The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 120

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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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The Decline of a Martial Family and Its Limited Years — Chapter 120

The two of them managed to resume their conversation only after they had devoured most of the fried fish, which they’d coated generously with seasoning.
“You don’t know how to play any instruments?”
“Instruments?”
For the first time, Dan Mok Hyeon U was asking him about something he could actually *do*, but Nam Gung Gyeong Mu couldn’t manage a cheerful reply.
“I don’t know how to play any instruments, I’m afraid.”
Not that he was particularly skilled at anything else either. Nam Gung Gyeong Mu felt a flush of shame and began gnawing at his lower lip.
There wasn’t much he could do. Keeping up with his clan’s martial techniques already stretched him to his limits; it would be no exaggeration to say he’d had no time to learn anything beyond that.
“Really? Not interested, then?”
“No, that’s not it. It’s just that I haven’t had the time.”
Nam Gung Gyeong Mu mumbled even as he knew it sounded like an excuse. Then, finally, he let his shoulders sag and spoke honestly.
“Truth is, I lack the talent. There’s no room to learn instruments on top of everything else.”
You wouldn’t understand this feeling.
You, who grew so attached to your nephew while protecting him that you fell into Demonic Influence, and who—despite losing years to that darkness—still remained as brilliant as ever, never falling behind anyone.
But Nam Gung Gyeong Mu’s melancholy thoughts vanished almost at once.
“Lack of talent? Nonsense! All you’d need to do is pick up a Pipa and you’d learn in no time! Should I teach you?”
“Why a Pipa all of a sudden—”
“You just… you were stacking the chili peppers from the seasoning into a tower.”
“What?”
Nam Gung Gyeong Mu stopped mid-motion.
At the tip of the chopsticks in his hand, a delicate bit of finely chopped vegetable hung suspended, and before him stood a small tower he’d unconsciously built one layer at a time. A tiny tower constructed from vegetables minced finer than a child’s fingernail.
“If you can do something like that, there’s nothing you couldn’t master!”
“But that’s—”
Nam Gung Gyeong Mu was blinking in confusion at this astounding leap of logic, where building a tower from seasoning vegetables somehow proved he had talent for the Pipa, when Dan Mok Hyeon U—who’d been striking his chest confidently while assuring him he knew instruments well—suddenly went very still.
Nam Gung Gyeong Mu, usually dismissed as dull by everyone in the clan, could read Dan Mok Hyeon U immediately.
Something was wrong.
“Hey, what is it, Hyeon U? What’s the matter?”
Nam Gung Gyeong Mu lowered his voice without thinking and asked. Dan Mok Hyeon U set down his chopsticks slowly, scanned their surroundings, and then peered down through the window.
The busy street below teemed with people moving briskly, but he sensed nothing unusual in the lively scene.
“…It’s their stench.”
“Their stench?”
The youthful, ingenuous face—playful just moments ago as he was thinking about how to show his young cousins the squirrel-shaped fried fish—had vanished completely.
In its place, a face grown deathly pale, with eyes that burned cold with fury, was slowly sinking into a terrible stillness.
“…Blood Coral Valley.”
Dan Mok Hyeon U answered as if grinding the words between his teeth, then shot to his feet, abandoning his chopsticks.
Nam Gung Gyeong Mu, watching him bolt from the tavern in shock, managed only a stunned expression before hastily paying for their meal and rushing after him.
In that brief moment, the sun had set completely. Darkness had settled over the street, now illuminated only by lanterns.
“W-what on earth are you talking about?”
“The stench of Blood Coral Valley people. We have to return to the Nam Gung Family Residence at once.”
“No, wait… that can’t be right. Your father dealt with the Blood Coral Valley leader himself! How could their scent suddenly appear?”
Nam Gung Gyeong Mu normally deferred to others’ opinions, thinking ‘I suppose you’re right,’ but this time he could speak with certainty.
‘Blood Coral Valley out of nowhere doesn’t make sense.’
It was almost as absurd as suddenly hearing about a tiger nearby.
The beast might exist somewhere in the world, but there was no way it would appear here in the heart of Yangzhou.
“And this is the Nam Gung Clan’s own front garden, no less.”
“When they first appeared, it already seemed impossible.”
“That may be true, but—”
“And I know better than anyone that they were never completely destroyed. When Ryeon…”
Dan Mok Hyeon U couldn’t finish the sentence. Blood vessels began to swell visibly in his eyes.
It had been over a decade since Blood Coral Valley, masquerading as the Black Heaven Lotus, had attacked the Dan Mok Clan—a day when the entire Martial Arts World had been told they had been driven back completely.
That day remained vivid in his memory. Even now, after casting off the Demonic Influence.
He had never forgotten that peculiar fishy stench unique to those who drain the life force of others, nor the reek of rotting flesh.
Confronted with Dan Mok Hyeon U’s absolute conviction, Nam Gung Gyeong Mu hesitated. The way he spoke with such certainty made it seem as if something truly grave had occurred.

