The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 195

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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 Fall of a Declining Clan — Limited Lifespan, Chapter 195

Even amid this chaos, a man in pristine white robes who hadn’t asked for the time of day came flying down from above, his sword descending in a vicious arc.
The moment Ryeon sensed his presence, she reached for Hwa Ryun beside her, but Hwa Ryun’s arm was already moving.
Hwa Ryun shoved Dan Mok Seong toward Dan Mok Hyeon Yo, then pulled Ryeon close and rolled them both across the ground.

Luck has been consumed!
Luck Index: 40/240 (1▼)

Boom!
At the same moment, the earth trembled and a violent gust tore through, carrying embers, dust, and gravel that came sweeping from afar to rake across their cheeks.
While Hwa Ryun shielded Ryeon’s face with his sleeve, a sharp shard grazed his cheek, drawing blood.
“Ha ha ha! There’s nowhere to run!”
Crack!
As a warrior of the Cheon Lang Division frantically blocked the demon’s blade, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo — who had barely caught Seong and dodged the strike — pointed at a horse that was rearing in panic from the blast.
“Calm the horse and take So Cheong to the Moyong Family Estate — now!”
The warrior of the Cheon Lang Division gripped the reins of the horse carrying So Cheong firmly. Another horse had already bolted long ago.
“You rats! You scurried away like mice!”
“There was another one……!”
“Who are you!”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo, sending Seong ahead, drew her sword and cried out. The man in the white robe’s eyes gleamed with sinister intent.
“Tsk tsk, I never imagined there’d be a fourth when I’ve already killed three. But obviously — if there’s red, blue, and black, then white should still be lurking, yes?”
“What difference does it make whether there are three or four blood-sucking leeches clinging to life with stolen blood?”
“What kind of upstart dares to strut about, a nobody I’ve never heard of!”
The White Sword Demon frowned and shook his head slowly.
“How rash, for one so young.”
But Dan Mok Hyeon Yo paid him no mind and shouted to the children.
“Follow the horse and run! Quickly! Don’t worry — Mother will come find you!”
“Y-yes, Mother! But……!”
“Oh my. Such deep love for one’s children. Let’s see if you can still spout such words after your head is severed, shall we? I hear the blood of the Dan Mok Clan is particularly sweet. Today I must taste it for myself!”
“Seong! Take Ryeon and run — now!”
At Dan Mok Hyeon Yo’s cry, Dan Mok Seong wiped her tears and, gripping Ryeon’s hand, bolted forward without looking back.
That was when Hwa Ryun suddenly spun around and, with the arm not holding Baek Ryeon, swiftly slapped away a throwing blade the White Sword Demon had hurled.
In the same instant, the warriors and Dan Mok Hyeon Yo moved to block the path. Soon the children’s forms disappeared beyond the mountain.
The White Sword Demon, who had thrown the blade, opened his eyes wide, but with Dan Mok Hyeon Yo rushing at him, he could no longer pursue the children and instead moved to block her sword.

* * *

Once the children vanished from sight, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo tightened her grip on her sword and pulled her lips into a smile.
“That worthless creature with its hollow chest dares mock me? I’ll split your belly open and scatter your guts — what’s left, I’ll throw to the pigs!”
“……!”
“……!”
“……!”
Everyone, friend and foe alike, stared at Dan Mok Hyeon Yo in shock before snapping back to their senses.
The White Sword Demon’s face twisted like a demon’s mask, and he burst into maniacal laughter.
“Rejecting a toast and inviting punishment instead! Excellent — I’ll slaughter you all and fill my belly with your blood, then take your Spirit Elixir! In the next life, you’ll watch your whelps hunted down like rabbits!”
In that moment, the White Sword Demon and Dan Mok Hyeon Yo clashed once more.
Clang-clang-clang-clang!
Sword met sword, and the creeping wildfire crept ever closer.
“I’ve heard the rumor that you’re the dullest of your three siblings. How laughable — an older sister inferior to her younger brother!”
The Provocation Tactic

