The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 194

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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 Fallen Clan’s Terminal Fate — Episode 194

“Even if we leave the Blood Ghosts behind, will we escape the mountain?”
Dan Mok Cheon Gi nodded and shouted.
“We must clear a path!”
“Break through the mountain! Clear the way!”
All the leaders were dead, and those who remained had lost their reason—attacking mindlessly. Everyone shouted and acted without hesitation.
The moment they began pushing back the Blood Ghosts blocking the mountain path, flames burst into view.
The fire had already crept to their very faces. Smoke blackened the sky, and heat and sparks seared their cheeks. The fire spread at an unnaturally frantic pace.
“You cursed beasts! Move aside!”
The Blood Ghosts staggered at Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s wrathful Lion’s Roar.
“Hurry! The children’s carriage must get through first!”
The Blood Ghosts cared not whether their backs burned—they lived only to kill what lay before them.
Dan Mok Cheon Gi cut through them without pause, barking orders at Dan Mok Hyeon Yo.
“Hyeon Yo, drive the carriage through and escape. Keep running straight and you’ll reach Moyong Se Ga’s territory!”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo bit her lip until blood came, then nodded.
“Understood. What of the others—”
“We’ll hold back the Blood Ghosts and follow. We must clear the path!”
“A passage for the carriage!”
The Cheon Rang Dae Leader roared in echo, his face aglow with battle’s heat and fervor.
He could not ignore Dan Mok Ryeon’s words, could not pretend a child could not know such things—yet he could not deny what he heard.
That knowledge then, those horizons suddenly widened, had been startling enough.
But now he understood it paled against this moment.
What Ryeon had told him, what he’d thought represented his own forward step, those loosely woven threads now drew tight through this battle into a clear, sturdy brocade bearing the pattern of Bing Palace—and he felt it being woven before his eyes, moment by moment. It was wonder itself.
Among Bing Palace’s warriors, there were wounded who had fallen, but not one had died—and that too was her gift.
The Blood Ghosts poured in without end, exhausting and punishing, yet fear did not touch them.
The warriors guarding the carriage drew upon their last reserves of strength to clear the way.
“Wait—wh-what?”
One Blood Ghost before them suddenly twisted its blade and struck at the Blood Ghost beside it—otherwise that moment would have passed.
The struck Blood Ghost, caught off guard by its ally’s assault, collapsed without even a chance to counterattack.
“Die—ah!”
“Die! Traitors must perish!”
“Keep the oath!”
“The p-pledge… we must… krgh!”
“What—what is this?! Leader! Deputy Leader! Something is wrong with them!”
The Blood Ghosts that had been attacking the carriage most ferociously now spoke in delirium and began stabbing one another?
They made no attempt to defend, only attacked their opponents mindlessly—a sight that froze the blood of all who witnessed it.
Some of them vomited blood, then turned their blades upon themselves in ritualistic suicide.
On such a summer day, to see blood cool and hair stand on end—it was grotesque beyond measure.
Yet the Leader and Deputy Leader did not waver.
“If those beasts are going mad, all the better!”
“Don’t lose focus! This is our chance—clear the way!”
“Yes! Yes, at once!”
The Blood Ghosts’ frenzy, beginning near the carriage, slowly spread to the others.
When enemies began slaying one another, the encirclement crumbled in moments.
The fire could not be fully contained, but delay was no longer possible. Dan Mok Hyeon Yo climbed without hesitation onto the carriage driver’s seat.
“Go! We must protect the carriage!”
“Yes!”
Two Cheon Rang Dae members clung to either side of the carriage, cutting down any Blood Ghosts with sense still in their heads, while Dan Mok Hyeon Yo cracked the reins with all her might.
“Hyah!”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo and the carriage barely broke through the Blood Ghosts and escaped. Some gave chase, while the remaining Blood Ghosts filled the gap left behind.
Some killed one another; others moved with only the will to seize the blood and flesh before their eyes.
“Where all these came from, who they all were—we’ll never know for certain.”
Dan Mok Cheon Gi reset his grip on his blade.
Blood Ghosts killing one another, destroying themselves—such a chilling thing, and yet Dan Mok Cheon Gi had heard of this recently.
It had been at Gyeong Hang Un Ryeon. The children who had encountered the Blood Ghosts back then had testified to it—the swarms of Blood Ghosts suddenly began stabbing one another.
Between then and now, there was one thing in common.
A child of the Dan Mok Clan was present at this very place.
Dan Mok Cheon Gi did not know by what principle or circumstance such a thing had come to pass, but he resolved to ensure that no one else would ever learn of it.
Whether the Martial Alliance, the righteous Martial Arts World, or anything else.
When greed puts on the mask of righteousness, it becomes a monster. Because he had always stood at the very front line of that righteousness, he knew this truth better than anyone.
“Not a single one of you will leave this place alive. This mountain shall be your grave.”

