The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 204

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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 Terminal Fate — Chapter 204

“Hmm. I heard you’ve become the clan head of the Moyong Family.”
“Grandmother decided quickly. There was no need to rush….”
Moyong Seol Ho spoke matter-of-factly, his face radiating the certainty that the position had been destined to be his anyway.
“Still, your skills must have improved tremendously, or Elder wouldn’t have chosen you, would she?”
“Well… I did train hard, after all.”
The fact that Moyong Seol Ho, who had no talent for exaggeration or embellishment, would say such a thing suggested just how diligently he must have worked.
And Dan Mok Ryeon actually knew this for a fact. Among those who had granted her Luck Points, Moyong Seol Ho had been one of them.
Had he not trained so earnestly, her ankle injury might have been twice as severe.
“I know. You were training hard even when we came to visit, weren’t you?”
Moyong Seol Ho’s eyes widened in surprise. His gaze seemed to ask how she could possibly have known, and Dan Mok Ryeon closed her eyes and smiled.
“I can just tell by looking!”
“Originally, I was planning to go to meet you with Grandmother. But….”
Since no one could predict what might happen, she had come early to greet them, but there was no way she could bring her young grandson along in such circumstances.
Left behind, Moyong Seol Ho had channeled his frustrated heart into relentless training.
“If my skills had been a little better….”
“Even so, it’s too much right now. You need to stay home and rest.”
Dan Mok Seong’s blunt words made Moyong Seol Ho glance away before pressing his lips shut. He knew she was right, after all.
“How about a sparring match later?”
“You can’t — your ankle is injured.”
“I mean after it’s completely healed.”
“Even if it heals right away, you can’t overexert yourself.”
“…What about a sword discussion, then?”
“Mm, once my leg heals, I think a sparring match might be okay.”
At Dan Mok Ryeon’s tentative words, Moyong Seol Ho’s face brightened.
“Then once your leg heals — sparring!”
Dan Mok Seong turned to Dan Mok Ryeon with a stern look. Dan Mok Ryeon whispered, ‘It’ll really be fine.’ At that, Dan Mok Seong pursed her lips in disapproval before nodding reluctantly.
The sweet potato was fully roasted, its skin half-charred and cracked like parched earth. Watching the golden cross-section, the children’s cheeks glowed from the heat of the brazier as their eyes sparkled with anticipation.
“There’s also clarified butter

