The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 4

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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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A Doomed Noble Clan’s Limited Time — Episode 4

Somehow interpreting the gleaming hope in Ryeon’s eyes, Danmok Cheongi’s aura began to ripple quietly.
“What are you thinking about, pouting your lips like a young duckling?”
Ryeon startled and quickly covered her mouth with both hands.
But inside, she smiled a little. It seemed her grandfather did find his granddaughter endearing after all.
“Hmm. Will you come closer?”
Danmok Cheongi spoke as though he were setting her a difficult task.
But to Ryeon, it felt like a welcome invitation. She tilted her head slightly in confusion, yet didn’t hesitate—striding forward with confident steps.
Danmok Cheongi, sitting in the Taesan seat, seemed taken aback when she approached so suddenly, despite having called her forward.
“Yes… since you’ve come all this way to pay your respects with such sincerity, I cannot send you away empty-handed.”
With that, Danmok Cheongi unfastened the jade ornament hanging from his waist and handed it to the attendant standing nearby.
The attendant’s eyes widened at the recognition of the ornament, then quickly returned to their normal size before carefully accepting the jade pendant and offering it to Ryeon.
“Thank you, Grandfather!”
The ornament, crafted from fine jade with careful attention, seemed to shimmer with a cool, refreshing aura—the result of someone of Danmok Cheongi’s stature keeping it close for so long.
Ryeon didn’t hesitate to accept the jade pendant from the attendant’s hands and quickly tied it to her waist.
In that moment…
‘Huh?’
A strange sensation flashed through her mind, as if she’d thrust her hand into an empty basket. At the same time, characters appeared above the jade ornament.

[Fine jade maintained by a first-rate master for a long time : Spiritual Energy Capacity 14]

‘Spiritual Energy Capacity? What does that mean?’
As Ryeon thought, the characters shimmered and changed.

Will you store Spiritual Energy?
Help: Spiritual Energy dwells in good stones. The finer the stone, the more Spiritual Energy it can hold.

‘Yes! I’ll store it!’

Spiritual Energy: 49/100 (14▼)

At the same time, she felt Spiritual Energy drain from her fingertips, and in an instant the red aura vanished from the ‘Spiritual Energy’ section.
Thanks to that, her body felt considerably lighter.
‘You can store Spiritual Energy in good stones?’
This was the first time she’d learned such a thing. Ryeon looked down again at the jade ornament her grandfather had given her.
‘Ah… before, because of the clan’s circumstances, I never really had the chance to handle such jewels…’
She’d never been this close to her grandfather before either.
Suddenly this jade seemed to shine even more brilliantly than a diamond.
And it was natural that the man who’d given her this ornament, Danmok Cheongi, seemed to be glowing with a halo.
As Ryeon’s face grew so radiant while looking at the jade pendant, even Danmok Cheongi seemed flustered.
“C-clear my throat. Does this… please you?”
“Yes! Grandfather! I love it so much! So… so much! Thank you so much. Really…”
Ryeon, filled with joy, found herself on the verge of tears.
She’d been so worried about how to bring down that cursed Spiritual Energy below fifty, but for it to be resolved this easily!
“If you’re pleased, then you’re pleased—so why are you crying and making such a fuss? For the eldest heir of a Noble Clan to be so careless! Won’t you stop it?”
“Oh, no! I wasn’t crying!”
Danmok Cheongi cleared his throat as he watched his granddaughter trying to hold back tears.
“Then that’s settled. Is there anything else you need?”
“No, Father. You’ve already given medicine to Ryeon…”
Wi Jicheong smiled gently as she tried to decline, but Ryeon’s mind sparked faster than her words could.
There was something urgent right now, wasn’t there?
“Oh! Grandfather! I do!”
“Hmm. And what would that be? Stay quiet, Nae Dangjoo. As the eldest heir of a Noble Clan, you ought to have the boldness to state your desires openly.”
The way Ryeon spoke seemed less impertinent and more confident.
Wi Jicheong’s face clouded with perplexity, but she couldn’t bring herself to scold Ryon.
“Grandfather, I want to learn martial arts!”
Yet the moment those words left her mouth, a chill swept through the air on both sides of her.
No one answered.
‘What… what is this?’
She’d thought they’d be delighted the moment the eldest grandchild expressed a desire to learn martial arts?
“… You want to learn martial arts?”
“Yes, I’m already eight years old now, but I still don’t know anything…”
Even as Danmok Cheongi’s lips barely moved, Wi Jicheong drew Ryon close.
“Ryon, wouldn’t it be better to wait until you’re a bit stronger before learning martial arts?”
“Yes? But I’m already…”
When spiritual energy accumulated, her body did weaken somewhat, but aside from that, hadn’t she recovered completely?
Yet Ryon only mumbled wordlessly, her voice trailing away. Tears filled Wi Jicheong’s eyes.
“Oh… Mother. Why… don’t cry…”
“No, I’m not crying. I’m not. It’s just… Ryon…”
With her mother on the verge of tears and her grandfather unable to speak, how could she possibly bring up martial arts again?
‘Are they really that worried?’
Her daughter had been little better than a living corpse, and now that her eyes had opened, they fretted over her every step. That was the only conclusion Ryon could draw.
“Then… I’ll learn martial arts a bit later!”
“Yes, let’s do that. Our Ryon is so good.”
“When the time comes, I shall teach you myself. Let neither Ryon nor the Nae Dangjoo rush—attend only to your recovery.”
“Yes, Taesan Gaju.”
Wi Jicheong quickly bowed and gathered Ryon close.
Seeing this, Danmok Cheongi waved his hand in dismissal. It was a gesture of courtesy, but there was no warmth in it.

