The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 205

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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 205

Willow catkins drifted through the second month.
“Ryeon! You’ve finally come?”
Tomorrow was Ryeon’s birthday.
The humble tradition of distributing dumplings throughout Hang Zhou on Ryeon’s birthday had expanded in scale over ten years, leaving much to prepare. Ryeon herself was invariably swamped with these preparations at this time of year.
As she returned home from attending to matters outside, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo—who had been pacing anxiously in the courtyard—hurried toward her the moment she recognized her.
“Aunt?”
“How does the clan head of this household venture out so late into the night? And you, Sin Yu—what were you doing, failing to bring the young lady home at a proper hour!”
“No, it’s not Sin Yu’s fault. I had so many things to attend to, so I made the rounds myself to check on everything. I wanted to inspect the harvested cotton too…….”
Mae Sin Yu, cradling the garments and ornaments that Ryeon had half-discarded upon entering the residence, said nothing; but Dan Mok Hyeon Yo, who had been scolding her, deftly averted his gaze and scrutinized Ryeon from every angle.
“Your birthday is tomorrow, yet you won’t come home early to rest—how can you be working until nightfall?”
“But it was the clan members who gave me all these tasks.”
Ryeon spoke as if aggrieved. Dan Mok Hyeon Yo glanced sideways at her—reading the assertion that, as clan head, she was attending to the clan’s affairs—then gestured briskly.
“Never mind. Go inside and rest.”
“Were you really worried I wouldn’t show up for tomorrow’s celebration?”
Still, it was Dan Mok Hyeon Yo’s firm conviction that with the clan head and the children turning twenty, they could not simply hand out dumplings in the streets and call it done.
Ryeon agreed with that sentiment.
At the very least, she was determined to hold a proper birthday celebration for Dan Mok Seong’s twentieth year—something she had never managed in Hang Zhou, constrained as she had been by her own convictions.
But Dan Mok Seong held the same view.
When she insisted firmly that she would not celebrate unless Ryeon’s celebration was held first, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo—faced with the prospect of missing her own daughter’s twentieth birthday—fixed Ryeon with blazing eyes.
In the midst of it all, Ryeon had quietly acquiesced, thinking to herself, ‘It’s not as though I truly despise holding a celebration…….’
“What worry!”
“You were worried, you were.”
“Where is the dignity of a clan head, carrying on like this!”
“It’s my birthday celebration—how could I run away, Aunt?”
“How would I know what’s in your heart! But you and your family know your own minds well enough. Since you’re here, that’s enough. I’ll retire to my quarters now.”
With that, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo turned sharply and went inside. It seemed her sole purpose had been to confirm that Ryeon had come home.
Her husband, Seok Ban An, appeared at the threshold of the inner gate, gave Ryeon a brief nod of greeting, and returned with his wife.
Only the following day did Ryeon understand why they had been so concerned about her homecoming.

“A…… Aunt?”
It was the gray hours before dawn, when the sun had not yet risen.
Three figures had burst into Ryeon’s chamber. The one gripping the edge of her quilt was Dan Mok Hyeon Yo; standing behind her were Dan Mok Seong and Dan Mok Wan.
Dan Mok Seong, who had styled her hair high with an ornament that always matched Ryeon’s, had turned twenty not long before, and her beauty—so strikingly like her mother’s—shone with redoubled brilliance.

Dan Mok Seong
Traits: Bamboo / Two-Faced / Forward-Looking / Devoted / Pride
Twelve Stars Falling Blade: 2-Star
Heuk Pung Dan Cheon Do: 6-Star
Infinite Footwork: 5-Star
Meteoric True Seal: 7-Star
Talent and Five-Star Rating: Middle-High
Concern: Finding a matching ornament to pair with Ryeon

