The first thing Li Ban did after leaving the sinkhole was wipe his hands on the ground.
Ever since he found out Lu had poisoned him, he didn’t even want to touch her.
There was no water nearby, so he used dirt to clean his hands.
Actually, Lu shouldn’t be able to poison someone through the skin;
otherwise, she wouldn’t have bothered putting poison in the food.
But Li Ban just felt uneasy.
After getting into the cart, he noticed there was a large box covered with black cloth this time.
Tree-Person A didn’t tell him what was inside the box.
Li Ban waited until the old horse started running, and Tree-Person A entered his usual withdrawn, eyes-closed half-sleep state before carefully lifting a corner of the black cloth.
Although the inside was still dimly lit, Li Ban’s right eye had already made out the scene inside.
The cat-woman, seeing a bit of light shining in from outside, calmly blinked toward the brightness.
Li Ban’s heart jolted, and he loosened his grip.
Was the cat-woman going to be executed?
No, judging by her state, she hadn’t fallen into despair.
Was she going to be transferred?
Or... released?
Li Ban was conflicted. He had worked well with the cat-woman, and whatever reason she left for, it was a huge loss to his undercover mission.
If it weren’t for the cat-woman telling him first, Li Ban wouldn’t have guessed that Lu could use rat poison.
If the cat-woman left the Death Prison, how would he confirm if the food was poisoned?
And Lu was in charge of cooking;
Li Ban couldn’t just skip meals for days.
The cart shook along the official road as Li Ban stared at the surrounding forest, gradually zoning out.
Just like yesterday, the old horse pulled two people and a box into Qingcheng County.
But this time, they didn’t go to the black and white markets;
instead, they passed the alley and continued forward, stopping only near the opposite city wall.
When the cart stopped, a huge circular building appeared before Li Ban.
The brick-red outer walls had windows of various widths arranged irregularly, with white paper covering the windows to prevent outsiders from peeking inside.
The entrance to this building was a long, dragged-out archway.
The archway looked like a tunnel entrance, without lighting, deliberately creating a gloomy atmosphere.
But once the cart entered the circular building, the interior brightened up.
After entering, Li Ban realized it wasn’t a circular building but an annular structure.
The middle was empty and had no roof.
After the cart passed through the archway, two burly men led it aside.
A middle-aged man with a beard, dressed in a long robe, walked over.
“Lord A, it’s been a long time since your last visit. Are you here to watch the battle or to participate?”
Unlike the people Li Ban had seen in the black and white markets, this middle-aged man also called Tree-Person A “Lord A,” but his attitude was gentler, as if the two were of equal status.
Tree-Person A was slightly more polite in return, but just barely. “Steward Li, look, I’ve brought the stakes with me.”
Steward Li stepped forward, lifted a bit of the black cloth, and looked inside, returning with a smile. “The cat-woman again? Last time, she caused you quite a loss.”
Tree-Person A’s face darkened—his eyes narrowed into slits.
“She was just too hungry last time, hadn’t recovered yet.”
Steward Li smiled without replying.
“If she loses again this time, I’ll send her to the second level!”
This was the first time Li Ban heard Tree-Person A mention the second level. Judging by their tone, the second level of the Death Prison was not a good place.
But from what they said, the cat-woman was just here for the bet, so she wouldn’t leave the Death Prison.
Li Ban breathed a sigh of relief but also felt a bit guilty.
Steward Li didn’t comment on Tree-Person A’s deliberate words to the cat-woman;
they exchanged pleasantries before leading Tree-Person A upstairs for tea.
Li Ban was left to follow the cage imprisoning the cat-woman.
The two burly men effortlessly lifted the cage and walked ahead.
Li Ban had to jog to keep up behind them.
“Excuse me, what place is this?”
Unexpectedly, the two burly men ignored Li Ban completely.
They walked along a long, narrow corridor for two or three hundred meters, then turned into an arched passage, passed through several iron grated doors, and finally entered a dark room.
Inside the dark room were regular oil lamps, but none were lit.
A small window above let in a beam of sunlight.
The cage containing Li Ban and the cat-woman was left here, with only one burly man guarding outside the iron bars.
At this point, Li Ban was outside the cage, the cat-woman inside, but both were prisoners.
He thought for a moment, then went over and removed the black cloth from the cage.
The cat-woman, sitting cross-legged with eyes closed, curled the corners of her mouth.
Li Ban stopped about a meter away from the iron cage. “This isn’t your first time here. Do you know where this place is?”
“The Beast-Fighting Arena.”
The Beast-Fighting Arena, as the name implies, was a place where beasts fought.
Although the cat-woman looked human, to the audience here, she was just a beast.
A means to satisfy people’s lust for violence and bloodshed.
Last time the cat-woman made Tree-Person A lose money, it was because she lost in battle.
Although no wounds were visible on the cat-woman now, Li Ban believed the losers in the arena never came out unscathed.
“You haven’t eaten today. Do you want something to eat?”
The cat-woman still had her eyes closed and shook her head with a smile. “No need. If the fight gets intense later, I’ll throw it up... what a waste.”
“Is there anything else I can do for you?”
The cat-woman opened her eyes in surprise, looking at Li Ban’s serious face. After a moment, the smile at the corner of her mouth spread to her eyes.
“Good person, you really are a good person. How about letting me give you a kiss?”
Li Ban immediately changed expression and took a half step back.
“No.”
“Why not?” The cat-woman leaned closer, pouted, “Am I not pretty?”
“Your mouth stinks.”
The cat-woman’s mouth twitched as she sat back down and closed her eyes again. “You idiot.”
The two fell silent and waited in the dark room for a long time.
The sunlight on the ground shifted by a meter before the two burly men came in.
“Cat-woman, get ready.”
They signaled for Li Ban to open the cage.
Li Ban quickly took out the key given by Tree-Person A and unlocked the cage.
The cat-woman rolled out in one swift move.
She still had iron rings on her neck, wrists, and ankles.
Previously, she had chains attached, but now only the chains were removed.
One burly man looked at the cat-woman, while the other tapped the stone wall.
The wall slowly moved aside, opening to both sides.
Strong sunlight poured in, making Li Ban squint.
At the same time, the sounds of clamor, cheers, and shouts came through the open wall.
The atmosphere was lively and loud.
Outside the wall were layers upon layers of iron gratings.
Li Ban was left in the dark room, watching the cat-woman follow the two burly men approach an iron grating, waiting for it to open. After entering, the grating behind closed, and only then would the grating ahead open.
Step by step, stop by stop, the cat-woman’s figure finally stood fully in the sunlight.
Following that came even louder, more intense cheers that almost seemed to shake the skull.
Seeing the cat-woman obediently go out, the two burly men retreated layer by layer, all the way back to the dark room where Li Ban was.
The stone wall did not close, allowing them to watch the cat-woman’s battle here.
A performance destined to be soaked in blood.