The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 50

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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 Great Family’s Limited-Time Beloved — Chapter 50

‘Come to think of it, she did come to see me faithfully, didn’t she?’
Dan Mok Seong hadn’t been cold to Dan Mok Bi alone, but she hadn’t been warm either, so Dan Mok Bi had returned that coldness in kind. Because of it, there had never been a moment of true warmth between the cousins.
‘And yet in the end, she tried to protect Bi.’
She must have known that Dan Mok Seong couldn’t handle them alone.
“But that one…… who is she?”
At that moment, Dan Mok Seong cast a subtle glance toward her.
Ryeon flinched and turned to look back. Hwa Ryun, who had been stroking the pristine white cat Baek Ryeon, blinked.
Ryeon thought briefly that Dan Mok Seong’s question made sense. Dan Mok Seong hadn’t realized Hwa Ryun was Ryeon’s servant.
And no wonder — the boy’s hair was pitch-black with a reddish tint, his face tapered and delicate with sharp, well-defined features beyond his years, and though his eyes held no interest in their conversation, cold and indifferent though they were, there was a clarity in those pupils that made him look like the young master of some noble household.
“Ah, Ryun is…….”
“Our young lady’s servant, ma’am.”
As Ryeon hesitated over the introduction, Hwa Ryun answered smoothly. Ryeon nearly burst out laughing.
To hear Hwa Ryun speak, he sounded nothing like a servant at all, yet no one in the room found that strange.
Ryeon introduced Hwa Ryun’s name more formally.
“His name is Hwa Ryun. Hwa Ryun.”
“I’m Dan Mok Bi!”
Dan Mok Bi, eager to join her older sisters’ conversation, shot up her hand and called out, sending a ripple of laughter through the room.
In the midst of it, Ryeon subtly activated her Sim An. She couldn’t unfold the Fan just now, but reading simple information from the air was effortless enough.

Dan Mok Seong
Characteristics: Bamboo / Two-faced / Forward-gazing
Naksong Sibi Geom: 2 Star
Mu Han Bo: 3 Star
Talent and Star Rank: Middle-Upper
Worries: Unable to grasp Naksong Sibi Geom, Dang Gwa left half-eaten, the future of the Dan Mok Family
Advice: Why not try using the Blade?

Ryeon swallowed hard. How could the symbol of integrity — bamboo — coexist with two-faced in her characteristics?
‘And what’s all this about the Blade?’
With Talent and Star Rank at Middle-Upper, she wasn’t extraordinarily gifted, but with enough effort she could live a full life as a Murim Person. Add a proper weapon to that, and it would be all the better.
‘In my past life, there was never any mention of Dan Mok Seong taking up the Blade…….’
What was all this?
This was a sensitive matter to bring up. The Dan Mok Family certainly had Blade Technique, but it was true that the sword was their main strength. If she suddenly told her to try the Blade instead of the sword?
Anyone who heard it would think she was trying to undermine the next Family Head — especially Dan Mok Hyeon Yo.
As Ryeon wrestled with this dilemma, Dan Mok Seong, thinking Ryeon was feeling shy, frowned.
“By the way, you had a Sparring Match with Geum Ga Jang, didn’t you?”
Her tone was so displeased that Ryeon’s eyes flickered.
“It just happened…… you would have won easily anyway.”
“It’s a relief Geum Ga Jang isn’t all that impressive.”
Dan Mok Seong folded her arms and continued.
“How did the match go?”
“Geum Ga Jang used this kind of Blade technique…….”
As Ryeon spoke to this point, her eyes suddenly lit up with a sudden thought.
If she described the Blade technique in an appealing way, she might be able to redirect Dan Mok Seong’s interest in that direction.
“It was really impressive! Amazing. He moved so nimbly, like this — swish-swish! Whoosh! And—”
Ryeon broke off a nearby twig and recreated Geum Ga Jang’s movements from the Sparring Match, moving her hands this way and that.
“Hmm.”
“He swung it like this so fast! I’d never learned the Blade before, so I thought it was impressive!”
Dan Mok Seong listened attentively and then reached a conclusion cold and sharp for her age.
“You’ve been ill for so long, yet you’re strong enough to win against something like that. But to become a true Murim Person, you need to keep training.”
“Ah…….”
Ryeon was taken aback. Could she really be so uninterested in Geum Ga Jang’s Blade Technique?
“Who is your Teacher right now?”
“What? I… I…”
Baek Ryeon swallowed hard.
The children of the three families all learned the sword from their parents, but Baek Ryeon had never been in that position. Her father had passed away, and her mother had never properly mastered martial arts.
So it was natural to assume she’d learned Sword Technique from another teacher in the family who instructed in that art.
“My grandfather taught me.”
“…The Family Head did?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Dan Mok Seong’s eyes widened, then she slowly composed herself. She seemed to turn various thoughts over in her mind as she looked at Baek Ryeon.
Since her cousin had been ill, the Family Head—their grandfather—would have had no choice but to pay attention to her. And besides, she herself had been away in Ha Nam Seong, not in Hang Ju, so there was nothing she could do about it.
“I want to learn from Grandfather too!”
Dan Mok Bi, who had been listening alongside them, suddenly threw both hands up in the air and cried out.
“Right, that’s how it should be. Once our Bi learns the Cheonja Mun all the way through…”
“I already have!”
“Really? When?”
Baek Ryeon’s eyes widened in surprise as she asked. It seemed that in the short time she’d been neglecting her younger siblings’ studies, Dan Mok Bi had memorized it all.
“Um… yesterday.”
Dan Mok Bi lowered her hands sheepishly and avoided Baek Ryeon’s gaze. Baek Ryeon’s eyes narrowed and a subtle smile crossed her lips.
“Is that so? You memorized it all yesterday? If you’re lying, no more Yong Su Dang for you.”
“I… I’ve almost got it all.”
“Do you know what ‘almost’ means?”
“Five hundred out of a thousand…”
While Baek Ryeon laughed at that answer, Hwa Ryun added,
“But I think it’s already about seven hundred.”
“Soon you’ll have it all memorized. Right?”
Dan Mok Seong, who had been watching them in silence for a moment, suddenly turned her head away—but Dan Mok Ryeon caught hold of her sleeve.
“Seong, if I get stuck on something later, can I ask you about it?”
“Why ask me? You should ask the Family Head.”
Her voice was sharp and cold enough that most nine-year-olds would have let go and burst into tears.
“The Family Head only helps me because my learning is so slow he has no choice…”
“Just… do as you like. There’s nothing to be done about it anyway. But don’t make noise or interfere when I’m studying!”
“All right, all right.”
Baek Ryeon closed her eyes and smiled gently. Dan Mok Seong turned away and left the spot quickly, claiming she had pressing matters to attend to.
As the girl walked briskly away, the back of her neck had turned bright red.

