The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 128

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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 Fallen Clan — Limited Lifespan, Eternal Promise — Episode 128

“I just threw whatever I could see.”
“See? You do have talent. Once you’re back, why don’t we train more? Aren’t you starting to enjoy martial arts now?”
“…….”
Hwa Ryun’s expression made it clear she had no desire to answer. She simply gazed quietly at the line running from Ryeon’s neck down to her shoulder. Ryeon swung her arm about playfully.
“Your sister is fine, so there’s nothing to worry about, young master.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Do you want to see a butterfly? Or a bird?”
The low morning sun cast long shadows, and the bird-shape Ryeon made with her hands looked rather grotesque in that light.
When Ryeon hurriedly hid her hands behind her back, looking uncomfortable, it was only then that Hwa Ryun smiled.
Reassured by that expression, Ryeon moved ahead without noticing that Hwa Ryun was watching her with the gaze of someone who had just made a decision.

* * *

After Ryeon finished her walk and woke from an early afternoon nap with her body restored, the first person to come rushing in was Geum Jong Ha from Geum Ga Jang.
“Ryeon!”
The moment she met him, a brilliant light erupted before her eyes.

* Luck Value expended to save a life. *
* Geum Jong Ha’s enlightenment *
* Geum Jong Ha’s emotional transformation *
Luck Value : 8 / 120 (8▲)

Ryeon’s eyes widened in shock.
But before she could even decipher the Celestial Text floating before her, Geum Jong Ha sat her back down on the bed and chattered away.
“No, don’t get up! Just sit here.”
“That’s right, Ryeon—don’t strain yourself. Just stay seated…….”
“You collapsed so suddenly, it really frightened us, Ryeon! The path of a hero truly demands trials…….”
“Geum Jong Ha!”
Song Young Rang, who had come with Geum Jong Ha, quickly pulled him back and made him close his mouth. Geum Jeok Geol, standing beside Song Young Rang, wore an equally heavy expression.
“No, that’s not what I meant…… I’m grateful you saved me. That’s what I was trying to say…….”
Ryeon looked up at Geum Jong Ha with a momentarily confused expression. The faces of Geum Jeok Geol and Song Young Rang standing beside him grew even more serious.
“We all went through it together, so think nothing of it. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“You truly possess the bearing of a great person…….”
“Geum Jong Ha! Stop talking nonsense.”
“But Father.”
As the father and son of Geum Ga Jang bickered back and forth, other guests began to arrive.
Peng Mu Hyeok and Peng Ju Ran from Ha Buk Peng Ga, Ak So Hyeong and Ak Gang Pyeong from Shan Dong Ak Ga, Mo Yong Seol Ho and Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo from Mo Yong Clan, and Nam Gung Seo Jin, Nam Gung Seo Geon, and Nam Gung Gyeong Hae from Nam Gung Clan all gathered in one place, until Ryeon’s room was packed to bursting.
In the midst of it all, Celestial Text kept appearing before Ryeon’s eyes one after another, forcing her to squint against the brilliant light.

* Luck Value expended to save a life. *
* Peng Ju Ran’s learning *
* Peng Ju Ran’s emotional transformation *
Luck Value : 15 / 120 (7▲)

* Ak So Hyeong’s learning *
* Ak So Hyeong’s emotional transformation *
Luck Value : 22 / 120 (7▲)

* Nam Gung Seo Geon’s learning *
Luck Value : 26 / 120 (4▲)

* Nam Gung Seo Jin’s enlightenment *
* Nam Gung Seo Jin’s emotional transformation *
Luck Value: 35 / 120 (9▲)

* Mo Yong Seol Ho’s Enlightenment *
* Mo Yong Seol Ho’s Emotional Shift *
Luck Value: 47 / 120 (12▲)

