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Mage Seda's face turned ashen.
It was unclear whether his anger came from Yilan's death, Gao De's calmness after killing him, or both.
"How dare you kill him?" Seda said coldly.
"All of you are my apprentices. You are my private property. Only I have the right to decide whether you live or die."
"I know," Gao De nodded.
A helpless expression appeared on his pale face as he explained:
"But he wanted me dead. So I had no choice but to let him die first."
After a pause he added quietly,
"Because… I don't want to die yet."
He raised his head and looked directly into Mage Seda's eyes, his expression sincere.
"If you killed one of my apprentices without my permission, then you've damaged my property. That means you must pay with your life."
Mage Seda stared at Gao De coldly, unmoved.
"To die at the hands of Mage Seda would still be better than dying at the hands of a petty villain."
Gao De glanced toward Yilan's stiff corpse on the bed.
"Besides, he was the one who truly tried to seize your property."
"Yesterday Yilan personally told me he wanted me dead. My life is worthless. If I die, it doesn't matter. But if it delays your research into magical potions…"
Gao De let the implication hang in the air.
"That would be a real loss."
This was the confidence behind his decision to assassinate Yilan.
Gao De was certain that regardless of how Seda felt about Yilan's death, he would not kill Gao De right now.
Because at this moment, Gao De possessed an irreplaceable value.
He was the only apprentice who had survived potion testing.
If Seda wanted to refine the potion successfully as soon as possible, the next test subject would certainly have to be Gao De.
Therefore, until the next potion test—
Seda would never allow him to die.
The next potion test was like the Sword of Damocles hanging above Gao De's head.
But at the same time, it was also his temporary shield from death.
And the truth confirmed this.
For a man like Mage Seda, who possessed overwhelming power and authority, the fact that he did not immediately kill Gao De upon seeing Yilan's corpse—and instead continued speaking with him—already meant something.
It meant Gao De still had value.
And Seda had no choice but to keep him alive.
But Gao De's objective was not limited to this.
After taking a breath, he spoke again.
"Mage Seda, Yilan challenged your authority first. I merely defended myself afterward."
"Furthermore, whatever work Yilan used to do, I can do as well. It won't interfere with my original duties."
"Losing one person causes you no real loss."
"In fact, you even save one mouth to feed."
"Self-defense?" Seda let out a cold laugh.
"You call this self-defense?"
His gaze swept across the messy room before returning to Gao De.
"Petty power struggles," he said with disdain.
"Even if Yilan deserved punishment, deciding how to punish him was my responsibility—not yours."
"You crossed the line when you assassinated him."
Seda paused briefly.
"You tested potions for me. If my magical potion had succeeded, you might have received considerable rewards. I might even have accepted you as a true apprentice."
"But your little display of cleverness has cost you that opportunity."
"You will regret what you did today."
Without waiting for Gao De to respond, Seda snorted coldly and turned to leave.
"You will take over his duties from now on."
"But the only thing you will gain is his workload."
Clearly, Seda fully understood both Gao De's reliance on his current value and the hidden motives behind his actions.
After watching Seda leave, Gao De felt no emotional disturbance whatsoever at the so-called "threat."
As for the claim that he would have gained great rewards if the potion succeeded—
Gao De didn't believe that old fox for a second.
And besides, Gao De understood something Seda didn't:
The chance of that potion succeeding was extremely small.
To Seda, Gao De surviving meant success was close.
But Gao De knew the truth.
Seda was still very far from success.
As for regretting his actions?
That mattered even less.
If he did nothing, the next potion test would almost certainly kill him.
Why would he care about anything that came after that?
This assassination of Yilan might seem reckless.
But in truth, Gao De had thought it through carefully.
The consequences were almost nonexistent.
After all, his situation could hardly get worse.
But the gains were many:
He eliminated a major threat.
He forced himself to confront the act of killing—something he would need to accept to survive in this cruel environment.
And most importantly—
He inherited Yilan's privilege of leaving the herb garden.
Only by leaving this place could he find opportunities to escape his predicament.
And the mysterious crescent gemstone activating earlier had been an unexpected bonus.
Splash.
A basin of water washed away the last traces of blood in the room.
Gao De wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Although Yilan's death had temporarily been settled, the scene still had to be cleaned up.
Otherwise the blood would remain, and the corpse would eventually rot.
Mage Seda had not ordered anyone to handle it.
So Gao De, the "murderer," took it upon himself to finish the job.
The room was now clean.
"We should bury the body behind the mountain," Aimi said quietly as he helped.
"The apprentices who died during potion tests are buried there too."
Gao De nodded in agreement.
One of them grabbed the legs.
The other lifted the shoulders.
Together they carried Yilan's corpse away.
Aimi hesitated for a long time while watching Gao De.
The boy who had been his familiar roommate now felt strangely unfamiliar.
"I never thought… you would do something like this," Aimi said quietly.
His voice trembled slightly.
After seeing Yilan's corpse, he instinctively felt a bit afraid of Gao De.
Most people feared murderers.
"If someone tried to kill you," Gao De asked calmly,
"what would you do?"
Aimi froze.
For a moment he could not answer.
He understood Gao De's meaning.
But he also knew that if he were in that situation, he would probably panic helplessly.
He would never have the courage Gao De had shown.
"Let's go," Gao De said.
"You lead the way."
Seeing Aimi's fear, Gao De no longer bothered to act as cautiously as before.
After burying Yilan's body, the two returned to the herb garden.
It happened to be breakfast time.
Both of them had been busy for hours—especially Gao De, who had killed someone and buried the corpse.
His physical strength was almost completely drained.
He was starving.
They immediately headed to the dining hall.
The apprentices already inside fell silent as soon as Gao De entered.
The previously lively room quieted instantly, leaving only the sounds of chewing.
Seeing Yilan's corpse earlier had deeply shocked these apprentices, who were still essentially children.
Now they looked at Gao De as though he were a dangerous beast.
Gao De acted as if he noticed nothing.
He calmly took a portion of breakfast and sat down at an empty seat.
He took a large bite of rye bread soaked in pea soup.
The taste was still just as indescribable.
Yet strangely, it no longer felt as difficult to swallow as before.
Perhaps because he was hungry.
Or perhaps for another reason.
As Gao De ate his breakfast, he mentally reviewed his schedule for the day.
Even though he had killed someone in the middle of the night—
his work still had to continue.
In the morning he would be responsible for cultivating some of the herbs in the garden and feeding the lab mice.
In the afternoon he would prepare beginner spider venom potions.
In the evening he would cultivate.
Day after day.
A fixed, monotonous routine.
After finishing the last mouthful of hot pea soup, Gao De stood up.
He said goodbye to Aimi and headed toward the back courtyard.
That was where the garden's herb cultivation area was located.
During the previous day, through Aimi's explanations, Gao De had already gained a rough understanding of the herb garden's layout.
At this point, he could already move between the different areas on his own.