章 29: Can we stay?
After a long time passed, Ace released his grip on Charlotte as she pushed him away, her face turned away from him as she told him, "I'm sorry Ace, but I want to save it for until the day we officially get married after the sect has fully developed."
Ace hesitated for a moment, it would hurt like hell for him to stop now, but her true feelings still got to him as he gave her a pat on the head, assuring her, "I understand, let's just go to sleep alright?"
Charlotte nodded her head and buried her head into Ace's embrace, she heaved a sigh of relief despite the panic in her heart. What if he hates me for doing this? This is already the second time I've pushed him away.
But the other side of her logical mind told her that if Ace truly cared for her, he would respect her decisions and forgive her for having such a mindset. At least, that was the thinking she was biased to and would choose.
"Charlotte, don't worry about such pointless thoughts. I respect your decisions and never will I ever have the heart to hurt you. Go to sleep peacefully. Alright?"
"Mhm…"
Haha, her usual reaction. Ace laughed silently as he watched her drift into wonderland while cursing, what the hell am I going to do about this now!
Ace wanted to cool his head off and shake off those disrupting sexual thoughts, but Charlotte was laying in his embrace too peacefully for him to shake off those thoughts.
Should I be a scumbag or should I stick to my moral values?
The chosen glimmering stars of the velvety violet sky guarded the moon through the night with their blades. The frosty moon concealing itself behind the overprotective clouds. The enchanting night soon shunned away by the dazzling rays of the sun.
"Mhm? Ace, why are there dark circles beneath your eyes, didn't you sleep last night?" Charlotte asked with saliva drooling from her mouth as she woke up when the first ray of sunlight shone onto her face through the glass window.
"I tried to, but I couldn't fall asleep." Ace answered honestly, only to realise that he had spent the whole night struggling with his carnal desires even though he had persuaded Charlotte to put away those meaningless thoughts.
Charlotte rubbed her eyes as her eyes glanced down, her face blushing as she hurriedly got off the bed and left the room. "I'm going to change my clothes so don't suddenly come barging into the washroom!"
Huh? Ace took a moment to recollect his thoughts before he got out of his bed and left the dwelling, his mind soon tranquil as he changed his set of clothing quickly before leaving the sect to look for Clarissa and Arith.
Since the sect grading was happening in slightly less than a month's time, the first thing he could do would be providing all disciples cultivation elixirs and higher quality weapons for a cheap price which can never be found outside.
Since there was no point to call for a meeting at the meeting hall, Ace made the effort to travel to the alchemist room personally.
From some distance away, Ace could smell the leaking fragrance of herbs. The alchemy room was divided into four stations, Ace had plans to upgrade it to an alchemy workshop so that Clarissa can have a room alone to herself, but she would have to wait for another month because of his incompetence.
"Sect master? What are you doing here right now?"
Turning around, Ace saw a young disciple looking at him. Her appearance was ordinary, but the birthmark on the right side of her face made it difficult for people to forget about her appearance.
"I have some matters to speak to elder Clarissa about, what are you doing out here?" Ace replied with a question as his eyes glanced towards the birthmark on the right side of her face.
"Sect master, please…" The female disciple covered the right side of her face in grievance with her long hair, tears glistening in her eyes as she stepped back subconsciously.
"Don't worry, in this sect, no one will pick on you just because of that birthmark on your face. Those who do, are bound to leave the sect one day." Ace comforted as he took a step closer to her.
The female disciple backed off and pleaded, "Sect master, you don't have to comfort me, I know that I'm just a ugly woman who no one will remember."
Inching even closer, Ace grabbed her hand gently and asked, "Are you sure that everyone in this world despises you for your looks?" His hand which was rough from constant training gently brushed her hair to the side, revealing the tattoo she fears most.
