The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 161

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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 161

“Is it really Thousand-Year Ginseng? No, it can’t be—at this price for this quantity, it doesn’t make sense…….”
“That they’ve managed to produce enough to trade with is remarkable, but surely the Spirit Elixirs I’ve given Gyeo On haven’t been few.”
Hwang Chu Hun spoke thus.
Those Spirit Elixirs, which had once held all his hope and longing, had of course proved useless.
“That’s right. But this feels different somehow. I hear your daughter has already started learning martial arts and is making quite a fuss about succeeding you as Bureau Director.”
“I’ve heard…… yes, I have. I’ve heard it, though…….”
It was too much like a dream.
A daughter who could only postpone death, who managed at best not to cough up blood on any given day—the thought that such a daughter could grow healthy, learn his martial arts, and carry on his legacy seemed impossible.
As Hwang Chu Hun approached the doorway to Hwang Gyeo On’s room, he suddenly spoke with grave urgency.
“We haven’t been bewitched by something, have we?”
“Pardon?”
“Isn’t it strange? All these good things happening one after another…….”
He knew why he’d kept bringing up that incident to Dan Mok Cheon Gi—he wanted to hear it from Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s own lips. He wanted to hear that it wasn’t his fault, that he mustn’t blame himself, so that he could set down even a fraction of this unbearable weight.
Had Dan Mok Cheon Gi not understood that selfish desire? No—he must have. And yet he’d still spoken the very words Hwang Chu Hun needed to hear, had soothed his heart and absolved him.
But now even his daughter’s illness had healed, and she spoke in eager tones about learning martial arts from Dan Mok Cheon Gi.
Now Hwang Chu Hun felt something close to terror. What if all of this—meeting Dan Mok Cheon Gi again, whom he’d thought he’d never see again, or his daughter’s recovery—what if it was all a dream? What if something had enchanted them?
“No, this won’t do. Slap my face.”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“There’s something unnatural about all this.”
“So if I slap your face, how is that not unnatural?”
“If it hurts, then it’s not a dream. Though I hate to strike you back…….”
Crack!
Ma Hwa Chang didn’t hesitate a moment longer and swung his hand in one swift motion.
Hwang Chu Hun gasped and clutched his cheek, staring at him in shock.
“……K-it doesn’t seem to be a dream…… Did you have a grudge against me all this time?”
“If I took a blow to the face from you, wouldn’t I be facing Yama the Great King?”
“Not Yama—just crossing the Santu River.”
“Heavens, what a graceful death for a bandit. I might meet those dock ruffians over there on the other side. Those bastards are probably extorting people even there……?”
Hwang Chu Hun held his reddened cheek and stood dazed for a moment, lost in imagining the Santu River landscape, before suddenly snapping back to himself.
As he stepped through the doorway, his daughter sensed his presence and opened her eyes with a drowsy expression.
This was the daughter who used to refuse bitter medicine, saying “What’s the use anyway?”—but seeing the white medicine bowl, her face brightened instead.
“Father! Oh—Father! You’ve come!”
“Ah, no. Daughter. Since when did you start speaking like that? Where’d you pick up such formality…….”
Hwang Chu Hun’s eyes widened in surprise. Seeing that expression, Hwang Gyeo On’s shoulders lifted with pride.
“Now I shall learn martial arts from you—from Father!”
Hwang Gyeo On said this and hurried Ma Hwa Chang along to bring the medicine.
Hwang Chu Hun knitted his brow and stood in stunned silence, watching his daughter down the bitter draught in one gulp.
She made a face as though she might retch from the medicine’s bitter taste, but she quickly shook it off and sprang to her feet.
Still thin as a twig, her once ashen complexion now glowed with vitality, and her eyes sparkled with life.
“Father, I have a dream now.”
Hwang Gyeo On stepped close to Hwang Chu Hun and stared intently at him as she spoke.
“Y-yes. You mentioned it. That you…….”
“You said Uncle So Gang is the highest in our Mountain Fortress, didn’t you?”
“What? Who said that! Of course it’s me, your father.”
“But you told me Uncle So Gang is the Deputy Director of Jesamcheon.”
“Well, that may be, but still…….”
“I shall succeed Uncle So Gang and become Director of Jesamcheon! And Sister and I have already decided to join forces and destroy those Blood Coral Valley bastards!”
Since So Gang was Deputy Director, saying she would become Director was less about succeeding him than surpassing him, but neither Ma Hwa Chang nor Hwang Chu Hun bothered to correct this.
They merely cheered their daughter’s ambitions, stammering assurances that she would surely accomplish it, before hastily slipping out of the room.
A moment later, Hwang Gyeo On poked her head cautiously around the back of the building.
“Father. ……Dad.”
“Ahem, oh, Gyeo On. Hurry back inside…….”
“But Father, I’m not sick anymore. Why are you crying?”
“Ah, I’m not crying! Who said I was crying!”
“That’s right?”
His daughter smiled with a thin face, beaming.
Hwang Chu Hun wiped his soaked face roughly with his shoulder, then spread both arms wide. Hwang Gyeo On came running and collapsed into his embrace.
She grew a little more each day yet never seemed heavy enough, melting his heart with her fragility—but now, just now, she felt ever so slightly heavier in his arms.
“Once I become the director of Jesamcheon, I’ll make sure Father doesn’t cry anymore and show him proper filial devotion. Just trust me. Understood? Don’t cry anymore, alright?”
“Kgh-huh-huh.”
“And you said you’d give me all the land and the Mountain Fortress once I get better.”
“Kgh-huh, eh?”
“It’s a secret for now, but I’ll tell you later—so Father must remember to keep it in mind, won’t you?”
“Kgh-up, huh-up, eh-eh…….”
“That’s enough now.”
“Eh-eh, kgh-huh.”

