The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 80

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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 Declining Great House’s Doomed Heirs — Episode 80

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The head cook clutched her head and cried out.
“No, no, you fools! What on earth is happening here? Physician, Physician!”
“Ugh, uuuugh!”
“I—I’ll go to the outhouse right away and come straight back!”
“What in blazes have all of you been eating?”
It had been ages since the collateral branch relatives had been summoned to the main house, so they’d sent one of Wol Yeong Jae’s kitchen staff to the reception hall to ensure proper service. That was the head cook herself.
She had thought everything would go perfectly smoothly to the very end.
But then, suddenly, four or five kitchen servants turned ashen at once and began vomiting one after another.
Even watching a single person retch made others queasy, but with so many doing it at once, chaos erupted.
One hollow-eyed servant, his eyes reddened from the strain of vomiting, hesitantly confessed.
“The, the meat left in the kitchen……”

* * *

The children had been nervous but had done their absolute best nonetheless.
Dan Mok Cheon Gi had risen again, and the clan was reclaiming its former prosperity—if one of them could just make a good impression here and remain at the main house, the rest of their life would be assured.
Yet among them, only Dan Mok Jun could not focus on the test before him. It was because of the eyes of the direct-line girl watching him—a gaze so cold it pierced right through him.
Eyes that seemed to say she already knew what he had done, eyes that no child his age should possess.
Seo Geuk Rim was a distant cousin living in the village next to Dan Mok Jun’s.
Their ancestors—his grandfather and Seo Geuk Rim’s grandmother—had once shared time together, and the families had maintained contact since, but Seo Geuk Rim’s household was not in good circumstances.
At best, the Dan Mok family would send him provisions and Dan Mok Jun’s old, tattered clothes, calling him family.
Even when he first learned that Seo Geuk Rim’s family had received a summons from the “main house,” he had been surprised, but nothing more.
He had never expected Seo Geuk Rim to actually come. His family wasn’t even in a position to scrape together travel money for a single child to go all the way to Hang Zhou.
Yet somehow Seo Geuk Rim had scraped together every last coin of his family’s savings and come anyway, using the flimsy excuse that he wanted to see the place just once, even if he was going to fall behind—and here he was……
Dan Mok Jun had taken it as both insolence and betrayal that Seo Geuk Rim showed greater talent in the sword than he did.
How could he dare to surpass him when he had grown up eating the food Dan Mok Jun had given him and wearing the clothes Dan Mok Jun had provided?
‘I must have disposed of the meat properly.’
He had only ordered the servants he’d brought along to prepare the dishes; he didn’t actually know how things had turned out afterward.
He had never expected anyone to ask him about Seo Geuk Rim.
Dan Mok Jun had barely acknowledged Seo Geuk Rim within the clan, instead keeping busy building connections with the other children.
‘No, that’s right. Even if they realize something was wrong with the stir-fry, I can just say the cook didn’t realize it had gone bad!’
Dan Mok Jun steadied himself. He hadn’t prepared the dish himself, after all.
‘That’s why someone like an grandson-by-marriage shouldn’t be putting on airs……’
Seo Geuk Rim was the grandson-by-marriage of Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s cousin, but Dan Mok Jun still carried the Dan Mok name.
Those without even the Dan Mok name could hardly be called the same blood anymore, could they?
Which meant those types shouldn’t have been sent a summons for this collateral branch recruitment in the first place.
‘If only the Dan Mok Clan hadn’t sent Geuk Rim that summons……’
Resentment welled up; he bit his lip and gripped the Wooden Sword.
Though Seo Geuk Rim had picked up all manner of crude techniques from overhearing lessons, and Dan Mok Jun had to handle many such rough edges beforehand, Dan Mok Jun knew he himself was a genius. A genius who had to pass in first place at this very trial.
His grandfather, who had taught him the sword, always praised him as a genius whenever he saw him.

— Born from orphans and now without a father—no, you are no ordinary child. You, Jun, must become the next patriarch of this house!
— You cannot possibly lose to someone from a collateral branch without even the Dan Mok name, can you?
— How can you only manage that? No—you can do better. You inherited this grandfather’s talent directly, did you not?

