The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 151

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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 Fall of a Declining Clan, Limited Lifespan — Episode 151

“Wow! You mean our mother?”
Dan Mok Hyeon U, knowing nothing of the truth, asked in surprise. At his question, Hwang Chu Hun nodded calmly.
“That kindness is as vast as Mount Tai itself, so our stronghold has resolved to serve the elder as we would a mother and a master.”
“Oh! Then the stronghold leader would become my older brother… wait, no, my sister!”
Dan Mok Hyeon U, who had taken a sharp blow to the top of his head, stared at Dan Mok Hyeon Yo with aggrieved, embarrassed eyes.
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo exhaled deeply.
“Why do you judge people so foolishly by their surface alone? It’s possible they could be your younger sibling instead…”
“Oh!”
In an instant, Hwang Chu Hun’s face flushed crimson, and he cried out with emotion.
“Blast it all—I’m the older one! I’m definitely the older brother!”
Then, realizing he’d made a spectacle of himself, Hwang Chu Hun quickly composed his expression.
“No, that’s not it. I wasn’t trying to establish sibling bonds.”
Hwang Chu Hun hurried to speak, then took a breath.
“You may think us bandits lack learning, elder. But though our knowledge may be shallow, we are not beasts. We do not repay kindness with betrayal.”
He was simply saying that, genuinely anticipating the weather would turn foul, he had chosen to come down despite the risk of misunderstanding.
Dan Mok Cheon Gi glanced down at his granddaughter seated in front.
At that questioning gaze, Dan Mok Ryeon looked out toward the distant sky, then at the bandit, and nodded with a gentle smile.

Hwang Chu Hun
Traits: Flexible / Precise Eye / Unafraid of Darkness / Tyrannical / Devoted
Aptitude and Star Rating: Middle-High
Geo Ryeong Bo
(Giant Spirit Step)
: 10 stars
Byeok Ryeok Pa San Gwon
(Lightning-Splitting Mountain-Breaking Fist)
: 9 stars
Ho Hyeol Do
(Tiger’s Blood Blade)
: 10 stars
Concern: Today my daughter took her medicine—her fever should break soon. But can I even settle the debt with them? Do I have enough bedding to accommodate them all?

“It really does seem like rain is coming soon. It would be nice to have shelter. And… they seem like good people.”
Dan Mok Cheon Gi looked down at Dan Mok Ryeon with a somewhat complicated expression. He seemed ready to say, ‘Good people don’t exist just because your grandmother spoke well of them,’ but he held his tongue before the man himself, and nodded toward Yang Geum Bo instead.
Yang Geum Bo gazed at Dan Mok Cheon Gi as if on the verge of tears, then forced himself to stand before the bandit with dignity.
“We’ll accept your kindness gratefully.”
“Of course. Then please, come up.”
Hwang Chu Hun shrugged his shoulders. And with that, the group began to ascend along a new path into the mountain.

