The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 149

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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 Decline of a Family and the Limited Lifespan Medicine — Episode 149

‘I wasn’t sure if going was the right thing to do…….’
Her maternal uncle, Cheong Yun Jin In, was still in Closed Door Cultivation, so Ryeon had decided to visit Hwa San on her way back from Beijing.
There was another reason for this decision.
‘Grandmother’s funeral……it wasn’t far off.’
In her past life, she’d been too busy bedridden to notice what was happening in the world around her, though she had a faint recollection of family members departing urgently northward as winter approached.
Though she had awakened and brought about much change within the Dan Mok Clan, acquiring many things in the process, there was no reason to believe that an ailing person who had returned home sick would suddenly recover just because of those ripples spreading all the way to Beijing.
The fact that she had sent two precious Cold Lotus Carp Dumplings weighed on her mind. How could someone who had returned home ill have possessed such treasures to send in the first place?
Could it be that she had gathered together everything from the legacy inherited in Beijing?
Perhaps if she went, she might be able to change something.
“She’ll absolutely love it!”
Wi Ji Cheong wiped away the tears from Ryeon’s cheeks.
“If only the Geum Mok Seo would bloom in the north as well. What a shame. I wish I could send a few saplings. And tell her that our Ryeon cultivated them…….”
Just before tending to the platycodons in the medicinal herb shop, Ryeon and Wi Ji Cheong had been pruning the Geum Mok Seo trees in the clan’s flower garden, which as yet bore only green leaves.
“Next time, shall I make a fragrance from the Geum Mok Seo and send it as a gift? If it blooms this autumn.”
“That would be wonderful! Or perhaps you could make an incense yourself and send that instead?”
“……I’m sorry?”
“Weren’t you thinking of making incense with Hwa Ryun not long ago?”
Ryeon’s expression grew hot, and her eyes darted about. That incense-making had ended in such spectacular failure that she hadn’t mentioned it to anyone…….
Wi Ji Cheong, reading nothing but Ryeon’s face, let out a startled gasp and widened her eyes, before her gaze softened and she smiled with the corners of her eyes crinkling.
Before she received the Bul Mo Se Su, the child was like a doll that would not turn when called, neither laughing nor crying, simply pulled along when dragged and pushed about when shoved.
But then light returned to her eyes, and when she regained consciousness, she became as if her former state had been a lie—brilliant and cheerful in spirit.
That awakened child knew nothing of mistakes or failure. With dazzling talent, a nature both careful and bold, and a gentle heart, she accomplished everything with ease.
She had never wished for a perfect child, yet her daughter seemed to regard herself as having caused trouble in the past, determined now to repay it all.
So when this daughter made a mistake for once, she was ashamed.
“Whatever happened that my daughter wears such an expression?”
“Oh, Mother. You see…….”
Ryeon’s face flushed crimson, and she haltingly explained what had occurred.
She had made the incense and even tried burning it, thinking she’d done well, but thick black smoke poured from it, and she ended up in tears.
Wi Ji Cheong smiled softly, brushing away at the eyes and nose of her now-composed daughter as though wiping away the trace of those tears.
She couldn’t help but wonder if even this mistake her daughter made was somehow done for her sake.
“But this you do beautifully!”
Embarrassed, Ryeon quickly picked up a platycodon root and laughed bashfully. Wi Ji Cheong likewise worked on a small platycodon beside her, smiling softly.
“Your mother has been working hard too—what do you think of my work?”
“It’s the best!”
“It’s comforting and pleasant, being like this. Is it because I’m with my daughter?”
In fact, Wi Ji Cheong seemed quite accustomed to the scent of medicinal herbs, finishing her work with a very practiced, gentle hand.
The two of them sealed the final jar, sealed it with wax, and left the medicinal herb shop.
The weather had cleared completely and summer was drawing near. When Ryeon reached the small pond that had recently appeared in front of her quarters, she cast a somewhat troubled expression when her mother Wi Ji Cheong wasn’t looking.
‘Turtles, soft-shelled turtles, even snails—I’ve been chasing them all out…….’
The pond had been created because of Dan Mok Hyeon Yo.
Ryeon had spent much time at the pond in Dan Mok Hyeon U’s quarters, but one day didn’t that koi simply vanish without a trace?
Thinking that Ryeon must have been grieving, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo had suddenly had a small pond built right in front of Ryeon’s quarters.
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo seemed to believe that Dan Mok Hyeon U, whose cultivation had accelerated markedly of late, had secretly caught and eaten the koi for nourishment.
— No matter how much it’s his koi to do with as he pleases, his niece cared for it so dearly!
Dan Mok Hyeon U could not bring himself to say that they had all gone together to West Lake and released it to nature, and Ryeon, able neither to cry nor laugh, had simply been chasing away anything that looked remotely like a shell.
If the koi went wrong—or right—it might even become a dragon. The Vermillion Bird had already been created. The White Tiger was something she honestly didn’t want to think about and was doing her best to pretend not to know about.
So that left only one thing.
If she accidentally raised something with a shell and it became the Black Tortoise…….
‘Hwa Ryun would probably try to eat me over it.’
The Five-bone Chicken would certainly be glaring with blazing eyes, pecking away with fury that she’d had to raise more than just the koi.
Ryeon peered between the small lotus leaves of the pond to make sure no little turtle had hidden there, and finding nothing, she straightened, reassured.
“I should express my gratitude to the external branch leader.”
“Yes?”
“Our daughter has taken such a liking to tending the pond that I thought I’d have it made for her.”
“Ah…….”
Ryeon could only laugh awkwardly. Wi Ji Cheong settled beside her on the pavilion, gently stroking her daughter’s hair as she continued.
“What if I asked to work in the Medicinal Herb Shop instead of the Inner Chamber? I’ve always envied the shop master.”
“Uncle?”
Startled by the sudden remark, Ryeon lowered her voice. Her eyes drifted toward the direction of the herb shop.
Wi Ji Cheong smiled softly.
“Well, the shop master is with our daughter every single day, after all.”
“Then I’ll study the Inner Chamber work too!”
“You promise?”
As Wi Ji Cheong whispered these words, she studied her daughter’s radiant face for a long moment, then pulled her close and murmured softly to herself.
“……Is the sun ever happy?”
“Pardon?”
The sun gives warmth and light, ripens the grain—it becomes joy for all people. That brilliant light is hope itself, an existence the world cannot do without. And yet……
Does the sun choose this role?
Is this happiness and joy for the sun itself?
“No, never mind—it’s nothing. The road to Beijing is long, so you must be careful when you go, dear.”
“Don’t worry.”
“When you return, the Geum Mok Seo will be in full bloom. How pleasant it would be to play chess with one set beside you?”
“Of course.”
In truth, the gardens and flowerbeds of the Dan Mok Clan estate were so abundantly planted with Geum Mok Seo that their sweet fragrance would already be flowing everywhere whether a blossom was placed beside her or not—but Ryeon simply smiled and nodded.
And several days later.
Two separate groups departed from the Dan Mok estate. One set out for Beijing beyond the passes, the other for Shaanxi Province where Hwa San stood.
Seok Ban An, the deputy leader of the external branch and now the youngest Treasurer of the Yuseong Piao Bureau, saw them off.
And behind the party heading to Beijing, an extremely faint shadow of black and white trailed unseen.

