The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 129

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Declining Clan’s Limited Lifespan — Chapter 129

“You’re complaining that’s all I’ve given you?”
“No, you—”
The Nam Gung Clan had also tailored a new Silk Robe for Hwa Ryun. This was the very garment that had wounded Dan Mok Ryeon’s heart—the one Hwa Ryun rejected outright whenever Dan Mok Ryeon tried to give her something, yet accepted without hesitation from others.
When the finely embroidered, premium silk hung perfectly on her frame, watching her made Hwa Ryun look like a heir apparent of one of the great families attending Gyeong Hang Un Ryeon.
The way she carried herself without the slightest reverence for those Silk Robes only deepened that impression.
“You—”
“What about me?”
“It suits you well enough. Our Ryun looks wonderful in black silk. Should I have one tailored for you when we return to the Dan Mok Residence?”
“That’s not necessary.”
“I’m truly hurt by this.”
The moment Dan Mok Ryeon’s expression hardened, Hwa Ryun drifted closer, her face saying ‘I think I see what’s happening here,’ though she said nothing aloud.
“Why? Why are you upset? What did I do wrong?”
“You refuse everything our household offers as if a knife were at your throat, yet you accept whatever anyone else throws your way without question?”
“That was different—I could accept that. We suffered together, shared everything we had, so when they offered it was natural to take it.”
“We live together in our household too, bumping through life as family. Can’t family give each other a robe?”
“I already have this one. It’s enough.”
“You grow like bamboo shoots—that robe will be too small soon enough.”
“Then I’ll worry about it then.”
Dan Mok Ryeon studied Hwa Ryun for a moment before turning her gaze to the Fan in her hand.
“You’re always complaining about the heat, but you’re that attached to a fan?”
“I need it. Can’t be helped.”
Dan Mok Ryeon unfolded the fan slightly as she spoke.

Hwa Ryun
Characteristic: Heavenly Demon Wave Following / Partial Synchronization Failed.
Twelve Stars Falling Blade: 3-Star (1-Star▲)
Partial Synchronization Failed.
Aptitude and Five-Star Rating: Partial Synchronization Failed.
Concern: Partial Synchronization Failed.

‘Well… I didn’t expect much to begin with.’
She didn’t believe the Characteristic of Heavenly Demon Wave Following would vanish, and she doubted anything else would appear either.
Yet it was Hwa Ryun’s quietly increased achievement in the Twelve Stars Falling Blade—rising by a full star—that wounded her most of all.
‘I haven’t even watched her practice, so how is her proficiency jumping up like this?’
“What is it now? Why are you looking at me with that face—plotting something?”
“Am I always scheming?”
“Well… I don’t mind either way.”
“Don’t say something so heartless again.”
“I’m serious.”
Hwa Ryun opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again, her expression wounded.
The words ‘Go ahead and scheme all you want, I don’t care’ felt strangely awkward on her tongue.
Dan Mok Ryeon tried several times to press her on what she’d left unsaid, but Hwa Ryun refused to answer.

* * *

The Spirit Pills the Mo Yong Clan had meant to distribute to the children went unanimously to the Dan Mok Clan instead.
Every instructor who had led the lessons agreed, and so did all the children who had attended them.
Investigating the culprit seemed to be proceeding less smoothly than hoped, though none of the adults who had fought against Blood Coral Valley held great expectations in the first place.
“Father said we simply need to prepare ourselves once more.”
“Prepare?”
“It seems Blood Coral Valley wasn’t completely annihilated. It’s not fully revived either, but Father says we may have to face them again.”
Gyeong Hang Un Ryeon drew to a close—what had felt both long and short. Several planned lectures were cancelled, but no one minded.
The most pressing matter now was for each clan to return home, relay these findings, and make their preparations.
Still, because it was their last night, the children had set lanterns out in the courtyard of their lodging—no campfire was permitted so soon after the great fire—and were chatting together just as they had done throughout the past week.
“It was bound to happen this way, wasn’t it? Sooner than we’d anticipated, though…….”
At Ryeon’s response, Nam Gung Seo Gun, who had been speaking hesitantly from beside her until now, turned his head to look at her.
“You…… anticipated it?”
“Not now. I thought something like this might happen in about ten years.”
“……I see.”
Ryeon gently waved the fan she’d received as a gift, conjuring an air of refinement.

Nam Gung Seo Gun
Characteristic : Dual-Faced / Pride /
Splint on neck
/ Sparrow Study Observation Step

Aptitude and Five-Star Rating : Low-Middle
Cang Qiong Wu Ai Sword

: 4-Star (1-Star▲)
Cang Qiong Da Yan Divine Art

: 1-Star
Heavenly Wind Body Method

: 3-Star (1-Star▲)
Concern : I realize I’m competent at nothing, truly.
Guidance : Looking directly at oneself can sometimes hurt, but it helps.

