The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 133

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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 Clan’s Terminal Ward — Episode 133

‘Methods to resolve the symptoms of Qi Accumulation becoming impossible due to Meridian Severance…… failed attempts, though some showed effect…… permanent loss of internal energy as a side effect of Scattered Qi Poison…….’
“……!”
Dan Mok Ryeon’s head snapped up in alarm, and Namgung Hwan nodded silently in reply.
“These are records the Namgung Clan’s Medical Repository has compiled over many generations. The Dan Mok Clan surely has its own, but such information is never shared abroad—there are likely discrepancies between them.”
Namgung Hwan paused before adding further.
“I notice you haven’t yet devoted yourself to studying the Heart Method, and in pondering why, I came to understand. Few here would have grasped that fact—likely only myself and Baek Ryong Sin Geom. Don’t concern yourself.”
Dan Mok Ryeon nodded slowly and gathered up the scrolls. Namgung Hwan caught the subtle question in her movements and smiled gently.
“Unreturned kindness hangs like a weight upon the back of one’s head. Worse still, it grows heavier with each passing year, and if it remains unfastened until death, history itself will condemn it.”
So it was that he had thrown himself about in all directions to repay the debt of saving his grandchildren.
“Yet how could one scroll repay such a debt—saving grandchildren and great-grandchildren alike, preserving the very pillars of this clan, and opening our eyes to them and to myself? What was promised by Hye Min must assuredly be kept.”
“Thank you so much, sir…….”
As Dan Mok Ryeon’s expression grew increasingly flustered, Namgung Hwan’s lined eyes crinkled closed in a smile. The sight of the usually sharp and composed girl wearing such a childlike face eased something in his heart.
Yet in that same moment, a heaviness settled in one corner of his chest.
To display such overwhelming talent and receive praise from beloved family and newly made young companions—that would be joyful. But how long could such fortune truly last in this girl’s life?
Her gaze, sharp and penetrating beyond measure, would not be welcomed by all the martial families.
Some might shrink from showing her their martial techniques; others might begrudge standing beside her at all.
“Ryeon.”
“Yes?”
Within those round eyes, starlight glimmered as they fixed upon him.
“There will be those who do not welcome your talent. It is a fearful thing, after all, to be seen through completely by another.”
The girl blinked rapidly.
“What help is it to change what you see? Yet there will be times when it is better not to speak aloud what you have perceived.”
The world was full of people narrow in heart and far from righteous; many would take no account of received kindness, and there would certainly be those who grew angry instead, demanding why such things were ever brought to light.
Dan Mok Ryeon closed her eyes so completely that her pupils vanished, and smiled.
“I see everything anyway, so you don’t need to worry so much.”
Namgung Hwan sat in stunned silence for a moment, then broke into delighted, breathless laughter.

* * *

Having dispatched Mu Ae Dan’s warriors to escort Dan Mok Ryeon to her quarters, Namgung Hwan stood motionless, turning over her words in his mind.

— If you were to apologize……?