* * *

“The child walks well enough…”
“According to Heo, the physician says her body hasn’t fully solidified and her vital force remains depleted, so care is still necessary. Otherwise, there’s nothing amiss—he was quite astonished at how sharp-minded she is.”
Gang Rip, the steward, quickly answered.
“For nearly seven, almost eight years now, how much the Nae Dangjoo has endured.”
The steward’s voice wavered slightly as he spoke—uncharacteristic of him.
That the child had survived this long—a girl who wouldn’t turn her head when called and wouldn’t cry even in pain—was entirely due to her mother, Wi Jicheong’s devotion.
Before bearing Danmok Ryon, she had been frail, living on medicine. Yet despite everyone’s objections, she’d insisted on having the child. To everyone’s amazement, she’d grown healthier than ever and poured everything into caring for her daughter.
“From what she says, she doesn’t seem to be witless.”
“Heavens, what are you saying? Heo was astonished at how sharp her mind is.”
“Hmm. It is admirable, the way she doesn’t blink an eye before me and speaks with such clarity.”
Twenty-five years ago, facing Hyeolragok, Danmok Cheongi had been poisoned and scarred so deeply that no medicine could heal it.
He’d been fearsome even before that, but after bearing those scars, few dared meet his gaze directly.
“Indeed?”
“But Hyeonseong was the same way.”
“No, Gaju…”
“Taesan Gaju, I say!”
Gang Rip found himself staring at the old man comparing his dead son—once renowned as a genius of his age—to his granddaughter, who’d awakened mere months ago. He quickly looked away. Danmok Cheongi’s eyes had grown dark.
“If we’re to call every child in Hangzhou who speaks well and walks well ‘sharp-minded,’ where would be the end of it?”
“That may be so, but…”
Gang Rip let his words fade.
‘But the young lady has only been awake for a few months.’
Still, Danmok Cheongi’s expression of late was a world apart from before—heaven and earth. His granddaughter’s awakening had brought him immeasurable joy. And why shouldn’t it? She was his own blood.
“As for Ryon’s training in martial arts… we shall decide based on her condition in time. See that no one around her brings up the subject of martial arts first. Keep tongues tied on this matter.”
“Yes, sir!”
Gang Rip bowed in acknowledgment. Danmok Cheongi’s gaze turned toward the window—in the direction his granddaughter and daughter-in-law had gone.

* * *

Jeon, a servant newly employed in the kitchens of the Danmok Clan, had only recently arrived and, given that few hands worked there, found himself handling various odd jobs in the kitchen.
Each dawn he checked and organized the fresh ingredients that arrived, swept and scrubbed inside and outside the kitchen, and harvested fresh eggs daily from the small chicken coop maintained in the back courtyard.
Yet within Jeon’s heart burned a flame he’d long tended. Though he was now merely a kitchen hand in a declining Noble Clan, his grand dream was to become the finest chef in all of Zhejiang Province.
“Is this the right way to mix it?”
‘But at this rate, won’t I lose my head before I ever become the greatest chef under heaven?’
It was before noon.
A small girl in white garments appeared before the chicken coop he tended. Jeon recognized her at once.
The white robe—pristine from cuff to hem, finished with meticulous care—was granted only to the blood relatives of the Danmok Clan. It had once been white silk embroidered with silver thread, though it had grown considerably more modest over the years, but garments of such whiteness remained rare to see.
Before the bewildered Jeon, the small young lady spoke with complete confidence.

─ When do you feed the chickens?

In other words, she had come all the way here because she wanted to help with the work of feeding them.
For Jeon, the prospect of mixing chicken feed alongside the Clan’s eldest grandson seemed as dark as pitch.
The nursemaid attending this young master appeared to feel much the same way.

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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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