The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 127

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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 Great House: A Limited Lifespan – Episode 127

A lifetime spent cutting through the turbulent waters of Kangho, carrying Righteousness close to the heart.
Without Chivalry at the blade’s tip, what separates a martial artist from the brutal villains and brigands of the world?
Among countless paths to the family’s glory, the reason I chose the way of martial skill
—
was first to protect the people of my household with that strength, and second to stand against injustice that threatens the weak. Wasn’t it?
And then Dan Mok Hyeon U spoke unexpectedly.
“Even so, don’t do that again, Ryeon.”
“Uncle…?”
Round eyes widened on her young, delicate face.
Dan Mok Hyeon U opened his mouth, struggling to sound stern.
“The ancient sages spoke of Self-Cultivation, Family Harmony, Governance, Peace Under Heaven.
Isn’t that so? Well, since we’re martial artists, we skip the governance—but we still have Self-Cultivation, Family Harmony, and Peace. Yet you can’t even look after yourself. How do you expect to achieve anything greater?”

“Uncle…”
“You must be safe first. Protecting others comes after. Do you understand? Father, say something too. Praise alone won’t do, will it?”
Dan Mok Cheon Gi swallowed a groan. For someone tasked with scolding, Dan Mok Hyeon U looked painfully distressed, fidgeting where he stood.
While Dan Mok Cheon Gi merely exhaled a quiet sigh, Dan Mok Hyeon U took Ryeon’s hand and whispered urgently.
“Do you know how much Seong and Bi worried? Your aunt didn’t sleep a wink—she spent the whole time watching over your bedchamber. And how much I suffered! Your grandfather, I needn’t mention. When you alone go wrong, the entire household falls into disarray. So surely you understand what needs to happen?”
“I… no… yes… But I didn’t throw myself into the fire, and the Blood Demons appearing… that’s true, but…”
Ryeon stumbled through her excuses. She hadn’t rushed into danger first, and even though she’d helped those nearby, it was only that she barely held her own against one Blood Demon, and when escaping through the flames, she’d done little more than be pulled aside by someone nearby…
Still, Dan Mok Hyeon U tried to speak sternly once more, but in the end couldn’t find the words and only pulled Ryeon into a tight embrace.
Ryeon noticed her uncle’s hold felt a little looser than before, and so she simply squeezed her eyes shut and nodded again and again.
Murmuring to herself—I’ll be careful, don’t worry, I promise, I swear—over and over.

