"He is currently awaiting trial. Do not beat or abuse him during the escort," Du An told Li Ban.
Of course, that was the official line.
In reality, he was telling Li Ban to be careful not to die in an accident himself.
Li Ban wasn't worried. He didn't plan to kill Shi Ming anyway. Since the man had survived being locked up in the County Office prison and the Death Prison, ordinary imprisonment and interrogation clearly wouldn't trigger his "accidental death" effect.
Li Ban stepped forward and entered Jingyan Hall.
Shi Ming was entirely focused on a painting, completely unaware that Li Ban had walked in.
"Shi Ming, do you still remember me?"
Startled, Shi Ming gave a jerk and quickly turned around.
His eyes lit up when he saw Li Ban.
He acted as if he had come to the Death Prison to visit family, not because he was arrested.
He even called him "Brother Li."
Li Ban smiled in response. "Shi Ming, I'll be the one escorting you to another province this time."
Shi Ming seemed to finally remember that he was being escorted. His shoulders slumped, and he grew listless.
"Ah, we are going to the Unreturning Place, right? I know. Don't worry, Brother Li, I won't cause you any trouble. Staying anywhere is all the same to me."
Seeing that he was quite cooperative, Li Ban stepped forward and took Shi Ming by the arm. "Let's go. It is a long journey, and we need to set off as early as possible."
Shi Ming did not resist and followed Li Ban out of Jingyan Hall.
Once outside, Li Ban formally bid farewell to Du An.
"Lord Du, we are leaving." Li Ban cupped his hands in a salute.
Although he and Du An had once been enemies, Li Ban owed his current strength in the Wizard World largely to Du An and Zhai Liu.
Li Ban was still grateful to him.
Ultimately, however, their relationship was mostly one of mutual use. Coupled with the issue of the Wizard Embryo Fragment, it was best for him to stay far away from Du An until he possessed equal strength.
Du An nodded, watching Li Ban lead Shi Ming away.
Staring at Li Ban's tense back, his fingertips twitched several times before he finally suppressed the urge.
"I will just consider this... my final answer to the original Gu Yi."
Du An flicked his wide sleeves, returned to Jingyan Hall, and closed the doors.
Li Ban took Shi Ming to the stables first to lead out an old horse that knew the way.
Since he was taking Shi Ming to Yanzhou, they naturally could not walk the whole way, and the Death Prison was not going to give Li Ban a horse and cart.
They needed to take a cart to the county town first to buy a vehicle and provisions for the long journey.
Yesterday, Li Ban had already sought out Liu Mu and asked him to send a capable slave to drive the cart back.
However, upon hearing that Li Ban was leaving, Liu Mu decided to personally drive him to the county town.
By the time Li Ban had readied the cart, Liu Mu ran out, holding two Ghost-Head Sabers.
"Li Ban, this one is for you." Liu Mu offered the saber in his left hand to Li Ban. "I swapped the scabbard for one without the Death Prison insignia. Even though this blade isn't some divine weapon, it is still sturdier and sharper than anything you could buy from a blacksmith. Your journey is long, so it is best to bring a sharp weapon for protection."
"Thanks." Li Ban did not stand on ceremony. He took the Ghost-Head Saber and hung it at his waist.
This Ghost-Head Saber was not an element; it was simply a standard-issue weapon of the Death Prison. It was identical to the one Zhou Gu had once used.
Liu Mu had been thrilled ever since learning Li Ban was leaving the Death Prison.
If Li Ban stayed, he would become the biggest obstacle in Liu Mu's path to promotion.
Liu Mu had even harbored dark thoughts over this in the past.
But as the gap in their strength gradually widened, he eventually let it go.
Now, finding out Li Ban was leaving was a wonderful surprise. He had grown much more generous, hoping only that Li Ban would never return.
Standing to the side, Shi Ming had no idea about their hidden dynamics. He simply smiled, thinking they had a great relationship and that Brother Li was indeed a good person.
Liu Mu drove the cart to see Li Ban and Shi Ming off.
He had heard about the anomalies surrounding Shi Ming, so he had no complaints about the man riding in the cart. He even pretended the prisoner was not there.
