Two taels of silver for travel expenses really wasn't much given Li Ban's current net worth.
But he couldn't afford to give too much, either.
Li Ban knew very well that what he was giving was a departure gift, not blood money.
Stepping out of the teahouse, Li Ban looked up at the sky.
It was gloomy, overcast with thick clouds.
After a month and a half of clear weather, it was finally going to rain or snow today.
He just didn't know which it would be.
As dusk approached, neither had fallen, and the clouds actually looked as if they were breaking up.
A burly man in a bamboo hat was hastily driving a cart out of the Qingcheng County gates, taking his family of five north.
The man in the bamboo hat was Hai Dakui, who had just parted ways with Li Ban at noon.
Surprise flashed through his eyes when he saw the figure in the road.
"Whoa!" He tried to halt the cart to avoid hitting the man.
The man in black slowly raised his head. His eyes were as cold and indifferent as well water in the dead of winter.
Hai Dakui was an experienced escort guard. Seeing this, his heart gave a lurch, and a sense of dread washed over him.
"Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!"
He whipped the mule, trying to accelerate and steer around the figure.
But the man in black suddenly lashed out. The whip cracked against the dirt right in front of the mule, tearing open a fissure over half a meter deep.
The mule let out an uneasy bray and paced nervously, refusing to take another step forward.
The cart had accelerated violently, only to jerk to a sudden halt.
The clatter of tumbling cargo came from inside the carriage, followed by the cries of a child and a woman's anxious voice.
"Husband?"
"Keep the doors and windows shut. Whatever happens, don't come out unless I call for you."
The carriage fell silent, the child's cries muffled by a hand.
"I ask, you answer."
The man in black spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Go ahead." Seeing the trench in the dirt, Hai Dakui knew this man was at least a 2nd Tier Spirit Practitioner.
If he had been alone, he might have dared to risk a fight.
But his entire family—his deepest attachments in this world—were right there in the carriage.
He couldn't afford the risk.
"Did you leak the Anshun Escort route?"
"No. I wasn't even part of that mission. I know nothing about it," Hai Dakui said with a frown.
His head throbbed slightly, but it wasn't severe.
"Then why are you in such a hurry to run away?"
Hai Dakui's expression darkened, but he answered anyway. "After the head escort died, the agency fell into chaos. Three people have died in just this past month. I didn't want to get dragged into it. I just wanted to take my family and leave this troubled place."
The man in black nodded.
"You aren't lying about that."
Hai Dakui secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He was glad he hadn't fought for a spot on that run. If he had died, he didn't know how his remaining family—sick and frail as they were—would have survived.
"Sir, I really am telling the truth. Can you let us pass now?"
"I have one last question."
Hai Dakui swallowed hard. "Ask away."
"Are you unaware that the Myriad Ancient Pagoda forbids the private trading of elements?"
Hai Dakui froze.
It felt as if a massive bell had been dropped over his head and struck violently. His mind buzzed, leaving him completely at a loss for how to react.
"My lord, I... it was just a small business. Only a dozen or so. Just to feed my family. That's all."
"You sold seventeen or eighteen. That is a month's supply for the merchant guild."
Hai Dakui's face twitched, looking as though he might burst into tears.
"But it took me two years to sell that many!"
Small-scale private trading was an unspoken rule.
But an unspoken rule was not an explicit law.
Who would dare bring it out into the open?
The man in black nodded.
Hai Dakui looked at him expectantly, hoping the man would let him go. If not, paying a fine would suffice.
In the very next second, the pitch-black whip struck like lightning, slashing a deep gash straight across Hai Dakui's face.
Hai Dakui didn't even have time to react.
A cracked skull, a twitching scalp, a rigid body, and hands that still tightly gripped the reins.
He clenched his teeth—bit down hard—and died without making a single sound.
"Those who violate the Pagoda's laws must die."
The man in black retracted his whip, turned around, and vanished down the dirt road.
After a long time with no sound of movement outside, the woman's weak voice cautiously called out from inside the carriage.
"Husband?"
No one answered.
The carriage door rattled, but she didn't dare open it.
"Husband?" she asked again.
Whoosh—
The rain that had been holding off all day finally fell.
It struck the dry earth, kicking up a layer of dust.
"Husband?"
Nearby, the woman's voice was gradually drowned out by the rain.
Blood flowed all over the ground.
"Where in this world is free from trouble?" Death Prison Warden Du An placed the book in his hands onto the desk.
The sound wasn't loud, but it struck heavily against Zhang Baishan's heart.
After waiting a moment, seeing that Du An seemed to have cooled his temper, Zhang Baishan softly asked, "My lord, is the Myriad Ancient Pagoda demanding corpses again?"
Du An walked to the window with his hands behind his back. He watched the raindrops rhythmically strike the window paper, beating out a frustrating tempo.
"The Pagoda Master wants to send a few people into the Death Prison, but the Ministry of Justice refused."
This truly left them caught in the middle!
Zhang Baishan drew a sharp breath through his teeth. "Hiss... Hasn't the Ministry of Justice always turned a blind eye to local death prisons?"
What was usually a mere formality had suddenly been rejected today.
There was likely something suspicious going on.
"The newly appointed director at the Ministry of Justice once had a feud with Pagoda Master Wan. He hinted in every possible way that this latest escort robbery was orchestrated by the Myriad Ancient Pagoda."
"How is that possible? The Myriad Ancient Pagoda isn't short on that kind of money."
Du An looked back at Zhang Baishan. "The main root left behind by the Myriad Ancient Pagoda has withered. Someone must have tampered with it."
Zhang Baishan still didn't understand. "Why tamper with a stalk of Cyan Silk Algae? It isn't guaranteed to cultivate successfully, and even if it does, it would take decades."
Du An gave him a profound look but didn't answer. "Have Li Ban come over."
Zhang Baishan knew this meant Du An had run out of patience to explain. He could only cup his hands and excuse himself.
When Li Ban returned, the rain was at its heaviest. He had gotten a little wet and was in the middle of changing his clothes.
Hearing that Du An was looking for him, he hurriedly threw the clothes he had just taken off back on, grabbed an oiled paper umbrella, and ran over.
"My lord."
Li Ban walked into Du An's study and saw the warden standing by the window, watching the rain.
"I already know about the matter with Lu Qinghe. She acted out of her own selfish desires, and I will punish her."
To obtain premium elements, Lu Qinghe had taken the risk of intervening and double-crossed Butcher.
If she failed to clean up her tracks, it would jeopardize Li Ban's undercover mission in the Assassin Hall.
When Li Ban had first discovered it, he hadn't stopped her.
For one, he couldn't defeat either Cat Girl or Lu Qinghe in a fight.
Secondly, who knew whether Lu Qinghe had also been assigned a mission to protect him?
Now, the Death Prison had finally given him an explanation.
Li Ban figured he might even receive some sort of compensation.
But for Lord Du himself to provide that explanation surprised him quite a bit.
Lord Du had always been aloof and a man of few words. For him to willingly explain things now felt a bit like he was lowering his pride.
Did he have a task for him?
Sure enough, Li Ban then heard Du An say,
"How confident are you in being promoted to an iron-badge assassin this time?"