The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 159

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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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A Falling Clan’s Limited Lifespan — Episode 159

“Is Father sad?”
“……Yes…… my dad cries so much…….”
Ryeon recalled the moment when Hwang Chu Hun had wept without restraint.
The San Chai leader with a fierce face that seemed more suited to drawing tears from others’ eyes — weeping bitterly like that.
“My dad cries every single day…….”
“Really? Where?”
“He hides and crouches in front of my room.”
As Hwang Gyuon spoke, tears glistened in his own eyes. Ryeon slowly stroked his hair while summoning Purification.
“Huh……?”
A clear wind seemed to blow from nowhere, and Hwang Gyuon’s eyes widened. Having been ill for so long, his body was acutely sensitive to even the faintest changes.
When her mastery of Purification had increased after cleansing the defiled shrine, the first thought that had crossed Ryeon’s mind was that she might be able to heal Hwang Gyuon’s body.
If she could only purify his physical form, perhaps…….
But then Ryeon’s expression hardened.
‘It won’t work, after all.’
Being able to purify the body did not mean she could purify illness. She could drive away corruption and malevolent spiritual energy,

but nothing more.
Ryeon forced down the sinking feeling that threatened to show on her face.
“Still, it won’t hurt as badly as it did before…… you shouldn’t feel as much pain.”
She had cleansed his body, which had been worn thin and weakened by suffering all this time; though she could not cure him completely, it would help him endure the agony.
‘What on earth is the Blood Curse? If I only knew what it was, I could do something about it.’
It was not mere malevolent energy—something that even Purification could not touch. What Hwang Gyuon had been fighting all along…….
But brooding alone would never reveal what she did not know. Ryeon decided to do what she could.
“Gyuon, do you have the bell I gave you?”
“Yes…… yes!”
Hwang Gyuon hurriedly rummaged through the pile of blankets and pulled out the bell from underneath. It seemed he had been keeping it with him even while sleeping.
Ryeon touched the bell gently and handed it back to him.
“You need to keep this with you always.”
“Yes!”
Hwang Gyuon nodded.
‘If I could only get rid of the Blood Curse, then Gyuon could…….’
That was when it happened.
The bell trembled and chimed on its own—and at that very moment, blood began trickling from Hwang Gyuon’s nose. Black blood.
“Oh…… Gyuon!”
Hwang Gyuon had been wiping his nose when he saw the blood on his hand and was startled for a moment, but he quickly covered his face with the cloth beside him.
“It, it happens sometimes. This happens. It’s nothing! I’m fine!”
Though Hwang Gyuon insisted he was all right, Ryeon turned ashen and pressed close to the boy to examine his complexion.
Hwang Gyuon was embarrassed to show his blood-stained face, but Ryeon forcefully tried to pull his hand down.
“Let me see your face for a moment, Gyuon. It looks like it stopped already…… huh?”

Spiritual Energy consumed! -35

At the sudden notification that Spiritual Energy had been used, Ryeon blinked—and at the same moment, Hwang Gyuon gasped in alarm, looking at her. Blood was trickling from Ryeon’s nose as well.
“Ryeon!”
“Sister!”
The children came rushing over, and Ryeon cupped her hands to catch the falling drops of blood, her eyes darting about helplessly.
Hwang Gyuon hastily wiped Ryeon’s hands with the cloth he had just used, and then, collecting himself, pressed it to her nose.
“Are you…… in pain?”
It seemed that Hwang Gyuon did not yet know the formal expression for asking if someone was well. Though his young face still bore dark stains of blood, no more was flowing.
Ryeon shook her head, the cloth pressed to her nose.
‘Gyuon stopped right away, so why did I suddenly…….’
Dan Mok Seong’s face had gone pale, but she watched Ryeon with an unwavering expression.
“We need to call a physician.”
“No, it’s fine! Really, it’ll stop in a moment. Don’t worry.”
Ryeon half-lifted her head, waving her hands frantically.
Hyeon U barely managed to shake off his shock, and Cheon Gi had only just gotten to his feet—if he saw her like this, there was no telling what trouble might follow.
On top of that, she knew Hyeon Yo had a tender heart underneath. She wouldn’t stay quiet either. They might end up returning to Hang Zhou.
Ryeon watched Gyuon, who looked ready to weep, and as the bleeding finally seemed to stop, she wiped away the remaining traces with cloth as she spoke.
“I was like you once.”
“Like… me?”
“Yes. That’s why Mother and Father, Grandfather and Uncle, Aunt too—they all worried about me so much.”
“It doesn’t seem that way now. Well, it seemed like it a moment ago.”
The point being that she’d looked healthy until the nosebleed started.
A strange hope kindled in Gyuon’s eyes. Even if the shape of the suffering differed, here stood a person who had hurt just as much and recovered—perhaps he too might….
“You will too, eventually.”
Ryeon was about to offer encouragement when her eyes went wide.
The black bloodstains that should have been on the cloth she and Gyuon had used—they were gone.
The cloth lay pristine white, as though never worn. Only somewhere from nowhere came a dusting of ash that scattered in the breeze and drifted through the crack in the door.
The bloodstains on the two girls’ faces were gone as well.
Gyuon seemed to notice it too, fingers brushing her own face, then dropping to stare at her hands, eyes blinking in astonishment.
“Wait? The blood… it stopped….”
“It didn’t stop. It… disappeared?”