and honey, too.”
She spread clarified butter over the halved sweet potato and drizzled honey generously across it. As the children blew on the hot food and ate contentedly, Dan Mok Seong and Moyong Seol Ho exchanged a furtive glance.
Yet they hesitated, clearly wanting to ask why Dan Mok Ryeon had been so downhearted and whether she was feeling any better now, but uncertain whether they dared broach the subject — so they merely observed the mood carefully.
Dan Mok Ryeon hesitated for a moment, then looked down at her hands, sticky with honey, clarified butter, and sweet potato, and spoke.
“Well, actually… there was a friend I was supposed to spend more time with….”
“Oh! Yes, yes?”
Dan Mok Seong and Moyong Seol Ho leaned in as if they’d been waiting for this very moment. Dan Mok Ryeon felt a little embarrassed and continued.
“But that friend… went far away….”
“…Far? How far away? How did that happen…?”
“Well… circumstances came up…. Very far away….”
She couldn’t quite bring herself to say that the friend had become a Sub-Sect Master Candidate at the Ma Cheon Gyo, and since the organization’s headquarters was at Tianshan, over ten thousand li away, her words about being very far were at least accurate.
At Dan Mok Ryeon’s explanation, both Dan Mok Seong’s and Moyong Seol Ho’s eyes trembled noticeably.
Moreover, Dan Mok Seong had a faint inkling of what had transpired. Dan Mok Ryeon had cherished her servant like family, and she herself had watched that servant fall from the cliff together with Dan Mok Ryeon.
That memory had embedded itself in Dan Mok Seong’s heart like a deep scar. So Dan Mok Ryeon was someone who would throw herself from a cliff for another person’s sake.
And now that servant girl was gone. She had even ventured to ask her mother about it tentatively, but her mother had simply looked troubled and remained silent.
“So, well… my heart feels a bit…. empty.”
“Empty. Empty…. A hollow feeling. I understand.”
Moyong Seol Ho spoke somewhat incoherently. Dan Mok Seong shot him a look. Moyong Seol Ho quickly continued.
“That… that friend probably misses you… and is thinking of you. While missing you, they’re probably watching over you….”
“What? Watching over me? That’s a bit….”
Dan Mok Ryeon hesitated, but Dan Mok Seong quickly seconded what Moyong Seol Ho had said.
“That’s right. That friend wouldn’t want you to be so downhearted either. Even from far away, wouldn’t they just wish for your happiness?”
Dan Mok Ryeon sensed there was some misunderstanding forming, but watching the two children trying so desperately to comfort her, she couldn’t bring herself to correct them.
“That’s it — a letter! Why don’t you write a letter?”
“A letter?”
“Yes, in my family… in situations like this… we write letters and send them down the river, or burn them… that sort of thing.”
Dan Mok Seong had looked at Moyong Seol Ho with an expression that screamed ‘Are you out of your mind, writing to a dead person?’, but after hearing the explanation, she nodded with understanding and turned her gaze to Hwa Ryun.
“No… you two. That’s….”
Hwa Ryun had meant to say that she wasn’t dead, but she closed her mouth.
Hwa Ryun would take root in Ma Cheon Gyo, and there was no need to spread word around that she had spent her childhood doing servant’s work in some random place.
If they were to meet again someday, he would be Cheon Hwa Ryun, the Sub-Sect Master Candidate of Ma Cheon Gyo, and she would be Dan Mok Ryeon of the Dan Mok Clan.
By that reckoning, her Hwa Ryun was as good as dead in this place.
“……Then a letter… yes, should I write a letter?”
Once Hwa Ryun consented, both their faces brightened.
Watching the children’s anxious expressions as they fretted over her, the calm she had been building slowly began to simmer instead.
‘This wretched girl… vanishing without a word the moment her time came? And what—I’m not supposed to eat dumplings without her?’
Because she was afraid of hearing that creature’s voice when she was no longer here?
Hwa Ryun seethed silently to herself, vowing that every year on her birthday, she would scatter dumplings of every variety throughout Hang Zhou.
And if Hwa Ryun was dead, then when she next met Cheon Hwa Ryun, she would force him to eat a thousand sticky rice cakes.
As color returned to Hwa Ryun’s face, Dan Mok Seong and Moyong Seol Ho finally felt at ease to chew on their own roasted sweet potatoes.
In the meantime, Dan Mok Seong glanced sideways at Moyong Seol Ho and spoke.
“So you’ll join our alliance too?”
“What alliance are you talking about?”
Moyong Seol Ho rolled his eyes, asking whether the word ‘our’ included Dan Mok Ryeon as well.
“The Blood Coral Valley—”
“It’s an alliance formed with the united purpose of dedicating all our strength to annihilating the Blood Demons of Blood Coral Valley.”
Hwa Ryun set down the sweet potato she was eating and spoke hurriedly.
The first time she’d heard it, it had seemed fine enough, but after numerous mentions piled up and various naming attempts had been tried, she’d grown too embarrassed to say it straightforwardly.
Dan Mok Seong straightened her spine and spoke with pride.
“We’ve already enrolled several people from Beijing Ice Palace. Cheon Rang Dae has joined as well. Since you trained hard, we’re prepared to accept you as a special case.”
“Since the purpose is to conduct joint defense, the cause is righteous, and I fight alongside friends, I shall join. But who is the alliance leader?”
“Hwa Ryun.”
“Good, then.”
Dan Mok Seong and Moyong Seol Ho chatted back and forth, and the enrollment was complete.
Hwa Ryun merely bit into her sweet potato and watched.
“Do you have a plan for increasing alliance members? Though I hope we don’t accept just anyone.”
“For now we’ll keep it elite. We’ll recruit through recommendation and verification. Hwa Ryun, what do you think about letting Noodles and Meat Noodles oversee the Liaoning Province and Beijing branches?”
“Hmm, I… if they’re going to be branch leaders, calling them ‘Noodles’ seems a bit off, I think….”
“Fair enough. Then the noodles can contact you later to arrange things.”
“The days when White Rice can brag about being rice won’t last much longer.”
“Even if he died and came back, noodles could never become rice.”
As the two of them bickered, Hwa Ryun took another sweet potato. Her ankle seemed to have healed on its own, and somehow her mood felt light.
Between the cicadas’ drone and the murmur of grasshoppers, many people moved busily through the Moyong family compound.
They sent word to the Martial Alliance announcing that the Valley Master of Blood Coral Valley had appeared, and people came from far away to settle the matter.
Once all matters were finally arranged, Cheon Rang Dae departed for the Ice Palace, and on the day Hwa Ryun’s leg healed, under clear skies at dawn, the Dan Mok Clan people left the Moyong compound and headed for Hang Zhou.
One of Hwa Ryun’s attendants and a beloved cat had vanished, but no one asked about them.

