A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 98

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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 98
With thick eyebrows and eyes as crimson as rubies, he was unmistakably a beautiful youth.
Nam Goong Baek furrowed his brow in disbelief.
“This… that monkey brat?”
“Cough! Oh my, Young Master!”
The Painting Shop Owner came rushing over, choking despite not having drunk anything.
To speak so disrespectfully of a direct descendant of the Sa Cheon Dang Family!
Had any of the Sa Cheon Dang Family’s martial artists passing by heard such words, it would have been grounds for punishment.
Was this not a family known for repaying kindness twofold and grudges tenfold?
“Young Master Dang Yi Woon, despite being only ten years old, has earned the reputation of being the most beautiful young master in all of Sichuan.”
“…Is that so?”
“Having lost his parents at a young age and been raised by the renowned Poison King himself, the most famous figure in Sichuan—that adds another layer of charm, wouldn’t you say? The young ladies are absolutely beside themselves. You know how it is—women’s hearts are easily swayed by tales of sorrow.”
“…Is that right?”
At those words, Nam Goong Baek fell silent, staring down at his own palms and body in deep contemplation.
Then he suddenly lifted his head and spoke.
“Still, I find it hard to believe that Dang Yi Woon is so popular with the ladies.”
“Oh, the paintings of Young Master Dang Yi Woon are our shop’s best sellers! The young ladies buy them as soon as they get their allowance.”
As he said this, the Painting Shop Owner swept his gaze around his shop.
True to his words, most of the portrait paintings in the store depicted Dang Yi Woon.
Nam Goong Baek grasped a painting of Dang Yi Woon with trembling hands and stared at it intently.
‘Yes, they must have painted him as a beautiful youth in the picture, contrary to reality. This is Sichuan, after all.’
In the puppet show he had watched earlier, had they not portrayed his grandfather as subordinate to the Poison King?
These Sichuan people!
“Sigh.”
It was when Nam Goong Baek let out a discontented sigh.
Nam Goong Ho asked the Painting Shop Owner a question.
“Who is the subject of that dusty painting next to the portrait of Young Master Dang Yi Woon? This short little child here.”
He seemed to be probing the current atmosphere within the Sa Cheon Dang Family.
“Ah, you speak of Young Master Dang Cheon Gang.”
“Dang Cheon Gang? Ah, the current family head’s son?”
“Yes! A distant relative of Young Master Dang Yi Woon. He is currently competing with Young Master Dang Yi Woon for the position of next minor family head.”
At those words, the scar on Nam Goong Ho’s face twitched.
“Was the next minor family head position not meant to be Dang Yi Woon’s? After the previous family head and his wife died in an unexpected accident, I understood that the current family head, a collateral branch member, temporarily assumed the position.”
“That was originally the case, but…”
The Painting Shop Owner lowered his voice as if afraid of being overheard.
“It seems the family head recently raised the matter formally before the council of elders. He wants to return to the principle of survival of the strongest.”
Survival of the strongest.
Only the strong survive.
It was a tradition the Sa Cheon Dang Family had upheld for a long time in the past.
According to this principle, the Dang Family would select the next minor family head through martial contests rather than hereditary succession.
Of course, that was ancient history. In recent times, like other martial families, the direct line had inherited the position of family head through succession.
But the current family head, a branch member, had stepped in to block it.
For Dang Yi Woon, who was originally meant to become the junior family head, it might have felt somewhat unfair.
‘Dang Yi Mu, that old man must have had confidence in his grandson’s abilities.’
That’s probably why he accepted the family head’s audacious proposal.
Nam Goong Ho gazed at the portrait of Dang Yi Woon, who possessed crimson eyes just like Dang Yi Mu.
When he was young, Dang Yi Woon’s eyes had been black like everyone else in the Dang family.
‘The old man of the Dang family must have properly transmitted the poison techniques.’
The poison techniques that Dang Yi Mu had cultivated his entire life were arguably the finest in the Sa Cheon Dang Family.
Known by the name ‘Poison Sage Wandering the Ten Thousand Toxins,’ he was renowned throughout the world as someone who could handle any poison.
It was famous that he had relinquished the position of family head to his younger brother simply because managing the clan was tedious.
If he had transmitted everything to Dang Yi Woon, his brother’s grandson.
And if the talented Dang Yi Woon had properly mastered it.
‘By now, he would have become a monster with no equal among his peers.’
His gaze fell upon Nam Goong Baek.
His grandson, who possessed talent no less than Dang Yi Woon’s, perhaps even greater, yet had abandoned martial arts.
His mouth tasted bitter.
“Thus, the Dang family is currently holding a junior family head selection tournament for the first time in three hundred years.”
“Hmm.”
Nam Goong Ho let out a deep sigh.
