Above the mage

Chapter 7 Life is as worthless as grass

Master Seda's face was ashen, whether from Ilan's death, from the calm after God's killing, or both.

"How dare you kill him? You are all my apprentices, my personal property. Only I have the right to decide your life and death."

"I know," Gao De nodded, a look of helplessness on his pale face, and explained, "but he wanted me dead, so I had no choice but to let him die first."

"After all, I don't want to die yet." He said this, raising his head to look directly into the eyes of the monk Seda, appearing very sincere.

"You killed my apprentice without my consent, which is an act of embezzlement of my property, and you must pay with your life." Master Seda looked coldly at Gaode, unmoved.

"It's better to die at the hands of the great mage than at the hands of this villain," Gao De said, glancing at the stiff corpse on the bed. "Besides, he's probably the one who really wants to seize your property."

"Ilan told me yesterday that he wants me dead. My worthless life is nothing to me, but if it delays your potion-making process, that would be a serious matter," Gao De said meaningfully.

That's the source of his confidence to assassinate Ilan at night.

Gao De was certain that no matter what the mage Seda thought about killing Ilan, or how he would react, he would never actually make him pay with his life right now.

Because at this moment, he has irreplaceable value to Master Seda—he is the only apprentice to have "survived" the drug trials so far.

If the sorcerer Seda wants to successfully concoct the potion as soon as possible, he will definitely need to use his high-level skills in the next potion test.

Therefore, Master Seda would absolutely not let him die before the next drug trial.

The next drug trial is both a Damocles' sword hanging over Gao De's head and a get-out-of-jail-free card.

The same is true.

For the mage Seda, who possesses absolute power and influence, the fact that he didn't immediately eliminate Gaud after discovering that Ilan had died at Gaud's hands, but instead kept "talking nonsense" with Gaud, meant that Gaud was valuable to him and was someone he couldn't directly eliminate at the moment.

Gaode's purpose is not limited to this.

He took a breath and spoke again to the monk Seda:

"My lord, Ilan defied your authority first, and I acted in self-defense. Besides, I can do what Ilan did, and it will not affect my original work at all. Losing him will not actually cause you any loss, my lord, and you will even save a mouth to eat."

"Self-defense, huh? You call this self-defense..."

"A despicable tactic for power struggles!" After hearing what Gao De said, Master Seda glanced at the "messy" room, seemingly "understanding" everything, and said coldly, "Even if Ilan deserves his punishment, how to punish him is my business, not yours to decide. Your act of assassinating him at night has crossed the line."

"You were to test the potion for me. If my potion had been successfully concocted, you would have received considerable benefits, and I would have truly taken you as my apprentice."

"But your cleverness will ensure you never receive that treatment again."

"You will regret what you did today," Master Seda sneered before God could react, then turned and walked away. "From now on, you will do his work, but all you will get is his job."

Clearly, Master Saida was fully aware of Gaode's reliance on and "what he sought in his heart".

Watching Master Seda leave, Gao De was not affected in the slightest by his "threat".

Regarding the mage Seda's claim that "there will be considerable benefits after the potion is successfully made," God simply did not believe that this old fox would be so kind. In addition, he understood that the probability of successfully making the potion was extremely low.

In the eyes of the monk Seda, the fact that God survived the drug trial meant that he was very close to success.

But Gao De knew the truth all too well: Master Seda was still a long way from success!

As for the idea that they will regret what they did today, that's not even worth mentioning.

If he doesn't resist, the next drug trial will be the day he dies, so why would he care about what happens afterward?

This night attack on Yilan, though seemingly reckless, was actually a well-thought-out decision by Gao De.

There were basically no consequences—his situation wouldn't get any worse anyway.

The gains, however, were plentiful: while solving a major problem, it also allowed him to mentally prepare himself for "murder" in order to adapt to this cannibalistic environment.

Most importantly, he gained the right to freely enter and leave the herb garden, which originally belonged to Ilan—only by going out could he have more opportunities to escape his current predicament.

As for the crescent-shaped gem that was inexplicably activated, that was an even greater surprise.

Swish!

A basin of clean water washed away the last trace of blood in the room.

Gao De reached out and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Although the matter of Yilan has been temporarily put aside, the scene still needs to be dealt with, otherwise, not only will the bloody scene be gruesome, but the corpse will also decompose after a period of time.

Master Seda did not assign anyone to handle the matter; Gao De, as the "murderer," took it upon himself to clean up the mess.

The room has been cleaned.

"Let's bury his body in the back hill," Amy, who volunteered to stay and help, said. "The apprentices who did the drug trials are also buried there."

Gaode nodded, having no objection.

The two men, one holding his legs and the other his shoulders, lifted Ilan's body.

Looking at her roommate across from her, whom she should be extremely familiar with after spending every day together, but who now felt strangely unfamiliar, Amy hesitated for a long time before whispering to Gao De, "I really didn't expect you to do something like this."

He was somewhat timid, because after seeing the state of Elan's death, he instinctively felt a sense of dread towards God.

Most people are afraid of murderers.

"What would you do if someone tried to kill you?" Gao De asked.

Amy was taken aback and couldn't think of an answer for a moment.

He understood what Gaode meant, but he also knew that he would be at a loss in this situation and would certainly not be as decisive as Gaode.

"Let's go, you lead the way." Seeing Amy's fear of him, Gao De was no longer as cautious as before.

After burying Ilan's body, God and Amy returned to the herb garden.

It was just time for the apprentices to have breakfast.

The two had been busy for a long time, especially Gao De, who had been killing and burying the body. He was exhausted and starving, so he immediately headed to the restaurant.

When the apprentices in the restaurant saw Gao De enter, the previously noisy environment immediately quieted down, leaving only the sound of chewing.

Witnessing Ilan's death firsthand had a significant impact on these apprentices who were still children in the strictest sense.

At this moment, the apprentices all regarded him as a fierce tiger.

Gao De seemed oblivious, picked up a breakfast, and sat down in an empty seat.

He took a big bite of the rye bread soaked in pea soup.

The texture is still indescribable, but it's not as hard to swallow as before.

I don't know if it's because I'm hungry, or something else.

While swallowing his breakfast, Gaode reviewed his schedule for the day.

Even though I killed someone in the middle of the night, I still have to keep working today.

In the morning, he was responsible for cultivating some of the herbs in the herb garden and feeding the little gray mice. In the afternoon, he was responsible for preparing basic spider venom medicine, and in the evening, he was responsible for cultivation.

Day after day, a very fixed and monotonous schedule.

After finishing the last sip of hot pea soup, Gao De got up, said goodbye to Amy, and walked towards the backyard.

That is the herb planting area in the garden.

Yesterday, through my roommate Amy, Gaode has gained a general understanding of the terrain and regional distribution of the herb garden, and can now navigate to different areas independently.

(End of this chapter)