The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 64

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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 Declining Great House with Limited Time: The Elixir — Episode 64

“Why…… why are you asking me that?”
It was much the same question as before. Dan Mok Han So refilled his cup with wine, his tone teasing.
“My goodness. Did the young lady give you something so sweet that you won’t even talk to me anymore?”
“Captain, it’s not like that…….”
Jeong Yeong waved his hand in flustered denial.
“It’s just that you suddenly spoke of the young lady’s affairs as though they were your own, and it caught me off guard.”
“Your affairs are the young lady’s affairs. You oversee her quarters, don’t you?”
“That’s true, but you must understand I can’t discuss the young lady’s matters elsewhere.”
Jeong Yeong chose his words with utmost care, but his caution seemed only to stir Dan Mok Han So’s irritation.
“What, did the young lady do something so remarkable? Why are you hiding it like this? They say the Patriarch was generous with her — did she pass on some leftover Elixir? I wasn’t even asking for anything grand…….”
“Captain, that’s not what I meant.”
Jeong Yeong gazed at Dan Mok Han So with an awkward expression. To the orphaned Jeong Yeong, Dan Mok Han So was like a father he had met only late in life.
Rather than to the distant, towering Dan Mok Cheon Gi or to Dan Mok Hyeon Seong, whom he had scarcely ever seen, he had followed and learned from this man’s face.
When he pressed like this, his voice faltering with hurt, Jeong Yeong found himself at a loss for words.
“Why…… why are you suddenly curious about the young lady’s affairs?”
“I’m not curious about the young lady’s affairs — I’m curious about your affairs, didn’t I say?”
Dan Mok Han So drank alone, glass after glass. Jeong Yeong remained silent for a long while before speaking quietly.
“The young lady said not to neglect my training…… and so…….”
Dan Mok Han So’s hand, which had been lifting his cup repeatedly, stopped mid-motion.
He set the cup down, regarded Jeong Yeong in silence for a moment, and then clicked his tongue.
“What man reveals the deeds of his master when asked a question?”
Dan Mok Han So’s entire demeanor suddenly shifted. Jeong Yeong’s eyes widened in shock as he protested his innocence.
“What? No…… you kept pressing me, Captain. I was trying not to say anything…….”
“Then you should have kept your silence to the end!”
“B-but you are the captain…….”
“Master’s Sword does not answer questions about his master — not even if the Alliance Lord came, not even if heaven itself demanded it.”
“Does Master’s Sword drink wine and such?”
Jeong Yeong answered sullenly, and Dan Mok Han So burst into laughter. Jeong Yeong glared at him with a grumble.
“And besides, my master is the Household Head…….”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
Jeong Yeong clamped his mouth shut. Dan Mok Han So watched him with amusement, then shrugged and poured wine into his cup as well.
The Dan Mok Clan currently had no Household Head.
The Grand Patriarch watched from behind — a mere shadow play, but his shadow was so vast that it held everything together.
Had he meant the Grand Patriarch, he would have said so precisely.
Here was a man who reported even to his young lady about the day’s work over drinks.
‘No Household Head yet, and he calls the Household Head his master…….’
Dan Mok Han So snorted once and spoke.
“So the young lady teaches you all sorts of things well?”
Jeong Yeong’s expression hardened.
‘Just moments ago he scolded me for revealing my master’s affairs!’
Dan Mok Han So, pleased with himself as an uncle who had successfully exasperated his nephew, laughed heartily and continued.
“I say it because she teaches me well too, Jeong Yeong. Stay close to the young lady and learn from her diligently.”
“The young lady teaches you, Captain……?”
Jeong Yeong’s eyes widened in surprise, but the shock and doubt gradually faded from his face, replaced by a dawning comprehension and understanding.
Dan Mok Han So was even more startled by that expression.
He knew well enough that he cast an overshadowing presence on the Yuying Eighteen.
There were times when he felt uneasy that even Jeong Yeong, the youngest, seemed to follow his commands more closely than the Grand Patriarch’s.
Yet here was a child not even ten years old, and when told she had taught Dan Mok Han So, he accepted it without question.
But the conversation soon turned to Dan Mok Han So’s travels. When he began to speak of the landscapes he had wandered through and the martial artists he had befriended, Jeong Yeong listened with keen interest.
Dan Mok Han So gazed down at Jeong Yeong as though looking at a son not yet fully grown, and rambled on with wine and story alike.
“I had originally intended to travel all the way to Sichuan.”
“All the way to Sichuan Province?”
“That Geum Family’s bean paste has quite a kick to it, doesn’t it? The way they stir-fry pork with it……the flavor is extraordinary.”