“Right, yes. Well, if nothing happens, that’s all the better—and if it does, at least we can prepare. Come on, let’s head back.”
When the three of them returned to the Nam Gung Family Residence, Nam Gung Gyeong Mu could immediately see that Dan Mok Hyeon U had been right.
The clash of blades rang out as one wing of the residence burned.

* * *

Dan Mok Ryeon let out a deep sigh only after Nam Gung Hwan’s lesson had ended.
Nam Gung Hwan, bearing the marks of a man who had survived harsh warfare, knew how to suppress certain courtesies and acknowledgments when necessary to keep things running smoothly.
So it was that he had focused more on Dan Mok Ryeon, who grasped his meaning with precision, than on his grandson, who seemed unable to understand his words correctly.
And this, it seemed, had wounded Nam Gung Seo Geon’s heart rather deeply.
Still, Nam Gung Seo Geon showed no sign of it to Dan Mok Ryeon or anyone else—
“Brother, brother. I heard we’re having Meat Dumplings tonight. Did you hear? Should we steam them later and eat together? This evening.”
“Yes.”
“And after we eat, you’ll train, won’t you? What kind of training are you thinking of doing? I was wondering—”
Nam Gung Seo Jin, who had let her guard down with the recently gentler Nam Gung Seo Geon, chattered away without noticing the shift in his expression, tugging at his collar—until his hand struck hers away sharply, and she opened her eyes wide in shock.
“Oh…”
“Ah, Seo Jin. I’m sorry. I’m just a little tired…”
Nam Gung Seo Geon spoke quickly, but Nam Gung Seo Jin recalled the distant past when she and her brother had been estranged; her face went pale, she faltered, her eyes glistened with tears as she mumbled an apology, and then she ran away.
“Seo Jin, wait—”
“…”
“…”
A chill swept through the room, and everyone sensed the awkward tension, their expressions growing strained.
Dan Mok Bi, who had been watching quietly from the side, slipped in gently.
“Shall I go and comfort her?”
Dan Mok Ryeon turned to her younger sister in some surprise.
She had thought they were always bickering over her, but it seemed that separately from that, they had grown fond of each other. Dan Mok Bi even took care to glance sharply at Nam Gung Seo Geon.
Dan Mok Seong nodded first, and when Dan Mok Ryeon gave her permission in turn, Dan Mok Bi dashed off.
Even as the worried Dan Mok Ryeon couldn’t tear her eyes away, Mo Yong Seol Ho—his face uncharacteristically sour—was about to say something to Nam Gung Seo Geon.
Dan Mok Ryeon quickly covered his mouth with her hand.
Mo Yong Seol Ho could have easily removed her hand, but instead he let her be and questioned her with his eyes.
‘Why?’
‘Just don’t say anything.’
But Mo Yong Seol Ho, knowing that Dan Mok Ryeon didn’t have any great reason for this, pulled his hand away from hers and, fixing Nam Gung Seo Geon with a displeased look, spoke anyway.
“I mean, you’re the one who got irritated with your sister. So why are you making that face?”
“What?”
Caught off guard by the sudden reproach, Nam Gung Seo Geon couldn’t brush it off as lightly as he usually did and replied sharply instead.
“What face am I making? And what does it matter to you how I am?”
Mo Yong Seol Ho, seeing him come out on the offensive for the first time, opened his eyes wide in surprise—but soon he held his ground.
“Why wouldn’t it matter? I’m supposed to be studying with her right now, but I can’t go because of you.”
“This is driving me mad.”
As Dan Mok Ryeon muttered with a blank expression, sparks flew between the two boys.
“When did I ever tell her to stay here? She’s staying because she wants to, so why are you blaming me?”
“How can you not comfort your own brother? And when you have a friend kind enough to try to soothe him, of course you blame the one at fault, not the friend trying to help.”
“…!”
Nam Gung Seo Geon, finding nothing to say in return, lost his composure and wore an aggrieved expression before his shoulders sagged.
Mo Yong Seol Ho continued his lecture.
“And my friend stayed because she has a good heart and saw you were in a foul mood—not because she wanted to stay, I’d wager.”
“So what… aren’t we all friends? What am I, then?”
Nam Gung Seo Geon shot back, his voice trembling with emotion.
Mo Yong Seol Ho, whose face had been expressionless and full of righteous words until now, showed a triumphant expression for the first time.
“Of course. She and I made a vow to become true companions.”
“What?”
“What?”
“What did you say?”
As Nam Gung Seo Geon repeated his question, all the children of the Dan Mok Family Residence—Mae Sin Yu, Seo Geuk Rim, Dan Mok Wan, and Dan Mok Seong—turned their heads around sharply and opened their eyes wide.
In the meantime, Hwa Ryun, who had been standing a step away, came closer and whispered quietly to Dan Mok Ryeon.
“What is he talking about?”
“…Hwa Ryun, are you going to be like that too?”
“No, I mean, what’s all this about becoming true companions all of a sudden? Weren’t you and the Mo Yong Clan supposed to be transactional with each other?”

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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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