That day, the Assassin Hall did not interrogate Li Ban.
They were likely in a rush to verify whether Butcher had truly betrayed them.
It wasn't until half a month later, when Li Ban visited Yongan Pawnshop again, that he finally saw Lord Hou in the small study.
This was the same man he had seen on the second floor of the small building after undergoing the bamboo forest test during his first visit to the Black Market's Assassin Hall. When Lord Hou appeared at the pawnshop, he was still wearing his monkey-face mask.
He asked Li Ban about numerous details.
Li Ban answered truthfully, but with one omission: he did not mention returning to snatch the loot after killing the masked assassin who had ambushed him. Instead, he claimed that out of fear of being hunted down—and afraid that Butcher might be after him, too—he had hidden in the mountain woods for a while. Only after seeing that no one was coming did he return that night to inform the pawnshop manager of the incident.
Lord Hou cross-checked many other details with Li Ban, such as how he had discovered the items hidden in the large chests and why he believed Butcher intended to pocket the secret cargo.
Li Ban shared his exact suspicions.
He had thought the whole situation was strange from the start. A single item had been split into four separate shipments, and Butcher had been extremely tense about the objects retrieved from the chests. Because of this, Li Ban had kept a close eye on everything.
"Butcher is already dead."
Li Ban froze for a moment before nodding. "It seems you've already dealt with him."
"The Assassin Hall didn't do it."
This time, Li Ban was genuinely surprised.
Why would they tell a mere wooden token something like this?
Wasn't that explaining a bit too much?
Li Ban couldn't figure out what the man was thinking.
"You have a good eye. Did you notice anyone else at the scene?"
"I didn't notice anyone else before the cargo was hijacked. But after that, my attention was entirely on the shipment, so I couldn't spare any focus to keep watch on my surroundings."
Wearing his mask, Lord Hou sat there like a statue. No matter what Li Ban said, he showed no physical reaction whatsoever.
Suddenly, Li Ban felt a wave of dizziness. He lowered his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, which made him feel a little better.
"Is what you're saying true?" Lord Hou asked again.
Li Ban lowered his hand and nodded quickly. "It is. You can send someone there to check for yourself."
"So, you had nothing to do with Butcher's death or the theft of the cargo?"
Li Ban's head throbbed again. His heart skipped a beat, but he didn't let it show. He just offered a helpless smile. "That's right, Lord Hou. Otherwise, why would I have reported it overnight? Surely I don't have to die on the spot just to prove I wasn't part of Butcher's scheme, right?"
Lord Hou slowly stood up and walked toward the door. When he was shoulder-to-shoulder with Li Ban, he stopped.
"During the bamboo forest test, did you hide your true strength?"
Li Ban kept his head lowered. "Yes."
Lord Hou didn't say anything else and walked straight out of the pawnshop's small study.
After Lord Hou left, the pawnshop manager came to collect Li Ban.
There were no other assignments this time. Li Ban smoothly received his rightful payment and reward.
He was quite satisfied with it.
After all, the Assassin Hall hadn't even secured the cargo, yet they still paid out his fee in full.
Very generous of them.
Li Ban had no idea what Lord Hou or the Assassin Hall backing him were thinking.
But since they were willing to pay him, they probably didn't suspect him—at least for now.
A month after Li Ban reported Butcher, he finally received the results of the Assassin Hall's investigation.
The Iron Token known as "Butcher" had indeed betrayed the Assassin Hall.
But the matter wasn't completely over.
Half a month later, when Li Ban braved the freezing November wind to visit Yongan Pawnshop once again, he received a special assignment.
Because of Butcher's death, there was now a vacant Iron Token position within the Assassin Hall.
They were going to select a new Iron Token from among the most outstanding wooden tokens.
The mission scroll stated that this selection would be a life-and-death battle. Anyone who felt they weren't strong enough could choose not to participate.
The Assassin Hall's control over people with low-Tier identities really was loose.
Li Ban picked up a brush from the desk and dipped it in ink.
"Participating."
He had started practicing his handwriting while helping Lu Qinghe organize documents.
His characters were still ugly, but they were at least legible now.
He didn't even need to ask; he knew Zhai Liu would definitely make him join the fight for the Iron Token.
It was better to just be decisive about it.
He took back his wooden token. This time, the paper scroll didn't automatically destroy itself.
He rolled the scroll back up, tied the string, and returned it to its original place.
After leaving the pawnshop, Li Ban strolled through the Black Market and White Market. Inside a familiar teahouse, he spotted Hai Dakui.
He was currently pulling at Yu Li, a handyman from the Death Prison, vigorously trying to sell him an element.
Yu Li looked deeply conflicted, as if he wanted to buy it but couldn't afford it.
