The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 131

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

The Fallen Clan’s Limited Lifespan – Episode 131

“I’m not sure I deserve to accept something so precious.”
“I saved Seol Ho, and you promised to stand with me — I can’t simply dismiss that with empty words.”
Though technically it was the clan head herself speaking, not mere casual conversation, Moyong Chwi Ryeo smiled softly anyway.
“And I hear you’ll be heading to the North Sea soon.”
“Yes! I want to visit my grandmother.”
“Seol Eon will be overjoyed. Even if she seems harsh when you first meet, don’t let it discourage you. She’s been separated from family and suffered for so long — how much bitterness must have accumulated in her heart?”
Hearing the warm concern in her words about potential conflict with her grandmother at their reunion, Ryeon smiled bashfully and nodded.
“And when you pass nearby, do stop by the Moyong Se Ga.”
“Of course I will — it’s my friend’s home. If I don’t, Seol Ho will sulk.”
“Hah. That fellow…….”
Moyong Chwi Ryeo started to say something but stopped. It would have been awkward to say outright that he wasn’t the type to pout at anyone.
Since Moyong Chwi Ryeo’s purpose was to ask her to visit the clan on her way north and to give her the Jade Ornament, she rose from her seat without lingering further.
At that moment, Ryeon, who had come out to the front courtyard to see her off, gently caught her arm as she turned to leave.
“Hmm? What is it?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Ryeon spoke.
“You know that technique you taught me the other day…….”
“Ah…… yes. That…… why……?”
Moyong Chwi Ryeo flinched. For some reason, it felt similar to when she’d been unable to make a move at the Go board just moments earlier.
Ryeon laughed awkwardly, then paused to feel the breeze before moving her hands.
Following that peculiar gesture, the spring night wind, a delicate gentle breeze, lightly collided with the tips of Ryeon’s fingers and flowed onward, gently ruffling and scattering Moyong Chwi Ryeo’s hair.
Moyong Chwi Ryeo’s eyes widened.
“I tried using what you taught me last time, and thanks to it, I survived. The situation was so urgent that I modified it a bit this way — I’m wondering what you think of it…….”
Moyong Chwi Ryeo stared at Ryeon with an expression of disbelief. Her fingertips trembled.
“What…… what are you…… what is…….”
“Is it all right?”
“This, this is that and now you…… how in the world did you even…….”
Even though Moyong Chwi Ryeo knew this way was actually better, she’d worried about how the person receiving such insight would react, but seeing her face now, her heart felt wonderfully light.
“The night air is pleasant, isn’t it? It seems like I always have conversations with you at night.”
“Thanks to you, I’ve become afraid of nighttime at my age!”
Moyong Chwi Ryeo made an exaggerated complaint, then slowly replicated the movement Ryeon had shown her, carefully following through.
The scent of flowers carried on the spring breeze that touched the edge of her hand returned in the opposite direction.
In that instant, a bolt of lightning—an enlightenment—struck through her being!

* Moyong Chwi Ryeo’s Enlightenment *
Current Luck Points: 69 / 120 (↑13)

Moyong Chwi Ryeo
Trait: Fish and Water Relationship

/ Swift / Dual-Natured / Fluid /
Aptitude and Intellect: High-Low
Qiankun Undefeated Force

: Level 12
Qiankun Hundred Severing Sword Technique

: Level 12
Flowing Star Finger

: Level 11
One Leaf Falls

: Level 11
Stars Rotate and Shift

: 10 Luck Points (1 Luck Point▲)

Moyong Chwi Ryeo stood motionless for a moment, eyes closed, trying to retrace what she had felt.
The flow of fragrance that had moved before her, the subtle principles woven into the movements that had altered that flow, the miraculous logic that pulled her up one step higher.
In that instant, Dan Mok Ryeon’s eyes flew open in astonishment, and she threw her arms up with delight.
‘Heavens! I only made the smallest adjustments!’
Refining was far easier than creating from scratch. She had merely learned it well and made minor improvements, yet her Luck Points were soaring like this!
Moyong Chwi Ryeo gazed at her own hands as though she couldn’t trust them, then lifted her head to look at Dan Mok Ryeon.
Dan Mok Ryeon tilted her head curiously.
“Master?”
“You are…….”
Moyong Chwi Ryeo’s voice cracked slightly, growing thin.
How could my achievements and enlightenment bring you such joy?
Moyong Chwi Ryeo had thought that far—you, with your clarity, could not possibly be unaware of the quiet yet fierce competition between families—but she swallowed her doubts.
Any such competition between families held no bearing on this girl whatsoever…….
What good was competing if the victor was already decided?
How could such a thing exist in this world? Moyong Chwi Ryeo felt a chill for a moment, but soon washed away that dread.
“……All I do is accumulate debts.”
“But I didn’t mean it as a debt…….”
“Then was I merely being generous because I’m Seol Ho’s grandmother?”
“If we’re counting things that way, it’s really because you were my grandmother’s friend.”
Dan Mok Ryeon smiled, her eyes crinkling. Her grandmother—that woman who, from afar and without ever having seen her granddaughter, sent a Spirit Pill the moment she came to her senses to repay the debt of illness.
If this woman was such an old friend of her grandmother’s—if she was someone who, despite being the head of the entire family, had not hesitated to serve as her grandmother’s errand girl—then Dan Mok Ryeon wanted to offer even a small kindness in return.
Moyong Chwi Ryeo shook her head firmly.
“When you go to the North Sea, you must visit the Moyong Se Ga. I cannot repay anything properly in someone else’s courtyard.”
“Then I will, for sure! Let’s play go together.”
Dan Mok Ryeon nodded with a broad smile. At the mention of go, Moyong Chwi Ryeo flinched slightly before nodding in agreement.

