The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 177

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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 177

“You’re not lacking in sense, so why can’t you think things through?”
“I’m sorry, what——”
“Blood Coral Valley is what made Grandmother that way, so shouldn’t you be hurling that frozen washing basin at them too?”
“That’s not what I——no, but they’re gone now anyway.”
“What if they weren’t?”
“If they weren’t…… well then, I’d throw it at them whether it’s frozen or boiled.”
“They exist. So put in the effort.”
That was the end of it.
Dan Mok Seong left only the instruction—her cold, composed gaze cutting through the moment—’Go apologize to Ryeon first. Thank her for making time every morning.’ Then she turned her back without waiting to hear Moon Bi’s response.
Moon Bi stood there dazed, only now realizing he’d somehow ended up joining hands with a martial clan from the Central Plains and committing to the Blood Coral Valley Eradication Alliance. Unable to muster a single proper word in reply, he cursed himself under his breath and exhaled a heavy sigh.
Then he fingered the small bundle tucked in his robe.
A jar of prepared lychee—dried and preserved in sugar—lay wrapped inside. Lychee was a fruit that grew in warm climates and was difficult to obtain here, and the abundance of costly sugar used in the preservation made it so precious that Moon Bi had never even opened the jar.
‘Will she like this……?’
Though he couldn’t bring himself to apologize outright, his heavy heart had driven him to gather all manner of gifts, yet nothing felt like what Dan Mok Ryeon truly needed.
‘Foolish of me.’
Even in the Beijing Ice Palace, the inhabited quarters were not so cold, and freezing a single washing basin as summer drew near had been no simple task.
After all that effort to freeze the basin solid, to carry it from dawn…….
Recalling the morning’s flurry of activity sent heat rushing to his face in embarrassment, and his shoulders slumped.
He didn’t know that Dan Mok Seong’s face, as she turned and walked away with brisk steps, had been full of pride—’I’ve expanded Ryeon’s Blood Coral Valley Eradication Alliance’s membership!’

* * *

“Did he come apologize and leave?”
As the sun was setting, Dan Mok Seong arrived with an air of unmistakable satisfaction, and the moment Ryeon heard her words, she grasped what had transpired.
“What did Seong say to him?”
“What did I say? I simply explained it to him. Whether he was following proper procedure.”
“Proper……what procedure?”
“If he’s joining the Blood Coral Valley Eradication Alliance, he has to respect the order of things.”
“Blood Coral……what?”
Ryeon stared at her with a bewildered expression. Behind Dan Mok Seong, Hwa Ryun’s face was barely suppressing laughter as she hastily turned away.
“The Blood Coral Valley Eradication Alliance.”
“Who, who is in there?”
“You’re the Alliance Leader, and right now it’s me, Hwang Gyeo On, and Moon Bi. I think Geum Jong Ha would join if I asked him to.”
“Wait, am I…… am I the Alliance Leader?”
“It’s a secret alliance, so not many people know about it.”
‘So secret that even the Alliance Leader doesn’t know she exists?’
Hwa Ryun made not a sound, only trembling silently with suppressed laughter. Ryeon’s lips twitched once before she pressed her palm to her forehead.
“So…… no, that’s…… that, um, fine. I don’t mind, but what’s the procedure for joining? What do they have to do?”
“First, you have to settle what you did wrong.”
“Ah…….”
“And then we verify their sincerity.”
“Their sincerity…….”
So Hwang Gyeo On and Moon Bi had both passed this sincerity verification?
Ryeon stood lost in thought for a moment before turning back to Dan Mok Seong.
“I…… I’d be fine with just understanding you…… just the two of us…….”
Dan Mok Seong hesitated for a breath, then gave a short, faint cough.
“Any great undertaking needs many hands. I know you’re cautious about people, but try to bear with it.”
“Ah…… I understand.”
“In any case, he came and apologized properly, didn’t he?”
“Hm? Yes.”
As Ryeon nodded, Dan Mok Seong’s eyes brightened with satisfaction as she glanced around once, then pointed to an unfamiliar jar.
“He gave you that?”
“Yes. Lychee preserved and dried in sugar.”
“Have you tasted it yet?”
“No, not yet…”
Dan Mok Seong suddenly took the jar, peeled away the wax seal with her own hands, examined the inside thoroughly, plucked out a single piece and tasted it before setting the jar down.
“No poison, it seems.”
The fruit had been dried in sugar, so the flesh was chewy and tart-sweet; her face flushed slightly at the pleasant taste.
Dan Mok Ryeon realized that Dan Mok Seong had deliberately opened the jar and tasted it first to test for danger before she herself ate any—and found herself smiling somewhere between touched and amused.
“You thought poison might be in there… and if there really was, what good would eating it first do?”
“Because I’m your older sister—that’s what an older sister does. It’s part of protecting the Alliance Leader.”
Dan Mok Seong spoke sternly, then rose to her feet with a coy air about her.
“Go to bed early and rise early!”
“Yes, yes.”
Dan Mok Ryeon nodded repeatedly and tried to hand the jar of dried lychee back to Dan Mok Seong, but her sister shook her head firmly.
As the older sister, she couldn’t possibly take her younger sister’s snack away, and besides—Moon Bi had given it as a gesture of apology, so Dan Mok Ryeon had to finish it all.
Once Dan Mok Seong left the room, Hwa Ryun finally let out a stifled laugh.
“Good heavens, the Blood Coral Valley Eradication Alliance? You were so worried, yet your cousin went and created something like that.”
“Well, you’re an Alliance Member now too.”
“Am I?”
“Yes. You’re my servant, and I’m the Alliance Leader—did you think you could just slip out of this?”
“I’ve no interest in such things…”
“Did you think your duties as a servant are something you do by whim?”
“I didn’t realize it would be this formal.”
Dan Mok Ryeon murmured that she herself had no real interest in the Blood Coral Valley Eradication Alliance either, then plucked one of the dried fruits that Dan Mok Seong had opened and pushed it into Hwa Ryun’s mouth. Hwa Ryun’s lips moved as if to protest, but she shook her head.
“You don’t have to give me any. You eat it.”
“I’m giving it to you because it’s just like you.”
“Like me?”
Hwa Ryun frowned. This sweet-tart dried fruit?
“Have you ever seen a lychee?”
“Well, yes, I suppose…”
“It has a thin, rough skin, and once you peel it away, there’s a sweet fragrance—but the seed is enormous, so there’s barely any flesh worth eating. The scent is sweet, but the taste is just… ordinary.”
“…”
“Yet when you preserve it in sugar like this and dry it, suddenly it has real flavor.”
“That’s because it was already a delicious fruit!”
“Was it?”
Dan Mok Ryeon gazed at her with a knowing smile, and Hwa Ryun’s expression grew flustered as she waved her hand.
“Just eat more of it yourself. I’m not eating any.”
“Why are you pouting again, my precious little glutinous rice ball?”
“How old exactly are you, sister?”
“Ten years old.”
“Ugh…”
Hwa Ryun wore an expression as though a thousand flames were rising within her, but she didn’t spit out the fruit that Dan Mok Ryeon kept pushing into her mouth, and instead chewed with a sigh.
“How did I end up like this…”
“How? Just eat it and enjoy it, Alliance Member.”
“What am I to do…”

