The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 125

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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 Fallen Great Family’s Limited Lifespan Antidote — Episode 125

“Have all of them been dealt with?”
“We’re currently pursuing some who fled toward Cheon Hwa Dang. As for the rest…….”
“Cheon Hwa Dang? Weren’t the children supposed to be there? Moo Ae Dan should have gotten them out safely, shouldn’t she?”
Chang Gung Dan, who had been handling the intruders from outside, had already returned, but Moo Ae Dan, sent to protect the children, had gone to Cheon Hwa Dang and had not been heard from since.
And if the remnants had also gone to Cheon Hwa Dang…….
Just then, someone came rushing over, gasping for breath.
“Fire! There’s a fire at Cheon Hwa Dang! It appears to be the intruders’ doing. The flames are spreading rapidly…….”
“What!”
In that instant, the faces of Dan Mok Cheon Gi, Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo, and Nam Gung Hwan drained of all color.
Blood Coral Valley’s Fire Technique—

they were all too familiar with it.
Blood Coral Valley cared nothing for preserving or keeping or protecting anything. If they couldn’t have it, they destroyed it.
Hadn’t Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s scar come from them as well!
“Leave only the minimum number to clean up, and head to Cheon Hwa Dang……Cheon Gi, you!”
Dan Mok Cheon Gi was the first to dash out. At that same moment, what had been a faint wisp of smoke erupted into raging flames, visible to the naked eye even from a distance.
Cheon Hwa Dang was wholly engulfed—buildings and gardens alike swallowed by fire—and its surroundings seethed with people desperately fighting the blaze.
“Bring water! Pour more!”
“No, the water won’t put it out! In fact—ahhhhh!”
“Sand! Throw sand on it!”
The roar of timber burning and the searing heat made ears ring and eyes feel as if they would cook in their sockets.
Then someone drew ragged breaths and muttered through them.
“The children are inside? Ryeon too?”
It was Dan Mok Hyeon U, drenched from head to toe in blood.
Beside him, Nam Gung Gyeong Mu, equally covered in blood, could barely breathe, let alone speak.
The moment they’d seen the fire spread to the family compound, they’d rushed over, cut down the remaining assassins, and gotten this far.
And in that same moment, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo, who had come running from afar, tore her eyes from the flames with a face twisted as though screaming, and seized the leader of Chang Gung Dan.
“What do you mean, what you said? The children—they’re still in there?”
“Please, calm…….”
“My daughter and my cousins are all in there and you want me to stay calm!”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo’s voice rang out like struck steel.
As martial artists from the great families participating in Gyeong Hang Un Ryeon came running from all directions, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo rushed to a bucket of water that had been abandoned since it could no longer douse the flames, and dumped it over her head without hesitation.
When she’d drawn water twice in succession, Dan Mok Hyeon U came running up, snatched the bucket from her hands, and poured it over himself instead.
“I’m going in. Sister, you stay here.”
“Don’t make this harder on yourself. Just stay calm…….”
“I won’t lose Ryeon twice! So you stay here! I’m the one going in!”
Dan Mok Hyeon U cried out.
There had been a time when the thought alone that his niece couldn’t rise from her sickbed because of him made him live in darkness.
But that he’d been leisurely sightseeing in Yangzhou while his niece was dying in those flames—that was unbearable.
Yet what was unbearable for him was equally unbearable for Dan Mok Hyeon Yo.
“No. You’re staying.”
“I won’t! I…….”
Crack!
In that instant, Dan Mok Hyeon U’s head snapped to the side. More from shock than pain, his eyes flew open as he stared at Dan Mok Hyeon Yo. She spoke.
“If no one comes back, you’ll inherit the family.”
“Don’t talk nonsense!”
The cry that came then from Dan Mok Cheon Gi was like thunder.
“Father!”
“Father…….”
“Hwan! Grab my children for me.”
“What, what?”
Nam Gung Hwan, moving half in shock at Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s words, seized both Hyeon Yo and Hyeon U even as Dan Mok Cheon Gi turned toward the flames.
“Have you lost your mind!”
“What’s one more scar on this face? Who would even notice?”
“Notice? Damn it, of course I’d notice! It got even more frightening, so obviously I’d notice! Aren’t you standing right there?!”
It was the moment he was shouting at his friend like a madman, insisting they go in together, when it happened.
Blazing flames clawed across Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s collar.
Crack!
One section of the building collapsed, and through the gap, children came rushing out with their hands over their mouths.
Dan Mok Bi and Nam Gung Seo Jin were the first to bolt free.
Other children followed behind them, their faces streaked with tears and soot, and finally came Dan Mok Ryeon, Hwa Ryun, Jung Yeong, and the warriors of Moo Ae Dan.
At the same moment, the burning building let out a terrible groan and began to collapse. What had been burning until now was merely child’s play compared to the ferocity with which it now ignited.
“Dan Mok Seong! Dan Mok Bi! Dan Mok Ryeon!”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo, wrenching her hand free from Nam Gung Hwan’s grip, stumbled forward on legs that had gone weak, then pushed herself up and rushed toward the children.
Confirming that her daughter and young niece had flushed faces from the heat but no other injuries, tears poured down her cheeks like a waterfall.
Dan Mok Seong, who had faced enemies for the first time and picked her way through the flames with forced composure, finally broke and let her tears fall in the face of her mother’s torrent of grief.
“Dan Mok Bi, Dan Mok Ryeon! Let me look at you. Let your aunt see your faces.”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo seemed unaware that she herself was weeping.
Dan Mok Hyeon U stood behind her, gazing blankly at his nieces before his legs gave way and he sank to the ground.
The children sought out their guardians and collapsed in tears while physicians came rushing in.
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo snatched the calmest-looking physician from the crowd, hauling him forward with the swiftness of a hawk plucking a squirrel from a branch.
“Our niece is bleeding like this—examine her at once!”
Her beautiful face contorted with tears as she barked the command so sharply that even the composed physician flinched before quickly nodding his assent.
“A child destined for great things, and if she bears a scar on her body, I’ll…….”
“Mother, please. For a martial artist, a scar is a badge of honor.”
Dan Mok Seong, wiping her tears away briskly, hastened to restrain her mother.
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo, still streaming tears, gazed at her daughter with something like grievance.
“But Dan Mok Seong……. Still, you’re so young—how can you already be talking about scars!”
“A-Aunt, really, I’m fine. It was just a graze. Let’s check if Dan Mok Seong, Dan Mok Bi, and Hwa Ryun have any injuries first…….”
That was when Hwa Ryun, whose expression had remained blank until then, spoke abruptly.
“That’s not just a graze. Another inch deeper and it would have been serious.”
“What?!”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo’s face went pale and she seized the physician by the arm.
But before the physician could do anything, Dan Mok Ryeon faltered and swayed, then crumpled to the ground.
“Dan Mok Ryeon! Dan Mok Ryeon! Dan Mok Ryeon!”
“Sister!”
“Sister! Sister!”

