The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 153

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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 — Episode 153

“I, I am the Only Daughter Without Sons of the…… the…….”
A servant behind her whispered softly, “Only Daughter Without Sons, miss.”
“Since I’m the only daughter without sons, I can say whatever I want, no matter who you are!”
But it wasn’t Dan Mok Ryeon who answered—it was Hwa Ryun. Standing with her arms folded, Hwa Ryun fixed Hwang Gyu On with a cold stare.
“What, do you think you’re some royal princess?”

“What, what did you say?”
“Hwa Ryun.”
Dan Mok Ryeon quickly pulled Hwa Ryun back. Hwa Ryun shrugged her shoulders at once, her expression saying something like, “Did I say something wrong, sister?”
“Hey! What did you just say!”
Hwang Gyu On shrieked. Hwa Ryun raised her eyebrows.
“Even if you were a royal princess, if you carried on like that, you’d be dea——”
“Hwa Ryun!”
Dan Mok Ryeon stopped her mid-sentence, startled.
She believed with all her heart that Hwa Ryun was a good-natured child, though the problem was that maintaining such faith required all her heart.
“Yes, sister.”
Hwa Ryun answered and tilted her head, looking entirely guileless—as though she had no idea why her dear sister was calling her, yet naturally thought it proper to answer such a summons.
Dan Mok Ryeon pressed her forehead with her fingertips, then quickly turned to face Hwang Gyu On.
“Don’t you have an older female cousin?”
Hwang Gyu On, who had been about to shout at Hwa Ryun, hesitated over where to begin, then decided to answer Dan Mok Ryeon first.
“Well…… I don’t.”
“Then you should speak respectfully to your older female cousin.”
Hwa Ryun made another deflating sound from where she stood.
It struck her as funny that Dan Mok Ryeon, though Dan Mok Seong was born a month earlier, was keeping pace with her in age.
‘This girl really is impossible to pin down.’
She could tease Dan Mok Ryeon and get away with it, yet the moment others spoke informally to her, people would hunt them down like catching rats.
Meanwhile, Hwang Gyu On stuck out her lower lip.
“But you’re not my real cousin!”
“Your father said he’d treat our grandmother like his own mother, so your father is basically our father’s sibling. That makes you a cousin, doesn’t it?”
“……!”
Hwang Gyu On’s eyes widened.
“You’re…… Dan Mok Ryeon?”
“Hm? You know my name?”
“I do…….”
Hwang Gyu On answered in disbelief, her voice small.
After staring for a long moment, she spoke carefully.
“What…… is your business here, cousin……?”
“Pfft.”
Dan Mok Ryeon burst out laughing. She really had been raised so sheltered that she’d never had to speak respectfully to anyone before.
“Why? Can’t I visit here?”
“As Hwang Gyu On, I have the right—the right to know…… I should know…….”
Hwang Gyu On answered with her chin raised, and for the first time color flooded her face, burning scarlet.
“But cousin, who is that one?”
Even as she spoke, she raised her hand sharply, pointing at Hwa Ryun with unmistakable hostility.
“She’s my younger sister, Hwa Ryun.”
“If she’s your younger sister, why are you Dan Mok Ryeon and she’s Hwa Ryun?”
“There are circumstances. What are you doing here?”
Hwang Gyu On felt that wasn’t quite right, but she couldn’t continue her line of thought under Dan Mok Ryeon’s questioning and answered without thinking.
“I woke up and heard guests had come, so I wanted to see…… who is inside?”
“My cousin sisters are inside. But you were already asleep?”
Dan Mok Ryeon stepped closer and brushed back the hair from Hwang Gyu On’s forehead in a tender gesture. From beside her, Hwa Ryun let out a light sigh.
Hwang Gyu On’s servant tried to explain in an uncertain voice: ‘Miss’s health has not been very good…….’
But Hwang Gyu On pushed the servant away and spoke directly herself.
“I normally sleep a lot. Sometimes I sleep all day. And sometimes for an entire week! Did you and your sisters come to play, cousin?”
Hwang Gyu On, who had been speaking in breathless rushes as though she might collapse at any moment, finally caught her breath.
“I’m going to see another family. They live very far away.”
“How far?”
“Beijing Ice Palace.”
“Beijing? Where is Beijing?”
“A place you can reach by traveling a thousand nights.”
“Ten leagues a day means a thousand nights would be ten thousand leagues. They live ten thousand leagues away?”
A deflating sound came from beside her — Hwa Ryun was trying not to laugh. Ryeon shot her a look and shook her head.
“You can get there much faster on horseback. But where is your room, Gyu On? Let’s get you settled early—”
“Where are you going, sister?”
Hwang Gyu On cut her off abruptly, her expression desperate with curiosity though she was clearly trying to hide it.
“Oh, I was thinking of paying my respects at the Ancestral Shrine here—”
“The ghost shrine?”
“…!”
Ryeon’s eyes widened.
‘A ghost shrine? Is it really that spiritually potent?’
“I know the way! I do! Let me show you!”
“Oh, miss!”
The servant went pale the moment Hwang Gyu On spoke. It was clear that her even getting this far was already cause for alarm.
Ryeon understood the situation at once. That pallid complexion, those lavish garments—she was plainly the beloved only daughter, showered with both Hwang Chu Hoon’s affection and anxiety.
While Hwang Gyu On bickered with the servant, Hwa Ryun stared intently at Ryeon’s face before speaking.
“Sister, do you wear honey on your face or something?”
“What—what are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Children flock to you wherever you go.”
“…”
Ryeon’s lips moved silently for a moment before she whispered back.
“She’s the estate lord’s daughter, and she’s been ill, so she had no friends within the compound. She’s just never seen someone her own age before—”
“Once she sees that vegetable noodle fellow, even white rice won’t sit still.”
“…Is Gyu On the vegetable noodle?”
“Not the rice. She’s too frail.”
“Vegetables are…delicious…and strong…and sturdy…”
In the meantime, Hwang Gyu On had successfully overcome the servant’s resistance and approached with determination.
“Let’s go!”
“No, it’s raining now.”
“It’s fine. When I’m with you, it doesn’t hurt at all.”
“It still won’t do. You need to get back to your room. It’s late, and the rain—”
“But you don’t even know where the shrine is—”
Just then, Hwang Gyu On staggered. The servant caught her, his face twisted as if he might scream.
“Let go! I can walk myself, I can—!”
Hwang Gyu On’s eyes flashed with determination, but the light quickly drained away. The faint color that had risen to her face vanished entirely, leaving her looking almost corpse-like.
“Quickly now, let me help you inside. Miss Ryeon, please forgive us. Our young lady is—”
Then Ryeon grabbed both the servant and Hwang Gyu On.
“Wait.”
“Yes, miss.”
“Just a moment. Hold on—”
The thought that this girl was fighting against Blood Leak weighed on her mind. That adding her strength might help.
The only power Ryeon possessed now was Spiritual Energy.
Ryeon quickly scanned the ornaments hanging from Hwang Gyu On’s clothes and snatched one of the hanging charms from her waist.
“Oh, miss?!”
“Hold on.”
Hwang Gyu On wore more than one or two charms.
A Turtle and Peach Talisman for longevity,

