The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 183

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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 183

Only when Bing Xue Yan saw Dan Mok Ryeon smiling did she finally release a long, trembling breath and pulled her into an embrace.
“If this old woman had to rise to her feet to find people for your Blood Coral Valley Eradication Alliance, then I shall certainly lend you all my strength.”
At the same moment, Dan Mok Ryeon let out a startled cry.
“……You know about that alliance, Grandmother?”
“It’s supposed to be secret, is it? Did you really think to hide it from me?”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
“But honestly, it would be better to have a proper name. Even if you call it the Blood Coral Valley Eradication Alliance, shortening it just gives you something awkward. That won’t do.”
A proper name?
While Dan Mok Ryeon’s eyes merely blinked, the elderly couple traded remarks back and forth.
“Didn’t the lady just mention something with good meaning? Instead of gathering the strength of a hundred people one by one, what about the Hundred Lotus Society — gathering a hundred blooming lotus flowers

— how does that sound?”
“That’s the name of the cat that Ryeon raises.”
“No, that character for ‘white’

and this character for ‘hundred’

are different…….”
At Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s words, Bing Xue Yan scoffed and added her thought.
“And if we’re going to do this, it should at least be the Thousand Lotus Society

.”
“That sounds too much like the Hek Cheon Ryeon.”
“Then the Ten Thousand Lotus Society

.”
“A bigger number doesn’t make everything better, does it?”
“Stop quibbling and find fault with everything.”
“The child is listening……. And you’re the one who started finding fault.”
“Ah! Then what about the Thousand Lotus Alliance

?”
It was a name that used the number thousand and the character for lotus, but…….
Dan Mok Cheon Gi murmured thoughtfully.
“If you say ‘Thousand Under Heaven,’ won’t the Martial Alliance think you’re picking a fight?”
“No, it’s not that ‘Under Heaven’! Even if we call it the Celestial Alliance, what business is it of those fools to make such a fuss? Confound it all — well then, since Ryeon’s eyes are as beautiful as the night sky, what about the Night Heaven Alliance

?”

“That sounds like an assassin’s organization…….”
“…….”
“…….”
In the frigid silence that followed, Dan Mok Ryeon spoke hurriedly.
“And if the alliance’s name were based on my eyes like that, it might seem a bit…… as though the purpose had become rather strange…….”

Bing Xue Yan and Dan Mok Cheon Gi ended up calling for the Physician after all, demanding he conduct an examination.
Summoned in the middle of the night, the Physician believed Bing Xue Yan’s condition had worsened and came rushing in panic-stricken, only to grow bewildered when she thrust her granddaughter before him with an air that permitted no refusal, and proceeded to take her pulse.
Then he ventured to suggest that Dan Mok Ryeon’s body seemed somewhat depleted and wondered if it might be worthwhile to brew some tonic for nourishment — only to nearly receive a beating from the delighted Bing Xue Yan, who struck without warning or reason.
But then the Physician realized that Bing Xue Yan had recovered her Martial Arts Mastery and cried out in shock, and the Bing Palace Master came running…….
It seemed that when she opened her eyes the next morning, the entire Bing Palace would be caught up in a celebration grand enough to shake the rafters.
When she opened her mouth and pretended to yawn awkwardly with a soft “Haah,” her startled grandparents hurried to escort her personally all the way back to her quarters.
Returning to her chambers this way, she found Hwa Ryun waiting for her in the dim, unlit room, sitting alone in a far corner, doing nothing but stroking Baek Ryeon’s back.
“…….”
“…….”
She glanced cautiously around, then quietly set the Red Flower Box beside her and climbed onto the bed.
As she kicked off her shoes and struggled to undo her bound hair, a long, weary sigh escaped from Hwa Ryun’s lips.
“Just stay still for a moment.”
“Oh… okay.”
Hwa Ryun kindled a fire in the brazier and approached Dan Mok Ryeon.
As Dan Mok Ryeon sat obediently with her hands lowered, Hwa Ryun began removing her hair ornaments one by one from behind. The pins and decorations she’d tucked in place spread across the bed in abundance.
Hwa Ryun exhaled once more and unraveled her braided hair, combing through the strands with her fingers as she loosened them. Dan Mok Ryeon spoke up quickly.
“You’ve gotten quite good at this, our Hwa Ryun!”
It was just before coming to Beijing that Hwa Ryun had first touched Dan Mok Ryeon’s hair.
Wi Ji Cheong, who couldn’t come with them, had worried about who would bind Dan Mok Ryeon’s hair now, and Hwa Ryun had volunteered to learn herself.
At first, Hwa Ryun had been so clumsy at undoing it that Dan Mok Ryeon thought all her hair would be torn out.
— Are you trying to send me to Ami Mountain?
At Ami Mountain in Sichuan stood the Buddhist Ami Sect. Was she going to pluck out all her hair and make her a nun?
— Ami Mountain’s too far. I’ll just take you somewhere closer like Shaolin.
Hwa Ryun’s answer had been so brazenly glib that Dan Mok Ryeon had almost sulked in earnest.
But within days, Hwa Ryun had become perfectly capable of braiding Dan Mok Ryeon’s hair. And undoing it was no trouble at all.
“This isn’t the time for that, is it?”
“Ha ha ha…….”
As Dan Mok Ryeon trailed off with laughter, Hwa Ryun sighed deeply and swept the ornaments together into the box.
Then, catching sight of the bangles and ornaments dangling from Dan Mok Ryeon’s wrists and ankles, she sighed even more heavily and began removing those as well.
“Didn’t those elders say anything? They’re just happy you recovered?”
“I got scolded quite severely…… I thought I was going to be beaten.”
“But you healed her, and they struck you for that?”
Hwa Ryun had been convinced Dan Mok Ryeon deserved a scolding for what she’d done, but when Dan Mok Ryeon spoke that way, Hwa Ryun’s eyes widened. Dan Mok Ryeon watched her expression shift and broke into an amused smile.
Hwa Ryun pressed further.
“You’re truly not injured anywhere, are you?”
“No, no. Just scolded.”
“Badly?”
“Quite a bit.”
“You deserved every word of it.”
Hwa Ryun raised her eyes as if sympathizing with Dan Mok Ryeon’s grandparents, but her unease lingered. Her lips moved uncertainly before she spoke again with mock severity.
“If you didn’t do foolish things from the start, you wouldn’t get scolded.”
“Sometimes, even an adult must do things worthy of scolding.”
With that, Dan Mok Ryeon collapsed onto the bed and lay stretched out in a sprawling pose.

