"I know you still feel bad about this, but you can try refining that pill your master had asked you to refine, show it to him, and then try to use that to persuade him to let you go to with us." Lucy offered some sound advise after seeing how disheartened and depressed Charmaine had become as a result of the events.
"That's an excellent plan, but in your opinion, do you think it will be enough to persuade master to let me go?" Charmaine inquired with concern lines deeply carved into her forehead, which was sufficient evidence of how difficult this situation was for her.
"yeah, if it doesn't work, I have no idea what will," Lucy provided a response. "Hey, let me know if you need any assistance, okay?"
"Okay." Charmaine responded as they continued their trek around the eastern wing before meeting up with Morris, who was on watch with one of his male friend.
"What's the status of the western wing?" Lucy inquired.
"There is nothing to worry about; everything is in order." It was Morris who responded.
"Everything seems to be OK on the eastern wing as well." Charmaine provided a response.
They were all armed with swords, the standard weapon of the sect's fighting style.
All of the swords that they wielded had been given to them as gifts by their respective masters, but the one that Charmaine wielded was no ordinary sword. Not only was it a formidable blade, but it was also a weapon that could slay demons and drive out evil.
"Hey, were you able to locate all of the herbs?" Morris inquired as he shifted his focus to glance at Charmaine.
Charmaine responded with a "yes."
"My master wants me to also improve medicine so that he may test my knowledge of many kinds of plants. Tomorrow, I will have to venture into the woods in order to collect the necessary plants." Morris stated.
"Hey, why don't we go to the kitchen and grab something to eat? I'm starving." Morris' buddy proposed, it was past the midnight snack time and none of them had eaten anything after having dinner hours ago.
"Okay." It was Morris who responded. "Do you ladies want to come?" As he turned to face them, he posed the question.
Lucy said, "Yeah, certainly," to the question.
"No, it's almost dawn. It's time for me to get back to my room and start getting ready for the next step in the process of refining the medicine." Charmaine replied.
"I was really hoping that you could take my place?" As Charmaine turned around to face her companion, she enquired.
"Okay, I'll substitute for you. In a few moments, I'll bring you some warm buns from the kitchen." Charmaine smiled warmly as Lucy responded.
******
Upon entering her room. She locked the door behind her and went to the bathroom to freshen herself. She had the privilege of having an entire bathroom to herself as a result of the fact that she was a direct apprentice of one of the finest masters in the sect. This was in contrast to the other members of the sect, who were just disciples and had to share a bathroom.
While the male disciples each had their own, the female disciples had their own as well.
The same could be said about the rooms. As an apprentice serving directly under a grand master, she had the privilege of having her very own room, in contrast to the other pupils who were required to share dormitories since they did not have a direct master to whom they reported.
Both male and female followers had numerous dormitories, to ensure that they were living in a comfortable space.
Male disciples were not permitted to enter female dorms, particularly at night, and the same was expected of female disciples; they were not permitted to enter male dormitories.
It was also forbidden for followers to engage in romantic relationships. It was thought that falling in love would serve as a diversion for a disciple to be able to adapt to mortality since they were working toward to becoming immortals, and it was believed that this was the case.
Charmaine had heard tales of those disciples who had fallen in love with one other, and the majority of them had been ejected, while some had been taken to the wasteland as a punishment, never to be seen again.
Once one entered the wasteland, there was no easy way to get out of it again. This was the wasteland's defining characteristic. In point of fact, there would be absolutely no way to escape. Once you were inside, you would be trapped in there for good!
Charmaine let out a sigh as she reached the end of filling her wooden bathtub. She then proceeded to disrobe, add a few drops of essential oils, and enjoy a relaxing soak.
Her thoughts began to wander back to the man she had spoken to earlier on that evening. It wasn't until this moment that she got the epiphany that the guy was on the demonic side of the domain, which explained why she had never seen him in the past in their sect unless he was new.
In point of fact, she had never seen a demon before, and the stories that had been told to her all described the appearance of demons as being horrible and repulsive.
"Was he a demon? If that's the case, then he must be very handsome to be considered as one." She mused to herself as she listened to the sound of the door to her room being opened and someone entering the space.
She smiled, knowing full well that Lucy had arrived as promised.
"What are you doing at the moment? Come on and eat!" Lucy shouted while standing on the opposite side of the door to the bathroom.
Charmaine hurriedly got out of the bathtub, put on her robe, and rushed to the main room to meet her friend, who had as promised brought her steamed buns, as well as noodles, and beef stew.
"We discovered these carefully stored away. It's what was left over from supper after the masters finished eating." Lucy said as she laid up the items on the compact desk that Charmaine kept in the area for her studying needs.
"By the way, where are the herbs?" Lucy inquired as she searched the room with her eyes for the sisal woven basket of a medium size that she had seen Charmaine bring into the woods to carry her herbs with.
"I positioned them on the..." Charmaine halted, her index finger rose halfway in the direction of her study area to demonstrate where she had put her herbs, only to find out that they weren't there at all.