* * *

—Shriek!
The horses cried out as they charged through the flames. Had they not been specially trained, the soldiers would never have broken through the fire even after sacrificing themselves to cut down Blood Ghosts and carve a path.
Dan Mok Seong, her face drained of all color, struggled to maintain her balance inside the jolting carriage.

Breaking through the flames.
Luck consumed in evading the flames!
Luck Index 46 / 240 (5▼)

Luck consumed in evading the flames!
Luck Index 41 / 240 (5▼)

As they passed through the burning path, leading many with them, the carriage lurched with each bounce, and So Cheong announced the tally: the luck that Hwa Ryun had painstakingly gathered over the past week was being spent down.
—A low rumble.
Hwa Ryun stroked the White Lotus in her arms urgently. Her heart ached at the thought that the small cat was anxious because of the chaos unfolding around them.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t worry. Seong, it’ll be alright.”
“Right, that’s right. Don’t worry! I’ll protect you.”
Dan Mok Seong, her face pallid and her voice trembling, squeezed Hwa Ryun’s hand in return.
‘I wanted to go out and fight.’
The clang of blades and screams had grown unbearable, and her powerlessness in this situation was intolerable.
Yet she bit her lip hard enough to draw blood and stayed sheltered in the carriage because she knew that if she stepped forward, the losses would outweigh the gains.
No matter how much skill she displayed in this small body, there were limits.
The moment she and Seong left the carriage, the soldiers would prioritize protecting the two children over their own safety, and doing so while facing the countless Blood Ghosts of Blood Coral Valley would be tantamount to suicide.
‘The fire spreads too quickly. I wish it would rain, at least…….’
All she could do now was pray for a downpour.
“Oh…….”
As she tried to rub her stinging eyes where sweat had gathered on her brow, Hwa Ryun snatched her hand away in one swift motion.
“Why? Are you hurt somewhere?”
“No, it’s just my eyes feel a little itchy…….”
“Still, don’t rub them.”
Hwa Ryun’s face was drawn tight. She too seemed to have sharpened her edge at the smallest things.
Hwa Ryun forced a smile and pulled her hand free from Hwa Ryun’s grip, squeezing his hand firmly instead.
“Don’t…… wait, you don’t worry too much either.”
The carriage lurched violently. In that moment, Hwa Ryun awkwardly withdrew his hand and replied.
“……I’m not worried.”
But the carriage driven by Dan Mok Hyeon Yo did not last much longer.
As the commotion outside grew louder, the carriage seemed to grow hotter by the moment, and soon it came to a stop. Dan Mok Hyeon Yo threw open the door.
“Oh, Mother!”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo, covered in blood from head to toe, hurriedly pulled the children out.
“The carriage is catching fire! We have to get out now!”
As Dan Mok Seong descended first and a soldier who had come with Dan Mok Hyeon Yo hoisted So Cheong onto his back, Hwa Ryun grabbed the White Lotus with one arm and clasped Hwa Ryun’s hand with the other, leaping from the carriage.
As they fled through the burning mountain, the flames that had caught the carriage spread even more fiercely.
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo freed the reins of the horses from the carriage and moved far away from it.
Black ash rose high into the air as the carriage burst into roaring flames.
As Hwa Ryun hastily covered Hwa Ryun’s mouth and summoned Purification, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo confirmed the remaining horses and the path ahead before approaching Hwa Ryun.
“Hwa Ryun, did you learn to ride horses on the way to Beijing?”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo asked gently, wiping away the blood that stung her eyes. Hwa Ryun nodded.
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo gestured to Hwa Ryun and Hwa Ryun and continued briskly.
“The two of you will ride the same horse, and Seong will ride behind with So Cheong. I and the Cheon Rang Dae will run alongside using Light Qinggong, so don’t worry.”
“If Mother rides a horse…….”
Dan Mok Seong spoke urgently, but Dan Mok Hyeon Yo shook her head and quickly secured So Cheong on the horse first, binding him firmly. It would be difficult for an injured person, but there was no other way.
And it was in that very moment—as he lifted Dan Mok Seong into his arms and moved to set her upon his horse—

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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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