The terrifying green toxic mist did not linger in the air for long.
Once it began to thin, Zhang Baishan and a few others emerged with torches in hand.
Meanwhile, Li Ban followed Du An around the green mist and returned to the main entrance of the Death Prison.
Taking the torch from Zhang Baishan, Du An swung his long arm and hurled it straight into the toxic mist.
The flames and the green vapor seemed to trigger a bizarre reaction.
Pinpricks of firelight sparked before Li Ban's eyes, resembling the will-o'-the-wisps of legend.
As the scattered flames shrank, they looked like a cluster of fireflies gathering in the night, before vanishing completely when the morning sky grew bright.
As the green mist finally cleared, everyone saw Yu Li's corpse inside—a mangled pile of flesh and blood, along with two fallen horses foaming at the mouth and bleeding from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
Du An dusted off his clothes and instructed Zhang Baishan, "Baishan, find a few slaves to clean this up. Also, my official robes and documents are still in my luggage."
Although the Death Prison had seen a few incidents over the years, no one had ever dared to attack a prison official.
When Zhang Baishan first heard about the ambush, his immediate reaction was disbelief, followed by a fear that left his hands shaking.
Zhang Baishan stared at the corpse that had been sliced into pieces.
That was Zhao Kangnian, the prison official Du An had recently transferred in from another region.
Even though Zhao Kangnian wasn't a local, he had passed the Ministry of Justice's screening. How could he have turned out to be another mole?
He let out a heavy sigh. "Just what has this world come to?"
Du An was in no mood to indulge Zhang Baishan's lamentations. He called for Li Ban, who had been the first to emerge, and the two headed back to Jingyan Hall.
Noticing that Lu Qinghe hadn't returned with Du An, Li Ban asked in confusion, "My Lord, did Lu Qinghe not come back?"
"She's dead," Du An replied flatly, stepping forward to lift the lockdown on Jingyan Hall.
"Dead?" Hearing the news about Lu Qinghe, Li Ban froze.
But seeing that Du An showed neither anger nor sorrow, he had a sneaking suspicion that her "death" came with air quotes.
Sure enough, once the two entered the main hall, Du An added, "In our current situation, Lu Qinghe is more useful dead than alive."
Li Ban was now certain that Lu Qinghe had used the ambush as an opportunity to fake her death and slip away.
He just didn't know if Du An had assigned her a secret mission, or if she had left to swap out her element.
Replacing one's internal element was an agonizing process. Lu Qinghe had obtained a high-grade element a long time ago, but staying confined in the Death Prison meant she never had the time to swap it.
If she still had that high-grade element in her possession, now was the perfect opportunity.
Furthermore, Lu Qinghe was an assassin. Just as Du An said, she was far more useful hiding in the shadows.
After unlocking Jingyan Hall and entering the main parlor, Du An's first order was for Li Ban to summon Uncle Qin.
Li Ban agreed, but as he turned to leave, he thought to himself, He's poisoned, yet instead of healing, he wants to have a chat? Could the poisoning be fake, too?
By the time Li Ban returned to the small study with Uncle Qin, Du An was already seated behind his desk.
He tapped a single finger gently against the desk, producing a rhythmic tapping sound.
The sound wasn't loud, but every beat seemed to strike directly against the heart.
Sensing the heavy atmosphere, Li Ban glanced at Uncle Qin, who had been deathly pale ever since he arrived.
As Uncle Qin approached Du An, his legs trembled violently. He collapsed forward, falling to his knees and bracing his hands against the floor. Raising his head with a pronounced shudder, he asked, "My Lord, are you unhurt?"
Du An remained silent for a long moment before finally speaking. "Uncle Qin, you've worked in the Death Prison your entire life. Even when you were left with no identity in the end, I still kept you around and provided for you. Did I take care of you all these years just so you could feed information to my enemies?"
Something clicked in Li Ban's mind. He suddenly remembered that Uncle Qin, whose quarters were closer to the main gate, had arrived later than he did. Was it because he had a guilty conscience from the start and hadn't dared to show his face?