* * *

This journey was quite different from the last time at Gyeong Hang Un Ryeon.
For one thing, with such a long distance ahead, there was much to prepare and more people in the group. And……
“Grandfather, why didn’t we stop at Cheon Bi Palace?”
Ryeon called out from her seat atop the horse to her grandfather Dan Mok Cheon Gi, who rode behind her. Since this journey would also serve as an opportunity to learn Horsemanship, her grandfather had insisted on carrying his granddaughter in front of him.
As for how things had come to this—it was because Ryeon had begun to suffer severe motion sickness once they entered the mountain path.
More precisely, her heart had suddenly begun racing, cold sweat had broken out, and her Spiritual Energy had rushed upward in a troubling cascade—but she had confined the energy to the various ornaments wound around her body and dismissed the racing heart and cold sweat as mere sickness.
‘Is it because of the mountains? Or because we’re heading north? Is this place more spiritually charged?’
She knew well enough that Spiritual Energy accumulated more quickly the further she went into places touched by nature, but this pounding in her chest was something entirely new.
Worried that Hwa Ryun might fuss over her, she’d asked to get some fresh air and now found herself in the midst of her grandfather’s horseback riding lesson.
When Ryeon suddenly mentioned wanting some air, Hwa Ryun had given her a deeply suspicious look.
Meanwhile, Dan Mok Seong, who was already skilled at horsemanship, rode alongside offering various unsolicited remarks about safe riding posture, then looked up at their grandfather with the same puzzled expression as Ryeon.
Ryeon had only meant to ask a simple question about Cheon Bi Palace when her uncle Dan Mok Hyeon U, riding along beside them with easy command, suddenly burst into laughter.
“Ha-ha-ha! Last time we went all the way there and it had no effect, so I suppose that’s why you’re not going this time?”
“Quiet! Grown as you are, how can your laughter be so frivolous?”
Dan Mok Cheon Gi barked sharply, but Dan Mok Hyeon U paid him no mind and rode ahead as if fleeing.
The Yuseong Piao Bureau’s Chief and the newly hired guide at the head of the procession greeted Dan Mok Hyeon U with awkward smiles.
“No effect? Ah……”
Only then did Ryeon remember what had happened at the Namgung Family Estate. Surely the adults had nearly fainted over that affair.
“It had effect—nobody got hurt and we all came out safely!”
“…….”
“…….”

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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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