom to move about anywhere.
“However, you may only do so until evening.”
Those were the words Seon Hyo spoke as he handed over the entry token.
Hong Seol accepted the token and found her gaze drifting to his hands.
Like the other disciples of Changnyeong Sect, he too wore thick leather gloves.
“When night falls… remember that he will come to you.”
‘How terrifying!’
Suddenly recalling his chilling tone, Hong Seol trembled.
Then a large hand—enormous by her reckoning—gently descended upon her round head.
“It’s alright. I’m here, am I not?”
It was Nam Goong Baek.
He had abandoned his grandfather, who was cultivating in the Guest House Quarters, and hurried after Hong Seol.
“Hehe. Yes, older brother! But is it really alright to leave grandfather without a guardian?”
During deep cultivation, there was a risk of qi deviation—the channels becoming twisted and chaotic.
External disturbances were one of the causes.
That was why someone trustworthy usually stood watch nearby.
Nam Goong Baek nodded.
“Grandfather will be fine.”
Ungrateful though he might be, he was a grandson who knew his grandfather better than anyone.
In that gesture lay his trust in Nam Goong Ho, and Hong Seol’s heart found peace.
Hong Seol’s short fingers pointed toward the distant trees.
It was the Peach Orchard, the pride of Changnyeong Sect.
“Shall we go there this time?”
“Let’s do that.”
Delighted, Hong Seol took the lead.
But there was already a visitor in the Peach Orchard.
It was the woman with the herb basket they had met at Haejeon Pool.
“Oh? You are…”
The woman, upon spotting Hong Seol and Nam Goong Baek, rose from where she sat and bowed deeply.
“I am called Jang Mo, and I gather medicinal herbs in these parts to make my living. I have decided to stay a night while I’m here.”
“I am Nam Goong Baek.”
“I’m Hong Seol!”
Hong Seol offered the alias she had chosen to use during her travels.
“Then, since you two seem busy, I shall take my leave…”
Before the introductions were even complete, the woman turned to go.
There was no time to even catch her.
“That woman isn’t a sorcerer, surely. She entered the mountain gate with us.”
Despite Nam Goong Baek’s words, I continued to stare intently at the woman’s retreating figure.
“What’s wrong?”
Only then did I turn to look at him.
“Oh, it’s nothing at all.”
“Still, it’s remarkable how they’ve managed to cultivate peach trees in such a harsh mountain wilderness.”
“Indeed….”
Even as I answered, my attention remained fixed on the direction where the woman had disappeared.
‘That woman was crying….’
Perhaps because I once wept every day myself, I found it unbearable whenever I witnessed someone’s tears.
‘Why? Why was she crying in such a place?’
Moreover, having arrived at the Peach Orchard one step ahead of Baek, I had distinctly heard her words.
“To think we would meet again like this—fate is truly incomprehensible.”
Her words carried the weight of years and emotions I could scarcely fathom.
‘It’s strange. No matter how I look at her, that woman doesn’t appear to be even thirty years old.’
Nam Goong Baek clasped his hands behind his back and spoke indifferently while gazing at the Peach Orchard.
“I’ve heard that Gae Pa Jo Sa Han Seo Jin Immortal of the Changnyeong Sect is buried here.”
At those words, my lips parted in surprise, forming a sharp point like a sparrow’s beak.
“What? In this Peach Orchard?”
“Yes. For some reason unknown, he apparently left word that he wished to be buried here.”
At that, I fell into contemplation once more.
‘Could that woman have some connection to Han Seo Jin Immortal?’
The age difference was too great for them to have been acquainted, so she might well be his descendant.
‘Those words and that tear-stained face…. There’s definitely some story behind it.’
Yet unlike me, Nam Goong Baek seemed to have noticed nothing of the sort.
“There doesn’t seem to be anyone here, so let’s look elsewhere.”
Judging by such words.
It was typical of him to be indifferent to everyone save me.
“Yes….”
As I walked, I turned back to look at the Peach Orchard several times.
‘Is there anything I could help with…?’
The sorrowful eyes of that weeping woman kept returning to my mind, unbearable to ignore.
* * *
‘I must have truly lost my mind.’
Dok Bi Jo cooled her burning cheeks with her palm as she thought.
‘How uncharacteristic—to have old memories surface like that! I showed that furry beast such an unseemly sight.’
It was all that accursed peach tree’s fault.
From the moment we first met, he kept singing that wretched song—”peach blossoms, peach blossoms”!
And now he’s even created a Peach Orchard within the grounds of the sect I established.
‘There’s no such thing as being obsessed with peaches without reason.’
My own weakness of heart was equally to blame.
A mere peach—one taste should have been enough to satisfy me.
So why was I sitting in the Peach Orchard, lost in memories of the past?
Even as I berated myself this way, Dok Bi Jo found herself retracing those old moments without realizing it.
‘Sigh. Was that around the time I turned twenty-nine?’
The harder I tried to forget, the clearer the memory of that day when I first met him became.
“Here. Try one.”
“I don’t eat peaches.”
The young Daoist in his robes and ceremonial crown offered the fruit, but twenty-nine-year-old Dok Bi Jo refused outright.
Not only did she refuse—she rose from her seat by the River Bank.
Yet he had the audacity to follow her.
“Do you dislike peaches, miss?”
“Yes.”
“Why is that?”
“Because Daoists favor them.”
“Do you hate Daoists?”
“Yes.”
“Why is that?”
“You certainly have many questions, Daoist.”
“Ordinarily I don’t, but there’s something about you that piques my curiosity. Perhaps it’s because you were sitting alone by the river, weeping endlessly.”
“….”
“Won’t you tell me why you despise Daoists?”
“It’s simple. I am the sole survivor of the Yang Family.”
At those words, the young Daoist fell silent.

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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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