Uncle Qin lay prostrate on the floor. He opened his mouth to deny it, but seeing the look in Du An's eyes sent a spike of terror through his gut, catching his prepared lies in his throat.
He hurriedly slammed his forehead against the floor several times. "My Lord, I wasn't feeding him information! It was just that Zhao Kangnian said he was new to the Death Prison and wanted to curry favor with you. He wanted to be the first to welcome you back, and asked me to help him keep an eye out for your return."
Du An's expression didn't change, but his voice dropped to a freezing chill. "He told you that, and you believed him? What did he pay you?"
Uncle Qin trembled violently. "He only gave me two taels of silver! It's true! If he had offered more, I wouldn't have dared to take it."
"Of course he knew you wouldn't take a large sum. Which is why a mere two taels of silver was enough to make you sell me out."
Uncle Qin flinched, pressing his forehead hard against the floor. His lips trembled, but no words came out.
"I know all of you have your own little schemes—trying to earn some extra cash on the side, scraping for small benefits. I climbed my way up from the lowest identity, so I understand. Every spirit practitioner's journey to the top is grueling. Wanting to save up a little more money is entirely forgivable."
"Those petty tricks are harmless and inconsequential. I've always turned a blind eye to them."
"But to think you would act as someone's mole for a measly two taels of silver."
Du An stopped tapping and began slowly patting the desk with his entire palm.
The rhythm of the sound no longer struck fear into the heart; instead, it carried a strange, soothing quality.
Standing by the study door, Li Ban felt a cold prickle race across his scalp.
"Uncle Qin, I have always believed that as long as someone once served me, I would gladly let them live out their days in peace until old age. But if a person is destined for a miserable life, they might as well die swiftly and spare everyone the grief. Don't you agree?"
"My Lord!"
Panic seized Uncle Qin's heart. Forgetting all about begging for forgiveness, he jerked his torso upright and opened his mouth wide, desperate to plead for his life.
But a flash of silver light exploded in his vision.
The silver streak pierced straight through his forehead and shot out from the back of his skull, flicking off a final drop of blood in midair before returning to Du An's palm.
"I'll leave your corpse intact."
Uncle Qin never uttered another word as he slumped heavily to the floor.
"Li Ban, take the corpse down and do what you need to do." Du An stood up and instructed Li Ban.
The moment Li Ban realized what Uncle Qin had done, he knew the old man wouldn't survive.
He just hadn't expected Lord Du, a man of so few words, to say so much to Uncle Qin.
Perhaps the consecutive betrayals and assassination attempts had stirred a profound sense of melancholy within Lord Du.
At the same time, it felt like Du An was deliberately voicing his thoughts for Li Ban's benefit.
As Du An walked past him, he paused when they were shoulder to shoulder and looked at Li Ban.
"This is the view of good and evil that I uphold. Do you think it is right?"
Li Ban naturally replied "Yes," and quickly flattered him by adding, "My Lord is clear in rewards and punishments, as well as merciful and generous."
But in response to Li Ban's rapid answer, Du An merely offered a faint smile. It was impossible to tell if he was satisfied as he turned and retreated into the inner chambers.
"I will be in seclusion for three days. During this time, absolutely no one is to disturb me."
He was finally going to purge the poison.
Seeing Du An so composed and unhurried, Li Ban figured the poison wasn't a major problem.
He dragged the mostly bloodless corpse down to the Death Prison's fifth floor.
Sorting it by condition, he stored the body inside the icehouse.
Afterward, he pulled out the honeycomb-like object that the Assassin Hall had given him and quickly stuffed it into Uncle Qin's mouth. He then shifted Uncle Qin's corpse deeper into the icehouse.
The reason he placed the item from the Assassin Hall in Uncle Qin's mouth was simple: out of all the corpses in the icehouse, his mouth was currently the easiest to pry open.
And with Lu Qinghe gone, Li Ban was now solely responsible for managing the morgue.
He had successfully completed the task assigned by the Assassin Hall.