“Still, I’m truly delighted that Grandmother has recovered so completely.”
“Yes…… I suppose the Bing Palace will be a real ally now.”
Since the Bing Palace Master’s beloved cousin had regained the strength she’d lost, not only would Bing Xue Yan herself wish to return the favor, but the Bing Palace Master would undoubtedly do everything in his power to repay it.
There was the matter of the Palace’s face and honor—clearly, it would mean far more than a personal debt to Dan Mok Ryeon.
“That’s not really…… the issue…….”
Dan Mok Ryeon started to speak, then laughed awkwardly instead.
“Right. Grandmother also said she’d help earnestly in the eradication of Blood Coral Valley.”
“Why? Does the Alliance embarrass you, Alliance Master?”
Hwa Ryun caught on to Dan Mok Ryeon’s avoidance of a certain word and broke into a knowing smile.
“Be quiet…… I’m already putting off the matter of formally naming it.”
Hwa Ryun burst into genuine laughter upon hearing the candidates suggested by Bing Xue Yan and Dan Mok Cheon Gi.
“What does the last one mean—the Night Heaven Alliance?”
“Well, it’s…….”
Though Hwa Ryun had asked in passing, Dan Mok Ryeon blushed, and Hwa Ryun’s eyes lit up as she drew closer.
“What is it?”
“Don’t laugh.”
“I’m not laughing.”
“Yes, you are with your eyes…… Hey! You said you weren’t!”
Hwa Ryun burst out laughing the moment she heard “your eyes”—she’d understood the context. Even watching Dan Mok Ryeon’s face flush crimson, she continued laughing for some time before finally stopping.
“All right, I’ll stop now.”
“I also told them that name seems…… too centered on me alone, not fitting for an Alliance.”
“Of course. It’s not like a society of admirers or something.”
Hwa Ryun, mid-sentence, suddenly tilted her head to one side.
“Or maybe not? Actually, it does sound right.”
“Because you’re in it too.”
“Then let’s use a different name instead.”
Dan Mok Ryeon was just beginning to banter back when it happened.
“Huh?”
Dan Mok Ryeon blinked hard. Her vision blurred slightly.
“What’s wrong? Are you sleepy?”
“I am a little, but…”
Then, as a faint fever crept through her and a wave of heat washed over her, visions bloomed suddenly across her mind’s eye.

Bing Palace Master’s Progress: 5
Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s Progress: 5
Wi Ji Cheong’s Determination: 6
Bing Xue Yan’s Progress: 4
Current Luck Points: 120/120
Luck Points are at maximum.
Good deeds accumulate into luck; luck accumulates into miracles.

Even as heat suffused her, goosebumps prickled faintly across her skin—though she had no idea what was about to unfold.
“Ah… ah…”
It seemed that since she’d returned to her quarters, both Bing Palace Master and Dan Mok Cheon Gi had finally accepted the truth: Bing Xue Yan was completely healed.
And in that same moment, Wi Ji Cheong too had made her peace. All three of them had shed their burdens at once, their progress unmistakable.
‘But… a miracle? What miracle?’
Dan Mok Ryeon thought this hazily, her body wreathed in rising heat.
Grandmother was already well. What miracle could there possibly be left to gain…

Assessing surroundings.
Safety confirmed.
The miracle descends.

And in that instant, her vision washed white. Through the light, Hwa Ryun’s startled face flickered past.
In the same breath, Dan Mok Ryeon lost consciousness.
“Sister!”
Hwa Ryun rushed forward, pressing fingers to Dan Mok Ryeon’s pulse at the neck, then methodically checking each point down to her wrist.
Her face went rigid when she felt the faint, frail flutter of a heartbeat, but as she sensed the rhythm gradually strengthen and steady, she slowly drew her own breath under control.
‘I should call the physician…’
She could picture it now—the moment word spread that their precious young mistress had collapsed, the Bing Palace people would come running barefoot.
But Hwa Ryun, unable to hide her anxiety, took the pulse again, and suddenly her head rose. The steady rhythm beneath her fingertips. And that cool breeze sweeping past the crown of her own head.
Hwa Ryun, who had opened her mouth to summon the physician, fell silent after a moment’s grave deliberation, pressed her lips shut, and settled herself beside Dan Mok Ryeon with a furrowed brow.
Baek Ryeon let out a soft meow and sat down at Dan Mok Ryeon’s head.
Dan Mok Ryeon had not lost consciousness from pain or illness.

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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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