Keep It a Secret

A box full of treasures that was better than heavenly swords or earth-shattering items—those were medicinal ingredients. At least if you asked Xue.

Han Jing seemed to agree, practically inside the crate and pouring his love to it.

"Amazing! High grade materials if you ask me!" The young man was hugging one of the small treasure chests. "Our prayers were answered! You'll be able to make elixirs right?"

"Well, there's the problem of finding a cauldron and some pill furnaces." Xue admitted with a sheepish shrug.

Han Jing shook his head, "Geez, that person who sent you this might have forgotten that tiny detail."

He sighed a bit, "These ingredients are a boon to us, but I cannot help but worry that our safety is now compromised."

"Aren't you a worrywart? If the guy who sent this was interested in our deaths—well, we'd probably have been attacked now right?" Han Jing retorted with an eyeroll.

Xue frowned, what Han Jing said made sense on the surface but he couldn't help but still find it suspicious that somebody would send him ingredients. After he had a conversation with the young man at that. He peered down at his bracelet. "Is this a communication device? Some other function besides supposedly shrouding my aura."

"Pfftt…" Han Jing was stifling a laugh, holding himself back from laughing aloud. "You think Hua Zhao is smart enough to do something like that?"

"He's the guy who acted friendly with Miss Chan Lee to root out the spiritual energy that surrounded her—"

"Hold on! That bastard didn't give me anything! What if you've got your spiritual traces on me or something?" Han Jing complained. "I won't appreciate it if you marked your territory on me."

"I wouldn't exactly like that either, Han Jing." Xue made a face at the ludicrous statement. "Though I don't actively spread my spiritual energy at all… but returning to the topic, we need to remain vigilant of our surroundings. If this isn't Hua Zhao, somebody knows our location."

"Better tell that to Chan Lee, she's the one going out and getting attacked by evil creatures and not me. I hardly go out of my house and the only evil thing I've encountered is Madam Dongxia and her cat." Han Jing shuddered.

Xue sighed and moved towards the crate, returning the treasure chests that he had taken out of it. "Whether we like it or not, we may have to work together with Hua Zhao if he isn't the one behind these medicinal ingredients. It's better to trust a known enemy than a secret friend."

"Or he simply gave these to trick us into befriending him."

Xue didn't exactly want to consider that notion, but it was a possibility. He wanted to think that the old Fox would have gotten these for him, but he wasn't exactly the type to shower him with gifts. There were instances he would have been eaten by that Fox. Based on earlier conversation with Han Jing was the possibility that Young Master Liu Guiren was a bigger threat and had people watching them already.

He didn't really like his chances right now.

"Oi, bunny boy, there's no need to worry too much. Why don't we just run to the shared kitchen and get a pot to make some pills or something? I have a feeling we might get good results with a steady flame."

"You do know that I still need to find buyers, maybe it's easier if we just dispose of the ingredients." He rubbed his forehead, using the ingredients would certainly make him indebted to someone.

"Dispose? Are you nuts!?" Han Jing flabbergasted, motioning to the crate. "This is practically a box of gold."

"Perhaps we can sell this ingredient to some shops? At least the ones that you humans would buy today." The younger man's offer was tempting, he wanted to make something… but, it wasn't worth it if it endangered everyone. "We need to tell Miss Chan Lee later."

"Yeah, give her a small heart attack or something." Han Jing sighed.

"You're not serious right? This is… well, I'm not sure how she'd react when she sees this crate of treasures."

"I can't say either, it's hard to tell what goes on the mind of a girl." Han Jing shrugged. "Anybody really… but maybe it'd be best if we keep this a secret? We'd only trouble her poor mind if you tell her that you think somebody's marking us as targets—which I repeat seems unlikely—she might explode."

It felt like a heavy bag of stones were placed on his shoulders. The memory of the shadows underneath her eyes after that Jiangshi's incident. She had tried to look and act okay but she wasn't...and he hadn't mentioned it at all. Her emotional outburst at the university's rooftop, he wanted to pin the blame on that time.

Maybe Hua Zhao was right to not like him, or even Kit was right. That old Fox was right, and he was stubbornly ignoring it. He'd endanger Chan Lee as long as he was at her side.

"I...I think—yeah, let's hide these. Although I'm not sure where you can actually hide such a crate." Xue looked at Han Jing. He was relying on this mortal to help him. "Or let's give this to Hua Zhao instead and figure out how to create pills later." The chance to make Chan Lee's life better was still on him making use of the ingredients, regardless of whoever gave it to him.

He couldn't really let this chance slip away.

"If he stays at the dormitory, I don't think that's a good idea. Unless he's got some spatial ring or something." Han Jing frowned.

Xue eyed the perpetrator of confusion and doubts. "Han Jing, I can't help but feel like we're running circles in this conversation. You're getting me dizzy, and that's quite something for a mortal like you."

"Hah! I'll take that as a compliment." Han Jing rubbed his nose.

"I'm afraid that we really have to tell Miss Chan Lee when she arrives later, she deserves to know of this. We really can't afford risking our lives by keeping secrets with one another." Xue nodded to himself. At last finding a bit of clarity within this situation.

"You're… alright, whatever you want. I can see the logic in that," Han Jing rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm just er… can't we make at least one batch of medicine or something? You know, even just for me."

"Is that what you wanted? Is that why you're being insistent?" Xue felt his gaze narrow at the young man in front of him. "You want me to produce for you a special elixir you can drink to be powerful? To make you rich? Han Jing is that why you've been helping us all along?"

"All your life you've been stuck in this situation were nothing seems to go right." Han Jing stared at the ground. "Got a job? No. Are you a help to the family? No either. And you try to console yourself, make yourself feel better. Play a game or two, try to help out and be useful… but you can't. It's like I have the baddest luck or the worst karma. So what if you have the chance to change all that?" He raised his head, looking at the crate. "What if you actually had the chance to change your life for the better? All you need is a little help from a friend? Won't you be interested in that? It's a big break, I took my chances… but it's not working out."

Xue simply stared at the man in front of him, feeling his chest tighten a bit. "Haven't you tried working harder? I'm sure there's other chances for you to live a better life that doesn't involve me procuring pills." He sighed. "Han Jing please don't let yourself be blinded by greed, there's more to life than just accumulation of material wealth or accruing power and influence."

"I'm getting a pep talk and a lecture on morals from a bunny, real great." Han Jing held a hand over his face. "Aren't you trying to help out Chan Lee by making pills? Don't act so high and mighty like you're some virtuous being. If you want to be fair, then don't try helping her out at all if she wants to find a job. Seriously, what's the difference between her and me?" He sighed and shook his head. "Don't answer that. I'm just—I'll be going, I need a little breather. Sorry." Han Jing mumbled.

The young man walked out of the room and left Xue even more conflicted than his earlier confusion and wariness of the crate's arrival. Han Jing was a nice guy who'd been helping him and Chan Lee for quite some time now. His gaze flitted to the crate, but with this arrival, the young man's self interest suddenly reared its ugly head. Maybe this really wasn't a gift at all.

Maybe this was Pandora's box afterall?