A few days later, the Assassin Hall seemingly used some method to verify that the object was securely inside the morgue, and issued Li Ban a reward of one thousand taels of silver.
Holding such a massive sum of money, Li Ban's fingers trembled.
It wasn't that he was short-sighted or unable to handle such a large reward.
It was because the higher the payout, the more it meant that his actions were bound to have monumental consequences.
He just didn't know when that honeycomb-like "explosive" would be detonated.
"This payout is even more than Zhou Gu's entire retirement fund."
He stashed the large silver banknotes in several different hiding spots, depositing a portion of them into a bank anonymously.
This way, if he ever entered the Wizard World using a different character in the future, he would still leave himself some starting capital.
Upon returning to the Death Prison, Li Ban walked in to find Zhou Gu practicing his iron palm techniques, his strikes generating fierce gusts of wind.
Zhou Gu is out practicing again, and his martial arts look even more ferocious than before. What has he been up to lately? His physical and mental state have improved drastically.
Because Li Ban's attention was often focused away from the Death Prison, he had no idea what had happened to Zhou Gu.
Judging by his vibrant expression, it had to be a good thing.
"Li Ban, come here! Let's spar for a bit. Let me see how well you've mastered those three iron palm techniques!" Zhou Gu called out the moment he spotted him.
"Sure thing, Official Zhou! Give me a second to change my clothes."
Li Ban happily agreed.
After changing into an old set of clothes he wouldn't mind ruining, Li Ban went out to the training grounds and sparred with Zhou Gu for an hour. Both of them ended up drenched in sweat, yet felt incredibly refreshed.
Li Ban's mastery of the iron palm was nowhere near Zhou Gu's, but after exchanging blows with him, he gained a lot of insight into how to use the techniques more fluidly.
"You little brat. You don't know many moves, but your body is agile, and your strikes are fast and vicious. How did I never notice you had this kind of talent before?"
Powering down his energy, Zhou Gu began unwrapping the bandages from his palms.
It was his first time sparring with Li Ban head-on, and he was shocked to realize that the foolish kid from the past had somehow grown to stand on equal footing with him.
Had Li Ban not been a bit clumsy in defending against formal martial arts moves, Zhou Gu suspected he might not have been a match for the boy at all.
In the past, seeing Li Ban become Du An's trusted confidant and progress at such a rapid pace would have definitely stirred up dark feelings of jealousy in Zhou Gu's heart.
Now, however, his expression was bright and clear, radiating the confidence of a man with a promising future.
Such a positive mindset only made Li Ban even more curious about what he had encountered.
"Official Zhou, what's got you in such a great mood?" Li Ban asked tentatively.
Zhou Gu chuckled and shook his head as he organized the cloth bandages on his arms. "It's not that I want to keep it from you, but this is a direct order from Lord Du. I'm not allowed to tell anyone. You understand, right?"
Sure enough, Zhou Gu was working for Lord Du.
Zhou Gu's previous despair had stemmed from his inability to continue fusing elements, which had destroyed any possibility of advancement.
Yet now his entire mental state was refreshed. Could Du An have provided him with a method to solve his elemental fusion problem?
But while Du An was incredibly strong, he was ultimately just a 4th-tier spirit practitioner. Did he really have the power to alter the underlying rules of the Wizard World?
Staring at Zhou Gu's back, a dark suspicion crossed Li Ban's mind.
Was this some sort of terminal lucidity—a method used to forcefully burn through the rest of his latent potential?
Of course, this was entirely Li Ban's own speculation, and it wasn't his place to intervene anyway.
While Li Ban and Zhou Gu were sparring, Du An paid another visit to the fourth floor of the Death Prison.
With his hands clasped behind his back, he looked somewhat exhausted, sporting faint dark circles under his eyes.
Seeing Du An in such a state, Zhai Liu clapped his hands together and burst into roaring laughter.
"Who managed to wound our Lord Du?"
Du An extended his right wrist, giving Zhai Liu a brief glimpse before quickly retracting it.
