The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 165

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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 165

Bing Xue Yan gazed at Dan Mok Cheon Gi with luminous eyes, unchanged from his youth—eyes that gleamed as though stars had come to rest in them.
“Everything I have, I made myself. And even if I die tomorrow, there is only one choice among all I’ve made that I regret.”
Bing Xue Yan’s eyes burned in a way wholly unlike a person of the Ice Palace.
“Returning to Beijing that day.”
That was why she could not even attend her own son’s funeral.
Dan Mok Cheon Gi closed his eyes. A silence, cold as ice, settled over the room once more.

* * *

The Beijing Ice Palace was chilly even by day, but the night brought a deeper chill.
“Where are you going?”
Dan Mok Ryeon, who had slipped quietly from her chamber into the corridor, spun around with an expression bordering on a gasp.
Hwa Ryun stood behind her, a thin coat draped over one shoulder.
“You… what are you doing here? It’s time to sleep.”
“My sister seemed to be heading somewhere, so I followed.”
“Oh? I was just going back to bed. You should go to sleep too.”
When Dan Mok Ryeon made as if to return to her room, Hwa Ryun did not press further, but accompanied her back to her chamber and stood watching as she pretended to drift off.
Dan Mok Ryeon finally threw off her covers.
“Fine. I was going to visit Grandmother’s room.”
“At this hour?”
“Grandmother’s unwell, so I wanted to check on her sleep. So you go back inside and rest.”
“Then it doesn’t matter if I go with you.”
Dan Mok Ryeon’s expression grew troubled, her eyes darting away.
‘Grandmother might be in the middle of something…’
Hwa Ryun might discover her abilities, but that wasn’t what truly worried Dan Mok Ryeon.
If Hwa Ryun learned that she had bled trying to heal someone, her sister would treat her like an ignorant child and lecture her for hours without mercy.
‘It would burn like the flames of purgatory.’
But if she refused to bring her along now?
Hwa Ryun was already watching her with suspicious eyes.
‘Are you plotting to do something you can’t tell me about?’ —that was the question her face posed.
‘My sister’s gotten worse about this lately.’
After a moment of deliberation, Dan Mok Ryeon surrendered. There was no way to slip away undetected, and at this point, being caught sneaking away later seemed worse than simply moving forward with her sister present.
“Fine, let’s go. Together.”
As Dan Mok Ryeon nodded, Hwa Ryun offered her the coat she had rested on her lap. Though not cold, Dan Mok Ryeon wrapped herself in it and quietly left the chamber.
The corridor was dim, lit only by the minimum necessary light, but holding Hwa Ryun’s hand, Dan Mok Ryeon navigated it without hesitation.
At the far end appeared Bing Xue Yan’s room, where two martial servants stood guard at the door. Then the door opened quietly, and a figure emerged from within.
It was Dan Mok Hyeon Yo, her eyes wet just as they had been in the daytime.
‘Aunt…’
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo led the servants away and began speaking to them in Beijing’s dialect.
In that moment, Dan Mok Ryeon slipped into the chamber with Hwa Ryun.
The interior resembled the daytime scene, yet darker—almost no bright light was visible, only the red glow from the brazier flickering softly.
“Yo, I told you—I’m finished for now. You should return…”
“Grandmother!”
Dan Mok Ryeon called out in a small voice.
Bing Xue Yan, thinking her daughter had returned, startled and opened her eyes, rising slightly.
“Dan Mok Ryeon? How did you get here…”
“I came to see you. I wanted to check on your rest.”
Bing Xue Yan glanced toward the door but seemed unsurprised, offering a gentle smile instead.
“Sleep well, child. There’s nothing to worry about. Who is this?”
“My younger sister.”
“Sister?”
“This is Hwa Ryun. Everyone calls her Ryun. Ryun, come and greet her.”
Hwa Ryun stood flabbergasted, her lips moving wordlessly as she stared at Dan Mok Ryeon.
Who introduces their own servant to their grandmother as a younger sibling, someone they’ve only just met?
“I’m Hwa Ryun, Lady Dan Mok Ryeon’s maid.”
Hwa Ryun bowed, obscuring her face as she answered. Dan Mok Ryeon frowned at the reply but didn’t fly into a rage.
Bing Xue Yan smiled softly as she observed both their expressions. She seemed to find it amusing.
“It’s a good thing when those who share a home get along well. Admirable indeed. You visited Gyeong Hang Un Ryeon before coming here, didn’t you? How was it? Did you have fun?”
Since there had been too many people during the day to have a proper conversation, Bing Xue Yan asked her questions with a gentle smile.
“Oh, it was wonderful! During the day we studied with the other children, and at night we trained. After training, we’d all gather together and roast sweet potatoes over a fire. We’d build it like this……”
“That sounds absolutely delicious.”
“I’ll make some for you tomorrow! Let’s make them together.”
At the suggestion of doing it together, Bing Xue Yan paused for a moment.
“I’d like that very much. It’s been ages since I’ve made something with my own hands. Long ago, there was a time—lost in the mountains with nothing to eat, we even caught and ate frogs.”
“Fr-frogs?”
“Yes, indeed. During the chaos, we lost our supplies while being pursued, and there was nothing else to eat. So I caught them and roasted them with your grandfather. Oh, how we wished we had salt—you wouldn’t believe how much we lamented that.”
As Bing Xue Yan spoke, her eyes narrowed as if gazing into some distant past.
“From that day on, wherever I went, I always kept a small pouch of salt in the deepest part of my bag.”
Dan Mok Ryeon smiled quietly at the story and slowly lifted her eyes, gazing not at Bing Xue Yan herself but at the white cloth hanging beyond her.
Against the cloth, clear characters bloomed like spilled ink.

