The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 67

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Fading Clan’s Doomed Heir — Episode 67

The box held ornaments crafted from kingfisher feathers, trinkets carved from pale jade, silk robes and shoes woven from Sichuan brocade, a leather belt, three roots of mountain ginseng, and three Jade Dew Pills

arranged in perfect order.
As the carriage wheels rolled on, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo spoke up suddenly.
“Honestly, you’re trying to cow us with money, aren’t you?”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo felt in her heart that the gifts were excessive, but faced with Song Yeong Rang’s broad smile and good intentions, she could not cry out, ‘Do you think we’re so easily intimidated by this sort of thing?’ so she held her tongue.
“I doubt there’s anyone in the world who scatters such wealth through the air just to intimidate with money.”
“There are people who give money with poor intentions, clan head. Though you wouldn’t know much about such things….”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo started to say something but lost heart and fell silent.
The truth was, she did not wish to speak of money with Wi Ji Cheong, who had borrowed even her wedding ceremony from him.
“I hear the children’s Martial Exchange was quite beneficial — that’s what Song’s wife and the Geum family head said. So they’ve wanted to repay the kindness since last time.”
“What good could come from children trading blows? It makes no sense.”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo, who had been doing nothing but refuting Wi Ji Cheong’s words, flinched and fell silent when Dan Mok Seong stirred in her sleep.
She then gazed quietly down at her daughter’s sleeping face.
‘My Seong….’
When they named their daughter Dan Mok Seong, her husband Seok Ban An had not objected, knowing that she had been living in the shadow of her older brother.
He had placed a sword in the child’s hands partly because it was natural for the Dan Mok Clan, and partly because he had hoped that his daughter, like her uncle Dan Mok Hyeon Seong, would achieve everything with one sword.
Like her brother, the one she had trusted most in this world, who she believed would lead the clan to even greater heights….
“Children do their best when they’re doing something they want to do.”
“……!”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo’s shoulders trembled as she looked at Wi Ji Cheong. But before she could muster a rebuttal, he smiled.
“Even Dan Mok Ryeon was merely composed when she studied swordplay alone, but once she began learning alongside her cousin, she seems to be enjoying it so much.”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo, aware that her guilty conscience had made her overreact, worked her lips quietly.
But since Wi Ji Cheong said nothing about Dan Mok Seong’s future until the carriage arrived at the Dan Mok Clan Estate, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo could say nothing either.