* * *

As the schedule to return to Hang Zhou began to take shape, the most anxious person was Dan Mok Ryeon.
And as if understanding her heart, when they visited the hot spring that day, every tree to which Dan Mok Ryeon had given water bore brilliant red fruit.
When she brought her hand close, she felt warmth like a glowing brazier. When she drew upon her Divine Insight, the image became clearer.

Red Flower Fruit – Supreme Grade

Each fruit that had sprouted on the hawthorn and dogwood trees bore the name Red Flower Fruit. The quality was excellent, as befitted her anxious endeavor.
“Done… it’s done!”
Do Wi, who had been inwardly startled by the fruit that had ripened ahead of schedule, was even more startled to see that Dan Mok Ryeon’s expression was nearly tearful.
‘What is this?’
It was as though she had finally set down a heavy burden she had been carrying for a long time.
The boy beside her gazed at the girl quietly. Do Wi thought her expression seemed somehow complex, and shook his head. Surely a child who had only just turned ten would never wear such an expression?
“Now we need to pick the fruit.”
“Yes?”
As if she’d never hesitated a moment, Dan Mok Ryeon, her sharp eyes unwavering, spoke and distributed the basket she’d brought to them. Her face was bright. Do Wi took the basket she offered, tilting his head in puzzlement.
“When on earth did you prepare this?”
“This elder sister of ours is thinking on a grander scale. Pick quickly. Do Wi, help her out. It’s for Grandmother.”
Dan Mok Ryeon, who usually hesitated even to ask for help, showed no such reluctance this time.
“Only pick the warm ones. Leave the cool ones alone, or just eat them as they are.”
“I’m sorry?”
Confused by what she meant about warm fruit, Do Wi tilted his head—until he stepped before the cornelian cherry tree and understood.
“The fruit is… warm?”
It felt hot, actually. Dan Mok Ryeon nodded as she plucked fruit at a steady pace.
“Yes, just pick the warm ones.”
Heat-generating fruit—it seemed impossible, and Do Wi wanted to be astonished, but Dan Mok Hyeon U and Jung Young looked utterly unimpressed.
And so the three men stood shoulder to shoulder with baskets slung at their sides, heads tilted in search of warmth, and began their harvest.

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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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