* * *

Dan Mok Ryeon opened her eyes into darkness. She had no idea how much time had passed, but judging by the moon hanging in the sky and the darkness all around, it seemed to be night.
She wiggled her toes and clenched and unclenched both hands beneath the blanket.
‘My body seems fine……. Are the others all right? Was Blood Coral Valley taken care of?’
Listening carefully, she could faintly hear the sound of a lamp flame crackling nearby. And the sound of someone breathing…….
“What are you smiling about?”
“……!”
Dan Mok Ryeon’s eyes flew open in alarm. Sitting beside her was Hwa Ryun, her expression unreadable, looking down at her.
“You startled me……. Give some warning when you’re there. I didn’t even know you were watching. Are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere? Have you gotten up and eaten?”
“…….”
“No fever? Your throat isn’t sore or anything?”
Dan Mok Ryeon sat up and reached out, placing her hand on Hwa Ryun’s forehead.
“There doesn’t seem to be any fev——”
Smack!
Hwa Ryun knocked her hand away. Dan Mok Ryeon clutched her stinging hand and looked at Hwa Ryun in surprise.
“Hwa Ryun……?”
“What exactly are you saying?”
“What do you mean, what?”
“‘Go ahead and die’—is that what you meant?”
“No, we all made it out alive, what are you talking about.”
“That was the whole ‘go ahead and die’ thing, wasn’t it. We all made it out alive, but you yourself…….”
Hwa Ryun’s voice had begun to rise, but she swallowed her words.
Shortly after, the door opened and the physician appeared.
“Ah, you’ve awakened, young lady.”
“Ah…… the others, the others? Are they all right?”
Dan Mok Ryeon asked the physician while keeping her face blank, all the while gauging the eyes of Hwa Ryun standing beside her.
The physician smiled helplessly, as though there was nothing to be done about it.
“Of course they are, miss. Since you brought everyone out safe, they’ve all been staying up through the nights waiting for you to wake, and they only just fell asleep a moment ago.”
“I wouldn’t say I brought them out so much as we all came out together. But in heaven’s name…… how many days has it been?”
“Four days, miss.”
“They must have been so worried…….”
Hwa Ryun’s expression shifted to one that said, ‘Is worrying about others really the problem right now?’ The physician’s eyes flashed in vigorous agreement.
“You’ve been bedridden for four days, which did concern us, but there don’t appear to be any serious complications. Still, it would be best to begin with gentle walks and then gradually increase your movement…….”
Bang!
“Dan Mok Ryeon’s awake? Dan Mok Ryeon!”
“Sister!”
Before the physician could finish speaking, the door flew open and Dan Mok Hyeon Yo rushed in. Close behind her came Dan Mok Bi and Dan Mok Seong, hurrying after.

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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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