The Mighty Mage
Chapter 257: Vice General

Chapter 257: Chapter 257: Vice General

Gu Jin raised an eyebrow.

"Looks like...we are obliged to help them then. Zhu Masong let’s go."

Saying so she walked toward the parasites. Though she felt that it was a waste time of and she should focus on destroying the artifact since only that way more people could be saved...the favor that she owes forces Gu Jin to help them first.

As soon as she reached the shop, the parasites’s attention turned toward Gu Jin and Zhu Masong.

To Gu Jin’s surprise, the parasites suddenly stopped and bowed to Zhu Masong,

"Greetings to Vice-general."

Eh? Vice General?

Gu Jin leaned toward Zhu Masong and asked,

"Do you know them?"

"No." Zhu Masong replied plainly.

"Then why are they greeting you as the vice-general?"

"They are misunderstanding me for someone else." Zhu Masong replied in an emotionless tone.

Gu Jin raised an eyebrow and suddenly said,

"Give them the order to leave."

Zhu Masong, his skeletal frame towering over the parasites, stared down at them with hollow, glowing eyes.

The parasites, still bowing, waited for his command as if they were in the presence of someone they once feared or respected.

Zhu Masong, though unsure of his new identity and the recognition from the parasites, tilted his head slightly and spoke, his voice cold and echoing.

"Leave."

The parasites hesitated for a moment, glancing at each other.

Some of them shuffled uneasily, their previous eagerness to attack suddenly suppressed by the weight of Zhu Masong’s words. One of the larger parasites, bolder than the rest, looked up at him.

"Vice-General," it hissed, "As far as we remember, you were the one who had ordered us to eat the humans right away, as long as we see any advanced rank human."

Hm?

Gu Jin frowned.

This information didn’t quite match with the information she had received.

Song Hancheng had told her that parasites were only imprisoning the advanced rank mages...

But the parasites were saying that they were ordered to eat the advanced-rank mages right away...

"I said leave." Zhu Masong shouted, which was enough to make all the parasites give up.

They stared at the shop with a reluctant expression.

The food that was just within their reach suddenly seemed to have been snatched.

All the parasites started to complain in their heart that their vice-general was too greedy...

He just wanted to eat all the humans by himself and asked them to leave.

But Gu Jin had other plans. Once the parasites were far away from the shop, she used her plant vines to suck away their life force one by one.

She also asked Zhu Masong to hide and turned to open the shop door.

However, even after trying for long, the door didn’t open. She peeked in and saw a group of frightened people.

Inside the shop, the people huddled closer together, their eyes wide with fear as they heard the faint sounds of Gu Jin trying to open the door.

"Um...hello? Can you open the door? I am human just like you."

No response.

"If you want I can show you my plant vines."

The moment Gu Jin finished her sentence she cast a plant spell and a finger length wide plant vine entered the shop.

Qi Zhaoyu, who had been praying in the corner, slowly rose to his feet. His legs trembled, and he looked toward the door with hope.

Could it be that someone had come to help them? He exchanged glances with the others, and the silent question hung in the air:

Should they trust whoever was on the other side?

Gu Jin sighed in frustration.

Clearly, the door was barred from the inside, and the people were too scared to open it.

She knocked again, this time more forcefully.

"I’m not here to hurt you," she called out, her voice firm but calm.

"I’ve already dealt with the parasites. You’re safe for now."

There was a long pause before a voice from inside, trembling and unsure, responded.

"How do we know you’re telling the truth? What if you’re with the parasites?"

Gu Jin’s patience was wearing thin, but she understood their fear.

The question was...if even the plant vines couldn’t convince them what could?

"You don’t," she replied, her voice steady.

"But I’ve driven the parasites away, and I don’t have time to stand here convincing you. If you want to survive, you need to open this door now."

Another wave of murmuring spread through the people inside. Qi Zhaoyu, now at the door, glanced at the others, seeking approval.