A faint, thread-like sliver of dark green still lingered at the center of his wrist.
"The Assassin Hall has already put Li Ban through several rounds of testing. Going forward, they shouldn't let a pawn like him go to waste."
Zhai Liu dropped his frivolous smile and gripped the iron bars as if he were strangling an enemy's neck.
"Excellent. Since they believe Li Ban is useful, they'll help him advance to the 3rd Tier and boost his strength. Li Ban already has full spiritual rhinoceros, but his identity is stuck as a prison guard. Next, they are bound to create an opportunity for him to become a bronze-rank assassin."
Having sat quietly on the fourth floor for so long, Zhai Liu finally figured out why Du An had suppressed Li Ban and prevented him from reaching the 3rd Tier.
To ensure Li Ban successfully accessed the Assassin Hall's core secrets, the goal wasn't for Li Ban to strive to become a bronze-rank assassin. Instead, it was to make the Assassin Hall need him to become a bronze-rank assassin to carry out their errands.
A 3rd Tier operative they nurtured themselves would always be more trustworthy than one delivered by an outsider, wouldn't they?
"You were right. I was indeed too impatient back then," Zhai Liu admitted. After several days of venting, he had regained much of his rationality.
The First Prince, Prince Li, Li Yuan!
In the past, the mere thought of that name would cause Zhai Liu to lose his usual composure.
But for the sake of his goal, he could absolutely not afford to act on impulse again.
Du An spoke softly, "Having been locked away for so many years while bearing the curse of the starving ghost, you are already stronger than almost anyone I know."
At the mention of the starving ghost, Zhai Liu's handsome face briefly contorted into savagery, though he quickly forced himself back to calm.
"It's just that..." Du An told Zhai Liu an unexpected piece of news. "There has been a slight accident regarding the First Prince's southern inspection tour. He has been tied up by the Ministry of Revenue."
Zhai Liu rubbed his chin gently against the iron bars and slowly shook his head, entirely unconcerned. "He will come. If he wants something, he will resort to any means necessary to get his hands on it. Just wait and see."
Du An nodded. "Then we will wait and see what happens."
Stillness was better than action.
On the sixteenth of March, Zhao Kangnian, the one who attempted to assassinate Du An, was dismembered.
His identity, origins, and everyone involved with his entry into the Death Prison were investigated.
They subsequently uncovered several suspicious individuals.
However, Du An had no authority to investigate the higher-ups in the Ministry of Justice who had actually decided on Zhao Kangnian's transfer.
The minor pawns pushed out by the Ministry of Justice were all inconsequential people, and they were ultimately killed to conclude the matter.
One side had no genuine desire to investigate, while the other had no genuine intention of cooperating.
This matter was unexpectedly dropped just like that.
On the twenty-second of March, just six days after the ambush on Du An, Li Ban once again received a new mission from the Assassin Hall.
And the one who personally showed up to find him was none other than the Master of the Assassin Hall herself, Yan Jiu.
Li Ban was very curious: was the Master of the Assassin Hall normally this idle?
Did she really have to personally assign missions to an iron-rank assassin like him?
Or did this mean that every mission Li Ban was involved in was classified as top secret, with no third person allowed to know?
Yan Jiu appeared right as Li Ban was driving the cart to deliver corpses to the Wangu Hall at the scheduled time.
Passing the forest near the River of Forgetfulness, Li Ban suddenly saw a figure standing at the edge of the woods beside the official road.
Wearing a mask, Yan Jiu was leaning against a tree trunk, looking incredibly relaxed.
Li Ban's right eye had exceptional Superhuman Vision, and he had even awakened his second ability, dynamic vision. Yet, he hadn't seen how Yan Jiu arrived at all.
It was as if she could turn invisible, only dropping her invisibility the exact moment Li Ban approached so she would suddenly appear in his line of sight.
Invisibility?
Li Ban twitched his right pinky finger.
Wrapped around it was a transparent Invisibility Plain Ring, currently concealed by his fingerless glove.
Could the power of this Plain Ring have come from Yan Jiu?