Bing Xue Yan
Traits: Guardian of the Martial Arts World / Dying Tree / Filled with Regret / Separated Birds / Bamboo / Water and Fish in Perfect Harmony / Swift

Bing Bai Shen Gong

: 8 stars (12 stars)
Bing Bai Shen Geom

: 3 stars (12 stars)
Han Eum Ji

: 1 star (12 stars)
Baek Un Bo

: 1 star (12 stars)
Aptitude and Stars: Upper-Middle
Concern: How to manage the final farewell.
Help: Currently fighting Hyeolru. Additional strength would prove beneficial.

Bing Xue Yan was fighting Hyeolru, just as Hwang Gyeong On had been.
Dan Mok Ryeon had spent all this time trying to discover how she’d driven Hwang Gyeong On’s Hyeolru away, and though uncertain, she’d found what seemed most plausible.

But Dan Mok Ryeon had no Hyeolru. If she did, Seon Gyeong would have told her long ago. So why had she bled as well?
‘My blood and Hyeolru—they’re connected somehow. I don’t know what it is, or how it came to be this way.’
And the moment Hwang Gyeong On had overcome his Hyeolru—bleeding from his nose—had been the precise instant she had wished for Hyeolru to vanish.
Dan Mok Ryeon gripped the small cloth she’d brought with her. Then she glanced back at Hwa Ryun, who stood silently behind her.
Hwa Ryun showed no interest in the warm exchange between grandmother and granddaughter, her gaze fixed elsewhere.
‘Good, then now!’
“Ryeon?”
Bing Xue Yan tilted her head in puzzlement. Dan Mok Ryeon gripped her grandmother’s hand tightly and murmured.
“I hope you get better soon, Grandmother.”
“You will be well soon. There’s no need to worry so much.”
She knows it’s a lie.
Bing Xue Yan is preparing for the end.
So in that very moment when Dan Mok Ryeon wished for Hyeolru—or whatever it was—to disappear quickly—
“Hack—cough, cough, cough!”
Bing Xue Yan, who until now had only produced the occasional dry cough, suddenly erupted into violent fits. She hurriedly covered her mouth, but the black blood flowing from her lips could not be hidden.
“Grand—Grandmother!”
Dan Mok Ryeon rushed forward with a cloth to wipe away the blood from Bing Xue Yan’s lips, but her grandmother held up her hand to stop her.

“Hwa Ryun, cough—hurry and take Ryeon out of here…… Ryeon!”
But the words died in her throat, becoming a cry of alarm. Ryeon too was bleeding from her nose—a vivid crimson, bright as freshly plucked fruit.

– Spiritual Energy depleted: 49 points!
– Warning: Monitor Spiritual Energy depletion rate.

Ryeon wiped away her blood with steady hands, swallowed hard against the surge rising within her, and with fierce eyes pushed back the approaching Hwa Ryun.
“Grandmother, I’m fine. But you coughed—let me get you some water first…….”
Yet the moment she said she was fine, blood rushed from her nose in a torrent, drenching the cloth as it spilled down. Ryeon’s vision blurred slightly.
‘What—what is this?!’
When Hwang Gyeong On had done it, the bleeding stopped quickly and the Hyeolru disappeared. Why not now?
“Sister!”
Hwa Ryun called out in alarm and reached toward her, but Ryeon could no longer push her away.
Yet mercifully, in that moment—just as had happened with Hwang Gyeong On—the blood that Bing Xue Yan coughed up and Ryeon’s own blood transformed into black ash and began to drift away.
It was then that light returned to Bing Xue Yan’s face, worn thin by approaching death and long suffering.
But Ryeon’s pallid features remained unchanged.

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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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