The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 49

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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 Family’s Limited-Time Spiritual Contract — Episode 49

“But that’s just it — you can’t say the outcome’s already decided and do nothing about it, can you, Father?”
“You still don’t understand that strengthening our foundation must come first?”
Dan Mok Hyun Yo wanted to cry out that they lacked nothing, but under her father’s stern gaze, she finally bowed her head.
“…We will take on new disciples.”
At those words, Dan Mok Hyun Yo, who had been hanging her head in frustration, snapped it up at once.
Her eyes brightened instantly, gleaming with hope.
“But you said you wouldn’t take any disciples for a while?”
“The situation has changed. Now I’ll send word to the Branch Family, and we need to prepare. Can you handle that?”
“Of course!”
Dan Mok Hyun Yo cried out, her face suddenly radiant. Dan Mok Cheon Ki clicked his tongue, but she paid him no mind whatsoever, rising eagerly with renewed vigor — until something suddenly occurred to her, and she sat back down.
“If you’re done, then go!”
“I have one more thing to ask you.”
“More useless questions, I suppose.”
“It’s not useless. The rumors have spread all over Zhejiang Province. They say you’ve achieved a new Enlightenment…”
Watching his daughter ask if the rumors were true, Dan Mok Cheon Ki shook his head slowly.
“You’re only asking about this now?”
“Is it… truly true?”
“Can’t you tell by looking?”
“If I could tell by looking, I’d be running the Sashin Group!”
“You know your own limits well enough, at least.”
Despite her father’s remark, Dan Mok Hyun Yo didn’t flinch once and pressed on with her words.
“You’ve truly achieved Enlightenment? Father, does this mean you’re becoming the Supreme Master Under Heaven again…?”
“That title belongs to the Martial Alliance’s leader now — leave it be. If I have strength, then empty names are like wind passing through reeds.”
Dan Mok Hyun Yo clamped her own mouth shut.
“Father! Could you have become even stronger than before? Could you possibly have healed your wound, too?”
“Dealing with such a heedless child must be quite tiresome for you.”
“No, not at all, sir.”
Seok Ban An quickly shook his head and smiled softly, but Dan Mok Hyun Yo, reading affirmation in her father’s oblique rebuke, showed her joy without restraint.
“We should go back to Jin Ga Zhang, Father.”
“…What are you saying?”
“Go back and crush every last one of those wretches, and show everyone exactly who rules Hangzhou…”
Growing half-feverish with excitement as she spoke carelessly, Dan Mok Hyun Yo was brought up short by her father’s piercing gaze — but the light in her eyes didn’t fade.
“Madam… even before Father, perhaps you should show a little…”
“The Lord hasn’t had a chance to see those bastards’ faces yet. I should’ve crushed them all long ago.”
“That matter is settled — don’t bring it up again!”
“But Father…”

* * *

After a long time, the family gathered together. Dan Mok Hyun Yo seemed in good spirits after whatever she had discussed with Dan Mok Cheon Ki. Ryeon fanned herself gently in the corner.
‘Hmm.’

Dan Mok Hyun Yo
Characteristics: Spirited as a Peony / Sheltered by Affection / Eldest Daughter by Circumstance / Strong-Willed / Monogamous Partner Bond
Falling Star Twelve Swords: 8-Star
Infinite Treasure: 7-Star
Flowing Star Formation Lock: 5-Star
Natural Aptitude and Five-Star Rating: Medium-Medium
Worries: How to revitalize the family, how to claim the Sashin Group’s position, the proper order and method for taking new disciples, what she can do for Dan Mok Seong
Hint: What if you set down the burdens you’ve forced onto your shoulders?

Ryeon’s eyes widened. It was somewhat unexpected.
‘Monogamous Partner Bond…’
He had seen this trait in several people before. It was a characteristic that appeared only in those who spent their entire lives with a single spouse.
He had assumed the marriage was for the family’s advancement alone, but it seemed there ran surprisingly deep trust between husband and wife.
‘Setting that aside—what’s this about the Sashin Group? Ah, wasn’t the Martial Alliance establishing the Sashin Group around this time?’
This too was something Dan Mok Hyun Yo had tried by every means to secure a position for him in the Dan Mok Family, but it hadn’t worked out.
“Ryeon, Bi. It’s been quite a while since we’ve seen each other.”
Dan Mok Hyun Yo looked down at the siblings with an expression that seemed slightly unfamiliar, speaking to them.
Beside her stood Dan Mok Seong, who regarded them both with an aloof and somewhat sullen expression, before being nudged forward by their father Seok Ban An’s gentle hand.
She was a girl with an impression of coldness at first glance, her long, smooth straight hair tied high without a single stray strand out of place.
Dan Mok Hyun Yo spoke with a quiet, deliberate cough.
“So Seong was born in January and Ryeon in February—there’s hardly any difference between you. I hope you’ll be good friends with one another.”
Dan Mok Seong merely tilted her head with eyes as aloof as a proud cat’s.
“…… Hello, Ryeon. Hello, Bi.”
“Ryeon, Bi. Why don’t you go play together with Seong.”
Seok Ban An smiled gently and pressed an Ornamental Pendant into each of their hands.
Ryeon’s was Honey Amber
(the opaque, yellowish variety among ambers)
carved and worked into the shape of an Ironwood fruit—a rare and precious object.

