A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 86

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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 86
I understood why—the tragedy of the Yang Family Estate was widely known throughout Hubei Province.
The Yang Family Estate had been utterly annihilated in a single day due to a power struggle with the Wei Family Estate.
Only Dok Bi Jo, who had been in secluded cultivation, managed to narrowly escape the catastrophe.
“…I see.”
“When our family faced crisis, the Orthodox Sects all turned their backs. It was clearly the Wei Family Estate’s greed for expansion, anyone could see that!”
“….”
“And the Wudang Sect, closest to us, openly refused to help. Does that answer why I despise Taoist priests?”
The man stood motionless for a moment, lost in thought. Dok Bi Jo quickened her pace. Just when I thought we’d finally parted ways, he came running after me again.
“…Could I not repay a small portion of that debt?”
“…?”
“As a Taoist priest, particularly one of the Wudang Sect, I feel a sense of responsibility.”
“I see. And how would you repay it?”
“With peaches…would that not suffice?”
An absurd laugh echoed through the air.
“Ah, I laughed.”
Dok Bi Jo, who had laughed at the man’s words, felt her pride wounded.
I hated Taoist priests, truly hated them….
Yet in that moment, I found his innocent, bashful smile endearing.
“It’s ridiculous.”
“You’ve laughed now. You were crying just moments ago.”
“….”
“If you would permit it, I would like to travel with you for a time and repay this debt by making you smile as I just did.”
“Do you even know where I’m going?”
“No, but let us go together, wherever it may be.”
“Wherever it may be, he said….”
Remembering those days, Dok Bi Jo’s voice carried a profound melancholy.
And so we wandered the Jianghu together in such harmony for three years.
Because of him, I laughed so very much during that time.
“Any man worth his salt should know how to drink. Come, have a cup with me.”
“B-but Taoist priests must abstain from alcohol and meat….”
“Why do you conveniently omit the precept about abstaining from women?”
“Th-that is….”
“Then the Taoist can have his beloved peaches. I’ll have my wine.”
Beside Dok Bi Jo, who drank directly from the bottle, the man bit into a peach.
Watching him intently, Dok Bi Jo spoke.
“We’re just like them. Wine and peaches.”
“What makes them so similar?”
“When a peach ripens, it tastes of wine. But it can never truly become wine.”
“….”
“We’re bound to part ways someday.”
“No!”
“It’s inevitable. That’s the natural order of things.”
“I’ll prove to you that it isn’t!”
Dok Bi Jo thought his words were nothing but youthful impetuousness.
Yet her heart still quickened.
It was around that time when we watched the beautiful fireworks together—the molten iron flowers.
“Those sparks from the molten metal are just like you, my lady.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing about you is lukewarm. Whether in anger or in love, you burn with intensity, and….”
Smack.
The sudden kiss made Dok Bi Jo’s eyes widen like apricot pits.
“Come here.”
“Why, why are you doing this?”
“You shameless Taoist! Did you think you could steal a woman’s lips without consequence?”
“I, I apologize….”
“As punishment, do it again.”
“…?”
“I’m not satisfied. As you yourself said, I do everything with intensity.”
“…!”
It was one of the few warm seasons in her life.
But all seasons must fade.
The two of us traveled throughout Hubei Province, appealing for justice for the Yang Family Estate’s grievances. Yet no one would listen to the last descendant of a martial arts clan already fallen to ruin.
Enraged, Dok Bi Jo resolved to sever ties with the Orthodox Sects.
“No matter what, you cannot learn the martial arts of the Unorthodox Sects! I forbid it!”
“I’ll abandon this hollow Orthodox Sect. All that remains in the Orthodox world are cowardly hypocrites.”
“Granted. But you have already mastered Orthodox martial arts. If your body accepts Unorthodox energy in this state, you will surely fall into demonic cultivation.”
“The Wudang Sect has the Dual Heart Divine Art.”
At those words, Wi Mu Seop fell silent.
The Dual Heart Divine Art.
It was a Wudang Sect meditation technique that allowed one to master two conflicting energies within a single body and wield them freely.
“…My lady, surely you weren’t aiming for that from the very beginning?”
At the anguished tone in the man’s voice, Dok Bi Jo hesitated.
She had not approached him for the Dual Heart Divine Art.
But Dok Bi Jo knew well that she had to answer this way now—only then would he teach her the Dual Heart Divine Art.
“Yes. You said the Wudang Sect owed a debt. Then teach me the Dual Heart Divine Art.”
“….”
“Or are you also just spouting pretty words like the other Orthodox Sect members?”
Dok Bi Jo fixed Wi Mu Seop with an intense gaze. His eyes, which always smiled so gently, now looked terribly sad.
