A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 87

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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 87
The voice belonged to a girl who appeared to be around ten years old.
She was as gaunt as kindling, yet her limbs stretched long and spindly like a spider’s.
Her face was quite pretty, but the dark circles beneath her eyes suggested she hadn’t slept properly in days.
“Sister Woon Young!”
Starved for affection, the children clung to the girl as though greeting their own elder sister.
“Why are you so late? Did the Sect Master scold you again?”
“We’re hungry, Sister Woon Young!”
Hearing their whining pleas, I realized this girl was the oldest among the children in the Youth Dormitory.
“Your hands—are they alright, sister?”
Beneath the long sleeves, Woon Young’s hands were wrapped in bandages.
‘Could it be…?’
I studied her hands carefully. They were swollen and inflamed, not a single patch of healthy skin visible. The bandages were stained with blood and seeping fluid.
“Making her gather firewood with blistered hands! The cultivators are too harsh!”
The young disciples clustered around Woon Young wore expressions of genuine distress.
Seeing their reaction, I dismissed my suspicions.
‘That’s right. A young disciple who hasn’t even received a formal name couldn’t possibly have mastered corpse manipulation techniques.’
Such techniques required inner cultivation.
The girl called Woon Young appeared to possess not even a trace of it.
Then Woon Young spoke.
“Who are you to enter the Youth Dormitory so carelessly…?”
“Oh, sister!”
The child who had bowed to me whispered something in Woon Young’s ear.
“Ah, guests of the Nam Goong Family. As you can see, we’re busy packing.”
Despite learning our identities, Woon Young’s expression remained stiff and unyielding.
“If you’ve seen enough, I’d appreciate it if you’d leave now.”
Her tone was polite, but it was essentially a challenge.
The problem was that Woon Young glared at me, not Nam Goong Baek.
“Do you know who this girl is to dare…?”
Nam Goong Baek’s face turned cold in an instant.
I was startled by that expression.
‘Brother’s face looks just like it did that day when he punished Nam Goong Do.’
At this rate, a fight would break out between the Changnyeong Sect disciples and my brother!
Recalling past events, I trembled and frantically waved my hands.
“I’m sorry. We’ll be leaving now! Let’s go, brother!”
“Release me, Seol Ah. Today I shall teach this young disciple proper manners… Mmph!”
My small hand forcefully covered Nam Goong Baek’s mouth.
“If you cause trouble here, Grandfather will be furious. Then you’ll have to return to Hefei alone!”
At my whispered threat, Nam Goong Baek finally seemed to come to his senses.
I desperately pulled at Nam Goong Baek’s sleeve.
Only after stepping outside did Nam Goong Baek seem to regain some composure.
Hong Seol deliberately spoke in a brighter tone.
“How about we visit the Library Hall ahead of us this time, older brother?”
“…All right.”
Dragging Nam Goong Baek, who answered with obvious reluctance, toward the Library Hall, I pondered the situation.
‘If I can’t find any clues about the sorcerer even in the Library Hall….’
Then Grandfather would have no choice but to fight the jiangshi himself.
“Sigh.”
At my unconscious exhale, Nam Goong Baek flinched.
He pretended otherwise, but his spirits were clearly dampened.
It was obvious he believed I now looked down on him because of what happened at the Youth Dormitory.
“I didn’t want to fight, Seol Ah…. That fool Dodo started it first….”
It was the first time in Nam Goong Baek’s life that he had ever made such fumbling excuses.
But I didn’t respond.
“…Seol Ah?”
“What are you doing, older brother?”
When Nam Goong Baek lifted his head, he saw me already running ahead in the distance.
“Hurry! We must find the sorcerer before nightfall!”
Phew.
Nam Goong Baek let out a small sigh of relief and rushed after me.
* * *
“So, in the end, you found nothing?”
“Yes….”
Sitting before Nam Goong Ho, I seemed oddly listless.
“I’m sorry, Grandfather. I wanted to be of help to you…. But everyone was wearing gloves so tightly that I couldn’t even see their palms….”
I was nearly on the verge of tears. Nam Goong Ho hastened to comfort me.
“Child, it’s all right. We can find another way, can’t we?”
“If only the Sect Master would allow us to remove the protective robes, then Grandfather wouldn’t have to fight…. Sniff.”