* * *

The next day, the members of the Dan Mok Clan set out for the Geum Family Estate to witness the Martial Exchange between Dan Mok Seong and Geum Jong Ha.
“My, everything seems to glitter so brightly.”
Wi Ji Cheong gazed about in wonder.
The grounds of the Geum Family Estate were remarkably refined. The garden’s layout and the rare specimens of trees planted throughout were unlike anything one saw elsewhere.
It was arranged in an entirely different style from the Dan Mok Clan estate, which had maintained its history and tradition for so long.
Yet Dan Mok Hyeon Yo only snorted with a soft laugh.
“This is nothing. Our Household Head enjoys only the simplest things, so she wouldn’t understand such extravagance.”
Wi Ji Cheong smiled gently.
“But surely the estate is beautiful, isn’t it? These flowers and decorations—they’re all things I’ve never seen before.”
“Hmm. When people live according only to their own taste, they find themselves amazed by the most ordinary things.”
“But those peony ornaments—aren’t they similar to the ones that adorned your wedding? Though I must say, the most beautiful thing that day was you yourself, the Household Head.”
At Wi Ji Cheong’s gentle smile and words, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo’s mouth opened momentarily before clamping shut with visible effort.
Watching Dan Mok Hyeon Yo’s lips move silently as she looked at Wi Ji Cheong, Ryeon shook her head to herself.
Though Wi Ji Cheong spoke in a way that flattered others—almost to the point of seeming like a rebuke—she was someone who would only smile awkwardly rather than utter anything insincere.
And Ryeon understood well enough why her mother held Dan Mok Hyeon Yo in such affection.
Wi Ji Cheong had come from Shaanxi Province to this place as an orphan, solely for her marriage to Dan Mok Hyeon Seong.
She had but one family—a sworn brother who became a disciple of the Hua Shan School—and one could imagine how sparse her wedding preparations must have been.
Seeing this, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo, who had not yet had her own wedding, lent her all the items she had prepared for her upcoming ceremony.
Of course, one cannot reuse articles that have been used for another’s wedding—so while it was called a loan, she had truly given everything.
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo was the sort who would rather bite her tongue and die than boast to the neighborhood about her brother taking a poor bride, but the heart of the one who received such kindness was not so easily diminished by such modesty.
In that moment, Dan Mok Bi caught hold of Ryeon’s sleeve and tugged her along. The opulent grounds of the Geum Family Estate held many wonders.
“Wow! Sister, did you see that? The metal fish hanging from the eaves—it looks just like it’s swimming!”
Ryeon opened her eyes narrowly. Indeed, there hung a metal fish on the eaves, its scales clicking and sliding as they moved in the wind.
“It seems to be a small mechanical device, designed to move when the wind catches it.”
‘So the Geum Family really does have that much wealth. Hanging something like that from the eaves.’
Dan Mok Seong, who had been opening his mouth to answer first, hesitated and looked at Ryeon.
“……How did you know that?”
“Oh? Um, I saw it in a book.”
“I see.”
Dan Mok Seong’s expression dimmed slightly, disappointed at losing his chance to show off his knowledge, so Ryeon quickly pointed to another decoration.
“Oh! That! What is that, Seong? It’s fascinating!”
“……That…… it doesn’t seem to be anything all that remarkable. Let’s move on. I have a Martial Exchange today, and I want to focus only on that.”
“Oh.”
Dan Mok Seong appeared not to know much about it and changed the subject.
And just as he said, it was not long before the Geum Family members came streaming out from within.
“We meet again after so long, Master Geum. Song lady, I trust you have been well?”
“Indeed we have. Was your journey here without incident?”
Song Yeong Nang, the wife of the Geum Family Estate’s master, greeted them with great warmth.
Geum Jeok Geol, standing beside her, cupped his fist respectfully and then narrowed his eyes as he spoke quietly.
“Has the Grand Patriarch not come?”
It is exceedingly difficult for anyone living in Zhejiang Province not to hold Dan Mok Cheon Gi in esteem—no matter how much they may have once been nearly enemies.
Wi Ji Cheong smiled gently and shook her head with ease.
“He said this is an occasion for the younger generation to test themselves and learn from one another, and he did not wish to intrude and make the atmosphere awkward.”
“……I see. Very well then. Shall we proceed inside?”
With these words, Geum Jeok Geol opened his arm to gesture toward the interior—and his expression was, contrary to Ryeon’s expectations, not unpleasant at all.

Geum Jeok Geol
Traits: Forward-gazing / Volcano-like / Overflowing competitive spirit / Two-Winged Bird
Geum Woo Sword: 11 stars (1▲)
Geum Woo Divine Art: 7 stars
Yuying Step
(柳泳步)
: 10 stars (1▲)
Aptitude and enlightenment: Medium-Medium
Concern: I prepared a peace offering, but now my son has gone and done this……
Advice: It would be fine if you simply accepted it.

‘Why has all the poison drained out of the man?’ Jeong Yeong wondered.
Before the misunderstanding had been cleared, when he’d faced off against Geum Jong Ha, Geum Jeok Geol had radiated such a menacing aura—his eyes alone could have pinned someone in place. Yet now he’d gone soft as stewed radish left too long at the bottom of a pot.
The only moment his gaze flickered with that old fire was when he glanced sideways at Dan Mok Han So, standing quietly behind the Dan Mok Clan members.
It seemed that among those who wielded the Dao as their primary art, there existed an understanding that transcended words.

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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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