General Who Subdues Evil Spirits

"No... I'm sorry."

Startled, Shu immediately took several steps back, her face full of embarrassment.

There was still some mud on her hands that she hadn't wiped off.

But Maria blinked, then shook her head.

"Nothing..."

"I'm really... really sorry."

Looking at Maria's calm expression, Shu felt increasingly embarrassed.

After hesitating for a moment, she realized that the person in front of her was a complete stranger.

That's very strange.

As an agricultural city, Great Wilderness City doesn't have many people coming and going, and most of them stay in the town and rarely go to the fields.

She has lived here for at least several hundred years, and she knows almost everyone, whether human or ghost.

Maria...

"Are you from outside?"

Shu was a little curious.

After Maria nodded, she smiled.

"I'm Shu... I'm in charge here. Do you need any help?"

"... Not at the moment."

Maria paused for a moment, her tone sounding somewhat strange.

After a moment of surprise, Shu smiled and shook his head, not paying any attention.

"If you need anything, you can come find me anytime. I live not far from here, and my younger brother lives over there..."

"..."

"What's wrong?"

The optimistic millet smiled, oblivious to Maria's slightly lowered eyes.

"It's nothing, it's just... does everyone who comes here want to ask you for help?"

"No, that's not it."

Shu smiled, patted the little girl beside him, and seeing her miserable expression, took out a flatbread from his backpack, admonishing her not to waste food, before walking away with Maria.

"After all, I'm just one person, and my main job is handling food, so I basically don't deal with these things, but..."

Shu turned his head away somewhat awkwardly as he finished speaking.

"I always feel comfortable with you... Have we met somewhere before?"

The millet asked a question.

After all, she really didn't remember the other person very well...

If it's someone you really know... then it can actually be quite awkward.

Even if you don't remember the other person, you still have to take the initiative to ask them their name.

"... Perhaps we've met before."

Maria looked at the millet and sighed softly.

323

Chapter 323 Exorcist General

Maria could feel it...

Maria could sense the aura of age emanating from the other person.

It was a highly similar aura... even more similar than the auras of Maria and Logos.

This allowed Maria to easily make the judgment that... the relationship between the two was definitely not as simple as that of a daughter or sibling.

It is a more intimate, even unified, relationship.

Millet... is that the same as a year?

No, that's unlikely.

Maria looked up at the slightly flustered girl in front of her, remained silent for a moment, then reached out and gently touched her cheek.

The familiar touch made Maria pause for a moment, then she closed her eyes slightly and carefully sensed it.

Then...

"Incomplete..."

"Huh?"

No, it's nothing.

Maria withdrew her hand, looked at the stunned Shu in front of her, and shook her head slightly.

She could sense that the millet in front of her was incomplete.

This doesn't mean the other party is incomplete, but rather that millet, as a year, is incomplete.

She seemed to be only a small fraction of her age, yet Maria could sense so much more through her...

Others...

A mutilated human figure.

An incomplete year...

Maria was unsure what had happened between Sui and Yan after she left, but it seemed that Sui hadn't died, but had instead taken on a different form.

This left Maria both puzzled and somewhat conflicted.

How should she approach the other person?

A friend of that age? A stranger? Or some kind of elder?

But after thinking for a while, she shook her head helplessly and then looked at the other person.

Regardless of the exact nature of the relationship between the other party and Sui, one thing is certain.

The person in front of me is not...

"What a rather awkward meeting."

Shu smiled and looked at Maria.

Millet himself didn't remember Maria, only having a vague and subtle feeling about her.

This indicates that millet did not inherit the memories of age.

This left Maria feeling regretful, yet also somewhat silent.

After a while, Shu also felt that standing was not a good idea, so he turned around and started walking with Maria.

"You seem... a little down. Can you tell me what's wrong?"

Millet was inexplicably interested in Maria.

In fact, even he himself didn't understand why he cared so much about Maria.

She just inexplicably wanted to look at her...

"I just remembered a friend."

Maria let out a soft breath, her voice tinged with melancholy.

What a coincidence!

Shu also spoke softly, her eyes slightly narrowed, revealing a crescent-shaped smile.

"When I look at you, I always feel like you're a friend of mine..."

How is that friend doing?

"... I don't know."

Shu was taken aback, clearly not expecting Maria to ask so directly, and his words were tinged with embarrassment.

Actually, I've never met this friend before.

"Never seen it before?"

Maria asked curiously, "If that's the case, can we still be called friends?"

"It should be okay, right?"

Shu scratched his head. "Although I've never met her, I can always sense her presence from other sources, and... our relationship seems to be quite good."

"So... since you've never met him, how did you know you had such a friend?"

Maria spoke slowly.

After hesitating for a moment, Shu awkwardly scratched his head.

"Actually... I saw her in my dream."

"In a dream?"

Maria turned her head and looked at the millet in front of her with a somewhat subtle expression.

Shu, realizing how strange her words had been, blushed and quickly waved her hand to make amends.

"It wasn't just a dream... it was just... just..."

Shuzhi stammered for a long time, unable to say anything.

This is a strange dream that her family members all have.

This may originate from their mother body... or rather, something left over from their original body.

In fact, the abilities of these dozen or so people basically came from their original bodies... and naturally, they also inherited a part of their will.

My older brother has a strange dream every year at the same time. In the dream, he's having a fair fight with someone...

My eldest sister also loves to drink during the full moon, to the point that she gets very agitated if she doesn't have any.

Even the youngest sister would occasionally draw a strange picture, saying she wanted to see someone...

At first, everyone thought it was just a coincidence that they met in each other's dreams.

But as time went by, everyone felt that the dream was not so simple.

The person in your dream will always influence each of you at a specific point in time.

These must be some memories left behind by their original selves.

Thanks to the sharpest memory of their youngest sister, they were certain that there was indeed someone in their memories... someone who must have been their friend.

But... they simply couldn't remember what the other looked like...

I can't even remember his name or his voice.

So when Shu says it, it always feels like a little girl's fantasy of a friend.

Maria didn't say much, but after nodding, she slowly turned around.

That's enough.

"Um?"

Shu was somewhat puzzled.

But Maria did not continue the ritual of explanation; she simply walked on quietly.

After hesitating for a while, Shu slowly raised his head and suddenly asked again.

"Speaking of which, the nearest town is several hours' journey from here... How did you get here?"

Shu was also somewhat puzzled.

As a vital food source for the entire Great Yan Dynasty, the Great Wilderness City is immensely large; in fact, if arable land is included, it is more than ten times larger than Hundred Stoves.