a Tiger Claw to ward off malevolent spirits, a Bat Charm symbolizing the Five Blessings, and a Spirit Bell to drive away evil and invite fortune.
Her father, Hwang Chu Hoon, had surely tied each one on with all his heart.
From among them, Ryeon chose the Spirit Bell.

A finely cast bell by a master craftsman : Spiritual Energy capacity 11
You may now infuse Spiritual Energy into it.

Her Spiritual Energy was overflowing as she climbed here. She poured all her strength into it, and a pale blue aura settled over the Spirit Bell before seeping inside.
Mok Ryeon quickly pressed the Spirit Bell into Hwang Gyu On’s hand.
“You have to carry this with you every day. This bell—the one that makes the sound—do you understand?”
“Sister…….”
Hwang Gyu On looked at Mok Ryeon, then clenched the Spirit Bell tight in her fist.
Her complexion had improved considerably since that moment she’d swayed moments before, yet the attendant made no move to release her from her embrace.
“I shall retire now…….”
“Yes, yes. Go on inside quickly.”
“The Ancestral Shrine is…….”
Hwang Gyu On whispered something into Mok Ryeon’s ear, then rested her head against the attendant’s shoulder with a soft tap.
The attendant, her expression bewildered, murmured an apology—that no one knew what afflicted Hwang Gyu On, and so they could only offer prayers for her recovery.
Mok Ryeon’s face clouded with something unreadable, and she shook her head slowly. It was a gesture of reassurance: do not worry. The attendant bowed and hurried from the room.

* * *

“She told you where the Ancestral Shrine is, so we might as well go have a look.”
— Meow!
Once the attendant and Hwang Gyu On disappeared and Mok Ryeon stood motionless, Hwa Ryun spoke up suddenly.
What Hwang Gyu On had whispered into Mok Ryeon’s ear was directions to the Ancestral Shrine.
Fifty-nine paces to the northeast, then past a single branch, and seventy paces to the side and forward again; from there, thirty paces along the wall that bent westward.
Beyond that lay an old Ancestral Shrine with its lamp already lit.

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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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