* * *

“Was that family’s Blade Technique really that good?”
After finishing her flute practice, Baek Ryeon looked up from neatly putting away the Hyang Rin Juk.
Hwa Ryun was stroking Baek Ryeon gently with an unconcerned expression, but Baek Ryeon sensed that he seemed somewhat put out.
The kind of look that said, ‘It wasn’t that impressive, was it?’
“Are you talking about what I told Seong just now about Geum Ga Jang?”
“Yes.”
Baek Ryeon felt a little embarrassed and rubbed the back of her head.
“It seemed like Blade Technique would suit Seong better than the Sword Technique.”
“…Is that so?”
“So I offered some praise, hoping she’d take an interest in Blade Technique. It didn’t work out as I’d hoped, though…”
Baek Ryeon’s words trailed off into embarrassment.
“Hmm, Blade Technique?”
Hwa Ryun raised one eyebrow and rolled his eyes, his expression thoughtful.
“…So you suddenly praised another family’s Blade Technique like that?”
“It’s the closest Blade Technique I’ve seen.”
“It didn’t seem to have any effect at all?”
Baek Ryeon pressed the flute she’d been organizing against her forehead, her expression forlorn.
“You noticed that too?”
Hwa Ryun nodded.
“Why would she take interest in someone who lost to her sister?”
Baek Ryeon was troubled.
“How can I get Seong interested…?”
Then her voice trailed off as she looked toward Hwa Ryun.
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Sigh. I couldn’t even capture our Hwa Ryun’s interest—how am I supposed to win over a cousin I’ve only just met?”
With that, she exhaled deeply and set down the flute. Hwa Ryun stared at Baek Ryeon with an expression caught between tears and laughter.
“I… sister… you’ve got a mark on your forehead.”
“Is that really what matters right now?”
“But it’s a perfect ring-shaped impression right in the middle of your forehead?”
Baek Ryeon reached up to smooth her forehead, then exhaled heavily again. Behind her, Hwa Ryun chuckled and snickered, but when she suddenly stepped toward him, his eyes went wide.
“Why—what are you doing?”
“I can’t be the only one.”
“Only one? Sister, you did it to yourself!”
“I had to do mine myself, but I’ll give you yours. Don’t worry.”
“Oh, come on!”
Baek Ryeon caught Hwa Ryun as he tried to flee and pressed a perfect ring-shaped mark onto his forehead before finally letting him go.
When Baek Ryeon laughed loudly, Hwa Ryun’s shoulders drooped in defeat. He rubbed his own forehead absently, then suddenly said something.
“I’m not learning.”
“What did you say?”
“I’m not going to learn martial arts!”
Hwa Ryun cried out and spun around. Baek Ryeon’s eyes widened in surprise, then she grinned and rushed after him.
“So you do want to learn martial arts?”
What else could this stubborn refusal mean now?
It meant he’d made up his mind to learn.
“What are you saying? I just told you I’m not going to learn!”
“Wonderful! Hwa Ryun! When do you want to start? Dan Mok Bi will begin her training soon—do you want to learn together with her? Yes, that’s perfect! It’ll be so much fun learning together.”
As Baek Ryeon sat there alone, playing the drum and the janggu both at once, Hwa Ryun couldn’t help but laugh helplessly.

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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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