The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 92

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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 Decline of a Noble House: A Doomed Heir – Episode 92

“So naturally, once you master Footwork Technique, you can do it.”
“Is Footwork Technique more important than Sword Technique?”
“Nothing is unimportant. Everything matters equally.”
The children wore puzzled expressions. At their age, they loved nothing more than ranking things in order of importance.
‘No, wait—martial artists obsess over rankings their entire lives.’
The way they argued about who was the Greatest Master Under Heaven was extraordinary. Gray-haired elders gathered together all the time, squabbling over whether one was rank first or the other was, causing quite a stir.
“So what you’re saying is… everyone needs to work hard… right? Isn’t that exhausting?”
Dan Mok Ryeon asked the playful question, and Dan Mok Gyu quickly nodded in agreement.
“Young lady, how do you understand these things so well? Are you a genius?”
“No, I’m not really a genius or anything like that…”
‘The real geniuses are Bi and Ryun, aren’t they?’
She herself wore Mind’s Eye, Harmony, and Purification wrapped around her entire body, but seeing the achievements that Dan Mok Bi and Hwa Ryun displayed without any of those gifts—it was enough to leave her speechless.
Hwa Ryun was someone she had taught directly, and the speed of her progress had astonished her; Dan Mok Bi likewise had learned from Dan Mok Cheon Gi and demonstrated her advancement to her, which was far from ordinary.
“You can all do it. Really, you can. It’s just unfamiliar right now. Once you see it often enough and grow accustomed to it, it’ll feel easy before long.”
“If we look at the Martial Manual,

will that work?”
“You can read the Martial Manual, and you can watch other people demonstrate it too.”
“How many times have you seen it, young lady?”
She went blank for a moment. The thought that the children might cry if she said only once made her hesitate.
“I… I’ve seen it many times too. I… about a hundred times or so…”
“No, no, you don’t have to say things like that for our sake, really, you don’t!”
Dan Mok Wan cried out with his eyes squeezed shut. His face flushed red—whether from shame or the effort of overcoming it.
“We’ll work hard too!”
“Me as well!”
“But… could you show us just one more time…?”
“Just once more!”
The children clamored and pestered her, watching her expression carefully. They had wanted to ask many times before but hadn’t dared; today, they’d finally gathered their courage.
Dan Mok Ryeon smiled broadly and rolled up her sleeves.
“Twice, three times—no problem!”
She grasped the Wooden Sword again and told them to watch closely, then re-demonstrated the Footwork Technique and Sword Technique she had just shown.
“Why do you think this step moves in this direction here?”
……
……
The children strained their eyes and turned their heads back and forth at one another. When no answer came for a long time, Mae Sin Yu quietly raised her hand and replied.
“A backward retreat.”
“Right, right. A retreat. But why?”
“Because we just defended against an attack coming from the left, so to prepare for an upward strike from below, we step back one pace…”

* Mae Sin Yu gains Understanding 1 *
Seo Geuk Rim gains Understanding 1
Yeo Seon Hwun gains Understanding 1
Current Luck Value: 47 / 120 (3▲)

“Right, right! Sin Yu, so why does your left foot move from back to front on the right side here?”
……
Mae Sin Yu pondered for a moment, then raised her arm to mime the motion before speaking hesitantly.
“To minimize the exposure of your left side when making a sweeping motion from left to right…?”
“Right, right! Does anyone else understand?”

* Mae Sin Yu gains Understanding 1 *
Seo Geuk Rim gains Understanding 1
Dan Mok Wan gains Understanding 1
Current Luck Value: 50/120 (↑3)

Dan Mok Wan and Seo Geuk Rim cautiously raised their hands. Ryeon gazed at them both with a beaming smile.
‘Growing so quickly! I still don’t know what I can do with the Luck Value, but watching it pile up like this—it’s like being full without eating anything.’
She’d only waved her hand through the air, yet joy accumulated inside her as though she were watching rice grains pour endlessly into her palm.
‘Sending letters to the children who failed the selection did have some effect, but there’s nothing like showing results right before their eyes.’
After the collateral line selection ended, she’d written to the children who’d fallen about paths to studying martial arts. That too had lifted her Luck Value gradually, but never as dramatically as this.
Ryeon had summoned Dan Mok Wan among them and had him take up a Wooden Sword, then recreated the scene Mae Sin Yu had described.
“So like this, and then, and next—oh, Wan!”
“Y-yes, young lady! I’m sorry, I’m sorr—!”
The moment Dan Mok Wan’s footsteps faltered while he stared intently at the tip of Ryeon’s Wooden Sword, she too gasped and rushed to catch him, and the two of them tilted together and nearly toppled sideways.
Mae Sin Yu and Seo Geuk Rim caught them simultaneously, and the scene was so comical that the children burst into laughter without meaning to.
“O-oh, ah, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry—!”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Your focus is strong, Wan—that’s why!”
Ryeon was gently coaxing the crestfallen Dan Mok Wan when it happened.
Suddenly, a brilliant flash blazed across her vision.
“Ah, young lady? Are you all right?”

