The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 137

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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 Fallen Clan’s Limited Lifespan Spirit Medicine — Chapter 137

‘Hong Lin’s grown smaller too.’
Dan Mok Ryeon stroked Baek Ryeon with one hand while smoothing her own forehead with the other.
She’d thought that once the water cleared, the carp would plump up, its color return, and it would gleam—but coming back and examining it carefully, the creature’s vital essence had withered noticeably.
It wasn’t just the essence that had faded; the fish itself had shrunk.
‘Did it absorb the spiritual energy I spent purifying the water and already become half a spirit creature? Is that why it’s smaller without me around? It does look pitiful, but if I give it more spiritual energy and it becomes a full spirit creature again, what then?’
Heuk Wol had departed on her own; Dan Mok Ryeon’s suspicion was that once a creature became a spirit being, it couldn’t remain in one place.
But what was she supposed to do about the carp? It wasn’t like the five-claw chicken—it didn’t have legs.
In that moment, Dan Mok Ryeon’s face went pale.
‘As, as, as… ascension….’
“Sister? Are you all right?”
“No, it’s fine! Hwa Ryun, you keep an eye on Baek Ryeon for me, will you? I… I have something urgent to attend to right now, and I… oh! Uncle—I need to pop over to the Medicine Hall to see Uncle for a moment.”
“Really? I could come with you.”
“No! Stay here with Baek Ryeon. Keep her entertained. I’ll be back in a flash.”
Dan Mok Ryeon bolted from the room without another word, not toward the Medicine Hall at all, but straight to Dan Mok Hyeon U’s chambers.
Ho Kang, who kept watch over Dan Mok Hyeon U’s chambers, was somewhat startled to see her, but he composed himself and responded calmly.
“Young mistress, the master is at the Medicine Hall at the moment.”
“Oh, no—I didn’t come to see Uncle. I came to check on the fish in the pond.”
“Ah, I see.”
Ho Kang, usually unflappable in all matters, seemed a touch disconcerted by that topic.
He knew that Hong Lin was Dan Mok Hyeon U’s carp, but that Dan Mok Ryeon treasured it as well; seeing the carp’s vigor fade and its body grow lean between the Gyeong Hang Un Ryeon waters had weighed on Ho Kang’s mind too, given that he’d been tending it all this while.
“I’ll take a look, and it should perk right up. Don’t fret too much, Ho Kang—go about your duties.”
Once Dan Mok Ryeon had sent Ho Kang away, she confirmed no one else was nearby and made her way to the pond.
The moment the carp Hong Lin sensed her presence, it swam in delighted circles through the small, cramped pool.
Dan Mok Ryeon gazed down at the fish with eyes that mingled anguish, frustration, unease, and worry.
Shocked by how much smaller it had become upon her return, she’d purified the pond water and made sure to feed the carp carefully, and yet…
“You…”
When Dan Mok Ryeon called out in a small voice, the carp flicked its tail nimbly, sending water droplets scattering.
She asked, her voice thick with confusion.
“You’re not… about to become a spirit creature, are you?”
Have you ever seen a fish’s eyes dart away evasively, as though deliberately avoiding your gaze?
Dan Mok Ryeon had never imagined such a thing before this moment, but the instant she saw it, she understood.
“No! You’re really trying to do this? You’re actually trying to become a spirit creature?”
Hong Lin swam slowly through the pool, as though—like a person at a loss for words—it were changing the subject.
“So a carp becomes a Fire Carp,

and it’s not even in warm hot springs water. And if it becomes a Fire Carp… becomes one, that is… I can’t even eat you then….”
Dan Mok Ryeon trailed off, muttering, and collapsed onto the edge of the pond.
Then, the carp’s eyes heavy with sorrow, it seemed to contemplate for a moment before suddenly retching and expelling something into the water beside the pond’s edge.
It was something the color of dark brown, shaped like a round dumpling. And with a face caught between alarm and disgust, Dan Mok Ryeon quickly—lest anyone see—shoved the dumpling back into the water.
“Are you insane? You just… you just coughed up an Inner Elixir? Eat it back! Eat it back right now!”
The carp, which had looked as though it had aged ten years after expelling the Inner Elixir, glanced nervously about before gulping it back down, whereupon it swiftly regained its vigor and returned to its usual liveliness.
Dan Mok Ryeon could only stare at the fish, her face drained of color, before dragging a hand across her face.
‘If it’s already formed an Inner Elixir inside its body, it won’t be long before someone recognizes it.’
“Didn’t you say you were going to the Medicine Hall? What are you doing here? Ho Kang’s watching you like a hawk.”
“Hwa Ryun…”
“What? What? What?”
Hwa Ryun, cradling Baek Ryeon in her arms, had initially seemed bent on reproaching Dan Mok Ryeon for the small lie, but when Dan Mok Ryeon looked up at her with a sorrowful expression, she faltered and her eyes widened.
“What’s wrong? Does it bother you that the carp looks thin? It’ll fatten up soon. Don’t worry yourself so…”
“Could you help me release the carp?”