* * *

The farther north they traveled, the colder the air became, settling heavy and sharp.
At first, white snow appeared on the distant ridgeline, then gradually covered most of the mountainside, and soon an immense expanse stretched before them—neither quite sea nor quite lake, impossible to tell.
The surface was so crystalline that its depth could not be measured. And in the center of that vast water, an enormous palace of ice appeared to float.
‘So this is Beijing…… the Beijing Ice Palace.’
“At last…….”
White breath escaped from everyone’s lips. Though it had been nearly summer when they departed, here the cold bit through.
A great bridge of snow-white wood connected the distant palace to the mainland. Not long after they took their place before it, mounted warriors emerged from within the Ice Palace and approached in numbers.
“Whorr, whorr!”
The warriors wore thick outer coats made of deep blue cloth, with narrow sleeves fitted snug to the arm and trimmed in red thread.
The man leading them approached. Amid the hard, severe faces of the warriors, his stood out as particularly stern.
“I am Do Wi. I am responsible for the security of the Beijing Ice Palace. I’ve come on the Palace Master’s orders to receive you at the Beijing Ice Palace.”
A murmur rippled through the group. It was Yang Geum Bo, the Piao Bureau Director who had escorted them this far, whose expression had visibly stiffened.
Here came the patriarch of a great clan this far, yet the welcoming party was merely the commander of the Ice Palace’s guard?
Beside him, Ryeon stared at Do Wi with astonishment in her eyes.

Do Wi
Traits: Unbreakable Reed / Swift Movement / All-Weather / Content in Poverty / Hibernation
Talent and Five Stars: Upper-Middle
Bing Bai Shen Gong
(Ice White Divine Art)
: 8th Stage
Bing Bai Shen Geom
(Ice White Divine Sword)
: 10th Stage
Han Eum Ji
(Cold Yin Finger)
: 7th Stage
Baek Un Bo
(White Cloud Step)
: 11th Stage
Concern: To safely escort the Dan Mok Clan party to the Beijing Ice Palace, then safely send them off.
Hint: When you meet someone who will push your back, you will see light.

The concern was indeed just what one would expect from the Ice Palace’s security command, yet his talent was extraordinary. Moreover, his traits were unusual—Hibernation, All-Weather, Content in Poverty; he’d never seen anything like them before.
‘Someone to push my back? Push it…… where?’
Though judging by the promise of seeing light, it didn’t mean to shove him off a cliff…….
Meanwhile, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo asked permission and cut in.
“Do Wi! It’s been so long. How have you been? How is your mother? Is she well? I heard she woke and personally looked after the children.”
The two seemed to know each other already; the warrior’s eyes softened for a moment, but his expression hardened again at what came next.
“It’s been a while since we last met. The lady heard good news from the south and improved briefly, but…….”
The good news from the south surely referred to what had happened with Ryeon.
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo suppressed the sigh rising in her throat and gripped the reins tightly. It had improved for a time, but not anymore—that was what he meant.
“Still, her condition has not worsened further. The Ice Spirit
(Ice Spirit)
your assistance.”
Do Wi said this, then glanced up at the towering ice fortress before turning his gaze back to Dan Mok Cheon Gi.
“Thus, after dozens of years…… the gates of the Beijing Ice Palace have opened once more. Will you enter?”
Dan Mok Cheon Gi nodded gravely.
The massive gates of the Beijing Ice Palace were slowly swinging open.

* * *

“You’re sure that’s enough? You’re not cold?”
“No!”
“It really does seem that way, doesn’t it.”
Hwa Ryun murmured with a note of surprise as she watched Dan Mok Ryeon, wearing nothing but a sleeveless tunic.

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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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