The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 132

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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 Declining House’s Limited Lifespan Legacy 132

“Go visit the Jegal Se Ga over there too, and put them in their place. Show them we’re good at formations too.”
It was the very same boast they’d been making just moments before. Namgung Gyeong Mu smiled faintly and shook his head.
“That would be… discourteous, a burden on both families…….”
“Is that so? Then you could just cover your face and go. Don’t they make good modern Human Skin Masks

these days?”
In the old days, they carried the stigma of being something only criminals wore—after all, if there were nothing wrong, why would anyone hide their true face?—and their production was brutally cruel—fashioning them from human flesh—so they’d been traded only in shadow markets. But recently, artificially crafted Human Skin Masks had become obtainable.
“Those cost an absolute fortune, don’t they?”
“Do they? Then… ah! You could just learn the Face Transformation Technique instead. I think you’d be really good at it. Your hands are so delicate.”
“Face Transformation Technique?”
Namgung Gyeong Mu’s eyes widened. The Face Transformation Technique was an art of moving the facial bones and muscles to alter one’s appearance, and it was difficult to master without meticulous hands.
“It’s similar to drawing a formation across the face, isn’t it? That’d be your specialty.”
“It sounds easy, but…….”
Namgung Gyeong Mu waved his hand, but a glimmer had already kindled in his eyes.
As a brief silence settled between them, Dan Mok Hyeon U soon found himself fielding questions from others about his exploits during the recent Blood Coral Valley intrusion.
“What, that story again…… haven’t we heard it already?”
Namgung Gyeong Mu tried to discourage them, knowing how sensitively Dan Mok Hyeon U had reacted at the time—but…….
“This friend here is timid, so he doesn’t realize—tales of such martial heroism are fascinating no matter how many times you hear them!”
Dan Mok Hyeon U scratched his cheek and answered their eager questions, but Namgung Gyeong Mu detected that his voice had become subtly more strained than when he conversed with himself or spoke of his nephew.
Namgung Gyeong Mu thought that everyone carried shadows within them, and some people simply didn’t show theirs to others.
He too wanted to become someone who kept his shadow hidden from view. His gaze drifted distant, beyond the Namgung Se Ga Estate.