“This… I can’t let this go on. I have to set it free.”
But if a carp that can’t go anywhere must go somewhere, how could that possibly work?
What if the creature ascended right here in this pond instead? Those weren’t celestial spirits that would come—those were the blood ghosts from Blood Coral Valley.
Hwa Ryun pressed her lips together, rolled them inward once, drew a deep breath, then leaned toward Ryeon and whispered softly.
“You don’t mean… something like Heuk Wol?”
“……Yes.”
Did you just see what I saw?
Ryeon pondered this, then rose slowly from her seat. Dust from her clothes scattered away.
“From now on, our clan will deal only in plant-based medicines.”
“……But this is the Medicine Hall master’s carp. Can’t we just release it back?”
“Ah… what if Uncle is disappointed? No, he’ll definitely be disappointed. Hmm… I can’t say I lost it on a walk. That doesn’t work either.”
“That excuse has problems too……”
“On a rainy day… I’ll take it to West Lake……”
“What if people say a dragon ascended from West Lake?”
“Don’t—don’t say such inauspicious things!”
Ryeon smacked Hwa Ryun’s mouth. Hwa Ryun’s eyes widened in surprise, and she grumbled.
“You raised it, and now you’re blaming me for it.”
“Let’s do it on a rainy day. I’ll tell Uncle honestly—I need an adult to go out anyway.”
“You’re not even listening to me. Sigh… why can’t we just eat it?”
Ryeon fixed Hwa Ryun with a look of stern reproach and shock. The carp thrashed its tail, sending droplets flying.
“Absolutely not. We’ve raised it with such care—how could we eat it? Do you need internal energy that badly?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“If it’s because you need internal energy, tell me. Understood? Don’t go eating strange things! People shouldn’t hunt animals just for their own gain, just to benefit themselves. That’s wrong. I won’t allow it.”
“I understand…… But what if someone else needs it?”
Hwa Ryun was about to furrow her brows and offer unsolicited advice, so Ryeon frantically waved her hand and shook her head firmly.
“I’m not saying I’ll hand out Spirit Pills like water! Even if a hundred servants appeared, no Spirit Pills! Not one! Besides, we decided not to take on servants anyway.”
“Fine.”
“You’re really something.”
Ryeon glared at Hwa Ryun and grumbled, then turned back to the carp with a deflated expression.
Ever since the mention of releasing it into West Lake, the carp’s eyes had grown brighter, sparkling with fresh vitality.

* * *

‘Why are these old folks so spry?’
Baek Ui Myeong regarded the two elderly people with clouded eyes.
After being beaten from head to toe by Hwa Ryun—and struck at the Chuigung Gwahyeol point—Baek Ui Myeong had been living an unintended new life in various ways.
He’d gained a child to care for—Dan Mok Jun, who’d been expelled from the Dan Mok Clan’s branch family selection after Seo Geuk Rim discovered he’d fed him spoiled meat—and as a result, had left Juru and started fresh work at the Gyowyong Inn.
His income had dropped significantly compared to before, but it was still manageable.
For one thing, Dan Mok Jun helped him out by running errands, and because he spent his nights absorbed in the things his elder taught him, his money stopped bleeding away on pleasures.
But a growing child made a large hole in a purse.
Dan Mok Jun was in his growth years and shot up quickly; watching him devour a bowl of rice with abandon, then fingering an empty spoon, Baek Ui Myeong couldn’t help but give him another bowl.
Dan Mok Jun, who knew full well Baek Ui Myeong’s circumstances, stubbornly refused to eat more—but the moment Baek Ui Myeong left with the words “If you won’t eat it, throw it away,” sounds of hurried eating drifted from afar.
It was in the midst of all this that strange elderly guests appeared at the Gyowyong Inn.
One had hair so black it seemed impossible for an old man; the other had hair so white that one wondered if an elderly person could truly be that pale—they were a pair.
They ordered Dongpo Pork and then suddenly made a fuss, sending the inn’s cook here to Beijing, there to Tian Shan.
After that, they continued to stay in a room at the inn, killing time, until one day they summoned him, pressed a silver ingot into his hand, and said, “They say there are delicious dumplings in this neighborhood—bring us some every day.”
At that moment, Baek Ui Myeong thought light had shone upon him.
Anyone with a keen eye could tell these old folks were masters of the Martial Arts World, but judging by atmosphere alone, his own elder—the one who’d taken him in and taught him even Ban Ro Hwan Dong—seemed more impressive than them.
If his elder had already given him instruction and taken him as a disciple, wouldn’t he help if anything happened to him?
And if they gave him a silver ingot just for bringing a few plates of dumplings, he’d fetch hundreds of plates!
……or so he thought, before the dumpling business stretched on endlessly.

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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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