"I...if it weren't for my looks, Max wouldn't have located the bandits hideout and invaded them alone without returning. He gave me everything he had, yet all I did was cause his death...I…"
The female disciple broke down into tears when she recalled this painful memory. It wasn't the scar she dread, it was the memories that the scar might trigger.
Patting her on the back, Ace consoled, "Everything will be alright? Who knows, maybe he's on the way to search for you right now."
Glancing at the remaining 400 system points and 72 sect points he still had, Ace made a decision.
"System, please deduct system points to locate the whereabouts of Max."
"100 system points have been deducted, 300 system points are left."
Max: 17 years old
Cultivation base: Late stage Martial Master
Background: Unknown to anyone besides his loyal aides
Cultivation technique: Unknown
Martial skill: unknown
Current location: Foot of the Nascent Mountain
Wait, that guy is already here? Without any hesitation, Ace got the female disciple to make her way to the foot of the mountain. "Right now, I want you to run as quickly as you can to the foot of the mountain, there's a surprise waiting for you there."
Excitement shined in her eyes for a brief moment before diminishing. "Sect master, I'm sorry to waste your effort, but I would rather spend my time on alchemy in order to earn money in the future and hire someone to take revenge for me."
Concealed pain flashed in her eyes for a brief moment, but Ace could only sigh at this. In the end, it was that person who was going to take care of her..
Charlotte, will this happen to us one day as well? Shaking off these thoughts, Ace heard soft footsteps coming from behind as he signalled with his hand for her to stop.
Clarissa stopped as Ace heaved a sigh of relief and told the female disciple, "If you don't want to regret it for the rest of your life, trust me and rush there now before it's too late."
The female disciple wanted to say no, but that final glimmer of hope within her heart still convinced her to trust her sect master as she broke off into a run without turning back, without saying anything.
"Sect master, what are you trying to do to Ruby?" Clarissa approached from behind the tree with silent footsteps, her eyes fixated on the direction Ruby dashed towards.
"Clarissa, do you know about Ruby's story?" Ace asked in a concerned tone, his long black hair swaying along with the wind, a few strands sticking onto his face, his eyes gazing towards the sky out of reach, eluding an aura of hope within despair.
Clarissa was shocked by this, to think that my sect master was someone who has already gone through the cruelness of this world despite his young age.
With a brittle smile, Clarissa revealed the story behind Ruby's birthmark and that young man.
"Ruby was initially a mortal, until she met Max three years ago, with Max's help, she barely managed to step into the Martial Apprentice realm with Max sacrificing his priceless time to guide her, a girl who was having difficulty in just trying to sense spirit energy."
"Yet on the day she stepped into the Martial Apprentice realm, what should have been a joyful event ended up being one of sorrow. That birthmark not only denied her of the spirit energy she absorbed, it was also ugly to the point that the family members of her despised her, mistreated her, abused her, picked on her."
"By the time her parents returned from the expedition that the family dispatched them on, the only news they received was a letter from their daughter who left home. As for what happened next, she refused to fill me in."
Clarissa sighed whenever she thought of the plight that Ruby was in, she had done nothing to deserve this, she was just another puppet that fate was playing with.
"Ruby thought he died, she only picked up alchemy to get the chance at revenge one day through external means. But now, he's at the foot of the mountain, maybe we should head there and examine the situation."
Nodding her head, Clarissa led the way and explained on the way there, "Ruby's talent for alchemy might be comparable to me, in just five years time, I'm confident that she'll at least be a 4th grade alchemist. One has to know that she'll only be nineteen years old at that point of time while most 4th grade alchemists are in their thirties and even forties."
Hearing the voice of someone sobbing in joy, Ace and Clarissa heaved a sigh of relief as they appeared in front of Ruby and Max.
Max stared at Clarissa for a moment before turning away, his gaze coming to a stop towards Ace. "You must be the sect master that Ruby has been talking about, thank you for taking good care of her all this time, if there's nothing else, I'll bring her along with me."
"Max, can we stay?"
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