Namgung Hwan, born with dazzling talent, distinguished birth, and unflinching will, had lived as the Namgung Clan’s heir from the moment he gained reason, and after becoming patriarch, he had lived as the Namgung Clan itself.
To him, being patriarch was a position from which one must never apologize, before which one must never bow to anyone.
For that to hold true, he could never err. There was no room for mistake, wrongdoing, or apology in such a life.
But if one were permitted? If one could simply apologize?
‘That’s right—if it’s allowed, then one need only apologize!’
If an apology could bring down such fragile dignity, then that dignity was no dignity at all.
In the moment that truth dawned, his chest suddenly grew cold and sharp, as though he had drunk an entire bowl of ice water—and strangely, refreshingly clear.
‘No wonder that Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s achievements seem so admirable.’
Was it the Dan Mok Clan’s tradition, or was that girl simply extraordinary?
His thoughts turning to the maidservant at Ryeon’s side, Namgung Hwan’s brow furrowed slightly.
‘That one’s nature also seemed far from ordinary…… Is fortune walking into the Dan Mok Clan?’
A child’s character can be discerned through many things—from expression and gait to the light in the eyes, speech and manner, understanding of events.
His recollection of her appearance was oddly blurred, leaving only an impression of delicate features, but the glance she had cast back at him bore a certain weight.
‘Did she dislike being ordered about so casually regarding her master? Heh.’
To that child, Dan Mok Ryeon was as heaven itself. Viewed in such light, she was simply endearing.
Before long, Namgung Hye Min returned from escorting Ryeon.
“So—did Ryeon enter safely?”
“Yes, she appeared to be examining the scrolls.”
Namgung Hye Min bowed and answered. A smile played across Namgung Hwan’s face.
But the smile faded quickly, and soon a chill settled upon his features.
“How on earth did they discover the Spirit Pills we created?”
“……There must be a traitor within the clan……, isn’t that so?”
Namgung Hye Min asked in a grave voice. Namgung Hwan shook his head.
“There are certainly those who sympathize with the Blood Coral Valley creatures hiding somewhere, and they’ll raise their heads when the time comes—but not yet. They haven’t recovered their momentum enough to obtain intelligence of this magnitude.”
But how had they found their way here in the first place?
“Those creatures headed toward Cheon Hwa Hall eventually, but they didn’t converge on the reception hall at first, did they? They may have come after seeing the Ice Palace Spirit Pill that the Moyong Clan supposedly brought…….”
“……That talk has been mentioned a few times as well, but…….”
If that were true, then Blood Coral Valley’s reach extended to the Moyong Clan, perhaps even beyond to the outer territories.
If they had recovered their momentum to that degree, the Central Plains would already be suffering from the Blood Coral Valley problem.
At that moment, Namgung Hwan’s head snapped up.
“They seem to possess some special method for locating Spirit Pills.”
“A special method, you say…….”
“Just as a compass finds the south, so too they seem to have a way to sense the mystical power of Spirit Pills.”
Their initial target had not been Cheon Hwa Hall. They had moved in scattered fashion as if uncertain of where to go, then—as if following something or having discovered something belatedly—they had rushed toward Cheon Hwa Hall.
“Yes, so that’s why they went to Cheon Hwa Hall…….”
Namgung Hwan furrowed his brow as he traced through the logic. But something else troubled him.
“At the time…… when those children encountered the Blood Demons, I heard their behavior was strange.”
“……Yes.”
Namgung Hye Min recalled those moments, a slight chill running through him as he recounted them.
“Those creatures have the worst madness in the Central Plains, yet they attacked each other? More precisely—only each other?”
“Yes, even when we targeted their backs, they paid no attention.”
“So they destroyed themselves…….”
Namgung Hwan murmured, stroking his chin.
“The Blood Demons we faced on this side showed no such behavior.”
With signs of Blood Coral Valley stirring once more, no strange detail could be overlooked.
“Blood Demons from Blood Coral Valley attacking each other and destroying themselves…… doesn’t that sound like something you’ve heard before?”
“What?”
At Namgung Hwan’s words, Namgung Hye Min’s eyes widened. Where on earth had he heard such an absurd tale before?
“Surely something like this happened once before…….”
Namgung Hwan paced back and forth rapidly, murmuring to himself, then rushed to his library.
Reaching the innermost shelves of the vast collection of records he had accumulated over the years, Namgung Hwan withdrew several volumes and scanned through them.
And finally he halted at a passage.
“……Yak Seon Mun!”
Blood Coral Valley had succeeded in annihilating Yak Seon Mun during their assault, but in the end everyone at that site went mad and killed one another until none remained.
And such a bizarre incident never occurred again. It was only after Namgung Hwan examined his records that he grasped it.
‘Why would such a thing happen here?’
Namgung Hwan’s eyes grew dark and distant.

* * *

Before the final night fell completely, Dan Mok Ryeon, who had been poring over the books received from Namgung Hwan, rose from her seat at the sound of an awkward cough from outside.
When she stepped out, Dan Mok Seong stood waiting on the veranda, a thin Wind Cloak draped over her shoulders.
In the garden courtyard and among the stone walls, the presence of the Dan Mok Clan’s younger branch members could be felt scattered throughout.
“Seong?”
“Did you pack everything?”
“Yes, the servants here took care of all that. Did you pack yours?”
“Um…… Mother did it for me.”
Then an awkward silence settled between them.
The moment Dan Mok Ryeon recalled that in such situations Dan Mok Seong would typically make some absurd oath or create some strange promise of her own.
“You know everyone from other clans said they’d repay the debt of gratitude.”
“What? Oh, well, that’s just because Kangho elders like to do that sort of thing…….”
“You received help too, and it’s wrong to take it for granted just because we’re from the same clan.”
“No…….”
Before the word ‘please’ could escape, Dan Mok Seong stepped forward and grasped both of Dan Mok Ryeon’s hands tightly.
“I told you to trust only me, but I was no help to you at all.”
“No, you were! Just your existence was help.”
“From now on, I’ll grow stronger…… and even if I don’t grow stronger, I’ll do my very best…….”
Dan Mok Seong trailed off as she spoke, her words faltering.

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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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