The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 139

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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 Limited Lifespan — Episode 139

“Whatever you ask, I won’t be upset with you.”
“……I heard that at the Fenglin Money House, you also operated a Piao House.”
A Piao House?
Seok Ban An’s eyes widened at this wholly unexpected revelation.
Dan Mok Ryeon had frightened him so thoroughly that he’d been bracing himself for all manner of stories about Dan Mok Seong—and now this.
“Ah… yes, well, that’s true. You see, since it was a money house, gold ingots and silver ingots and bills had to be moved back and forth constantly.”
Merchants from Shanxi Province mostly made their living handling currency exchange in money houses, and because security was paramount, they operated Piao Houses within the money houses themselves.
In a sense, the origins of the Piao House lay in Shanxi Province.
The Fenglin Money House, his maternal family’s firm, was itself a respected money house from Shanxi Province; Seok Ban An had grown up watching not only the money house operations but the Piao House work right beside it.
“I’m curious about how you managed the Piao House operations. Of course, it’s probably quite different from how things are done in the south.”
“Piao House operations?”
“The clan has decided to hire more Piao House operators.”
“That’s… a good thing, but……”
“The problem is, no one here has actually run one before. We’re close with the Man Song Merchant Guild, but they don’t operate a Piao House either.”
Seok Ban An, who had been caught off guard by this unexpected turn in the conversation, tilted his head.
“Well, I haven’t paid much attention to family affairs so I don’t know all the details, but I can still… organize my thoughts and explain it. Will that do?”
“Yes!”
“Why did you have to make such a fuss over asking? What’s wrong with you?”
“Because industry secrets shouldn’t be revealed carelessly… and especially not family matters.”
Ryeon’s real intent was to learn those undocumented, subtle methods unique to them for managing people.
No wonder she’d been so cautious about asking.
Seok Ban An closed his eyes and smiled.
“On the surface, everyone can see what we do anyway—what were you so worried about? Don’t fret. I’m part of this household too, so I should be of use.”
The reassuring warmth of Seok Ban An’s gentle smile settled her mind. After a brief silence, he let out a soft cough and asked what Dan Mok Seong had been up to lately.
Ryeon pulled out three silk hair ribbons from her sleeve that she’d brought along today.
“I’m planning to give them to Seong in a little while. She ties her hair up high in one knot, so she’ll get one, and I part mine into two sections, so I’ll take two—that way Seong and I can match.”
“I think Seong will be so delighted she won’t know what to do with herself. When that girl is truly happy, she actually doesn’t smile at all—her face just goes rigid with joy.”
Seok Ban An could easily picture his daughter, tying her hair with those ribbons every day, losing sleep and growing distressed whenever the silk became soiled.
“That’s not right.”
Ryeon’s contradiction surprised Seok Ban An.
“What isn’t…?”
“Seong smiles a lot when she’s happy. Really big smiles. And then we’re planning to go get Bing Dang Ho Ro together.”
Seok Ban An’s eyes widened, then he broke into a deep smile and nodded.