* * *

‘Why so many visitors tonight?’
Ryeon tilted her head upon seeing Namgung Hye Min, the deputy leader of the Wu Ai Clan, standing before the residence where she’d just returned.
She must have waited until her meeting with Moyong Chui Ryeo concluded, judging by her sudden appearance on Ryeon’s return.
“Miss.”
Hwa Ryun, standing beside Namgung Hye Min with a distinctly displeased expression, stood on one leg with her arms crossed—which suggested it was the sort of errand he would dislike.
“Surely you’re not asking to see Master Namgung Hwan again?”
“What? How did you…… ?”
“What time is it now?”
Hwa Ryun muttered softly from the side. Namgung Hye Min’s expression became complicated and flustered.
Though it was strange for the revered family head to be remonstrated with, she found herself agreeing with what this young servant had said—”What time is it now?”
Hwa Ryun, her displeasure plain, shot Namgung Hye Min a sidelong glance, furrowed her brow, and spoke firmly.
“If you don’t sleep at this hour, you won’t grow.”
“Would you go to sleep, then?”
“How could…… How could I sleep if it’s the young miss? Leaving her alone? What if something happens again?”
“But that said…… it’s true that you won’t grow if you don’t sleep well at night.”
“Not my height. Hers.”
“I’m fine. You’re the one who needs to grow.”
“More? When did you just say I was growing too fast?”
Namgung Hye Min added hastily.
“The closing day of Gyeong Hang Un Ryeon leaves us pressed for time, for which I beg your pardon. The family head has been waiting for some time now, and if your business has concluded… would it be acceptable to show you in?”
Ryeon nodded readily. In truth, she still wondered whether the grace stone that had been said to be sought from Blood Coral Valley might be the same one sent from the Northern Sea. If so, then she was the one who owed a debt.
The pavilion was wrapped in wisteria vines, their delicate purple blossoms in full bloom—a scene like a painting.
“Ryeon.”
As Ryeon gazed up at the wisteria flowers, Namgung Hwan emerged. Glancing about, she found that Namgung Hye Min and Hwa Ryun had remained at a distance.
Namgung Hye Min, watching Hwa Ryun, wore a somewhat embarrassed expression—she seemed to have grown flustered after Hwa Ryun met her words with a cool gaze.
‘Should I tell Hwa Ryun that you shouldn’t treat servants that way?’
While Ryeon was briefly considering this, Namgung Hwan guided her further into the pavilion.
Inside, sweetly made pastries and tea had been prepared. It seemed to have been arranged for Ryeon’s sake.
‘But why did he ask to see me?’
Ryeon tilted her head in bewilderment.
Moyong Chui Ryeo could understand well enough. Moyong Seol Ho had clearly gained much from this, and it was a chance to set a promise to meet again once they headed north.
But what Namgung Hwan—not Namgung Gyeong Hae—could possibly want to tell her remained a mystery.
And yet…….
“Ryeon, what do you think a Martial Artist truly is?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“A wooden puppet that merely swings a sword is no Martial Artist. Surely you agree?”
“I… yes?”
“A true Martial Artist must have something in their mind—then even a single sword strike is executed properly!”
“Yes, sir.”
At that very moment, Namgung Hwan produced a stack of books from somewhere they’d been hidden and set them down on the table with a heavy thud. The pile was nearly a handspan high, even when stacked.
After that, Namgung Hwan sat the wide-eyed Ryeon down and launched into a rapid lecture.
The gist of it was a scathing critique: Martial Artists didn’t read books and thus had nothing in their heads—ignorance beyond measure.
“And so they make the same mistakes again and again, commit the same errors over and over!”
As he spoke, Namgung Hwan grew heated, thumping his chest emphatically. Then, abruptly embarrassed, his face flushed and he fell silent.
Ryeon, who had listened quietly to his fervent speech, opened her mouth gently.
“Have you also repeated a mistake you’d made before, sir?”
Namgung Hwan’s expression darkened with troubled weight.
“……I thought it would never happen twice. Yet the same mistake came again and again. And I’ve read so very many books.”
He had known of the conflict and discord between his first and second sons, yet believed that time would heal it as they aged.
That conflict resolved itself when one of them was lost. He didn’t care to use the word “resolved,” but it did end.
Yet when he saw similar discord arise among his grandsons, everyone in Namgung Se Ga pretended not to notice.
They trusted that because Namgung Seo Geon worked so hard, it would somehow resolve itself. They privately wished the second son had been Seo Geon instead. They couldn’t bring themselves to mention this to the real second son, Namgung Gyeong Hae. And now they couldn’t speak of it to Namgung Gyeong Mu, who had become the second…….
“The belief that the talented can understand the untalented is a deception. The reverse is equally false. How could I have helped them when I couldn’t understand at all?”
Only vague and superficial thoughts. What could be done, and how?
Namgung Hwan wore the expression of one expecting Ryeon to perfectly share his sentiment.
Believing that even Ryeon, possessed of a keenness of mind distinct from others, must have once lost her way amid the gulf between herself and them.
“Well… isn’t the very idea that we can understand others also a kind of deception?”
Yet Ryeon murmured as she opened the book Namgung Hwan had given her.
“Since I can’t fully understand someone who isn’t me……. People say they don’t even understand themselves, don’t they? I won’t be able to help perfectly, but… I think people shouldn’t expect perfect help from each other. And they shouldn’t think they can give it either.”
“Perfect help…….”
“Maybe it’s enough to listen when hearts don’t quite align, to bicker a little…… something like that?”
“But what if I wound your grandson’s heart…….”
“Then couldn’t you apologize?”
……!”
Namgung Hwan’s eyes widened greatly. He had the look of one struck by an enormous enlightenment. And in truth…….

*Namgung Hwan’s Paradigm Shift*
Fortune Points: 74/120 (5▲)

‘What? Why would that give me 5 Fortune Points?’
Ryeon was equally startled.
But Namgung Hwan seemed not to see her expression at all; he simply stared blankly upward at empty air, and only much later did he slap his forehead and come to himself.
“Ah, but that wasn’t why I called you—of course I’ll give you the books, but that alone wasn’t my intention.”
Namgung Hwan retrieved another volume, a bit flustered.
It appeared newly made, the cover smooth and perfectly bound.
“The original in the family library cannot be removed, so I copied it myself. I hope it will be of use to you.”
“Sir?”
‘He’s copying a restricted original and letting it leave the house……?’
Ryeon started and tried to push the book back, but Namgung Hwan fixed her with a stern look and held firm.
“What… what is this?”
“Open it and see.”
…….
Ryeon steadied her unease and carefully opened the book. First she was astonished by the elegant calligraphy, and then she was even more astonished by what the book contained.

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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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