The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 190

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Declining Clan’s Limited Lifespan — Chapter 190

“Sir, it would be best if you heard this tale as well.”
The moment Dan Mok Cheon Gi saw the Sub-Leader’s face splitting in that obnoxious grin, his brow darkened instantly.
“If you gain nothing from this, the Baekju you’ve been aging is mine.”
“What, extortion? You know how hard I worked to source the ingredients for that!”
Millet renowned for its flavor from Sichuan, glutinous rice, barley, corn—he’d painstakingly procured them all, then poured every ounce of effort into brewing that spirit.
Yet the Sub-Leader merely cast a sidelong glance at Dan Mok Cheon Gi before falling silent.
“Do as you please, sir.”
“You rascal.”
The Sub-Leader’s eyes always widened at the mention of alcohol—probably because Dan Mok Cheon Gi had spent so many years stealing and drinking his spirits.
‘And he’s letting it slide?’
Dan Mok Cheon Gi watched Dan Mok Ryeon and the Sub-Leader retreat, his expression unreadable, then glanced at the tray utterly shattered before him and exhaled softly.
Before even a day had passed, Dan Mok Cheon Gi found himself grateful—grateful for his own skill at Baduk, grateful for Dan Mok Ryeon’s, and grateful to Dan Mok Hyeon U for having deliberately seated him and wagered such a bet.
Without it, he would have known nothing until this journey’s end.
‘A halo?’
And as he watched the sunlight shimmer across Dan Mok Ryeon’s hair, he arrived at the same thought as the Sub-Leader.