* * *

After asking Seok Ban An for something important, Ryeon returned and stood before Dan Mok Hyeon U’s pond, gazing up at the sky.
When she’d mentioned that the growth of the carp Hongyun was becoming extraordinary and they ought to release it into West Lake, Dan Mok Hyeon U had looked startled but soon nodded after examining the fish’s condition alongside her.
When Ryeon asked, “You’ll be going to West Lake, right?” the carp Hongyun nodded.
The moment they promised each other to take the fish out on a rainy day, the weather turned fair and has remained so ever since.
Hwa Ryun stood beside Ryeon, also looking up at the sky.
“Do you think it’ll rain today?”
“Sigh… I really thought it would rain today too……”
‘Does the Heavenly Realm not show weather forecasts?’
Ryeon unfolded the fan that the Namgoong Clan had given her and stared at it pointedly, but nowhere in the Heavenly Realm’s expanse did a weather forecast appear.
People usually say joints ache before rain comes, but for families of the Martial Arts World, reading the weather that way seemed hopelessly far-fetched.
“Still, if it’s been this clear, rain has to come soon. Tomorrow, I bet. Let me have faith in that.”
“Do you know what a drought is? It’s when no rain comes for a really long time.”
“Are you going to keep saying such heartless things?”
When Ryeon shot a look at Hwa Ryun, he merely shrugged. Ryeon observed Hwa Ryun, who seemed to have been preoccupied with other thoughts lately.
It had started after the accident at the Namgoong Clan’s Cheonhwa Hall, when it burned down completely.
‘What on earth is that girl thinking about….’
If she wanted to learn Martial Arts, Ryeon was prepared to teach her; if she wanted to become family, Ryeon was ready to give her a name.
It was Hwa Ryun who had said no. So then, what did she want instead?
‘Gold and jewels leave her unmoved, fine clothes too.’
Whatever you gave her, she’d only grumble and refuse to accept it.
‘Raising a child is truly no simple task. What will I do when adolescence comes? Wait—could this already be it?’
They say precocious children hit their growth spurts early…….
Would she gradually grow distant like this, drift further and further away?
At first she’d seemed so talented, the future sect master of the Ma Cheon Gyo, and that’s why I held on to her—but now such thoughts barely surfaced.
‘I just want us to live well together, laugh and enjoy ourselves, grow old in contentment, and become white-haired grandparents side by side.’
“There she goes again, lost in some strange thought, that faraway look on her face.”
“You…… will perform my memorial rites, won’t you?”
At the abrupt question, Hwa Ryun turned to look at her with wide eyes.
“I’m going mad. How far have you let these odd thoughts go?”
“You won’t perform them?”
“Why are you already talking about memorial rites? Life stretches out endlessly before us.”
“That’s exactly why—after all those endless years pass and I’m gone, you will perform the rites for me, won’t you?”
“I don’t know. Please stop saying such things.”
“You won’t do it?”
“You glared at me with eyes wide as saucers when I mentioned drought, and here you are talking about memorial rites.”
This time Dan Mok Ryeon’s eyes went round and she blinked, then soon broke into soft laughter.
No matter what anyone said, she didn’t like hearing about Hwa Ryun’s death—not even in jest about memorial rites after countless years had passed.
“Oh, my sweet dumpling. Does this elder even understand what she’s really saying?”
Don’t you see? It means I’ll be with you through all those endless years.
“I don’t understand at all.”
“That’s because you’re still a child…… Wait. Rain!”
Something cold dropped onto her forehead. Dan Mok Ryeon lifted her head sharply.
The sky had been clear moments before, but now dark clouds had rolled in and wind began to blow. As the sound of rain pattering down started, Dan Mok Hyeon U came running from a distance.
He was here for the promise he’d made with Hwa Ryun—to release the golden carp, Hongyun, back into the waters.

“But why did you insist on choosing a rainy day?”
As Dan Mok Hyeon U transferred the pond water and carp into a round wooden basin, Hwa Ryun stood behind him and asked quietly.
“So there won’t be people at West Lake?”
Rain naturally kept people indoors. But Hwa Ryun shook her head.
“A rainy day is auspicious.”
“……What?”
“A rainy day is auspicious, she says.”
“You’re not actually believing in superstition, are you?”
“Well, if you call it superstition…….”
Dan Mok Ryeon looked at Hwa Ryun with unhappy eyes, then shook her head.
“No. Either way, she said rainy days are auspicious. Since we’re going anyway, we might as well choose an auspicious one.”
The carp writhed and twisted in the narrow basin.
Dan Mok Ryeon gazed down at Hongyun for a moment, then quietly slipped her hand into the water. The fish’s dorsal fin glimmered faintly gold.
“We’ll need to take a carriage with this.”
“Jeong Yeong promised to drive the carriage for us.”
Dan Mok Ryeon had arranged for a carriage precisely to avoid any rumors in the Dan Mok Clan household about a dragon ascending to heaven.
The three of them—Dan Mok Ryeon and Hwa Ryun carrying the basin with the carp, and Dan Mok Hyeon U—moved quietly and briskly, slipping past the eyes of the household staff.
When they reached the carriage ahead,
“Ah, ah, no…… where did Yeong go…… the Captain is here.”
Dan Mok Han So stood waiting for them in the humble dress of a coachman. Behind him, Jeong Yeong appeared with an expression suggesting he wanted to disappear into the earth.
“I…… I apologize, young lady……. The Captain insisted on following me wherever I went.”
“Captain, aren’t you busy? Didn’t you mention overhauling the clan’s defense systems?”
Blood Coral Valley had shown signs of appearing, so the matter could not be left unattended.
Thus Dan Mok Cheon Gi was planning to conduct a complete review of the clan’s defensive arrangements, centered on the warriors of the Yuseong Eighteen Mansions.
“That work proceeds without sleep, so rest assured. And assisting the young lady’s outing is no less important, wouldn’t you agree?”
“But we can hardly ask the Captain to serve as coachman…….”
“In my younger days, none could match me at handling carriages. You mentioned visiting West Lake, I believe? I shall escort you there.”
‘What on earth is going on?’
Ever since he’d helped her master the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and assisted during her sparring with Geum Jong Ha, Dan Mok Han So had always taken on this peculiar attitude toward her.
It was oddly excessive, strangely eager to insert himself into even her smallest affairs—like an uncle desperate to capture his niece’s affection.
In the end, there went the group: Jeong Yeong with his death-wish expression, Dan Mok Han So in mysteriously high spirits, Dan Mok Hyeon U fretting over the carp in his arms, Dan Mok Ryeon muttering “it’ll work out somehow,” and Hwa Ryun with her blank, uninterested face—all departing from the Dan Mok household together.

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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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