‘Good heavens.’
Just as people in desperate moments spend their assets without restraint, swept up in panic, Hwa Ryun had burned through every last point of her Luck Value in that inferno.
She’d been telling herself, ‘It’s not that I regret it, but my heart feels hollow……’ when fortune came rushing back like this.
Seeing Hwa Ryun squinting against the brightness, Peng Mu Hyeok reached toward a servant, then thought better of it and moved to lower the awning himself.
The children, all relieved to see Hwa Ryun safe, chattered eagerly about what had happened over the past few days.
“The people who came to visit Grandfather stayed in Yangzhou the whole time. Everyone helped out and got everything sorted pretty quickly!”
“The place where we were staying burned down completely, so they’re rebuilding it. They’re still deciding on a name. Right, Seo Geon?”
“Ah…… I suppose so.”
Nam Gung Seo Geon answered awkwardly. In the meantime, Nam Gung Seo Jin—somehow far more confident than the last time she’d seen him—sidled up with a rush.
“Sister, sister. Thank you so much for rescuing us……!”
“Oh, Seo Jin.”
As Hwa Ryun’s expression brightened, Nam Gung Seo Jin spoke quickly.
“Bi said if you’ll let her serve you properly, she wanted to offer her respects.”
“She…… did?”
When had the two of them talked about that?
Hwa Ryun laughed awkwardly while watching Nam Gung Gyeong Hae’s face. Her son had gone somewhere to serve someone—he couldn’t be pleased about that.
Yet Nam Gung Gyeong Hae merely offered a wry smile, as if resigned to it.
He seemed satisfied enough that his timid second son had grown confident.
Geum Jeok Geol shoved his son aside—the boy who kept calling him a hero and a great man—and spoke.
“Hwa Ryun.”
“Yes, sir.”
As the adults began to speak, the children fell silent as if reading the mood.
Geum Jeok Geol took a moment to choose his words carefully.
A single drop of kindness must be repaid with an overflowing spring.
But if the life of one’s only child—and indeed, the future of the estate of Geum Ga Jang itself—had been saved, how could such a debt ever be repaid?
“I hear you saved our boy again and again, even in the flames, even when you faced the blood ghosts in Blood Coral Valley. The debt is so great I have no idea how to repay it.”
“No one suffered grave injury, so we can be grateful for that.”
“The fact that you think it so does not diminish what you have done. The gold and treasures, the rare elixirs we could offer now—none of it reaches the measure of your actions. So there is only one thing I can say right now.”
“Sir…….”
Geum Jeok Geol drew a breath and spoke.
“Geum Ga Jang will extend its hand whenever you have need, and our blades shall never turn toward you.”
The air rang with weight.
The moment Geum Jeok Geol finished, Peng Mu Hyeok, whose temperament was rather quick, pressed his son’s head down in a bow and declared:
“Ha Buk Peng Ga likewise will extend its hand whenever you have need, and our sabers shall never turn toward you.”
“Shan Dong Ak Ga too will extend its hand whenever you have need, and our blades shall never turn toward you.”
Ak Gang Pyeong’s expression was stern, yet as he spoke the oath, the corners of his eyes reddened slightly. He seemed to be remembering the moment when he might have lost his son.
“Hwa Ryun, the Nam Gung Clan has long been allies with the Dan Mok Clan. Even without this, we would not abandon the Dan Mok Clan should they ask for aid. And yet…….”
Nam Gung Gyeong Hae spoke slowly, composing his voice.
“It is not on behalf of the Dan Mok Clan, but you—if you ever have need, we shall extend our hand. None of our weapons shall ever turn toward you.”
Nam Gung Gyeong Hae’s gaze turned toward his two sons.
He had known of the strife and unease between them, yet had done nothing to address it.
Not knowing what to do, he had simply believed that time would heal it. He had known his relationship with his own brother remained strained, yet he had believed his children would be different.
Then he nearly lost both his sons entirely, left only with futile regret. The thought made his vision swim.
With his words finished, everyone’s eyes turned toward Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo.
Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo rose slowly and approached Hwa Ryun. At first she caressed Hwa Ryun’s cheek gently, then folded one knee and brought herself to eye level.
“Only those who see far can travel far, so do not concern yourself with the pebbles beneath your feet.”
“Ma’am……?”
“The Mo Yong Clan likewise, should you ever ask for aid—if you were drowning, we would cast all we possess into the river to reach you, and if your house burned, we would come bare-handed to save you.”
Mo Yong Chwi Ryeo drew a slow breath and continued.
“If you look toward us, we will meet your gaze. If you extend your hand, we will grasp it. If you take a step, we will match your pace. And so none of our weapons shall ever turn toward you or your blood.”
Her words resonated through the space with profound weight.
Mo Yong Seol Ho, who had always been forthright in her speech, stood quietly beside her grandmother and watched Hwa Ryun with an expression of complete agreement.

* * *

The Nam Gung Clan did not stint when it came to compensating their guests for their losses.
Though one might have called it a bolt from the blue—an act of misfortune striking without warning—they bore no grudge, and with hearty generosity, they made full restitution for everything that had been destroyed in the burnt reception hall.
More than that, they also paid handsomely to the masterless swordsmen who had lent their aid in the affair—those warriors, including Dan Mok Cheon Gi, who had travelled from afar to offer their services and lingered about the Nam Gung Clan until the end of the Gyeong Hang Un Ryeon.
Yet of all those they sought to repay with the greatest effort, it was Dan Mok Ryeon.
Ryeon had thought at first that such elaborate thanks were hardly necessary—after all, she had gone to retrieve the children, stumbled upon the disaster by accident, and simply fled through the flames with everyone else. But when she recalled that Nam Gung Seo Jin and Nam Gung Seo Geon were the ones who had set the fire at Cheon Hwa Dang in the first place, she held her tongue and resolved to accept whatever they offered.
“Still, this is far too much…….”
Ryeon turned the Inlaid Fan over in her hands—a delicate thing crafted from thin slices of fine ivory—and murmured to herself.

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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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