* * *

On the night of parting, the young people’s gathering grew merrier. The banquet hall, laid with wine that was not harsh but stirred the spirits, and various dishes, was lively with chatter. There were no courtesans,

but those who could play instruments plucked the strings.
Until just moments ago, Dan Mok Hyeon U had drawn everyone’s attention. The small Pipa cradled in his arms had captivated all eyes in an instant, but the tension dissolved when Dan Mok Hyeon U ended his performance with a laugh.
“Namgung Gyeong Mu, what do you think? About trying to learn it?”
Many had approached Dan Mok Hyeon U, who had played a significant role in the Blood Coral Valley incident, but he responded politely to them before flopping down beside Namgung Gyeong Mu, who sat at the far edge.
Namgung Gyeong Mu’s shoulder flinched, and he sipped his cup.
“It’s impossible for me.”
“Why? You’d be really good at it.”
“I don’t know…….”
Namgung Gyeong Mu trailed off in negation, but Dan Mok Hyeon U, grinning widely, poured wine into his cup roughly and tossed it lightly to Namgung Gyeong Mu.
The cup traced a short arc through the air. The wine inside followed the curve a beat later.
And when Namgung Gyeong Mu hastily caught the cup, his hand moving smoothly to catch even the last drop, the wine inside lay there peacefully—as if it had been sitting on the table from the start.
“You see? Whatever you do with your hands, you do well.”
“But I’m useless at the martial art that matters most.”
He could speak like this now because the distance between him and Dan Mok Hyeon U had grown much closer through facing the Blood Ghosts of Blood Coral Valley together.
Dan Mok Hyeon U studied him and asked.
“Is being the eldest of the family weighing on you?”
Namgung Gyeong Mu’s shoulder flinched again. His chest stung.
“Not so much…… A little…… A little, yes.”
He had begun to deny it, but stopped himself. It was hard to lie to Dan Mok Hyeon U.
Instead, seizing a moment when fewer eyes were upon them, he answered with some honesty.
“Truth is, I…… I don’t cherish my nephews and nieces the way you do. And the family…….”
He knew well how much the family had poured into him, how many benefits he had enjoyed, yet Namgung Gyeong Mu found it difficult to think that way.
Was there even one thing among all of it that he had truly wanted?
There was only one thing he had wanted: the pet bird he raised, Jeongto.
“Well, that can happen.”
Dan Mok Hyeon U replied listlessly, merely sniffing the wine cup’s fragrance. It was almost hollow for a response to words about not loving one’s family.
“But when things get that way, it’s supposed to help to step back for a bit.”
“What? Who told you that?”
“My sister. She’s no ordinary woman, you know. So she moved out for a while. I did my Closed Door Cultivation, and she stayed away. After being apart for years, somehow the affection just bloomed on its own.”
Dan Mok Hyeon U said this with a small laugh.
Namgung Gyeong Mu was taken aback slightly. It must not have been easy to transmute such tragedy into something like that.
Because Namgung Gyeong Mu had seen Dan Mok Hyeon U nearly mad with despair before the burning Heavenly Fire Hall, his laughter carried all the more weight.
“If I’m supposed to step back, then… should I do Closed Door Cultivation too…?”
“Why not just leave altogether? Take a trip while you’re at it. No matter how useless you claim to be, you’re not going to collapse on the street.”
“But I’m supposed to attend the Dragon Phoenix Assembly soon…”
“If you’re just doing whatever everyone tells you to do, that’s not running away.”
“R-run away? You’re telling me to run away?”
“Not telling you to — just a thought.”
But Dan Mok Hyeon U’s eyes soon gleamed as if a brilliant idea had struck him.

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