* Dan Mok Hyeon U has escaped the Heart Demon! *
Current Luck Value: 58/120 (↑8)

‘What?’
The Luck Value she’d been accumulating bit by bit surged dramatically upward all at once. The magnitude of Dan Mok Hyeon U’s Heart Demon must have been enormous.
Ryeon raised her head in surprise and glanced around. Yet she saw no sign of Dan Mok Hyeon U.
‘Uncle? How did he escape the Heart Demon?’
“I—something urgent just came to mind! I think I need to go! Did you happen to see which way my uncle, the medicinal master, went?”
“He went that way just now…….”
The moment someone pointed beyond the wall, Ryeon dashed in that direction.
Sure enough, Dan Mok Hyeon U’s back soon came into view. He was hunched forward with one hand pressed against a tall wooden post, his back exposed.
“Uncle! Uncle, are you—uncle?”
“Ah, is that you, Ryeon?”
This time Ryeon stopped short, startled. Dan Mok Hyeon U hurriedly wiped at his face, but there was no hiding it.
His cheeks and sleeves were drenched, and tears were still streaming down from his eyes.
“U-uncle……uncle? Are you all right?”
“Ah, I’m fine! I’m fine. Something got in my eye. Just suddenly, that…….”
Such excuses couldn’t stop the tears from flowing.
“Sigh, this uncle is—I’m fine, I’m fine. Why did you come here? You should be with the children.”
“You suddenly disappeared……. Why are you crying? Did something happen?”
“No, nothing happened. Really, nothing at all, nothing—it’s just that this uncle, seeing our Ryeon…….”
Dan Mok Hyeon U trailed off, then crouched down before Ryeon to meet her eyes. He reached out and brushed away her hair and the dust from her cheeks.
“Watching you laugh and play and make noise with children your own age……I was just so happy, that’s why…….”
“Ah…….”
Then Ryeon understood.
In her past life, she had never once been able to show herself playing in harmony with friends.
And in this life, she hadn’t managed it either—until now.
Today was the first time Dan Mok Hyeon U had witnessed Ryeon laughing and chattering and roughhousing with peers her own age, rowdy and unburdened.
“Uncle, I…….”
“It was my wish.”
“Your wish?”
Tears welled up as Dan Mok Hyeon U broke into a smile, his face contorted, and he slowly shook his head, speaking haltingly.
“Watching you laugh and talk with friends……that was this uncle’s wish……that you……that you, because of me, because I couldn’t protect you, you spent your entire childhood…….”
Ryeon hesitated for a moment, then simply opened her arms and pulled her uncle close. The grown man held her tight and began to weep uncontrollably.
Ryeon felt her shoulder grow damp, heard him continue repeating apologies, and found tears welling up in her own eyes for reasons she couldn’t name.
“Uncle……it’s all right now. I was all right from the very beginning.”
His long years of self-reproach washed away in tears. The young man, who could not bear to exist without blaming himself, wept for a long time.

* * *

“Crying outside in this cold for a full hour—how could anyone not fall ill? And soon we’ll be departing for the Namgung Clan. What a sight this is.”
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo spoke sharply and then sighed. With only the instruction to bring in another brazier, she turned and left.
But Dan Mok Hyeon U was still smiling bashfully.
“I do have a fever, but my body feels light. I think I could even manage the Void-Walking Step! Oh, but don’t come too close. What if you catch this cold?”
Dan Mok Hyeon U quickly covered his mouth with the blanket and drew away from Ryeon. As she laughed, Wi Ji Cheong entered carrying the warmed Medicinal Soup he’d prepared. At the sight of it, Dan Mok Hyeon U went rigid with panic.
“My lord! Such things should be sent through a servant……”
“It’s no trouble. Besides, Ryeon, Bi mentioned wanting to feed the carp together. Since your uncle can’t tend to them now, would you do it in his place?”
Ryeon, understanding the two had something to discuss, quickly nodded and slipped from the room.
Left alone, Dan Mok Hyeon U fidgeted, despite his fever being nothing severe.
Then, avoiding Wi Ji Cheong’s gaze, he spoke hastily.

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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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