The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 168

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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 Terminal Granddaughter of a Fallen Great Family — Chapter 168

“Oh? When did you mention that?”
“This old woman didn’t grow old for nothing. I know everything. Isn’t that why they taught the children that way at Gyeong Hang Un Ryeon?”
Ryeon’s lips had merely trembled while she spoke of roasting sweet potatoes at Gyeong Hang Un Ryeon just moments before, but Bing Xue Yan laughed mischievously.
“You gave your grandfather enlightenment, healed me, and yet you’re still fretting like this? Isn’t it because you’re trying to secure warriors who might be useful for that plan of yours? You reckless thing.”
“Oh! How did you know?”
Ryeon, who had looked blank at first, laughed brightly and shot back. Bing Xue Yan tapped Dan Mok Ryeon’s nose gently.
“This old woman won’t even let herself retire, you know.”
“But Grandmother, you’re really, truly strong!”
“I’m well aware of that. Mm-hmm, since your grandfather will already be playing his part, I too shall exert myself. Once upon a time, I was the kind of person who made all the so-called masters in the Beijing Ice Palace weep. So believe only in this old woman.”
“Yes, Grandmother!”
Bing Xue Yan, noticing how faint exhaustion and drowsiness were settling over Ryeon’s face, laid her down on the bed and slowly patted her, drawing the blanket up.
Ryeon, blinking and about to say something more, slipped quietly into sleep.
Even in the chamber’s dim lamplight, the pallor creeping into Ryeon’s cheeks was evident.
Bing Xue Yan, her face bearing much burden, gazed at her sleeping granddaughter’s face and murmured softly.
“I was counting the days remaining. I thought I would never see you all again.”
Dan Mok Cheon Gi, believing himself guilty toward her, would remain forever in the shadow of Wol Yeong Jae until his final breath, and since her own illness could only worsen rather than improve, she had thought they could never meet again.
Having completed even that last task, she had simply resigned herself to the sorrow, thinking this was the end.
After presenting her final regrets to Dan Mok Cheon Gi, she had believed it was finished, that he too would shed his own lingering attachments.
And yet a miracle like this had come to pass.
“It feels as though I’ve gained the world anew.”
Though the words were sincere, the granddaughter in her dream only smiled faintly.
This was the first night that the pain which had tormented her for so long had vanished as though washed away.
Like finally setting down a mountainous burden she had carried so heavily, a lightness came that nearly brought tears rushing forth.
A tremor ran through her, as if she were watching a battered, trampled flower straighten itself and bloom vivid once more.
And in the wake of that tremor, desire took root.
Save for the time spent lying in that bed, she had lived her entire life as a warrior. She would have welcomed starting over from the beginning — if only she could be given another chance to begin.
Ryeon, holding her hand tightly as she fell asleep, had said, “You’ll grow even stronger.”
But her joy at those words had lasted only a moment, and her heart grew heavy again. It was not because she couldn’t believe the words of a child.
Bing Xue Yan knew that there were those in this world whom ordinary people could never fully understand.
Once, in the Beijing Ice Palace, she and her cousin Bing Xue Han had been such beings. They had grown up making the palace elders weep. As time passed, her own son had become that way.
Now, if her granddaughter possessed wisdom that transcended common understanding and miraculous power, that was only cause for joy. All the more so because that granddaughter had given her a chance — the very chance she had longed for, time itself, the strength to strive anew.
Yet seeing how her granddaughter seemed to feel a sense of debt, as though struggling to repay something, weighed heavy on her heart.
‘What on earth did that family do!’
Bing Xue Yan let out an internal sigh of exasperation.
As her eldest grandchild, Ryeon should naturally take such things for granted and rejoice, yet here she was, counting every gift received and trying to repay them all.
‘I’ll have to teach her properly when we reach the Beijing Ice Palace.’
Bing Xue Yan smiled and slowly patted her granddaughter, drifting into sleep herself.