The older woman who had been comforting a child nodded weakly, signaling that it was worth the risk.

Slowly, Qi Zhaoyu reached for the latch and unlocked the door, his hands shaking as he pulled it open just a crack.

Gu Jin wasted no time, pushing the door fully open and stepping inside.

The survivors recoiled slightly at her entrance, fear still etched across their faces.

Qi Zhaoyu, standing closest to her, swallowed hard and asked,

"Are... are you really human?"

Gu Jin shook her face seriously and said,

"No." The faces of all the people turned pale.

"I am a fish." Gu Jin continued with a serious expression.

Due to Gu Jin’s mask and black cloak, no one could guess her real identity at all.

"Eh?" All the people in the shop were dumbfounded.

"A... fish?" Qi Zhaoyu finally stammered, disbelief evident in his voice.

Gu Jin’s stern face slowly broke into a smirk.

"No, I’m not a fish," she said, her tone shifting into a lighter one.

"But if you believe something as absurd as that, you should trust me when I say I’m human and here to help."

The tension in the room began to ease slightly, some of the survivors managing a weak chuckle.

The joke, though unexpected, seemed to break through their fear, even if just a little.

Qi Zhaoyu let out a shaky breath, a faint smile forming on his lips.

"Is he that descendant?" Gu Jin asked the space in her mind.

"Yes, master." The space replied.

Suddenly a small hand tugged on Gu Jin’s black cloak.

Looking down, Gu Jin saw a young girl who looked as if she was around 3 years or 4 years old.

The girl blinked her eyes which were filled with fear and said softly,

"Sister...can...you...can you...lend me...something to eat? M-My...f-father is h-hungry."

The girl’s father’s face turned pale and he hurriedly pulled away from Gu Jin, fearing that Gu Jin would turn out to be a parasite.

"Baby, you shouldn’t ask for food from strangers." The father said to the little girl.

Gu Jin’s eyes softened as she suddenly noticed that most of the people in the restaurant looked hungry.

She realized that maybe they had been stuck in the shop for the past week and hardly had anything to eat...

Thinking of lots of foods in her space, Gu Jin quickly comes up with a solution.

In the past 3 years other than hoarding supplies unintentionally, the thing that Gu Jin did the most was...farming!

She had a lot of vegetables in her space.

If she wanted, she could give the entire Fujio city free meals, for 3 days for the next month.

Without a word, Gu Jin took 40kg of potatoes, 40kg of onion, and 40kg of rice from her space and laid them in the middle of the shop floor, much to the surprise of the onlookers.

For convenience, she took out seasoning and medicine too.

Their eyes widened in disbelief as they saw the vast amount of food suddenly appear in front of them.

Qi Zhaoyu and the others stared, frozen for a moment.

The older woman from before gasped, covering her mouth, while the father of the little girl stared at the food in surprise.

"Take it," Gu Jin said, her tone calm but firm.

"Cook something and eat. You’re no good to anyone in this state."

The survivors were hesitant at first, but the hunger gnawing at them overpowered their reluctance.

They quickly gathered around the pile of food, murmuring quiet thanks as they began preparing a meal.

The little girl clapped her hands and said with a smile,

"Thank you, angel sister!"

Gu Jin chuckled,

"You have a sweet mouth."

The father of the little girl bowed and hurriedly left with the people to cook food.

Gu Jin watched them silently for a moment before turning to Zhu Masong, who had been observing the entire scene with his usual detached demeanor.

She quickly took out a black cloak and mask and helped him, hide his skeleton-like hand and face.

God knows what those survivors would think if they saw Zhu Masong.

"Once they finish eating, let’s find other survivors, and make a small shelter for them." Gu Jin suggested.

Zhu Masong nodded without much expression.

He didn’t have any feelings of his own anyway.

The smell of cooking food soon filled the small shop, and the once-tense atmosphere began to soften.

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