* * *

[Equipment Report for Ma Cheon Gyo Sub-Sect Master Candidate]
Sub-Sect Master Candidate So Bu’s first-year equipment list: a sharpened sword, martial robe, Junlimbo

technique manual, two attendants, one inner elixir.
┗ Provided. The sword was forged by striking quality iron, and the martial robe was…(omitted)
Sub-Sect Master Candidate Eun Seok’s first-year equipment list: a sharpened saber, martial robe, Junlimbo

technique manual, three inner elixirs.
┗ Provided. After this, among five candidates who requested the Junlimbo technique manual, Eun Seok showed the most outstanding progress, and the Elders took note….
(middle section omitted)
Sub-Sect Master Candidate Hwa Ryun’s first-year equipment: pipa, osmanthus seedling, cat toy, regional reports from the Central Plains (particularly focused on Zhejiang Province, Sichuan Province, and Shaanxi Province).
┗ The osmanthus species is difficult to cultivate in this region, so growth is expected to be challenging. Pipa proficiency increased remarkably fast, surprising all. Cat toy wore out very quickly and had to be replaced.
Regional reports are attached below.

* * *

Sub-Sect Master Candidate So Bu’s Second Year Request List: A sharpened blade, a martial robe infused with Sky Silkworm Thread, a sparring match with an Elder.
┗ Provided. The blade was forged by the sect’s master craftsman with some cold iron mixed in; the sparring match was conducted with Elder Heuk Dam, whom the candidate designated. Performance was exceptional……(omitted)
Sub-Sect Master Candidate Hwa Ryun’s Second Year Request List: Osmanthus Seedling, a charitable event on the birthday of the Heavenly Immortal, cat toy, reports on recent conditions in Zhejiang Province, Shaanxi Province, and Ha Nan Province.
┗ The osmanthus seedling introduced last year failed to survive the winter, so a new one appears to have been requested.
Around February 15th, the birthday of the Heavenly Immortal, a charitable event distributing dumplings was held in the vicinity. Moved by her deep affection for the sect, the Sect Master personally bestowed a new martial robe upon her.
The reason for continually giving cat toys to the tiger remains unclear, but they break quickly and must be replaced; the tiger’s meat consumption is rising at an alarming rate. Caution advised.
Regional condition reports are attached below.

(omitted)

* * *

Sub-Sect Master Candidate So Bu’s Third Year Request List: A sharpened blade, an Inner Elixir, a sparring match with an Elder.
┗ Provided. The candidate demonstrated high achievement in sparring with Elder Baek Dam, though shows some tendency toward impatience. Caution advised.
The Inner Elixir was prepared using hundred-year ginseng, aged for three years……(omitted)

Sub-Sect Master Candidate Hwa Ryun’s Third Year Request List: Osmanthus Seedling, a Musician, Zhou Dunyi’s Love of Lotus Essay Manuscript, cat toy.

┗ The osmanthus seedling newly introduced last year also failed to survive the winter, so a replacement appears to have been requested. We propose constructing a small glass greenhouse to manage the seedling for proper osmanthus cultivation.

Thirty-seven cat toys were supplied.
Regarding the Musician, she specifically requested one with exceptional skill on the jade flute, so we summoned a musician renowned in the Qinghai Province region; however, after hearing a single performance, she sent him away. She appears to be rather capricious in temperament. Caution advised.
As she sought the Love of Lotus Essay Manuscript, we also procured several Lotus Flower Paintings for her, and she was delighted and laughed with great joy.

* * *

Sub-Sect Master Hwa Ryun’s Fourth Year Request List: A round fan crafted from white jade, a folding fan inlaid with ivory, fashionable incense from Jiangnan and a box of Clear Lotus Water, a jade flute, cat toys.
┗ The osmanthus seedling raised in the glass greenhouse since last year appears to be thriving.
Do not refer to the cat kept before the Sub-Sect Master as a tiger. Absolutely ensure in your heart that it is a cat, and mind your words carefully.
While fifty-three cat toys were supplied, all broke beyond use; it seems she has finally abandoned her interest in toys.
Having never once requested a blade, martial robe, or Inner Elixir, the Sect Master personally bestowed these upon her.