Along the way, Liu Mu and Li Ban chatted and laughed, reminiscing about when they first met and the details of their lives since.
Back then, Liu Mu openly relied on Zhang Baishan and secretly relied on Huo Jiang, thinking he had climbed some massive ladder. Looking back on it now, it was nothing special.
He had simply become a prison guard a step earlier than the rest. Afterward, he still had to obediently grind for seniority, cultivate his spiritual rhinoceros, and wait for that prison official identity to fall onto his head, though who knew when that might be.
When you pursued something for a long time, the novelty wore off once you got it. You realized it was nothing extraordinary, and ordinary life still had to carry on.
Time slipped away quickly amid their reminiscence, and they reached Qingcheng County before noon.
Because of the First Prince's incident two days ago, the county town was under much heavier security.
Even the small peddlers and merchants outside the county town gates had been cleared away.
The area outside the gates was desolate, with only debris left behind by fleeing merchants littering the ground.
Li Ban even saw a small straw sandal half-buried in the dust.
It was enough to imagine how panicked the people had been when they fled.
But he believed those commoners would return in another two days.
After all, this was the livelihood they depended on to survive.
The soldiers at the city gates were as respectful as ever. They still opened a small side door for the two prison guards so they could pass through quickly.
Of course, if the First Prince had been the one to win, the situation would certainly be different.
After entering the county town, Liu Mu offered to help him buy a cart and a horse.
Li Ban, however, opted for a mule to save money.
Liu Mu also suggested going to the Black Market White Market to buy a slave for Li Ban.
He couldn't exactly have Li Ban driving the cart the whole way while Shi Ming lay in the back, right?
This was because Shi Ming had absolutely no idea how to drive a cart.
Li Ban still refused.
He had too many secrets on him. If a slave saw something, would he have to kill them to silence them?
Nevertheless, they still went to the Black Market White Market.
Because the Death Prison was currently in desperate need of manpower, Liu Mu bought six slaves in one go, planning to leave two in the front courtyard for chores.
Inside the slave market, Li Ban did not see his old acquaintance, Zhao Laosi.
He asked around, only to learn that the man had died in the riots two days ago.
What Li Ban did not know was that Zhao Laosi hadn't strictly needed to die.
He had simply been so terrified that he tried to climb a wall to escape, only to be casually chopped down by the First Prince's personal guards outside.
After leaving the slave market, Li Ban and Liu Mu parted ways.
They offered each other a cupped-fist salute from afar, each going their separate ways.
Before leaving Qingcheng County, Li Ban made a trip to the County Office to process the escort documents and travel passes.
The newly appointed Assistant Magistrate He, likely trying to curry favor with Du An, even gifted Li Ban twenty taels of silver as a ceremonial courtesy.
Who knew if he would bitterly regret it once he learned that Du An was also being transferred away?
Exiting Qingcheng County, they traveled north. They passed from wide official roads to narrow ones, eventually entering a mountainous area. Just ahead lay Daqingshan.
The road grew increasingly rugged, and Li Ban finally slowed the mule cart down.
His prison guard identity was normally valid for another six months. He only needed to reach the Myriad Ancient Pagoda at the Unreturning Place within that half-year.
Zhang Baishan was quite an upright person. He certainly wouldn't defy Du An's orders and prematurely revoke Li Ban's prison guard identity.
After freeloading food and drinks at the County Office with Li Ban, Shi Ming did not think Li Ban had done anything wrong. In fact, he felt it was exactly how things should be.
"These corrupt officials deserve to have someone deal with them!"
He gazed at Li Ban with a face full of admiration and reached out to tug his sleeve.
"Brother Li, you're amazing. Why don't we swear brotherhood?"
Li Ban repeatedly shook his head. "We are technically escort and prisoner. It is good enough that I haven't put you in shackles. Don't make my dereliction of duty so blatantly obvious!"
He was not a genuine ancient martial hero; he did not have a habit of randomly claiming people as family.
Besides, he still did not know what Shi Ming would encounter once he was delivered to the Unreturning Place.
He certainly didn't want to swear an oath to "die in the same year, same month, and same day" with the man.