was what it was, and Dan Mok Hyeon Yo’s eyebrows rose knowingly.
These were the very words she most often spoke to herself. Hearing them once more from another’s lips changed nothing.
“And how laughable are you — here in Blood Coral Valley, and yet unknown, with neither a place among the ten greatest masters under heaven nor a name anyone remembers! I can’t even curse you properly when the world doesn’t know you exist — is there a point? Ah, it’s for times like these that Namelessness
Namelessness.
Is that how you’ve lived?”
“You insolent whelp!”
“Even I, the weakest of the three, won’t lose to the likes of you, yet you dare run your mouth!”
Crash!
Clang-clang-clang!
But as their blades met dozens more times, blood began to trickle from the corner of Dan Mok Hyeon Yo’s mouth.
The White Sword Demon’s skill was unmistakably several levels above hers.
And yet Dan Mok Hyeon Yo endured because somewhere beyond her back, children were waiting.
The White Sword Demon’s eyes grew progressively crimson as he drew upon stakes he’d never shown before.
“Hand over the Spirit Elixir and I’ll spare your life! Otherwise, I’ll kill you all and search your corpses for it!”
“So you’re whining like a starved stray after seven days and nights without food—well, that shows exactly what kind of creature you are! And if we had the Spirit Elixir, it would have burned to ash in that carriage already—in the fire you set! You mindless ■■■!”
“You ■■■……!”
The White Sword Demon’s face flushed crimson.
In that same instant, Sword Energy streamed from the tip of his blade, tearing wildly through mountain and earth, grass and trees.
Boom-boom-crash!
Rumble!
Rocks struck by the errant Sword Energy began to tumble and slide, burying the path.

* * *

“This way!”
Dan Mok Ryeon’s eyes gleamed with strange starlight as they darted left and right. Before they’d run far, the mountain path petered out, and the children’s feet caught on roots and grass and stones, their pace growing slower with each step.
Not far ahead, the glow of flames flickered through the trees. The wildfire was still close.
“Left…… left!”
Her eyes burned, but she could still find a way through the forest.
Dan Mok Ryeon remembered that the stinging she’d felt since earlier was identical to the pain she’d experienced the day she’d released Hong Rin.
‘Hong Rin……! I won’t complain now that you’re becoming a dragon!’
“We’re safe now.”
After they’d run until breath came in gasps, Hwa Ryun looked around and pulled them both to a stop.
A shallow stream flowed before them. As Dan Mok Ryeon caught her breath, she dipped her hand into the water and stirred it.
“Let’s drink some water here.”
“Is it safe to drink?”
“Yes, it is now.”
Hwa Ryun cupped the water without hesitation and drank deeply.
Dan Mok Seong and Baek Ryeon drank as well, gulping frantically before finally catching their breath.
Dan Mok Ryeon purified the stream water further.
As the Blood Demons’ flames consumed the mountain, Spiritual Energy flowed from the forest directly into Dan Mok Ryeon. Left unchecked, she would become a Mountain Spirit before the Blood Demons even caught her.
Yet she had no wish to reject the overflow of Spiritual Energy.
She wanted it to become strength for the burned mountain’s own recovery someday.
‘If someone…… something here ascends…… please be kind to Hong Rin…….’
During a brief rest, lost in thought, Dan Mok Ryeon suddenly noticed a leaf approaching her face.
It was Hwa Ryun, offering water she’d folded into a leaf no larger than a child’s palm.
“Drink too, sister.”
“Ah…… yes.”
The moment the water touched her lips, she swallowed it down. When Dan Mok Ryeon had finished, Hwa Ryun filled the leaf again.
After fighting through flames and fleeing in haste, drinking the cool stream water felt like clear, cold energy seeping through every vein in her body.
“Are you all right, Ryeon? If you’re tired, I can…… carry you. You’re still fragile.”
Dan Mok Seong clenched and unclenched her fists, gauging her own strength, then spoke with firm resolve.
Dan Mok Ryeon nearly laughed at that serious face.
“No! It’s not that bad.”
Once Dan Mok Ryeon reassured her, Dan Mok Seong’s worry seemed to ease, and she turned her gaze the other way.
“……Mother…… will Mother be all right?”
Dan Mok Seong’s expression grew pale as she spoke. Dan Mok Ryeon nodded firmly.
“Without us there, she’ll be free to fight with all her strength.”
Over the past week, those who’d leaped ahead in skill were not only the warriors of the Cheon Lang Division and the couriers.
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo, who had spent her entire life caught between a younger sister and an older brother, had not remained idle when she saw her younger sister listening intently to her niece and growing. She too had moved forward.
Besides, with the warriors of the Cheon Lang Division at her side, she would surely be fine.
Yet unable to fully suppress her worry, Dan Mok Ryeon turned her gaze away from Dan Mok Seong and looked back at the mountainside.
Along the ridge, flames flickered like a demon’s tongue licking the sky.
Even if the warriors managed to escape safely, the thought of the entire mountain burning was a terrible one.
Swallowing a sigh, she glanced to her side and found Dan Mok Seong also steeling herself against worry and fear.
Dan Mok Ryeon suddenly pulled Dan Mok Seong into a tight embrace.
She had experience. Over time, she had received much, glimpsed futures yet to come, and gathered strength within herself.
Someone might tell Dan Mok Ryeon that she was capable of tenderness. She understood now why that could be true of her—because she possessed strength and reason enough to give it.
But how could Dan Mok Seong do the same?

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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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