The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 8

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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 Doomed Clan’s Limited Lifespan: Episode 8

“Very well then. I shall grant you a reward. Tell me what you wish for.”
“A reward?”
His granddaughter’s eyes widened as she looked up at him. Dan Mok Cheon Gi found himself thinking of the commoner boy she’d taken a liking to lately.
The boy who ran errands alongside a provisioner who brought in foodstuffs—an orphan with no one to rely on, they said. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to bring him into the household young and raise him as one of the family’s own.
“Then I really do want to learn Martial Arts!”

* * *

How could one use more Spiritual Energy—more and more?
This had become Hwa Ryun’s most pressing concern lately. It was bound directly to his lifespan, and the remainder of Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s life depended on it.
Yet if he simply forced Spiritual Energy into Dan Mok Cheon Gi, it would be like pouring seawater into the small spring he’d carefully cultivated. In other words, it would ruin everything.
As Hwa Ryun labored over the problem, Dan Mok Cheon Gi threw him a lifeline once more.
‘Tea Ceremony!’
To Hwa Ryun, who had once tried making sticky rice cakes and deeply regretted how hard and awful they turned out, the Tea Ceremony appeared like a cloud path ascending to the heavens.
When he recalled the tea leaves, when he dampened them in warm water, when he gently swirled the tea bowl—at each step he could carefully filter in Spiritual Energy, and on top of that, his grandfather would drink it on the spot. What could be better than this?
Thanks to this, Hwa Ryun’s complexion and mood had improved greatly of late. He was using Spiritual Energy and his grandfather was gradually recovering—it couldn’t be better.
The only problem was that he still couldn’t learn Martial Arts.
‘I thought he’d agree if I asked once his heart softened.’
The Dan Mok Family’s circumstances could hardly be called stable, even generously.
To her eye, the situation looked precarious. The estate was vast, but there were many unused spaces and few people, leaving desolate corners scattered throughout.
They said a rich family could last three generations even after ruin. It seemed the Dan Mok Family endured only thanks to that blessing.
‘The problem is that I’m the third and final generation.’
If she didn’t revive the clan soon, it would collapse completely, leaving nothing behind. Wasn’t that what the future she’d glimpsed told her?
If she could only sell the estate now and move to somewhere smaller, it would be easier to preserve what remained of the family’s fortune. But liquidating this place, so heavy with the history of the clan, would mean completely abandoning any hope of restoration. So that was impossible.
Her aunt and acting family head, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo, seemed to be making some effort in Hanan Province where the Murim Alliance was based, but relying on others’ hands to rebuild the family’s wealth had its limits.
So she thought that if she, the eldest granddaughter, asked to learn something, her aunt would agree at once.
‘Instead she told me to learn calligraphy first.’
That was learning something, technically. Even though she already knew it all….
Unable to claim she already knew all the characters, Hwa Ryun found herself trapped and forced to take calligraphy lessons with her uncle Dan Mok Hyeon Woo, who had recently emerged from secluded training.
“The chicken looks strange.”
“It’s not strange—it’s magnificent.”
Hwa Ryun peered sideways at the boy squatting beside her, watching the chicken.
The youth still resembled a small animal, but his complexion had improved somewhat since they first met.
Whenever she saw him like this, she made sure to feed him Rice Balls or Dumplings without fail.
In truth, she’d been half in tears worrying that he might leave and she’d never see him again, so she’d begged her nurse to find out where he was and confirm he was well.
The nurse, though concerned that her mistress took excessive interest in a boy of unclear origins, hurried to learn where Hwa Ryun was staying for fear her young lady would truly cry.
‘How did he end up going from Hangzhou to Tian Shan? Could I somehow get closer to him and convince him to join the Dan Mok Family?’
“Isn’t this almost a phoenix?”
Lost in such thoughts, she gave a small smile at his words.
Thinking that this little boy would be the next Macheon Cult Master sometimes sent shivers down her spine, but when she’d given him a gentle tap on the head and he started speaking more respectfully, looking at the chicken and rambling about phoenixes—the innocent side of him was endearing.
“No, it’s a Silkie. A chicken with bones black as coal. Right, Heuk Wol?”
The entirely black chicken that paced back and forth in the coop glanced once in her direction.
But above its dark pupils gleamed a crimson luster that made it seem unusually intelligent, and the tips of its feathers shimmered with a warm reddish glow.
‘I’m certain it didn’t look like that at first.’
“No matter how I look at it, the chicken is strange.”
Hwa Ryun narrowed his eyes and looked back and forth between the Silkie and her.
She pinched the boy’s fleshy cheek and released it, then pulled a Rice Ball from her sleeve.
