Chapter 24: Helping Seris
Only then did Seris seem to realize just how quiet the cafeteria had become.
She glanced around.
Everyone in the cafeteria was staring straight ahead at the two of them, as if they were watching a good show of two couples fighting.
Some of them even had a look of awe on their faces.
To them, Rhain was a demon who broke bones without blinking.
Seeing him sit here, casually chatting and apologizing to a Level 2 outer disciple, was a sight that left them speechless.
Under the weight of their gazes, Seris felt very uncomfortable.
"Everyone is looking at us," She looked down and whispered in a voice only Rhain could hear, "Can we talk somewhere else?"
"Alright," Rhain agreed. "Let's go."
He stood up.
Instantly, several disciples at the nearest tables flinched, and they quickly turned their gazes away from them.
Rhain ignored them completely, and left with Seris.
They arrived at a quiet corner of the rear mountains.
Once they were alone, Rhain stopped.
He reached inside the deep sleeves of his purple robes.
"Hold out your hands," he said.
Seris blinked in confusion, but she obediently cupped her small hands together.
Rhain placed a heavy porcelain bottle into her palms.
Then, he placed a small wooden box on top of it. Finally, he carefully set a single, perfectly round, jade-green pill beside the box.
Seris looked down.
Inside were ten Uncommon-grade Essence Gathering Pills, a full bottle of Common-grade pills, and one flawless, dazzlingly translucent Essence Gathering Pill produced by the System.
To an outer disciple, this wasn't just wealth.
This was a fortune that most probably they will never see at once in their entire lives.
"Ahh!!"
Her fingers trembled as her beautiful eyes widened in surprise and she asked with an expression of shock, "You... which unlucky person did you rob?"
Rhain let out a faint, amused breath.
"I didn't rob anyone, Sect Master personally gave these to me. I have quite a lot of them, so I am sharing a little with you."
After hearing Rhain, Seris was even more frightened.
"Giving this... to me?" she repeated, shaking her head frantically.
"I cannot take this!" She tried to push the pills back to him. "No! I can't. You need these for your own cultivation, Rhain. Or you could sell them in the town for something better! You can't just give them away!"
"I am telling you to take it, so simply take it." Rhain said sternly.
"No...I...I... can't. You take them, my talent is not good anyway." Seris dropped her head as she said that.
She had never hated her lack of talent as much as she did now.
She was so helpless that she did not even have the right to see Rhain if she wanted.
Yet, she could not accept Rhain's pills.
It wasn't for the sake of so-called dignity and honour.
She just didn't want Rhain to waste the precious resources that was necessary for him on someone like her who couldn't even reach third level of Essence Awakening.
Rhain looked at her, but didn't take those pills back.
Instead, he took a step forward.
Without a single word of warning, his arm snaked around her slender waist.
With a smooth, undeniable force, he pulled her against his chest.
Seris's mind immediately went blank.
She stood still, frozen in place for a while, as a blush quickly flushed her face into the color of a red rose.
Her pink lips slightly parted like petals of a flower, completely losing her breath.
She felt completely paralyzed.
"If I am giving you something, you should take it obediently without saying much," Rhain said with his voice lowered as his eyes widened slightly.
He paused for a while as he gazed deeply into her eyes and continued, "Unless... you want the gap between us to widen so much that you won't even be able to look at me again in the future?"
Hearing those words, Seris's expression became depressed.
Something inside her suddenly broke, and a sharp pain stabbed her heart.
The thought of being left so far behind that she could no longer stand by his side—no longer even see his back—pained her more than she had thought.
She bit her pink lip.
Then, very slowly, she nodded her head in silent agreement, her fingers tightly gripping the bottles in her hands.
Rhain released her waist, stepping back with a smile.
In truth, he really didn't care about those pills.
The sect's Common and Uncommon-Grade pills were riddled with toxic impurities.
To his Abyssal Sovereign Physique, they were worse than useless—they were garbage.
He couldn't even consume them without wasting time filtering out the waste.
As for the single flawless Essence Gathering Pill from the System? It was just a drop of water in his bottomless void.
Even if he wished to sell them, he could just sell the next batch he would receive next month.
However, for a girl like Seris, the amount of pills he had given her would at least take her three to four months to absorb even if she cultivated day and night non-stop.
"Cultivate well," Rhain said, his tone softening slightly. "I will come to see you occasionally."
Seris, still blushing furiously and clutching the pills to her chest, nodded silently.
........
After parting ways with her, Rhain leisurely returned to his own courtyard.
A figure was waiting by his door.
Instructor Maren.
"You have finally returned," Maren walked to him, and sized him up and down, feeling that Rhain looked a bit different again.
"Where had you been?" She asked.
"I had just gone for a walk," Rhain replied casually, his expression returning to its usual flat, unreadable state.
Although she did not speak much, Maren appeared solemn and had a serious look on her face. She slowly nodded and spoke, "Sect Master has called you. You must come right away."
She paused.
"For something important."
"What is it about?" Rhain was slightly alerted after looking at her serious face.
"You will know in a while, come on now. Sect master and a few guests are waiting for you." Maren did not reply, instead she started walking.
It looked as if there was something really very urgent.
Rhain had no option but to follow her, quietly wondering what important matter it was.
And who are the guests that came to meet him?