Honey Amber carved in Ironwood form: Spiritual Power Capacity 9
You may now contain Spiritual Qi within it.

For something no larger than what he held, a Spiritual Power Capacity of nine was extraordinary—truly a high-grade piece.
Since Seok Ban An’s main house was Pungrim Jeon Zhang, there were surely more promissory notes than weeds there, yet it was not a light thing to give readily to an unfamiliar nephew.
“Uncle, this is…….”
Though Ryeon was said to flip upside down at any chance to hold Spiritual Qi, taking this so readily felt somewhat burdensome.
When his sister hesitated, Dan Mok Bi also grasped her own pendant and faltered. Seok Ban An, noticing that Ryeon had recognized the item’s worth, seemed somewhat surprised, then closed his eyes and smiled.
“Seong chose it together with you, so don’t worry too much about it. Please accept it.”
Seok Ban An said no more and turned toward where the adults had gathered.
Ryeon glanced at Dan Mok Seong, who stood in silence. Now that he thought of it, a small pendant dangled from her waist as well.
It was a Honey Amber pendant identical to his. When he stared at it, Dan Mok Seong suddenly turned her head away, avoiding his gaze.
And between the children, an awkward silence flowed quietly.
‘Dan Mok Seong…….’
Ryeon examined his cousin, whom he hadn’t seen in a very long time, as if peering closely at her.
Her proud, obstinate eyes brimming with self-respect, her stubborn nose—they brought to mind how she would look when she grew older.
Ryeon already knew the future after his death.
— Dan Mok Bi, you won’t deny that you’re my sister too!
Blood that had flowed down in torrential rain turned the rivers red, and behind them came the grotesque figures of Hyeol Ra Gok rushing in.
Dan Mok Seong, whether drenched in rain or blood was impossible to tell, swept her soaked hair back with scarcely one eye open.
In that moment, lightning struck and Dan Mok Seong’s body trembled. Alarmed, Dan Mok Bi reached out to steady her, but seizing that opening, Dan Mok Seong struck Dan Mok Bi’s Pressure Point.
At the same time, the eyes that had been wide open closed, and her body collapsed. The Branch Family’s warriors rushed to catch Dan Mok Bi’s falling form. Dan Mok Seong called out firmly.
— Take the Young Master and go. Quickly!
— But Miss…….
— I’ve never won against rain in my life, but I won today for the first time. That’s enough. Go.
In the rain that would not stop, the Hyeol Ra Gok forces that had broken out again arrived, and all Ryeon saw there was crimson.
Ryeon stopped his thoughts, hesitated a moment, then opened his mouth first.
“So…… you said you were in Ha Nam Province? Is it fun there? How’s the Martial Alliance?”
Dan Mok Seong brushed at her clothes once, then looked at Ryeon and Bi before speaking.
“Oh, this and that. Everything was big, tall, and shiny.”
“This and that?”
“The markets are big, the Martial Alliance is big. So many people that no matter which shop you go to, there’s always a long line.”
Dan Mok Seong gave a simple description of the sights around the Martial Alliance that she’d seen often in Ha Nam Province.
Ryeon nodded and listened intently to Dan Mok Seong’s account.
At first, Dan Mok Seong seemed reluctant to speak with Ryeon or Dan Mok Bi, keeping her words brief, but as Ryeon listened in silence and offered an encouraging word or two here and there, her story gradually grew longer. By the end, her cheeks had even flushed slightly.
As he listened quietly to Dan Mok Seong’s tale, something became subtly apparent.
‘She didn’t have any friends there either, did she?’
In Ha Nam, the largest and most renowned sect is Shaolin, and the most crowded place is Gae Bang.
It would be difficult for Dan Mok Seong to have friends her age in either place.
“And there’s this bakery there with incredibly delicious moon cakes—they sell eight at a time in one box. They taste best when they’re fresh out, so…….”
Dan Mok Seong, who had been explaining with both hands spread wide, noticed that Ryeon and Bi were listening intently and stopped speaking.
“No, next time—I mean…… next time I could buy them for you. Since you’ve probably never had anything like that, I’ll get them for you.”
Dan Mok Seong finished speaking and turned her head away again, as though she’d said all there was to say.
Perhaps because she was still young, Dan Mok Seong seemed entirely unaware of how much wealth Yeon was accumulating in this present moment.
Yeon found Dan Mok Seong’s youthful appearance a bit unfamiliar, but she didn’t let it show.
Before dying and returning to this time, she’d rarely had occasion to speak with Dan Mok Seong at all.
Because Yeon had believed that Dan Mok Seong looked down on her sickly self with pity, she’d almost never initiated a conversation.
Dan Mok Seong would occasionally visit out of duty to inquire after her health, offering a few remarks about what was fashionable beyond the compound, but those exchanges never developed into anything resembling genuine conversation.

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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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