* * *

“We’ll be parting ways soon.”
“Ah…….”
Liaoning Province, where the Moyong Se Ga lay, was drawing near—which meant the hour of farewell approached as well.
At Dan Mok Hyeon U’s words, all the Cheon Lang Da members exhaled with reluctance.
And with that, every eye flickered toward the carriage in the middle of the column—the one Dan Mok Ryeon was riding in.
During those days of learning and training together, everyone had grown attached.
Moreover, once a martial artist reached a certain level, progress became sluggish as though it belonged to someone else’s journey. Yet thanks to the fortune of having undertaken this expedition together, not a few among them had surged forward in leaps and bounds.
Each day brought novelty as though they were learning martial arts for the first time; each day brought another step forward—what wasn’t there to rejoice at?
“Once I return to Beijing, I shall ensure my entry into the Alliance through proper channels.”
“Yes, that’s right! I shall do the same.”
“I shall carve this debt of gratitude into the Blood Stele Record of the Alliance…….”
“Ah, no. Not the Blood Stele Record, surely.”
Dan Mok Hyeon U waved his hand in alarm, but even the eldest grandchild added a quiet word before moving past.
“If a martial artist of the Beijing Ice Palace has received kindness, it is only fitting to repay it.”
“B-but the Blood Stele Record……?”
The Sub-Leader, who had succeeded in guarding the Baekju, nodded to himself as he watched the eldest grandchild’s back.
To an outsider’s ear, it might sound as though the Beijing Ice Palace were joining the Martial Alliance. But the Alliance they spoke of was a different one altogether.
The young League Master seemed reluctant to speak her name aloud, so they called it simply the ‘Alliance’.
‘That woman truly had foresight!’
She had always been the most talented among her peers—even the Ice Palace Master had taken notice—and she was a girl the Master himself had instructed directly.
It seemed she’d been teased along the way for following that girl from the Central Plains around, yet she’d never batted an eye…….
‘If I’d received such recognition in my youth, I would have been the same…….’
And she would never have shown it! Yet here she was, displaying all of this for something as meager as joining an Alliance. Truly, the hearts of the young were wider than the sea.
Just as everyone was savoring the approaching separation that had not yet come—
“Silence!”
The eldest grandchild, now the strongest among the Cheon Lang Da, harbored the deepest reluctance, yet he had been restraining it. Now his expression hardened abruptly, and he raised one hand.
In that instant, all the carriages the members had been driving came to a halt, and the members simultaneously straightened their posture and shifted to their positions, scanning their surroundings.
Click! Click! Click!
The laughter and chatter of a moment before, suffused with wistfulness, vanished without a trace.
No one asked why they’d suddenly done this. Dan Mok Cheon Gi quietly opened the carriage door and descended.
“……Someone injured seems to be approaching.”
This unfamiliar, cold land lay far from the Central Plains; few travelers ventured here. During their journey thus far, they had not encountered a single stranger.
Yet injured persons in such a place?
Before long, exactly as Dan Mok Cheon Gi had said, a figure drenched in blood from head to toe came rushing toward them in urgent haste.
“Stop!”
The leader of Cheon Lang Da wielded a long spear and bellowed, his voice like thunder.
“What’s happening at this crossing?”
The man who had been rushing forward without thought spattered blood as he began coughing violently.
“B-Blood Demons…… Blood Demons from Blood Coral Valley have appeared! My master tried to hold them back, but…….”
From the young man’s eyes flowed tears—or perhaps blood mixed with tears, impossible to tell.
“M-cough, we were heading to seek aid from the Moyong Clan. My master ordered me to turn back any travelers and warn them that the road ahead is treacherous. If you could…… if you could lend us horses, I will never forget this kindness!”
At this sudden news, the atmosphere grew sharp as steel, the sound of clashing blades ringing out in fine, rapid bursts. In Beijing, any mention of Blood Coral Valley was no jest.
“How did you come to know of Blood Coral Valley?”
“M-my master and I are physicians. For many years we have treated martial artists wounded by Blood Demons, and this time an acquaintance suffering from their lingering aftereffects fell gravely ill, so we hurried north to tend to him!”
The young man had fled from the brink of death, his face urgent, yet seeing the warriors’ doubt was warranted, he did his best to explain with the utmost composure.
At that moment, Dan Mok Cheon Gi, whose brow had furrowed at the mention of physicians, looked directly at the youth’s face and started in shock.
“Aren’t you the disciple of Seon Un Shin Yi,
the Immortal Cloud Divine Physician?”
So Cheong?”
“Ah…… y-yes…… Elder! It was you? How did you come to be here……? Surely you weren’t also heading to Beijing……?”
“Were you heading there to see Bing Xue Yan?”
Seeing a familiar face, the young man’s tension broke and tears streamed down his cheeks as he prostrated himself.
“Elder, my master is fighting alone! There were dozens of Blood Demons gathered…….”
The eyes of Cheon Lang Da’s leader blazed a chilling blue.
The fame of the Immortal Cloud Divine Physician was well known to them.
In those days when rivers of blood flowed, this physician had labored to extend a hand in raising fallen heroes. Dan Mok Cheon Gi, Dan Mok Hyeon Seong, and even Bing Xue Yan had been indebted to this physician.
And now this physician, having finally heard that Bing Xue Yan’s condition had worsened and hurried north, had encountered this calamity.
As the warriors and couriers hastily supported the young So Cheong and administered emergency treatment, Dan Mok Cheon Gi cried out:
“He is a benefactor to me and my wife, and moreover, when it comes to Blood Demons, we must strike down every last one!”
Dan Mok Cheon Gi extended his Qi Perception broadly and shouted, his voice ringing out resonant and strong.
At the same moment, all the martial artists grasped their weapons anew and shifted into a defensive stance.
Dan Mok Cheon Gi closed his eyes tightly, then opened them again.
“These fearless creatures have crept close. ……Only some of them are facing the Immortal Cloud Divine Physician. I must reckon these vile demons not in tens, but in hundreds.”
“……!”
The leader of Cheon Lang Da’s eyes widened, but he did not dismiss Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s words without reason.
“We shall obey your command, Elder.”
“Draw your blades, you warriors of the Clan. Leader, I would ask that part of Cheon Lang Da guard the carriages and the children.”
Decades ago, when Blood Coral Valley had first appeared, how many warriors of Beijing Ice Palace had followed Bing Xue Yan into battle?
Yet fewer than half had returned. Moreover, Bing Xue Yan herself had spent long years bedridden.
Beijing Ice Palace could boast a hatred for Blood Coral Valley second to none among the sects of the Central Plains.
To ask them to forgo their chance at vengeance and instead devote themselves to guarding the carriages was no small ask, yet not one of them shook his head.
“We accept your orders. Sub-Leader, take five with you and guard the carriages. The rest, follow me!”
“Yes!”
In the carriage at the center, the collapsed So Cheong was laid down, and at the same moment Dan Mok Hyeon Yo came bearing Dan Mok Seong and thrust her into the carriage.
Her face, too, was grim and set. Dan Mok Hyeon Yo gripped Dan Mok Seong’s shoulders tightly and spoke.
“Seong, I have told you again and again. You are the eldest of the Dan Mok Clan, the primary heir. Do you understand what that means?”
“Yes!”
“It means that no matter what happens, you must protect your brother.”
“Yes, Mother!”
In Dan Mok Hyeon Yo’s eyes burned a fierce light as she spoke not of preserving her own life to her daughter, whom she cherished more than life itself, but of other duties.
“Ryeon, listen well to Seong, and if ever…… No. Nothing will happen. Stay quiet. Your aunt and uncle…… your grandfather will protect you.”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo seemed about to say something more but held it back, her face tight with restraint as she embraced her daughter and her niece one last time before firmly shutting the carriage door.
As the sounds from outside fell silent all at once, Dan Mok Seong grasped Ryeon’s hand tightly. But her hand trembled.
“Ryeon, don’t worry.”
“No, Seong. Don’t listen to Aunt’s words. If something happens…….”
“I’m your older sister—what are you saying?”
Dan Mok Seong looked at Ryeon with a stern expression. Her face was pale with tension, but resolute.
Ryeon’s heart pounded with anxiety. The fishy reek of blood drawing near the carriage made her feel as though she might retch.
The moment Ryeon’s face turned ashen, shadows surrounded the mountainside path from all sides with an eerie, bone-chilling cry.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————