Li Ban smiled and walked over. "With how often you're making deals, aren't you afraid of someone knocking on your door to cause trouble?"
The element trade in Qingcheng County—and indeed, all of Yu Province—was controlled by the Myriad Ancient Pagoda.
The Myriad Ancient Pagoda ignored small-scale private transactions between individuals.
But Hai Dakui seemed to have new elements for sale at all times.
A scale like this could hardly be called a small private business anymore.
Looking up and seeing Li Ban, Hai Dakui hurriedly stood to greet him. "Sir Li, it's been a long time. You look more radiant than ever. You must have run into some good fortune."
Yu Li also hastily stood up to bow, a reserved look in his eyes.
Hai Dakui invited Li Ban to sit down. As he stood pouring tea, he said, "I won't be in this line of business for much longer. I don't know if you've heard, but my Anshun Escort ran into trouble on a run a month ago—the chief escort and several of our strongest guards were all killed."
Tears flashed in Hai Dakui's eyes, but he still steadily finished pouring Li Ban's tea.
Li Ban nodded, picked up his cup, and took a sip.
"I heard. My condolences."
Li Ban had heard about it from Liu Mu.
The man had essentially become his personal source of gossip.
Liu Mu had treated the very slaughter Li Ban was personally involved in as an amusing piece of news to share with him.
In Liu Mu's eyes, Anshun Escort was simply out of luck.
The main stem of the Cyan Silk Algae wasn't exactly a high-priority cargo. More importantly, Anshun Escort was only responsible for a quarter of that stem. How could they be so unlucky as to run into reckless hijackers who not only stole the goods, but silenced them all as well?
Winking and nudging, Liu Mu had guessed that there was definitely more to the story.
Of course Li Ban knew there was more to the story. The Death Prison was mixed up in it, too!
"Thank you, Sir Li," Hai Dakui said, wiping his face and sitting back down.
Li Ban looked at Yu Li. The man was now in charge of the handyman work on the fourth level, though Li Ban had no idea how he was doing.
"What element caught your eye?"
Yu Li forced a stiff smile. "Sir Li, it's nothing too impressive. Just a pair of boots."
Boots?
It was probably the element Li Ban had passed on buying last time.
"You haven't integrated an element yet?"
"Not yet."
Yu Li had always been honest and cautious with his work. Because of this, he only earned his fixed wages and never made any extra on the side. He had been a handyman for so long, yet he was only just now coming out to buy an element.
Ordinary elements weren't rare; Yu Li had probably shopped around quite a bit before finally making his choice.
"If it suits your needs, you should buy it and integrate it as soon as possible. You can only begin cultivating once you've integrated an element."
Even a mortal-tier element could improve every aspect of a person's physical abilities once it had absorbed enough spiritual rhinoceros.
The Death Prison wasn't exactly a safe place. If he had no connections to get better elements, he should focus on raising his strength as quickly as possible.
Yu Li lowered his head in shame. "I'm short by one tael of silver."
Li Ban looked at Hai Dakui in surprise. "Only one tael of silver?"
Hai Dakui rubbed his rough hands together. "Sir Li, it's not that I don't want to do Brother Yu a favor. It's just that with Anshun Escort gone, I have to find another way to make a living. Once I sell all this, the money will be all I have to fall back on..."
Hai Dakui might dare to haggle with Yu Li, but he certainly wouldn't dare deny Li Ban face.
Stopping halfway through his sentence, he offered, "Tell you what, I'll waive that one tael of silver as a gesture of friendship with Brother Yu."
Yu Li's face instantly lit up with joy.
A handyman only made five hundred large coins a month. To save up a single tael of silver, who knew how many months of frugality it had taken him?
"Thank you, Brother Hai! Thank you, Sir Li!" Yu Li hurriedly paid the money.
His money was a mix of whole pieces and loose change.
At first, he pulled it out of his coin pouch, but eventually he just kept a few large coins for himself and pushed the entire pouch over to Hai Dakui.
Without bothering to count it, Hai Dakui shoved the pouch straight into his robes.
Smiling, Li Ban said to Yu Li, "If you don't have anything else to do, head back. Integrate it quickly so nothing goes wrong."
Yu Li nodded repeatedly. Tucking the small box Hai Dakui handed him securely into his clothes, he cupped his fists in a salute and took his leave.
Once Yu Li was far away, Li Ban pulled two taels of silver from his robes and slid them in front of Hai Dakui.
"No, this won't do, Sir Li!"
Hai Dakui hurriedly tried to push the silver back, but Li Ban clamped a hand down on it.
"Aren't you leaving Qingcheng County? It's better to travel with heavy pockets. Consider this bit of silver my parting gift for your journey, a token of our acquaintance."