Dan Mok Jun’s shoulders twitched. Even if he passed and remained at the main house, anything less than first place would be meaningless.
He had heard that his grandfather had once nearly become the greatest swordsman under heaven and made patriarch. As his grandfather’s primary heir, he too had to pass with confidence.
At that moment, Dan Mok Hyeon U looked down at him quietly.
Suddenly Dan Mok Jun felt as though he couldn’t breathe.
‘What, what is this?’
“Draw your blade,” she said.
“Y-yes? Yes… Yes!”
Dan Mok Jun snapped to attention and hastily drew his Wooden Sword. Until now he’d been lost in thought, staring vacantly at Dan Mok Hyeon U.
“Then come.”
“I-I’m coming!”
His voice trembled without his meaning it to, and he stammered over the words. Dan Mok Jun flushed with shame and quickly moved his feet into position, executing the footwork. After this, with this Wooden Sword——!
Clang!
But with just one exchange, the Wooden Sword flew from his grip with a bright ringing sound. His empty hand tingled with the impact.
Dan Mok Jun stood bewildered and dumbfounded, staring only at where the sword had gone. In the same moment, Dan Mok Hyeon U’s weapon touched his neck.
“Like it or not, this is a Martial Exam. You cannot afford to let your mind wander during the match.”
“……!”
He was the only one whose bout ended so quickly.
His face flushed crimson with fury and humiliation. He couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.
How could he, not even Dan Mok Cheon Gi but merely the youngest son’s disciple, have lost his grip on the Wooden Sword in a single exchange and left himself defenseless?
Dan Mok Hyeon U looked down at the fire in the boy’s eyes and spoke quietly.
“It is not easy to pass this test even when your mind is divided. Steel yourself, dedicate yourself to training, and then——”
“I-I just lost focus for a moment! Please, just one more time——”
“When you face a real opponent, will you also ask for one more try?”
Dan Mok Jun’s lips trembled at the question. Tears welled up in his eyes.
“But please, just once more——”
“That’s enough. Next!”
“Young master, please step back.”
“N-no, let go!”
Even as he swallowed his pride and pleaded desperately, Dan Mok Hyeon U would not relent.
Dan Mok Jun shook off the hands restraining him with a violent jerk, his face twisted with humiliation, and descended from the platform under his own power, seething.
At that moment, Dan Mok Jun realized the next examinee was Seo Geuk Rim. His face twisted savagely as he glared at Seo Geuk Rim.
Yet Seo Geuk Rim, who had always worn his hand-me-down clothes, regarded him with an indifferent expression, glanced at him once, and climbed up onto the examination platform.

* * *

Yeon watched Seo Geuk Rim as Dan Mok Hyeon U sparred with him, drawing upon her Heavenly Eye. Starlight gleamed across her irises.
With a Talent Rank of Upper-Lower, this meant his aptitude exceeded even that of the main branch.
Though he’d learned only the first level of the Twelve Stars Falling Blade and the first level of Infinite Footwork, considering his threadbare clothes and the poverty evident in his bearing, what he had accomplished was testament to his own gifts and effort.
Indeed, Dan Mok Hyeon U now exchanged blows with a vigor quite different from before, even seeming to enjoy himself.
“Oh! So you thought to move like that?”
“Hah—hah!”
Seo Geuk Rim’s unconventional yet clever movements stirred Dan Mok Hyeon U’s interest, and by the end he even pointed out a weakness the boy had exposed.
Seo Geuk Rim had no breath left to answer, concentrating entirely on receiving each strike.
But he could not sustain it further. Seo Geuk Rim, who had suffered nausea and vertigo right up until arriving at the examination grounds, could go no further. He was managing only by Yeon’s temporary purification of his condition.
As Seo Geuk Rim swayed badly, Dan Mok Hyeon U caught the boy in alarm.
“Wh-what! No, what’s wrong! Are you all right? Physician, physician!”
The Physician who had been waiting hurried over. At the same moment, Yeon leapt down from the stands.
This Seo Geuk Rim was precisely the talent who could become a pillar of the clan—he could not be treated carelessly. Yeon spoke quickly to the Physician.
“He ate some spoiled meat and kept vomiting, but he pushed through and took the test anyway.”
Seo Geuk Rim’s eyes widened in surprise before dizziness overtook him again, and the Physician nodded with a sorrowful expression.
“Ah, Beast Meat Poison,
(獸肉毒)
I see. He’s fortunate to have expelled most of it—his condition is relatively stable. Give him a Detoxification Pill along with some Reed Root
(蘆根)
juice, and let him rest. ……But however did he come to eat spoiled meat?”
The Physician’s words carried a careful edge. The food for the Collateral Branch members called today had been prepared by Chef Jeon, who oversaw the kitchens of Wol Yeong Jae.
Chef Jeon, who harbored ambitions to become Zhejiang’s Greatest Chef, had redoubled his efforts ever since losing the Black Moon Silkie Chicken at Wol Yeong Jae previously, and now to have such a grave mishap occur——
‘If Chef Jeon learns of this, he might well weep.’
The Physician, recalling Chef Jeon’s face from the times he’d prepared late-night meals, privately hoped the boy would claim he’d eaten something wrong outside.
“That is……”
It was at that moment. Multiple people came running, and a voice sharp and ringing that seemed impossible from a child pierced the air.
“Dan Mok Jun! Kneel where you stand!”
“Wh-what?”
“What’s happened?”
“Y-Yeon?”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo was the first to recognize her daughter’s voice and sprang to her feet.
Even as Ryon’s eyes flew wide in shock, the other martial artists quickly seized Dan Mok Jun and forced him to his knees.

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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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