41 The Home Is Where The Heart Is

When she and Hua Zhao returned to their classroom, the two of them easily parted ways without a word.

His two friends Bo Ling and Ning Bi were waiting for him by the door. The latter had thrown her a withering glare but said nothing else. Chan Lee entered the room and sped to her seat, smiling sheepishly at Mei and the others.

It may have been a little bit of luck, but their teacher arrived much later than usual. They complained of a flat tire and the traffic. Trivial, inconsequential things that she simply let pass by her.

The hours flew past for Chan Lee. Or perhaps she managed to survive them yet again. 

And that was enough.

More than enough.

Her gaze flittered outside, the night had once again arrived and their professor was wrapping up the lesson. Once again another familiar feeling swept over her, some deja vu. It had been nearly a week since he had arrived and turned her world upside down.

Her gaze fell on her open notebook beside it. Some notes, but mostly scribbles.

But they were far from nonsense.

They were a window to one's soul, each careful line and casual stroke told a story. Ignoring the swirls of ink and the doodles, there were small sketches of stars, moons and a rabbit.

And there was a girl.

It was a small thing.

There was a house, a meteor shower… 

Two people together.

'I'm sorry to have made you cry, but I'm not going anywhere.'

Those words of his…

"He surely didn't mean them that way right?" Chan Lee rested a hand on her face, muttering softly to herself. Not going anywhere? He had to leave her someday...

Someone cleared their throat, she whipped her head to the sight of two girls. "Chan Lee, class is over?" Mei smiled.

"Oh, yeah… just spacing out again." She ducked her head. "Apologies for not being able to join you guys earlier at breakfast." It was a silly notion now that she thought of it, she didn't need to say sorry for it.

Mei waved a hand, "Ah, it's no problem. I hope things turned out well for you though. Well, we'll be going ahead to our dorm now. See you again this Monday, Chan Lee!" 

"Chan Lee, I'll text you the details later~" Suyin smiled and waved at her. "Thanks again for taking over my shift."

She smiled and nodded, "Of course, I'm the one who ought to say thank you again! And have a good weekend you two!"

And with that, they bade their farewell.

It may have been done out of pure instinct, but her gaze turned to the back rows.

Hua Zhao, Bo Ling and Ning Bi were talking once again with their group of friends. The girl seemed to be the centre of attention, the others laughing a bit and poking fun with one another.

Her gaze met Hua Zhao's.

He raised a brow at her but quickly waved at her in goodbye, a small smile playing on his lips.

She ducked her head for a moment, reluctantly waving in return before she went out of their classroom. He really had gotten over their small incident too quickly.

While she? 

She redirected her attention towards the promised money that Hua Zhao would be paying Xue… She was assuming it would be a substantial amount. Hua Zhao was shocked at the price she stated earlier but spoke of his interest in negotiation. 

That was good news.

But it wasn't like the money was hers.

Xue may have voiced out that he wanted to help her out in his own way, and perhaps this was a good boon for them... But she also didn't want to think too much about it. The money was his, he was the one who had worked hard for it and not her.

She strolled past the hallways, noticing a familiar figure that was heading in the exact opposite direction of hers.

Liu Guiren simply walked past her.

He seemed to be in a rush to even say hello—and there were also several people between them. He seemed to be the type who'd say hi even if he was busy, but the two of them were strangers.

It was a silly stray thought that she considered before she left the university. The city was alive as usual, or even more alive. Friday nights were always like that.

Chan Lee walked past several shops and establishments, paying small notice to them. Except for some male clothes that captured her attention.

Surely, Xue could finally afford better clothes now if he wished.

He'd surely like to return the clothes he was borrowing from Han Jing.

Or perhaps he'd use it for travelling around. He had spoken of finding temples and sects who could possibly help him. If Kit was still in the area… then he'd surely be of help to Xue—but the man had already turned Kit down once.

"Maybe he didn't trust his friend that much to leave with him?" She mused silently. It had been perhaps centuries since the two had last met after all. It was such a long time, no doubt it changed how their friendship operated or whether they were actually friends at all.

...She tended to forget that. 

Or bury it down.

Xue's face never betrayed any signs of aging or the advancement of his years. Her fingers brushed against her forehead, wrinkles, did she have any of them? Hua Zhao had mentioned them quietly but she had heard him.

The feeling of rough beads on her face made her look at the bracelet in her wrist. It was supposed to hide her presence and protect her from evil. She shook her head for a moment.

This world…

Deep breaths.

One.

Two.

Three.

She shook her head and eyed the people around her. She wasn't alone. She was okay.

Chan Lee hurried home a bit faster after that.

To her sanctuary, to her safe place and her strong hold. 

To the one who waited for her.

To the one that felt like home.

"Miss Chan Lee, welcome home~" Xue greeted her with a kind smile, bowing his head a bit at her arrival. Today he had his hair in a ponytail, perhaps he or Han Jing had fixed it for him.

She smiled and placed her bag on the table. She wanted to jump into his arms—an urge that she was finding hard to curb. "Thank you, Xue! How was your day?"

"It was pretty great! Han Jing and I made more Body Tempering elixirs today. It was a wonderful time, it felt almost like I was back—ah, forgive me for blabbering. How was your day?"

"The talk with Hua Zhao went smoothly, I think we're up for negotiations." She explained with a smile. "I guess he'll need more money if you guys made more today."

"Well, that's good… but I was actually more curious of your day, not including Hua Zhao." He told her with a sheepish look. 

Her day? She moved over towards a chair and sat down for a moment. "Well, it was another day at university. Nothing extraordinary or unordinary."

"And that's a good day for you?" Xue tilted a head at her.

She nodded, feeling a bit ashamed that she couldn't say anything else. She was quite a boring companion, wasn't she? "Mhmm, classes are usually like that. A routine. Have you eaten dinner yet? Han Jing is not around huh?" All she could do was ask if he was alright.

"I think he needed to do something, or he's probably ecstatic over consuming the elixir and trying to cultivate now."

"Oh… good for him?" Chan Lee imagined the man trying to meditate. "He's not going to be breaking walls or flying around anytime soon, is he?"

The man chuckled. "Were you worrying about that?"

"Well, we can't have someone doing public stunts." She shook her head. "But maybe I'm just fussing too much over him."

"I think it's quite thoughtful of you to worry about him."

She shrugged a bit, "We're… well, I guess we look out for each other. But have you had dinner? How about we order something tonight?"

"Order something?"

"Yeah, fast food delivery." She grabbed for her phone and swiped through notifications. "Let's celebrate over the good results of your medicine making, my treat."

Xue chuckled and walked over towards her. "I still haven't been able to earn anything, so for the past days—it was always at your expense."

"It hasn't been much of a bother, but I'm excited for you to try out fast food." Chan Lee tried not to salivate, looking at the display of mouthwatering food on the app. "Let's get chips, french fries and ice cream, we'll be living wild tonight!"

"Why do I have a feeling that this will be more unhealthy than our mugs of hot chocolate?"

Chan Lee tried not to choke. "Well, I mean… I want you to try it, I don't think you've ever tasted—"

The man in front of her chuckled for a moment before he looked at her. He wore a gentle expression on his face as he leaned forward and patted her head.

"Whatever makes you happy, Miss Chan Lee."