The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 84

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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 Family’s Limited Warranty — Episode 84

“Sniff, hic-hic-hic, sniff…….”
A boy who looked to be around ten or eleven knocked desperately at the closed door, aggrieved, until a rough-handed servant standing nearby shoved him away from the wall.
“Now, let’s go back. There’s no time to waste.”
“Sniff…… hic…… I, I absolutely must…….”
The boy glared at the servant with eyes full of tears and bitterness, then abruptly bowed his head.
“You understand, surely, that even escorting you back to your residence is a kindness from the elders. Do you intend to return alone?”
The servant spoke coldly. The boy clenched his lip tight but couldn’t bring himself to say he’d go alone. When the servant strode ahead briskly, the boy started in alarm and hurried after him.
Baek Ui Myeong, who had been about to ask if he should follow that boy, was taken aback by how utterly cold the child’s gaze had become.
‘What? Just now his eyes were warm when he looked at me?’
“Follow him and make sure he doesn’t do anything reckless.”
“That…… what do you mean by reckless…….”
“I mean assassination plots. Things like that.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Assassination?
The word was so harsh that Baek Ui Myeong’s shoulders flinched.
The boy did seem to have received some punishment, but surely at his age, even if he harbored a grudge, he wouldn’t attempt something as extreme as assassination?
“Also anything like spreading rumors or complaints about the Great Family.”
At the mention of “Great Family,” he started again. He didn’t dare ask what Great Family that was, so he asked something else instead.
“I, well, if that’s the case…… if I see him doing such things, what should I…… what should I do?”
“What should you do? You should——”
The boy stopped mid-word and abruptly fell silent, then irritably raked his fingers through his own hair.
“Ugh…… I only meant to repay a favor, but how did things turn out like this.”
The boy grumbled and let out a heavy sigh before speaking.
“If something comes up, come find me. Just come here and ask to see a kid named Hwa Ryun, and that should work.”
“I, is that truly acceptable?”
“Yeah. If nothing happens, there’s nothing to report.”
‘If he doesn’t come to report, won’t he visit me again? Then I won’t be able to learn anything more?’
Baek Ui Myeong looked anxiously toward the child and servant growing distant.
‘What sort of incident am I supposed to hope for?’
“Why aren’t you going?”
“I’m, I’m going! Yes! I’m going!”
Baek Ui Myeong bowed deeply to the boy and hurriedly followed them.
The boy—Hwa Ryun—clicked his tongue as he watched them disappear, then stepped through the small rear gate in the compound wall.
“Ryun, you’re back? The young mistress is looking for you. It seems she’s preparing something directly to give you as a reward, and you’ve accomplished quite a feat this time.”
The gatekeeper greeted Hwa Ryun warmly upon seeing him. The moment he heard this, Hwa Ryun faltered, then nodded and quickened his pace. As he did, he let slip a sigh too quiet for anyone else to hear.
“Boiling medicine at the apothecary all night and writing letters and causing such a ruckus, and now she’s prepared something else too. Good grief…… I can’t take this much longer, honestly.”

* * *

After the announcement of the accepted candidates, the bustling atmosphere of the Great Family finally settled as the sun sank low.
The residence for the branch family children was set to be the Young Ren She