—

[Hao Mun Tianshan Branch Report]
The recruitment of Ma Cheon Gyo Sub-Sect Master Candidates concluded, and a Sub-Sect Master was confirmed after four years.
Name: Hwa Ryun. Age and origins unknown. Of exceptional beauty; her martial prowess level is unassessable.
She broke through the Tianshan Mimong Array, the final stage of Ma Cheon Gyo’s Sub-Sect Master selection, at the youngest age on record.
However, it took approximately a month to emerge from the array—the longest time among all previous Sub-Sect Masters—yet her appearance before entering and after exiting was said to be completely identical. Not a wound upon her, not even a speck of dust on her fingertips.
Reports suggest the Sect Master’s favor toward her is extraordinarily singular, and that she skillfully commands the Elders. It is said she keeps a great white tiger. There is also a peculiar rumor that she calls this white tiger a cat. The reason remains unknown.

* * *

[Hao Mun Zhejiang Branch Report]
The expansion of Yuseong Piao Bureau’s branches is proceeding at an alarmingly rapid pace.
Transport utilizing the Yangtze River has garnered particular acclaim. With almost no shipwrecks or accidents, it has gained a reputation for both speed and reliability.
This caused friction with the Yangtze River Transport Guild, but Dan Mok Ryeon stepped in personally to resolve it. The details of how remain unclear; investigation is ongoing.
It is no exaggeration to say that the Man Song Merchant Guild controls all the silver in Zhejiang.
This time, they have undertaken the distribution of incense produced by the Dan Mok Clan, and it has been receiving praise since its release. The finest incense appears to have been gifted to Sect Masters and Family Heads of schools touched by the clan’s influence.
The Man Song Merchant Guild and the Dan Mok Clan move as one, like brothers.
Since the report six years ago that the Valley Master appeared, we have continued gathering intelligence on Blood Coral Valley, but aside from sporadic conflicts, we have found no solid leads.
Since Seonun Sinui took shelter under the Dan Mok Clan, the scale of the clan’s medical hall has grown at a rapid pace.
The Dan Mok Clan has been purchasing surplus rice for three consecutive years during times of abundance. Is this in preparation for a famine?

* * *

[Hao Mun Tianshan Division Report]
Two years after Sub-Sect Master Hwa Ryun’s confirmation, the sect’s internal affairs remain difficult to discern
(they simply refuse to speak about these matters)
but the internal order appears to have been rapidly restructured around the Sub-Sect Master.
Friendly martial matches between Ma Cheon Gyo and Konglun Sect.
Such unorthodox moves sparked considerable discussion within both Ma Cheon Gyo and Konglun Sect, yet the disciples’ friendly matches proceeded.
Details of the friendly matches are appended below.

* * *

[Hao Mun Zhejiang Division Report]
Centered on the Dan Mok Clan, regular exchange gatherings are being held not only with Geum Ga Jang but with other martial families as well.
The achievements of Zhejiang martial families at Gyeong Hang Un Ryeon have begun to overshadow those of other northern families.
An obscure alliance
(Alliance)
has begun to attract rare notice. The identities of the alliance members and the alliance’s purpose remain unclear. Given that they address one another by nicknames such as noodles or snacks, it may be an association of innkeepers…….
The Dan Mok Clan has purchased some cotton fields.
As severe famine struck the realm for the second consecutive year, Dan Mok Clan and Man Song Merchant Guild released relief rice to aid Hang Zhou.

* * *

[Hao Mun Ha Nan Division Report]
The Martial Alliance has finally begun a project to restore clans that have been eradicated. The Alliance’s true objective remains unclear. The Sect Master’s orders are that this division must cooperate fully with this endeavor.

—

[Gaebangsae Ha Nan Province Martial Alliance Division Report]
The Martial Alliance hosts the Yongfeng Tournament!
Ten years ago, Muyeong Shen Tou offered a precious sword as the Yongfeng Tournament prize, yet its owner has never been found—all eyes are now fixed on whether this tournament will finally bring the sword to its destined master.
The Martial Alliance plans to expand the Sashin Dan, its military force. It appears they intend to recruit personnel of Vice-Faction Leader Rank and below through the Yongfeng Tournament.

* * *

[Gaebangsae Zhejiang Province Hang Zhou Report]
Ten years have passed since reports of Blood Coral Valley’s Valley Master reappearing, yet there has been no significant activity to date.
Only recently have there been whispers of emaciated corpses dying suddenly.
On the birthday of Dan Mok Clan Head Dan Mok Ryeon, dumplings distributed in the poorest quarters are said to be the finest delicacy under heaven. Gaebangsae agents are advised to visit Hang Zhou in the second month.
Common folk have begun secretly trading these dumplings, and strict supervision has been implemented.

* * *

[Gaebangsae Tianshan Division Report]
Urgent
(Urgent)
!
Sub-Sect Master of Ma Cheon Gyo participates in the Yongfeng Tournament hosted by the Martial Alliance!

— End of Part 1 of
Continues in Part 2

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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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