It was clear that Poison King Dang Yi Mu had summoned me to Sichuan because of this selection tournament.
Perhaps he hoped the Sword King would attend to guarantee fairness.
Or perhaps he hoped I would become the backing force for Young Master Dang Yi Woon, who had no parents.
But either way, I would be drawn into the internal affairs of the Dang family.
As Nam Goong Ho, I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable about it.
‘Still, I can’t just ignore the old man of the Dang family, can I?’
While I resolved to help my old friend, Hong Seol was secretly flipping through Woong Myo’s paintings.
‘I’d like to have one as a souvenir of coming to Sichuan….’
But I kept feeling self-conscious about Nam Goong Baek’s gaze.
If I said I wanted to buy one of Woong Myo’s paintings, he would look as if the sky were falling.
‘Older brother has his own charm, and Woong Myo is cute in his own way too….’
Sigh, I really can’t catch a break.
Just as I pressed my small hand against my forehead with a tap.
A painting that I absolutely adored caught my eye.
It was a picture of young Woong Myo gathering bamboo leaves in one hand and chewing them contentedly.
‘This, I absolutely must have this!’
I was glancing back and about to secretly pick up the painting without Nam Goong Baek noticing.
When a voice filled with despair as if the earth were collapsing reached my ears.
“Seol Ah…?”
At those words, I quickly swapped Woong Myo’s painting for another one and spun around hastily.
“Oh, brother!”
I hadn’t done anything wrong.
My heart pounded wildly, and my cheeks flushed crimson.
“Seol Ah, what’s that you’re holding?”
Nam Goong Baek’s eyes couldn’t tear themselves away from the painting in my hands.
“This is… this is…”
A flutter.
A gust of wind chose that moment to sweep across the paper I held, flipping it over.
The painting in my hands was unmistakably a portrait of Dang Yi Woon.
“Seol… you…!”
In an instant, a vein bulged across Nam Goong Baek’s forehead.
Terrified that he might discover I’d taken a liking to the painting, I hastily called out to the Painting Shop Owner.
“I-I’ll buy this!”
As I fumbled to open my purse and retrieve coins, Nam Goong Baek stood frozen, staring blankly into empty space.
‘Could Seol possibly be interested in that Dang Family brat…?’
It felt as though someone had dropped a heavy stone into his mind, and it rattled endlessly.
He remained rigid until Nam Goong Ho suggested they leave.
Stepping outside ahead of him, I spotted a Beggar sitting against the wall.
Judging by the knot tied around his waist, he was unmistakably a member of the Beggar Sect.
“Ah, a beggar! I should pass word to Yang Do Jin after all this time.”
The moment I rushed toward him.
Another Beggar came sprinting over and whispered urgently into the first one’s ear.
The seated Beggar leaped to his feet, rolled up his tattered mat, and dashed away in haste.
I cried out in bewilderment.
“Ah, sir! I was trying to give you alms!”
“This isn’t the time for that!”
I stood dumbfounded, coins resting on my palm, watching the direction the Beggar had vanished.
A beggar refusing charity—that was truly peculiar.
Just then, Nam Goong Ho emerged from the painting shop, dragging along a deeply frowning Nam Goong Baek.
“Now then, let’s head toward Dang Family Village.”
The sun was already beginning to set.
* * *
Dang Family Village.
That was what people called the clan settlement where the bloodline members of the Sa Cheon Dang Family gathered.
In the heart of Dang Family Village, situated on the outskirts of Chengdu, the Estate Grounds of the Sa Cheon Dang Family stood in magnificent splendor.
Our carriage was heading toward that very place.
“That’s the Inner Fortress. It’s where the direct lineage of the Dang Family resides.”
Of course, now that the meaning of “direct lineage” had faded, the current family head’s relatives lived there as well.
Nam Goong Ho was explaining this for my benefit, as I had come to Sichuan for the first time.
I craned my neck eagerly, peering through the carriage window to catch glimpses of Dang Family Village.
“Everyone being relatives is quite fascinating. Sichuan really does seem like a remarkable place.”
Upon hearing praise for Sichuan, Nam Goong Baek unconsciously gripped his sleeve tightly.
In the distance, a group of people stood before the Estate Grounds of the Sa Cheon Dang Family.
“The old man of the Dang Family is out.”
Nam Goong Ho’s face broke into a satisfied smile.
He seemed delighted to see his old friend again.
Though every time they met they bickered, and he couldn’t help but wonder what situation might unfold.
Creak.
Soon the carriage came to a halt and the door opened. Nam Goong Ho stepped one foot onto the ground.
At the very front of the line of people standing in formation, a white-haired middle-aged man in a flowing green robe caught the eye.
Soon a smile crept across the middle-aged man’s lips.
“You certainly took your time, Nam Goong Ho.”

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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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