“Here, eat this, squirt.”
“But young miss is a squirt too.”
Hwa Ryun had overheard the nurse, Old Chang, calling her young miss, and he’d taken to using the term himself.
The manner wasn’t respectful, but that wasn’t something she cared about.
Hwa Ryun refused to eat if she just handed him the Rice Ball outright, so she broke it in half, then halved what remained, and pushed the pieces into his mouth.
As she did, she brought up something she’d been thinking about.
“Hwa Ryun. You can’t read, can you?”
“What about you, young lady? Can you?”
“You never answer directly—just turn it back on me.”
“Where would I have learned to read?”
Just listening to him speak, it seemed he’d already mastered the basics, but Hwa Ryun muttered under his breath in frustration.
“Really? Then want to learn with me? I don’t know how to read either.”
“But you’re a young lady, so shouldn’t you……”
The boy trailed off mid-objection, his voice fading. Dan Mok Hyeon Yo touched her cheek, looking slightly embarrassed.
The eldest grandson of a noble family not knowing a single character until he was eight years old—it was only because she’d been lying in bed all this time, and now she’d finally come to her senses.
“I promised to learn from Uncle. You come along too. We’ll study in the evenings. Uncle said it was fine!”
Hwa Ryun looked at her with an expression of bewilderment, but she paid no mind to his answer and kept pushing rice balls into his mouth. He waved his hand and dodged.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why?”
“What use would reading be to me?”
She suddenly found herself without words and simply continued pressing rice balls toward his mouth.
“Well…… that way, when you grow up later, right? Then you can read Martial Secret Manuals and things. Your sister will teach you everything.”
Hwa Ryun chewed and swallowed the rice ball thoroughly before speaking.
“I’m not going to learn Martial Arts.”
Stunned by such an unexpected declaration, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo’s eyes widened like saucers as she stared at him.
“What? Why?”
Even as she protested in alarm, Hwa Ryun replied flatly.
“In a family like this, no matter how skilled you become, you’re just an errand boy for the young masters and ladies.”
“……!”
She wanted to say it wasn’t entirely true, but the words wouldn’t come. Because his words held more than a grain of truth.
‘Ah! Is that why Hwa Ryun ended up joining the Macheon Cult?’
Because there, the strongest could sweep aside all hierarchy and pretense without restraint?
The thought made her chest sink again. Though admittedly, he seemed like the type who might do such a thing!
‘This can’t happen!’
“Then…… well, do you know about the Huashan Sect in Shaanxi Province? It’s not a family clan—it’s a martial sect. If you have real skill! You can become the sect leader regardless of your background! It’s truly wonderful…….”
“Shaanxi Province is too far from here.”
“Hey, this…….”
Damn it! The Macheon Cult’s headquarters in the Tian Shan range is ten thousand li away to the northwest! But somehow you made it there!
She couldn’t bring herself to shout those words aloud.
“So…… where would you want to learn Martial Arts, then?”
“Just because I want to learn something doesn’t mean I’ll be able to.”
“No, come on—just suppose you could.”
When you’re young, don’t you often harbor impossible hopes and wishes? Didn’t you imagine things like sneaking into a mansion with ninety-nine courtyards?
But Hwa Ryun seemed to have no interest in such things at all.
“If I learn swordplay, all it leads to is death. It’s better to live far away from such things.”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo’s face showed utter disbelief.
Who is this cynic?
‘Was Hwa Ryun like this when he was young? How does a child like this end up as Deputy Sect Leader of the Macheon Cult?’
Could it be that he possessed such overwhelming talent that when fortune smiled upon him, he simply rose to the position with minimal effort? The thought made her blood boil with frustration. Unaware of her internal turmoil, Hwa Ryun continued, grasping her arm.
“You shouldn’t do such things either, young lady.”
For a boy two years her junior, his voice carried an unnerving maturity. Dan Mok Hyeon Yo, staring at him with alarm, made another attempt at persuasion.
“But still…… if those wicked Blood Clan Valley creatures attack, shouldn’t you have some way to protect yourself?”
‘In this lifetime, I’ll only master the White Sword Technique once! Please! Hwa Ryun!’
But instead, a mischievous smile spread across his face.
“Then the marvelous swordmasters of the Martial World will come rescue me from those wicked Blood Clan Valley creatures.”
His words carried a faint, bitter cynicism toward the entire Martial World. Dan Mok Hyeon Yo’s lips moved soundlessly.
“No, but still…… if you knew how to read, you could write letters and things.”
“I’d need paper to write.”
“If you could read, you’d earn enough money to buy paper. You could buy rice too, and later maybe even a house.”
“Why are you so determined to teach me how to read?”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo’s words caught in her throat.
Why?
“That’s…….”

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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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