16 Gifts

The dinner ended peacefully in Ye Han's opinion. An Akari who's blushing like a tomato, her overly enthusiastic mother, Ryo staring at him like he was the world's greatest evil and Zhi Ruo who was just silent in the entirety of the meal. Everything is definitely going well. But the families quirky attitude, save for Zhi Ruo, somehow unnerved him.

Despite the weirdness, Ye Han maintained proper table manners. His usual mannerisms will definitely never going to be showcased in here. The last thing he wants is Akari hurting him. But in spite of his efforts to control himself, for him to consume more than half of the food presented says otherwise. 'I may have overdone myself a bit there.'

Thankfully no one voiced out any complaints except for Ryo's glare becoming much harsher every second.

Zhi Ruo then stood up like the elegant woman she is. "I have finished. Akagi, take Akari to her room and prepare her for bed." Akagi let out a cheerful nod and dragged Akari away.

"Let's go, my cute daughter!"

"But-" Akari, of course, wanted to complain but her mother squeezed her arms a bit harder than usual. This prompted her to shut up.

"Ye Han, Ryo." Zhi Ruo called. "Follow me."

Ye Han was bewildered. 'What does she wants?' His thoughts were interrupted by a forceful grip placed on his shoulders. Turning his head, he saw Ryo giving him a feral grin. 'This might be bad.'

Left with no choice, he reluctantly followed Zhi Ruo with a skipping Ryo tailing them.

Wherever Zhi Ruo wants to take him, Ye Han hoped that place is not somewhere far away. Putting into consideration the size of Akari's compound, the amount of walking he would make will be tedious.

"So you think you could swindle my cute precious daughter like that?" Ryo asked not bothering to hide his hostility.

"I do not know what you are talking about sir." Ye Han answered confused.

"Stop pretending brat!" Ryo raised his voice. "I know your types, and if you think you could take my daughter, think again!"

"U-huh. I'll take it to heart sir."

Ryo just snorted at his response. "Stop scaring Ye Han, Ryo." Zhi Ruo reprimanded the overprotective father.

Ryo stiffened then his shoulders immediately slumped. "Yes."

Ye Han let out an internal smirk. 'Serves you right. I don't know what you're talking about but you've been very hostile to me from the start.'

"Here we are." Voiced Zhi Ruo. Ye Han observed the surrounding and took notice of the open environment they were in. A huge area of grass covered the ground. Ye Han wondered the use of such a large area.

The woman then clapped her hands and a portal the size of a small door appeared in front of her. Zhi Ruo looked at Ye Han for any reaction but was disappointed to find him looking at it normally. 'Oho, he's not surprised at all.'

Ye Han observed the portal and he could already point out a lot of mistakes. 'This looks crude. This is a second rate at best.'

"Follow me."

As soon as they got to the other side of the portal, it immediately closed. And what greeted them is a massive sealed gate. It was filled with charms, talismans, formation, and fortification protecting it. It looks just like a massive gate but Ye Han knew that it was not just a simple gate. 'Anything inside this gate is definitely something important.'

"You're really lucky Ye Han." Zhi Ruo smiled. "She really cares about you, even willing to do this kind of favor."

"I'm glad to know that." He responded wryly.

"I know what happened during that day."

He froze upon the mention of that event. But thankfully, Zhi Ruo and Ryo did not manage to find something unusual in his behavior. 'Help me. That time was really embarrassing. Being manhandled by mere goons is shameful. But low-key is key indeed.' The shame was understandable. The former (and still?) strongest reduced to a mere punching bag and knife holder is laughable. But he hopes to keep his current life, even if it sometimes gets way too "hard." 'Revealing myself is going to be a lot of issues other than my financial crisis..'

"I've looked into the circumstances of that day and let's say I may have a slight idea of who is targeting you. But let us not jump into conclusions."

Ye Han did not feel threatened at all. So, he just shrugged it off like it was dust on his clothes, and inwardly scoffed at the idea of someone harming him.

"Akari insisted on providing you some form of protection seeing your lack of... capabilities."

'Me? Needs protection? How ridiculous is that?!' Ye Han, of course, chose to remain silent throughout her explanation.

"You should be honored brat! My daughter, who you swindled, is really insisting on this idea. And added the fact that you are currently inside our clan's treasury you should feel humbled." Ryo declared with pride in his voice.

'So this is their treasury. That explains the abundance of defense mechanisms.' "Why are we here madam?" Ye Han could not help but ask.

"This is your reward. You protected my precious granddaughter and so I'm expressing my thanks. You could pick any item from our treasury."

Zhi Ruo muttered some incomprehensible chant. A magic circle materialized in front of her. The circle bears the symbol of their family, a swan. She took a knife and carefully sliced her thumb, just enough to let a single drop of blood to trickle down. All the seals were then lifted and with a loud thud, the gate opened albeit slowly and with an obvious creak. Stepping inside, Ye Han noticed the abundance of items inside.

"We've divided this room into 3 main chambers, items, ingredients and manuals. These valuable items gathered in here have been collected by the clan since its foundation. You could say that this room is the lifeblood of the clan."

Ye Han explored the chamber but found nothing of interest. And every time Ye Han stopped his gaze on a certain item, Ryo would begrudgingly explain the origin of those items.

'I'll admit these treasures aren't too shabby. But unfortunately, I have a better stash. I hope that place is still intact.'

"Have you found any item of your choosing?" Zhi Ruo asked.

Ye Han felt somehow guilty. Although he appreciated the expression of goodwill, nothing really did catch his interest. He might have settled for a random item when suddenly, he felt a familiar tug.

Following the source of the sensation, he found a rather wide flat box. The box looked ordinary and most of all, it was dusty. A sign that it was left there untouched for a long time.

"That box was found by the first ancestor when he was exploring some ruins. It was located at the very center of the ruin and was situated at the top of an altar. He has tried countless methods to open the box it but it all failed. Through his research, he found that it can only be open by someone recognized by the box." Zhi Ruo explained.

'Of course. I was the one who made this box.' The box brought out a memory of a certain girl.

***

"Don't forget my present!" A girl said placing her hands on her waist.

"Sure."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

But when the man returned, all was left is a burnt village. The girl laid on the ground unmoving.

"Where my gift?" She asked.

Tears kept on raining the man's face. "I've brought it here." He handed her the box.

The girl received it weakly. "You really brought it. Thank you. Goodbye, Ye Han."

The girl died on his arms. But even in death, she is still holding to her gift tightly.

That day, the man buried her. The sky darkened as if sympathizing with the man. She was buried alongside her precious gift.

***

"Are you sure about your choice?" Zhi Ruo asked.

"The ancestor has tried every method opening that box brat. You may want to consider your choice." Even Ryo voiced out a little bit of concern.

Ye Han remained silent as he held the box caringly in his arms.

Zhi Ruo just sighed and even Ryo looked somewhat disappointed. They were about to go outside but the box was then enveloped by a golden glow. The box let out an audible click and slowly Ye Han lifted the cover.

Inside the box were 18 identical needles. They were 6 inches long and were double pointed. It was golden in color. Each needle has a diameter of half a centimeter at its thickest part. Each needle was placed neatly with each other.

"To think that inside that box were needles. How fascinating." Zhi Ruo did not hide the amazement in her voice.

Ryo was gobsmacked. To think that the brat managed to open that box.

But the two swiftly caught their bearings. "Now that you have your reward, let us go outside. Seeing that it's already night time, I invite you to stay inside the house. Rest assured we've already prepared a guest room for you. Shall we?"