Dan Mok Seong was not unaware that her own innate gifts differed from those of her cousins, yet she had grown up mirroring her mother entirely.
That is, in cultivating her martial arts mastery, she refused to yield to limitation and persisted in unrelenting effort alone. Even when effort betrayed her, she did not falter, but trained with steady consistency every single day.
Because that was both the obligation and the privilege of one born as the direct line of a great clan.
At twenty, through that relentless effort, Dan Mok Seong had achieved accomplishments surpassing even those gifted later-generation geniuses with superior talent and five-star rating—yet her one and only concern, then and now, remained whether to match clothes and ornaments with her cousins or not.
Beside her stood Dan Mok Wan, her clear, bright eyes sparkling as she gazed upon Ryeon.
Ten years ago, when Dan Mok Wan had arrived as a collateral-line girl joining the clan, she had received a branch of sweet olive blossoms from Ryeon at their first meeting, and from that moment onward had gazed at Ryeon with the same unwavering eyes.
And there too, at the entrance to Ryeon’s chamber, stood Wi Ji Cheong, her smile tinged with both uncertainty and shyness.
Ryeon turned her pleading gaze toward her mother.
“Mother? Aunt? Wan? Seong? It’s still dark—the sun hasn’t even risen yet……. What…… what is this about?”
At the very moment Ryeon rubbed her eyes and struggled to rise, Dan Mok Seong and Wan hoisted her up bodily.
“Aaaah! Seong! Wan!”
“We don’t have time. To the bathhouse, quickly now!”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo clapped her hands sharply, spurring the two girls along.
Ryeon was half-carried in Seong’s arms to the bathhouse, where in the blink of an eye her clothes were stripped away and she plunged into water warmed to a pleasant warmth.
“What, what is this? What’s happening? I know today’s my birthday, but you don’t have to go this far….”
While Ryeon struggled to brush back her wet hair, Dan Mok Wan appeared with a beaming smile and splashed water over her head, ruining her efforts entirely.
“Ugh, Dan Mok Wan!”
“Ryeon, you’re twenty now—where does that ‘ugh’ come from?”
Dan Mok Seong spoke sternly. Ryeon, pouting, cried out again.
“Uggggh!”
“Young miss, young miss. What do you think of this fragrance?”
In the meantime, Dan Mok Wan, undeterred, scooped water in a wooden ladle and held it out. Ryeon brushed her wet hair back repeatedly and inhaled the scent.
“Nak Mae

fragrance… is that right? Sniff, sniff. The scent is lovely, truly lovely, but….”
It was the sweet fragrance of the flower called Nak Mae—a plum blossom that blooms in snow during the final month of winter. Having herself extended her craft to the making of fragrances, Ryeon recognized it at once.
“I thought you’d know! Nak Mae blossoms in the courtyard of this residence, so I cut some and steeped them in water beforehand.”
“When on earth did you prepare all this…—Aah!”
The Nak Mae-infused water splashed over Ryeon’s head once more.
After washing her body with fragrant oil and rinsing her hair with the Nak Mae water, Ryeon emerged to find a dress she had never seen before.
It was a garment beautiful and sumptuous enough to rival court robes.
Crimson silk dyed in a delicate shade of golden-yellow osmanthus was embroidered with elaborate patterns, and over it lay a transparent gauze layer as delicate as dragonfly wings, fluttering like traces of clouds.
“This… this is….”
As Ryeon gazed at the dress in wonder, loss for words, the elderly nurse appeared and wiped away a tear from beneath her nose.
“I put my skill to work for our young miss’s sake. Today is our young miss’s twentieth birthday, after all.”
“You did all this without telling me?”
While Ryeon stood in shock, eyes wide, Dan Mok Wan and Dan Mok Seong rushed in with the nurse and busily dressed her in the new garment.
“No matter how much you dislike it, we cannot let the day the clan head of the Dan Mok Clan finally turns twenty pass without proper ceremony!”
“No, no, I don’t hate celebrations that much, truly….”
Even as Ryeon protested, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo paid no heed and continued on with her words.
“Besides, knowing you’d be reluctant, I haven’t spent a single copper from the clan treasury, so you needn’t worry.”
“Well… that wasn’t really… but then where did the money come from….”
Just the silk dress Ryeon wore could purchase an entire house. Even if the celebration involved only household servants, it would cost no small sum.
Ryeon harbored no resentment even if they had spent from the clan coffers for her birthday celebration, but now that she was told they hadn’t, she became all the more curious about the source of these funds.
“Where indeed! Do your aunts and uncles look to you like people who can’t earn their own living?”
“That’s not what I meant, you know.”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo ignored her objection and called toward the door.
“Come in!”
“How is it that the dignity of the clan head is so trampled?”
“Ahem.”
Ryeon whispered to Dan Mok Seong. Dan Mok Seong, her face expressionless, let out only a stifled laugh, producing a rather peculiar sound.
With that, the door opened and a man with his sleeves rolled up entered, bearing a tray. It was Nam Yu Pyeong, who crafted ornaments for the Dan Mok Clan.
Having been falsely accused of peddling counterfeit gemstones and damaging a client’s belongings, and having lived in malice and misunderstanding, Nam Yu Pyeong had been rescued by Ryeon and thereafter created pieces solely for the Dan Mok household.
“Nam Craftsman!”
“My clan head, congratulations on your birthday.”
Nam Yu Pyeong spoke with a bright smile, raising his hand high.
Fine wrinkles had begun to gather at the corners of his eyes and mouth from his smile, and strands of white hair were becoming more frequent, yet his fingertips remained as vital and precise as they had been in his youth.
“Goodness….”
Some arts bloom even under the frost of time. Like the Nak Mae, blooming with its rich fragrance in the snow.
Ryeon gazed at the ornaments arranged upon the tray and let out a soft gasp.

Accessories Made by Master Craftsman : Spiritual Energy Capacity 25
You may now infuse Spiritual Energy.

And in Nam Yu Pyeong’s eyes, a gleaming fervor flickered. Whenever Ryeon’s hand brushed past, his ornaments seemed to gain new life, growing all the more vivid and beautiful.

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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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