Sniffling, I finally rubbed my eyes with my small fists.
“Oh dear….”
“Ah….”
At the sight, both grandfather and grandson wore expressions as if the sky itself had collapsed.
Nam Goong Ho sighed, looking toward Nam Goong Baek.
“Alas. If your father were here, he would have devised some scheme.”
Seeing me whimper, Nam Goong Baek sighed and spoke.
“Grandfather, actually I have an idea.”
“What is it?”
Upon hearing Baek’s plan, Nam Goong Ho’s mouth fell open.
It was a plan so audacious that no one would dare conceive of it.
Yet it seemed certain to be effective.
“Heh, that, well….”
Nam Goong Ho clicked his tongue, unable to praise his grandson’s brilliance or scold his audacity.
“I can’t tell whether you take after your father or not.”
It was a lament.
Nam Goong Baek’s cool gaze flickered toward the window.
The sunset was already descending gently. Soon, it would be the hour of the jiangshi.
“There’s no time, Grandfather. You must decide.”
Ugh.
Nam Goong Ho released a heavy groan, then spoke decisively.
“Fine, go ahead and run wild as you wish! I’ll bear the responsibility.”
Nam Goong Ho’s permission had been granted.
‘How does older brother Baek come up with such ideas?’
My heart raced as I heard Nam Goong Baek’s plan.
‘This is incomparable to what Heuk and Jeok and I devised!’
Older brother Baek truly was different.
‘If someone else heard this, they might try to stop us, but I trust my brother. If this plan succeeds, Grandfather won’t have to risk himself in a dangerous fight!’
I clenched my small fist tightly.
Nam Goong Baek looked at me and spoke.
“Seol Ah, for this plan to succeed, there’s something you must do.”
* * *
Darkness descended upon the Sect Grounds.
There remained about two hours until the hour of the jiangshi when it would become active.
Gulp.
Disguised as a kitten, I swallowed hard.
Hidden in the brush, I stared intently at the Memorial Hall of the Changnyeong Sect shrouded in darkness.
The Memorial Hall, half-ruined by the jiangshi’s rampage, had no one guarding it.
‘I’ve eaten well, and I’ve packed everything without missing anything.’
I checked the small pouch strapped to my back.
I had emptied what was originally my sachet pouch and tied the drawstring diagonally across my chest.
‘Good, all preparations are complete.’
In the distance, I could see Nam Goong Baek drawing attention by speaking with passing Daoists.
Silver hair that shines even in the Central Plains and blue eyes are rare. It was an appearance that inevitably drew the attention of Daoists unfamiliar with the outside world.
Whoosh!
In that gap, the shadow of a kitten leaped into the air.
I dashed toward the Memorial Hall, glancing back at where Nam Goong Baek stood.
The Daoists, regardless of gender, remained absorbed in conversation with the noble young master of the Nam Goong Family.
‘Hehe, my older brother is quite handsome, isn’t he?’
Thanks to that, I could approach the Memorial Hall without anyone noticing.
Once I climbed up the stairs, those below couldn’t see what I was doing.
‘Now, I just need to do exactly as my brother instructed….’
After the kitten had spent considerable time making its meticulous preparations, it bounded toward the interior of the Memorial Hall.
‘I’m terribly sorry, Han Seo Jin Immortal. Please forgive me—this is for the sake of the Changnyeong Sect.’
With my head bowed, I refocused all my attention on my front paws.
‘Now I’ll pile up plenty of straw, and when I blow out the flint striker…!’
Whoosh!
The fire catches. Quite effortlessly, in fact.
Crackle!
I scampered out of the Memorial Hall with a sprightly gait.
Behind me, the flames that had erupted with vigor quickly spread to the straw.
* * *
Nam Goong Baek, who had been gazing up at the Memorial Hall from a distance, suddenly raised his voice in alarm.
“Fire in the Memorial Hall!”
In an instant, the Sect Grounds of the Changnyeong Sect erupted into chaos as if someone had stirred up a hornet’s nest.
“F-fire!”
“The Memorial Hall is ablaze!”
“What are you all doing? Fetch water in the wooden buckets at once!”
Sect Master Seon Hyo’s voice rang out sharply. Then he growled low in frustration.
“Damn it, the corpses will start moving soon!”
The Taoists hurriedly began drawing water from the Pond on the Sect Grounds.

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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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