* * *

The stronghold was impressively grand. Though old soot marks clung to the timber and pillars in places where they couldn’t be scrubbed away, the stronghold built deep in the mountains was as splendid as any manor in the city.
On the outer perimeter were armed figures who, at a glance, appeared to be “active bandits,” but once inside, the entire mountain had been arranged like a small village.
The people moving about inside the stronghold seemed curious at the sight of unfamiliar guests and greeted them, but they showed no great fear in their eyes.
“Ahem. This stronghold wasn’t built solely on stealing from others.”
Noticing Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s appraising gaze as he surveyed the surroundings, Hwang Chu Hun spoke hurriedly.
“There are limits to making a living purely through banditry. If you strip everyone who passes by, who would ever travel this road?”
This was the inherent problem of making banditry one’s trade. As he said, if you robbed everyone who used the road, no one would ever pass through again.
If many people had no choice but to use that road, then someone would eventually pay a great price to eliminate the bandit gang.
Striking that delicate balance was the strategy for navigating their livelihood as outlaws.
And Hwang Chu Hun—despite the forceful reputation of his moniker and the appearance that seemed to embody the essence of banditry—was a man who could see far ahead.
To grab wealth, one must take much. To take much, many must travel this road.
And for many to travel this road?
The route had to be swift. If this mountain path was faster and more pleasant, wouldn’t travelers willingly bear the risks to pass through it?
You couldn’t strip everything at once. If you fleeced them down to their skin and bones, they’d lose the vigor to make the journey again, so they’d never come back. That’s why you couldn’t kill them. They had to stay alive so they’d return.
So the conclusion Hwang Chu Hun reached was this: let travelers, merchants, and escort services continue their regular business, but maintain and improve the roads so they’d come more frequently.
In other words, you collected tolls in exchange for providing a service—but few strongholds had the discipline to actually implement it.
Most bandits who fled to the mountains either couldn’t adapt to society or had come to steal from others, so they had no reason to maintain roads.
As these strongholds rose and fell in cycles, only a rare few survived, maintaining their lineage and becoming known as the Nok Rim Seventy-Two Strongholds.
“…….”
“…….”
“I will pay for lodging and meals.”
After receiving this brief lecture on stronghold management, Yang Geum Bo surveyed the stronghold with meticulous eyes and spoke in a grave tone.
Hearing this, the stronghold master Ma Hwa Chang’s eyes widened sharply.
“Do you think our stronghold is an inn? We invited you as honored guests, not to extract payment. If that were our intent, we wouldn’t have brought you here.”
“How dare you speak to the Dan Mok Clan—!”
“Lord Yang.”
“Master Ma, be silent.”
The moment Dan Mok Cheon Gi and Hwang Chu Hun called out simultaneously, the surroundings fell quiet at once.
After a brief silence, Hwang Chu Hun turned to Dan Mok Cheon Gi and asked.
“Would it cause you difficulty if rumors spread that you received hospitality at a Nok Rim stronghold?”
Dan Mok Cheon Gi regarded Hwang Chu Hun quietly for a moment, then smiled faintly and furrowed his brow.
“Why would you speak such twisted words, Master Hwang? Nok Rim may be bandits, but they are one of the Hek Cheon Ryeon’s Thirteen Thousand, and simultaneously members of the Martial Alliance. What difficulty could there possibly be in that? It is only natural for fellow members to assist one another.”
“……!”
At these final words, Hwang Chu Hun’s eyes widened.
What he meant was that since the Dan Mok Clan had received help from Hwang Chu Hun on Moo Ryeong Mountain today, they would repay the debt hereafter.
Hwang Chu Hun shook his head.
“Lending shelter under an eave on a rainy day hardly settles the debt I have incurred…….”
“You have said you regard Seol Eon as both teacher and mother, which makes you no different from a son to me. There is no need for further such talk between us.”
At that moment, the patter of raindrops began to sound, and soon rain poured down in earnest.
Hwang Chu Hun gazed at the rain, briefly bowed his head in silence, then let the tears flow freely down his face as he turned to Dan Mok Cheon Gi and spoke.
“……There is a shrine deeper within. I preserved it without demolishing it. Would you…… care to visit?”
Dan Mok Cheon Gi fell silent for a moment. Then he replied.
“Very well.”

* * *

Though summer drew near, the northern mountains and the falling rain made the air feel chill and damp.
Yet as braziers were brought out and set in place, food spread across the tables, and wine bottles lined in rows, warmth filled the space and laughter began to bloom among the gathering.
The moment Dan Mok Hyeon U and Dan Mok Hyeon Yo caught Hwa Ryun eying a pale jade wine vessel with curiosity, they swept the bottle away from both sides.
Then a separate table for the children was prepared.
Baek Ryeon, nestled in Hwa Ryun’s arms, let out a low purr. At first, the beast had seemed curious about the unfamiliar surroundings, but it quickly tired and refused to stray from Hwa Ryun and Dan Mok Ryeon’s sides.
“Why did you want to come here?”
In the meantime, Hwa Ryun asked Dan Mok Ryeon quietly. It was clear she understood why Dan Mok Ryeon had deliberately steered them toward this stronghold when they need not have stayed here at all.
Dan Mok Ryeon kept her posture upright and glanced sideways at Dan Mok Seong. On the surface, there was nothing different about her usual demeanor.
“Dan Mok Seong seems very tired. If she catches the rain on top of everything else, she’ll probably come down with an illness. I thought I’d feed her some Baek Yak Cheong and have her rest.”
And conveniently, the stronghold folk had come down and offered hospitality, so she had decided to impose on them for one night.
At Dan Mok Ryeon’s words, Hwa Ryun’s eyes narrowed and she glanced at Dan Mok Seong, then released a small sigh.
“There’s nothing else, is there?”
“Nothing else? What do you mean?”
Dan Mok Ryeon swallowed her unease carefully. The perspiration that had begun to bead on her skin had cooled in the rain and wind, but her heart still pounded heavily. She had been mulling over the thought that something seemed amiss about this mountain.
“If there were something…….”
“If there were?”
“The name of my horse.”
“Your horse?”
Hwa Ryun’s eyes widened. Dan Mok Ryeon shrugged.
“Yes, I learned to ride today, didn’t I? So now I’ll have my own horse. I thought it was time to choose a name for it.”
Hwa Ryun’s eyes narrowed. She seemed suspicious whether this was a deflection or genuine concern.
But soon she relented, accepting the change of subject with an expression of acquiescence.
“You barely sat on someone else’s horse once, and now…… fine. What name did you have in mind?”
“Woolung?”
For a moment, both Hwa Ryun and Baek Ryeon fell silent, then Baek Ryeon let out a sympathetic rumbling growl.

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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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