* * *

The next morning, Ryeon opened her eyes in an empty bed.
“Mm… oh?”
As she struggled free from the blanket that had been wrapped around her like a cocoon, an entirely different vista opened before her.
First, warming braziers had been set around the bed, making it almost hot, and the billowing white curtains had been drawn back entirely, revealing a spacious, open room.
She descended from the bed carefully. Once she had put on her shoes and paid proper attention, she sensed a presence of people near a distant window.
She pushed open the front window with the tips of her fingers, cracking it slightly. The courtyard beyond was flooded with morning sunlight, dazzling her eyes.
Squinting, she made out two figures by the wall. It was Dan Mok Cheon Gi and Bing Xue Yan, taking a walk side by side.
More precisely, Dan Mok Cheon Gi was supporting Bing Xue Yan, who had not yet fully regained the stamina to walk on her own, right at her side.
Warm sunlight filtered between the two of them. Even the chill of the Beijing Ice Palace seemed to have grown mild.
“……It would be good if we could discuss the Exterior Court matter once it settles. I can bridge that for you.”
“Won’t the Beijing Ice Palace do the same for you?”
“That’s something I’ll have to tell my granddaughters separately. It’s thanks to me — why would you try to receive it for nothing?”
“Ah, I understand.”
“Grip it properly, will you? Here’s someone who’s attained enlightenment thanks to Ryeon, and yet you’re handling him like he might shatter.”
“I’m afraid I’ll hurt you if I use too much strength.”
“I’m not going to die.”
“Yesterday you kept saying you might, though…….”
“Not anymore. While we’re at it, I should sharpen my sword. It’s been far too long since I’ve used it.”
“I’ve kept it polished for you.”
“Ah.”
“What? Do I seem like a proper husband to you now?”
“You’ve seemed like a husband from the very start.”
“But you were thinking of me as something other than a husband, weren’t you?”
Yet Bing Xue Yan did not answer. Instead, seeing her granddaughter’s gaze upon her, her eyes sparkled and she seized Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s hand, tugging him urgently toward the door.
“Ryeon, you’re awake?”
“Grandmother, did you sleep well? Grandfather, did you sleep well too? But already walking around like this…….”
“I only took a short walk just outside. If I were to do any cultivation, Physician Jin would come chasing after me in tears.”
Ryeon exhaled with great relief. In her prime, this woman had flown through the heavens and split mountains with a gesture—any movement made in that spirit would court disaster.
“Would only Physician Jin be concerned?”
A weighty voice resonated through the air. Though he was clearly trying to compose himself, Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s expression betrayed a restlessness he couldn’t quite hide.
This was the first time Ryeon had witnessed the two of them conversing at close range, and her eyes widened.
“Didn’t you say you’re all better now thanks to Ryeon? What’s there to worry about? The whole Beijing Ice Palace will be upended over a simple walk!”
Bing Xue Yan cried out with exasperation, though her face glowed with a soft, tender light. Dan Mok Cheon Gi pressed his brow and released a long, heavy sigh.
“Your passion alone could melt all the ice of Beijing.”
Bing Xue Yan thrust out her lower lip.
“Then it would’ve melted long ago. I’m from the Beijing Ice Palace—what sort of nonsense are you speaking?”
“I shouldn’t say such things…….”
“And yet you’ve never once won an argument with me, have you?”
Dan Mok Cheon Gi spoke as if it pained him deeply, his expression one of sheer helplessness.
“……I’ve won a few other kinds of fights, haven’t I?”
“The Greatest Master Under Heaven boasts of besting his own wife?”
“Then is it boasting to have bested your husband?”
“Of course it is. Confound it, if I hadn’t been born in Beijing, I could’ve been the Greatest Master Under Heaven—and I’ve let you have that honor.”
“No…… why does someone from beyond the borders rage so about the Greatest Master of the Central Plains…….”
“Because it’s ridiculous! They carve out Beijing and the Southern Lands, and among themselves they pound their chests going ‘This is our greatest!’ like fools.”
“Then stop involving yourself in matters beyond the borders!”
“Do you think we stop just because we choose to? What?”
Ryeon could only widen her eyes. From the middle of the exchange onward, they conversed in the language of Beijing. After their quarrel had raged on for some time, the two of them finally quieted, clearing their throats, then abruptly turned their heads away from each other.
Yet strangely, they did not move far apart.
“Ah! This is no time for this.”
“Haven’t you just finished your walk? What else now?”
Dan Mok Cheon Gi voiced his worry preemptively, but Bing Xue Yan didn’t so much as blink, smiling warmly toward Ryeon.
“I’ve had new clothes, ornaments, and simple weapons made for you. Rather than summoning even Seong here from morning onward and causing trouble, I’ve had them sent to your quarters.”
“When did you even…….”
“I am Bing Xue Yan. This is the Beijing Ice Palace.”
Bing Xue Yan replied with pride ringing in her voice, then brushed Ryeon’s hair back from her face.
“I heard you’re fond of ornaments, Ryeon.”
Ryeon’s eyes darted sideways. It was a part of herself that didn’t ordinarily receive praise from people.
“A person must know how to display their own wealth and station. All the more so when you are, in the smaller sense, the cousin’s grandchild of the Lord of the Beijing Ice Palace,
and in the greater sense, the granddaughter of myself and that man. It is only proper that you wear what befits such a station.”

“Yes?”
Rather than a scolding, this amounted to something quite different, and Ryeon’s lips trembled softly in response.

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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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