"What Brother Li says... is very true." Shi Ming wasn't disappointed. He simply gave a couple of awkward laughs and shrank back into the cart.
Just as the cart entered the bounds of Daqingshan and Li Ban was preparing to stop the mule for a rest, he suddenly noticed something amiss.
Li Ban hurriedly snapped the reins, making the mule speed up again.
Inside the carriage, Shi Ming had already been preparing to climb out.
As a result, the cart's sudden acceleration sent him tumbling straight backward.
"What's going on?" Scrambling up to grip the carriage door, Shi Ming asked cautiously.
"There are people in the woods. They might be coming for us," Li Ban said, his face turning grave.
His right eye had just caught a glimpse of a corner of clothing behind the bushes.
Someone was lying in ambush in the forest.
At first, Li Ban worried that Du An had sent men to intercept and kill him.
But on second thought, that didn't seem right.
Du An had had plenty of opportunities to make a move yesterday.
Yet he had not done so.
Li Ban felt that Du An was not the kind of person to regret his own choices.
Then these people were either bandits blocking the road, or... their target was Shi Ming.
What Li Ban found strange, however, was that when he mentioned attackers might be coming for them, Shi Ming merely gave an "Oh," completely unafraid. Could a frail scholar who lacked the strength to truss a chicken really face assassins without changing his expression?
Right at that moment, someone suddenly leaped down from a large tree the cart was passing and lunged at Li Ban.
Li Ban immediately raised his palm to meet the strike.
The attacker possessed considerable strength. After exchanging a palm strike with Li Ban, the man surprisingly wasn't sent flying by the force.
"Either a 3rd Tier with full spiritual rhinoceros, or a weaker 4th Tier."
Li Ban already had a measure of the situation in his mind.
The attacker wore a face veil, exposing only a pair of sinister, ruthless eyes.
After Li Ban blocked his first move, he was somewhat surprised, but his subsequent attacks grew increasingly fierce, entirely consisting of vicious strikes aimed at the lower body.
One look was enough to tell he was someone accustomed to fighting dirty.
Li Ban retreated as he deflected the blows, eventually flipping backward to jump off the cart.
Naturally, the person pursuing Li Ban jumped down after him.
In that short time, Li Ban had already dodged seven or eight times, only exchanging palm strikes with the opponent twice.
"This person seems to be fighting to kill, but it feels more like he is forcing me away from the mule cart. Is this luring the tiger from the mountain?"
Shi Ming seemingly knew no fear. He foolishly poked his head out of the carriage to watch Li Ban's fight.
Right then, Li Ban suddenly saw another person appear on the opposite side of the cart.
Seeing Shi Ming and confirming that Li Ban was some distance from the cart, that person instantly hurled the Throwing Axe in his hand.
The spinning axe chopped straight toward Shi Ming's slender white neck.
Li Ban was not anxious.
He had already told Silver Kingfisher to wait beside the carriage.
Once danger approached, it would find a way to block it.
If it felt it could not block the attack, it would just ram Shi Ming out of the way.
Either way, it would just ram whoever was weaker.
Having advanced to the 3rd Tier alongside Li Ban, the element "Silver Kingfisher" was also much more formidable than before.
Its strength and agility had both vastly improved.
It could easily knock aside an ordinary person without an identity like Shi Ming.
But this time, Silver Kingfisher did not even have the chance to act.
The mule, which had just been standing there dumbly, seemed to finally react, bolting forward in fright.
The spinning axe somehow struck the carriage frame.
The back of the axe happened to strike the only iron-plated section on the frame, and then bounced right back.
The assassin who had just thrown the axe happened to be lunging forward, seemingly prepared to follow up with a finishing blow at any moment.
Unexpectedly, Silver Kingfisher suddenly flew up and smashed into the man's face, blocking his vision.
The very next instant, the rebounding axe accidentally smashed into the second assassin's throat.
This bizarre chain of events left both Li Ban and the assassin he was fighting completely stunned.
Meanwhile, Shi Ming had calmly watched the entire sequence. Faced with this bizarre development, he did not feel the slightest bit surprised.
Out of habit, he even showed a somewhat bored expression.