In that moment, my heart sank.
‘This is strange. Why am I like this….’
This man had always been someone who abruptly thrust himself into my life.
So I thought I would be fine even if he suddenly disappeared one day, as if he had only ever been passing through.
Yet a sharp pain pierced my chest.
But it was already spilled water. I could not gather back the words I had spoken.
After a long time had passed.
Wi Mu Seop spoke in a voice as though his very entrails were being torn apart.
“I will transmit the Dual Heart Divine Art to you, young lady.”
True to his word, over the course of a week in a cave deep within the mountains, he transmitted to her the secret incantations of the Dual Heart Divine Art.
The day after he taught her the final incantation.
When Dok Bi Jo opened her eyes, he was already gone.
It was what she had expected.
But experiencing it in reality was different.
That day, lying on the cold stone floor of the cave, Dok Bi Jo wept without end.
Thus the two parted ways and never saw each other again.
Not until they met as a handful of dust in the Peach Orchard of Changnyeong Mountain itself.
* * *
Hong Seol and Baek were walking toward the Youth Dormitory.
They had thoroughly searched the Library Hall and the Taoist Temple just moments before, but found no one particularly suspicious.
Or rather, should I say everyone seemed suspicious?
The Taoist sweeping the courtyard with a broom, the Taoist absorbed in training at the Training Ground, the Taoist copying something in the Library Hall—all of them seemed suspicious.
‘How frustrating. Without seeing the palm print….’
Hong Seol and Baek, having gained no particular findings, arrived at the Youth Dormitory.
The Youth Dormitory, located farthest from the Memorial Hall, was the most dilapidated building in this place.
The old door was warped with many gaps, and the eaves were thick with cobwebs.
Creak.
As they opened the unlubricated door and entered, a musty stench assailed their nostrils.
There was no distinction between corridor and inner chamber. Merely old beds were lined along the walls.
“One can well imagine what treatment the junior disciples receive here.”
Even Nam Goong Baek, who took little interest in others, furrowed his brow.
“Hmm?”
Hong Seol, stepping in one pace behind Nam Goong Baek, wore a puzzled expression.
“Yet the atmosphere is rather… lively, isn’t it?”
A shoe hung from the door handle, while a bundle that had come loose scattered pills of wall-climbing medicine across the floor.
Several children, no more than seven or eight years old, were too busy packing their belongings to notice.
“Has anyone seen my shoe?”
“Oh, that’s mine!”
“Um, who are you?”
Only then did one of the junior disciples notice their arrival, his eyes widening in surprise.
Having spoken with children younger than myself a few times in the Underground Chamber, Hong Seol stepped forward with confidence.
“Oh, hello there, little one! These older siblings are guests who’ve come to visit the Changnyeong Sect.”
Lest the child be startled, Hong Seol spoke in a gentle voice, tilting her head slightly to one side.
Upon hearing Hong Seol’s words, the child executed a perfect bow with impeccable posture.
“Ah, you must be visitors from the Nam Goong Family Estate.”
Caught off guard by this unexpected response, Hong Seol’s words faltered.
“Um… yes.”
“I heard about it from Woon Young. Please, feel free to look around as much as you’d like.”
‘Goodness, this child seems far more mature than I am.’
Embarrassed, Hong Seol scratched her flushed cheek with her index finger.
“Why is everyone so busy? What are you all doing?”
“Oh, we’re supposed to leave for Wuhan in two days.”
“What business do you have in Wuhan?”
“The Sect Master said he’s sending us to learn about the world!”
“How old are you…?”
“I’m seven years old, those two are six, and the youngest is five.”
“…Aren’t you all far too young to be learning about the world?”
Nam Goong Baek murmured quietly. Hong Seol shared the same thought.
Then the other children chimed in.
“This time is special!”
“The Sect Master said a wonderful opportunity has come up!”
The children were eager to boast about the fortune they had been given.
“What kind of opportunity?”
When Hong Seol asked, the children vied with one another to explain.
“We’re going to learn how to work at a big money exchange in Wuhan!”
A money exchange—a place where people deposited or withdrew funds. The idea of such small children being taught to work in such an establishment was peculiar.
Hong Seol tilted her head in confusion.
‘Could it be that the sect doesn’t have enough means to feed all these children, so they’re forced to send them away?’
Wuhan was within the Je Gal Family’s sphere of influence.
‘Perhaps the Je Gal Family is looking after the Changnyeong Sect’s circumstances.’
Taking in a dozen or so children wouldn’t be particularly difficult for them.
But the children were far too young.
She couldn’t fathom what advantage the Je Gal Family would gain from this arrangement.
Something didn’t quite fit into place.
“Who are these guests?”
Then, an unfamiliar voice rang out.

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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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