positioned in front of the Yeon Mu Jang. A space prepared from the beginning for training disciples, it consisted of the martial training hall, a small library, and dormitory buildings all adjoining one another.
Some of the children had brought many belongings, while others had arrived with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
Seo Geuk Rim, one of those who arrived with nothing but what he wore, had washed in warm water and eaten soft rice porridge for dinner, and was now wandering through the garden behind the Young Ren She dormitory with an oddly dazed expression.
‘I…… stayed.’
He couldn’t tell whether this was a dream or reality.
When the summons from the Dan Mok Clan had arrived, his parents were shocked and bewildered, and he himself hadn’t really thought much of it.
He had been learning Martial Arts little by little from his maternal grandmother, but he’d never thought he possessed any particular talent.
Yet here he was, brought along by his grandmother’s insistence.
— Rim, have you not heard? The Head of the Household has achieved enlightenment. This is a great opportunity.
His father had suggested they might as well sightsee in Hang Zhou while they were at it. Seo Geuk Rim had agreed. Only his grandmother had been serious.
She had repeatedly told him he had talent and that he could do well. Only his grandmother had wept on the day he and Dan Mok Jun departed together.
Her grandmother had bid her farewell with eyes that mingled joy and longing, as if another decade would pass before they could meet again.
‘I should write to Grandmother…….’
The Great Family had said they would send word to the family, but she wanted to write the letter to her grandmother herself.
“Hmm? Geuk Rim?”
“Oh, Miss!?”
The moment he thought he should go inside and write that letter before bed, a fragrance of golden gardenia swept past, and a girl appeared. It was Dan Mok Ryeon.
“Miss, what brings you here……?”
Seo Geuk Rim, who was always praised for his maturity and composure, found himself stammering for some reason, unable to keep his voice steady.
He glanced down at his own clothes and noticed his sash had been tied carelessly, which made him wince slightly.
“I thought everyone would have unpacked by now, so I came to give you the answer key from today’s test.”
“I beg your pardon?”
At the word “answer key,” Seo Geuk Rim’s head lifted without thinking. Before him stood the girl, slightly smaller than himself, with a gentle smile.
“But you worked hard today—are you sure you’re well enough to be out? Your body is alright?”
“I’m quite well, thank you for your concern. Without your help, I’d surely be riding back to my hometown in a carriage by now…….”
Seo Geuk Rim remembered the moment when she had grasped his wrist with crystalline clarity.
Once, he had seen a carp in the pond at Dan Mok Jun’s estate—a beautiful fish with a white body and striking red markings, gliding through the water with such grace that her touch felt like that same fluid elegance.
From the instant her hand took his, the churning in his stomach, the nausea, the dizziness—all had been washed away as if by cold water. It could not have been mere chance.
“You think so?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You think it’s because of me that you’re staying?”
At the subtle question, Seo Geuk Rim nodded without hesitation.
He had thought he did not wish for such things as the chance to remain at the main house and train in Martial Arts, but he had discovered at the end that it was not so.
Feeling the gaze of Dan Mok Jun as he watched him clutch his aching stomach and retch—only then, for the first time.
Had it not been for her, he would never have stumbled forward like that, never have run to the training grounds even knowing it was too late.
It was Dan Mok Ryeon who had given him that opportunity, that final lifeline.
Now he had nothing to offer in return, no way to repay her kindness, but if there was anything she wished, he was resolved to do his utmost.
“Then you must work hard. Do you understand?”
“Yes?”
“You can become someone great, Geuk Rim. If you just work hard. Eat well and sleep well.”
“Ah, yes!”
‘Is that……all?’
Seo Geuk Rim was slightly taken aback.
When Dan Mok Jun had given him those worn clothes, Seo Geuk Rim had to carry grain, spread fertilizer in the fields, and even help with the harvest.
“It seems everyone is resting.”
Dan Mok Ryeon glanced over the Young Ren She building once, then accepted a basket from her escort and held it out to him.
“I wish I’d come earlier. Could you distribute these later, according to the names written on them? If I give them out now, it’ll only be inconvenient.”
“Yes! I accept your order…….”
“What? There’s no need for that.”
Though Dan Mok Ryeon waved her hand dismissively, Seo Geuk Rim held the basket close to his chest as if it were precious.
Seeing him like that, Dan Mok Ryeon offered words of encouragement for tomorrow before turning to leave, and the servant beside her could be heard chattering away.
“You should go rest soon. You’ve been writing all night……you could have just given them to me to deliver.”
“But we’re family now, so it’s nice to see his face once more.”
“Still, after writing all that, you’ve been going back and forth to the pharmacy since dawn…….”
After that, no more voices could be heard.
Seo Geuk Rim stood holding the basket containing ten letters, watching her receding figure in silence, and when Dan Mok Ryeon suddenly turned back and waved, he hastily bowed.
As he did, he turned over their conversation in his mind.
It seemed that some people had suffered from what Dan Mok Jun had done this time, and Dan Mok Ryeon had stayed at the pharmacy to help make medicine.
So that was it. Seo Geuk Rim understood not through rational judgment but through intuition.
And then he turned over Dan Mok Ryeon’s last words again.

— Now we’re family.

The same family, he chewed the words in his mouth, and only then did the haze that had clouded him lift away, and he felt the cold autumn night air.

* * *

Since everyone was so excited and stirred that no one slept, Seo Geuk Rim gathered the children as soon as Dan Mok Ryeon left and distributed the letters she had given him.
“What……is this……?”
Dan Mok Wan, holding the letter with his own name written on it, asked hesitantly.
“Miss gave them to us. She said they were answer keys, but I don’t know either. Go on, find your own.”
“Did the young lady come by…?”
“Yes, just a moment ago. She didn’t want to disturb you, so she just left this for you and went.”
“I see……”
Dan Mok Wan acknowledged with a note of disappointment, then took the letter and withdrew to his quarters.
Finally, Mae Shin Yu—a boy with a somewhat fierce expression—snatched the letter up on the spot and unfolded it right there.

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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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