* * *

In the deep of night, a small table of wine was set in the reception hall, and across from it sat an old man whose face was mottled with cruel scars and a middle-aged man facing one another.
“You went to the Geum Family Estate well enough?”
“Wow, it was magnificent. I was taken aback. Even when our clan was at its height, it wasn’t that grand, was it?”
“Is that so?”
“They say the money is tremendous. Where did all that wealth come from?”
“The Geum family head is resourceful.”
“And his wife’s fortune as well?”
Song Yeong Rang’s wife’s family were great merchants of Nam Jik Rye. Dan Mok Cheon Gi did not deny it.
“I was somewhat surprised. The atmosphere between them and us was more harmonious than I expected. Truth be told, I half wondered whether that girl wouldn’t end up stabbing someone there….”
“Though she’s hot-blooded, she’s not so lacking in discretion as that!”
Dan Mok Cheon Gi frowned and grumbled. A parent’s honest assessment of their child always leaves a bitter taste.
“In any case, I returned without incident. Only, the realm of the Geum family head seemed different from what I remembered….”
Dan Mok Cheon Gi tilted his teacup.
“Before the Martial Exchange between Seong and Geum Jong Ha, there was one between Ryeon and Geum Jong Ha first. Ryeon recorded a Review in a letter, and she wrote down its contents for me.”
Dan Mok Han So clicked his tongue with an aggrieved expression. From those words alone, he understood what had happened.
“He granted enlightenment to an enemy?”
“To call what they gained from the Martial Exchange mere enlightenment would be selling it short.”
“Those cunning children planned to do a Review with the young lady Ryeon after this Martial Exchange was done, didn’t they? Only the clever ones profit….”
Dan Mok Han So grumbled for a long while, but when Dan Mok Cheon Gi asked him about the Martial Exchange, he at last composed himself and spoke rapidly.
“The Martial Exchange itself was fine. Both Geum Jong Ha and our young lady Seong showed talent. If I were to raise my hand for one, I’d say young lady Seong. Not because my arm bends inward, but because that family’s sword path doesn’t suit that boy.”
“You mean the Geum Woo Sword Path?”
“I have no intention whatsoever of raising him, but that fellow would be better suited to something like our Black Wind Single Heaven Sword than the Geum Woo Sword Path. The Geum Woo Path shines best when one moves with great refinement, but he has strength and moves on instinct.”
“You know well.”
“If I can’t even surpass the Geum Family Estate right next door, they’ll say I shouldn’t be holding a sword. I learned with fire in my eyes.”
“Hmm. Our clan’s study of the sword seems to lack depth. With the footprints of our predecessors to follow, achievement will come more easily.”
“I said I don’t like it.”
“You didn’t grow up alone, did you? You grew up on the strength of the Dan Mok Clan! So even if you don’t accept every opinion, you should at least listen to them.”
“I thought I’d already paid back what I received, sir.”
“……!”
Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s mouth fell open for an instant before snapping shut again. Once Dan Mok Ryeon brought up the Punishment Form Method, he had nothing to say—not if he had ten mouths.
Dan Mok Han So smiled with a playful expression.
“I’ve gained something through young lady Dan Mok Ryeon, so wouldn’t it balance the scales if I spoke of that achievement?”
“I’m the one who incurred the debt, and it’s Ryeon who’s paid it back—how could I not keep my mouth shut?”
“That’s true enough.”
Dan Mok Han So nodded and continued.
“But have you announced the successor yet? I’ve only been back at the clan for a month, so I’m not well-informed on such matters.”
Dan Mok Cheon Gi paused mid-sip and his brow furrowed. Dan Mok Han So, sitting across from him, spoke with perfect confidence.
“What do you mean, successor?”
“Young lady Dan Mok Ryeon, sir.”
While naming the successor rested entirely in Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s hands, someone of Dan Mok Han So’s standing could venture such a suggestion.
All the more so when Dan Mok Ryeon was the eldest daughter of Dan Mok Hyeon Seong—a man who had been without flaw and marked as successor.
In another martial family, Dan Mok Ryeon would already be serving as clan head; had Dan Mok Hyeon Seong simply lived, she would be honored as the eldest daughter.
“The girl isn’t even ten years old yet, and it’s been barely a year since she awakened—thanks to you.”
“Precisely why you should announce it now, Former Clan Head!”
“Didn’t I tell you to kill that impatience of yours?”
When you’re young and deliberately wield a weapon unlike any other, and still rise to the very peak among them—such a disposition is rarely anything but fiercely sharp and headstrong.
“When I asked you to teach the children a bit of sword technique, you went on and on about not wanting to, didn’t you? Just a month ago.”
Dan Mok Han So paid no heed and continued with his own thoughts—speaking plainly and clearly, though his tone was flat enough to seem indifferent.
“As you yourself must know, I believe young lady Ryeon is the one who will lead the clan to an entirely new horizon.”
For a moment, Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s hand trembled slightly as he set down his cup.
“I displayed the Black Wind Single Heaven Sword before the children. Since they needed to see directly what they would learn going forward, I showed them. But the moment young lady Ryeon saw it once, she already understood everything.”
“How do you know the girl understands everything?”
“I asked her to replicate it after showing her once, and she didn’t hesitate, didn’t waver—and didn’t make a single error. She performed it exactly as shown. One cannot fail to recognize that.”
“Ha ha ha.”
Dan Mok Cheon Gi let out a low laugh. It amused him that Dan Mok Han So had been astounded in precisely the same way he himself had been.
Dan Mok Han So glanced at the laughing Dan Mok Cheon Gi and grumbled inwardly.
In truth, Dan Mok Han So had thought he would collapse where he stood. What kept him upright was the long time and experience he had accumulated.
“And young lady Dan Mok Seong, too—there is considerable expectation riding on her achievement. I truly sense that the sword path suits her less than the technique does. How did you perceive that and thrust it upon her?”
“Well…….”
“Though perhaps your eye saw something special in it. Still, I was surprised. Given young lady Dan Mok Hyeon Yo’s temperament, she would never have taken to the technique unless something this significant had occurred.”
Dan Mok Cheon Gi inwardly agreed. But if he mentioned here that it had been Ryeon’s idea, Dan Mok Han So would immediately insist on making her the clan head.
“Didn’t I say young lady Seong would do well? But what of Ryeon? Haven’t you thought of having her take up the technique?”
Dan Mok Han So’s expression grew serious.
“It won’t matter what weapon young lady Ryeon holds. You know that better than anyone, Clan Head.”
“Hmm.”
Dan Mok Cheon Gi lowered his eyes and slowly extended his energy sensing. With the chief steward gone, the silence around them was absolute.
“Why…… are you doing that?”
Dan Mok Cheon Gi regarded Han So quietly, then covered his mouth with the rim of his cup as he spoke.
Concealing his true thoughts, speaking softly.
“Ryeon will likely find it difficult.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————