‘The guidance seems to sting the most…….’
Even when he first faced the Blood Demons in Blood Coral Valley, Nam Gung Seo Gun had been the one protecting his younger siblings, and afterward he’d done nothing but follow along in the group’s wake. In his own mind, he’d come to feel utterly incompetent.
“What, worried your pride’s hurt because I figured it out before you?”
“N-no, I wasn’t thinking anything like that.”
Nam Gung Seo Gun denied it with a reddening face. Ryeon answered him with silence.
When Ryeon offered no reply at all, Nam Gung Seo Gun grew embarrassed for a long moment, then spoke as if to himself.
“Everyone’s just so brilliant, they each pull their weight, they’re strong…… and I’m nothing…….”
He envied Mo Yong Seol Ho, who spoke his mind freely, yet had befriended Ryeon and earned the dislike of no one.
How could such a thing be possible?
Because he was a person overflowing with talent. He could grasp in an instant even the keenest words from Ryeon, who was sharper than any of their peers; he was overwhelmingly strong; and he never shirked from effort.
The boys and girls couldn’t bring themselves to dislike him precisely because they admired him. The fact that he never spoke falsely likely played its part as well.
For Nam Gung Seo Gun, such a thing remained distant. He spoke without quite realizing it.
“I’ve imagined it before.”
“Imagined what?”
“Imagining myself saying, ‘Don’t talk to me, I’m tired!’ …….”
Nam Gung Seo Gun laughed awkwardly as he spoke.
“And how did it feel?”
He had imagined himself speaking such cutting words, or boasting to others. On days when he’d entertained such imagining, he always suffered nightmares.
Dreams where those around him would say, ‘What are you even going on about?’
He’d never wanted to look down on others. He merely wanted to see what it would feel like not to pick and choose his words so carefully, not to labor at appearing good—yet somehow that’s what happened.
“I only had bad dreams…… I suppose if I were someone who pulled my proper weight, it wouldn’t have been like that, right? Even if I said such things…… everyone would have borne with me?”
“They wouldn’t have.”
……
“Look at Nam Gung Seo Jin—he and Seol Ho are practically at daggers drawn.”
These two boys were perhaps the most talented in their gathering, yet the distance between them was not warm.
Beyond the age difference, Nam Gung Seo Jin despised Seol Ho, who did not hesitate to speak harshly even to his own older brother, glaring at him with barely concealed hatred.
That gentle Nam Gung Seo Jin!
“That’s…… true enough. But that’s because Seo Jin is my younger brother…….”
“If someone seems to receive understanding and support without limit, it’s not because that person is capable—it’s because they are loved.”
“Isn’t that what you just said?”
“Not at all! Do you know I received the Dharma Washing Ceremony?”
“Ah…… y-yes, yes…….”
Nam Gung Seo Gun nodded, his expression suddenly wary.
“At that time, I was someone who could do nothing, a child who could only lie there—so why would the Three Clans have performed the Dharma Washing Ceremony for me?”
“I… well…….”
“It’s because my grandfather and mother love me.”
“…….”
“Even if I’m just a helpless child who can’t do anything, because they love me, they’re willing to do whatever they can to give me other possibilities…….”
The thought of it still made her chest ache.
Even though the future she’d left behind was now gone…….
“If you want to become capable, well, there’s no way around it. Work hard. It may be difficult, but…….”
Nam Gung Seo Gun’s expression wavered.
“I know that! But I——”
“If what you want is to be loved, you’re already doing it well.”
“I…… what?”
“Seo Jin loves you so much, doesn’t he? The fact that your father promised me unconditional support is because you two brothers saved my life.”
“Father and grandfather probably love Seo Jin a little more than me…….”
Dan Mok Ryeon wagged her finger back and forth.
“Look. You and Seo Jin are only three years apart.”
“Huh? Um…….”
“That means you had three years where you completely monopolized your father’s love, all one hundred percent of it.”
“Ah…… but after Seo Jin was born…….”
“Even if Seo Jin received a lot of attention, it’s not like it’s split perfectly even between you two—maybe sixty-forty, or even seventy-thirty?”
“……It was probably at least sixty-forty…….”
“So that’s the thing. Seo Jin never had a time when he completely monopolized your parents’ attention. After that, you had to share it too. No matter what you do, Seo Jin will help you a lot.”
“I just want to be good at something myself.”
Nam Gung Seo Gun said.
“I just…… want to do well on my own, without help from anyone else, to succeed through my own strength…….”
“Are you trying to go to Shaolin Temple?”
“What?”
“You want to attain enlightenment and achieve the Attainment of the Way? Ascension to Immortality? Ah, isn’t that Shaolin? Are you planning to go to Hwa San instead?”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————