Residual Blood Curse elimination successful.
Current Luck Stat: 94/120 (↑4)

The System Window’s text unfurled before her eyes, but it overlapped with Gyuon’s bewildered face and didn’t show clearly.
Ryeon urgently unfolded the white bedding. The System Window appeared again, this time reflecting what she wanted to see—information about Gyuon.

Traits: Fearless in Darkness / Devoted / Steadfast / Sheltered /
Sickly
Flower /
Worry: (Blank)

It made sense that there was no worry. What would she be thinking about in a moment like this? She’d wiped away blood and it had vanished!
But Ryeon focused on something else.
‘Gyuon was always a sickly flower—’
That trait was gone.
Not a sickly flower anymore—just a flower. Only a flower. One that no longer hurt.
Ryeon scanned Gyuon’s face urgently. Her cheeks were still gaunt, but the sickly pallor that had darkened the child’s complexion was beginning to brighten.
The subtle, ceaseless pain that had coursed through her veins vanished completely, and light returned to Gyuon’s eyes.
“I… right now… I….”
Gyuon’s hands trembled over her own face, neck, and chest. Tears welled in her eyes—not the ones born from worry for her father, but tears of joy.
“Sister, I, I, just like you, I too….”
“I’m well!”
“I’m… well?”
Even Seong, who always wore a cold expression, had her face lit with hope in this moment.
“I’m well! I’m well! I don’t hurt anymore, not at all!”
Gyuon leaped to her feet, flailing her arms as she cried out. Tears streamed freely down her small face.
Laughing and weeping at once, Gyuon suddenly threw her arms around Ryeon and held her tight.
“Sister! You made me better! That’s what happened, isn’t it!”
Ryeon was taken aback. If it had been anything else, she could have accepted it as her doing.
‘The Blood Curse just… disappeared?’
Hadn’t it been unresponsive even to Purification? She’d desperately hoped it would vanish from the child’s body, but did wishing really make it so?
But Ryeon set aside her confusion for a moment and smiled softly. Seeing Ryeon’s bewilderment, Gyuon paused before bursting into joy again.
“I’m completely better now? Really?”
The puzzle of this inexplicable miracle could wait. Ryeon nodded.
Gyuon had been fighting only the Blood Curse. Now it was gone.
“Yes, you’re all better now. Completely.”
“Can I learn martial arts now?”
Ryeon nodded more firmly.
“Of course!”
“Now I can also….”
As Ryeon continued to talk at length about what lay ahead, she suddenly felt a steady gaze pressing on her from the side and snapped back to awareness.
Dan Mok Seong stood quietly beside them, arms crossed, watching the two of them.
“Oh, Gyuon! Gyuon, wait a moment!”
“Yes?”
“Can you keep what I did for you a secret? Actually, all of today—everything.”
“But… why?”
‘If Hwa Ryun finds out again, she’ll come after me.’
That tiny thing—Hwa Ryun, already grown larger than Ryeon herself, though Ryeon pretended not to notice—would try to devour her again. But that wasn’t all.
‘If word gets out that I have some kind of real spiritual power, it’ll be a disaster.’
There was Blood Coral Valley, after all, openly hunting for things like Limited Life Span elixirs. She didn’t want to see those around her hurt because of the valley’s designs on her.
“If the rumor spreads, other sick people might come rushing over. I’d love to be able to help them all, but I couldn’t. I’m not even a physician, and the fact that I could help you was…”
She faltered, lacking any real reason to give, but Hwang Gyuon quickly stepped in.
“Yes! I understand. I’ll keep it secret… um, even from my father?”
“Yes! Right! You absolutely cannot tell him.”
“But then, how can I repay the favor?”
“What?”
Hwang Gyuon looked up at her with a wronged expression.
“Father said he’d give me this San Chai land and ten thousand gold if I got better. If I ask for the deed without any reason…”

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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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