* * *

After downing a bowl of medicinal broth and sending the family away, she slept briefly, and when she woke again, dawn was breaking.
As the sun began to rise, Ryeon recalled the physician’s advice about taking a walk and quietly made her way out of her quarters.
At this early hour, there were almost no sounds of people. As she drew a light breath, her body felt buoyant.
‘I wonder if I could manage the Void Walking technique like this?’
She was about to laugh at the thought when someone suddenly grasped her hand from behind.
“Oh, Ryun!”
Only then did Ryeon realize that with her family crowding in, she’d never managed a proper conversation with Hwa Ryun.
“You’re up already?”
“That’s what I should be asking you.”
“Well, I just slept for three days straight. I’m not tired.”
“Is that something to brag about?”
“It’s not bragging, exactly…”
Ryeon found herself studying Hwa Ryun’s expression carefully. Her face was utterly blank. Now that she thought about it, it had been like that ever since her eyes opened.
Perhaps from within the flames, or even further back—since that moment in Blood Coral Valley when she’d faced the Blood Demons…
“Did I worry you a lot?”
“Not at all.”
Only then did Hwa Ryun’s expression tighten slightly. Ryeon felt oddly reassured.
“Wow, but I was really shocked. I never imagined Blood Coral Valley would show up like that.”
“Neither did I…”
“The people who came to visit our grandfather all helped out, so I heard there weren’t any injured among the common folk. We were lucky, weren’t we?”
“If we were lucky, the Blood Demons wouldn’t have appeared at all.”
“Well, that’s beyond anyone’s control!”
Hwa Ryun didn’t seem to agree with Ryeon’s words. The faint pout that had crossed her face vanished again.
“…You said you were going to fetch your younger siblings, but you could have just sent the Mu Ae Order.”
“My sibling was there too. How could I do that?”
“So why did you insist on going yourself? Didn’t you know something was wrong?”
“It wasn’t so much that I knew as…”
“If you’ve spotted something unusual, you ought to hand it over to someone else.”
“I didn’t think things would spiral like that either. I just had a strange feeling something was off, so I thought I should bring Bi here quickly. That’s all.”
Ryeon stared at Hwa Ryun for a moment, then broke into a bright smile.
“My sister worries so much about her little one, doesn’t she? Our Ryun!”
“I wasn’t worried at all. I was calculating efficiency.”
“See? We all came through fine. And in terms of gain, there’s no haul bigger than this.”
Hwa Ryun looked at Ryeon as if wanting to shout, then let her shoulders slump and waved her hand dismissively.
“Ugh, fine. Whatever. Do as you like, do as you like.”
“Now our Ryun is sulking.”
“You know that’s infuriating, right? Getting angry and then being told you’re sulking.”
“Our Ryun is quite angry.”
“This is seriously■■ annoying…….”
“■■?”
Hwa Ryun looked at Ryeon as if she wanted to slap her own mouth.
“……they say you can’t even drink cold water in front of children…….”
“I’m two years older than you, you little thing.”
“And now I’m taller than you too.”
“Just barely. But still—are you even human or a bamboo shoot? How do you grow so fast?”
“…….”
“Hmm. Being a bamboo shoot is a good thing. You can shoot up straight and tall like bamboo.”
“Don’t say harsh things and then gloss over them with something nice.”
Ryeon burst into laughter. Hwa Ryun’s grumbling seemed to ease a little. Ryeon took her hand and they strolled side by side along the eaves, and she asked:
“You know it yourself. It was a serious incident, but everyone came through without harm, and I didn’t overextend myself.”
“Other people don’t know, so they can’t say.”
“Know what?”
“What you were thinking when you suggested going to fetch Bi.”
Hwa Ryun’s eyes had settled into a calmness that bordered on cold.
“That story about not knowing such a thing would happen—that’s a lie. You didn’t just happen to go fetch your sister and end up in that place.”
You went because you suspected something might be dangerous, something might go wrong.
“Because she’s my sister. Because she’s family.”
“You would’ve gone even if it was just Nam Gung Seo Jin there instead of Dan Mok Bi.”
Hwa Ryun said that much, then her temperature seemed to rise again all on her own. She let go of Ryeon’s hand and crossed her arms.
“You would’ve gone even if there was just a servant there who’d been with us less than a year?”
Ryeon pouted her lips indignantly.
“No.”
“…….”
“I wouldn’t have gone. I would’ve left them to handle it themselves. They’re not even family.”
“…….”
But Ryeon’s expression crumbled soon after, and she seized Hwa Ryun’s hand and shook it.
“Actually, it feels a bit lonely that I’m not going.”
“……it doesn’t.”
“I know you feel lonely.”
“I don’t.”
“You’re always telling me not to do that. You deliberately said you wouldn’t go so I wouldn’t scold you.”
“……so you enjoy toying with people with just a word?”
“It’s not toying. Just fun.”
“Just wait. I’ll have my revenge.”
“Even as a little bamboo shoot, you’re still littler than me, aren’t you?”
“Just wait. I’ll have my revenge.”
“Sure, sure!”
“If only I’d been born two years earlier……”
“Don’t obsess over what can’t be changed. Let it go.”
“Are you going to enter Shaolin Temple, then?”
“This little one.”
Ryeon felt Hwa Ryun’s mood lighten completely and smiled softly.
“You don’t need to worry so much. Haven’t I told you what my dream is?”
“What is it?”
“No accidents! No disasters! A long and healthy life!”
“Sigh……”
“What, I just told you something good—why are you sighing again?”
“It’s not easy, you know? It’s hard. It’s not a trivial matter.”
“That’s… well, yes, but…. You just cursed again….”
Hwa Ryun pretended not to hear what Dan Mok Ryeon had said.
“I’m not talking about wealth and glory or conquering the world. I mean a safe passage, a disaster-free existence, a long and healthy life—that’s all.”
“Wait, you’re saying wealth and glory and conquering the world are easy?”
“Those are just things you do, aren’t they?”
“Conquering the world—is that something you just do?”
“If you work hard enough, it happens, doesn’t it? That’s why the clan is built the way it is. We’re not trying to become the foremost clan under heaven, are we—just the second-best?”
“Well…. Of course everyone wants to be the foremost, but….”
“Wealth and glory—that’s just having lots of money and gemstones and treasures.”
“Money and gemstones and treasure come from the earth, don’t they?”
“It seems easier than a safe passage, a disaster-free life, and living long. We’ve already shattered the safety part anyway.”
“Nothing’s happened to me, so I’m still safe.”
“Nothing? Your shoulder was slashed wide open.”
“I didn’t get slashed any worse than that….”
Dan Mok Ryeon was speaking when a sudden realization made her eyes go wide.
“That was you, wasn’t it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You threw something back then—that’s why the Blood Demon stumbled, wasn’t it?”

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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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