Hearing Zhu Yao say she couldn't leave the Recycling Station didn't surprise Li Ban.
Based on what he knew of Priest Zhu Yao's character, if there were a way out of here, she wouldn't have sunk into this depression, spending every day scrambling for rations.
It was obvious from yesterday's events: just to get Ed a new pair of legs, they had to penny-pinch and save on every meal.
If they couldn't even fill their own stomachs, where would they find the energy and ability to escape this hellhole?
But Li Ban was different. Just because they couldn't do it didn't mean he couldn't.
Still, if Zhu Yao and the others truly knew nothing about how to leave the Recycling Station, Li Ban would have to head out and explore once he found his footing.
Opportunities wouldn't just fall into his lap.
"When you say it's impossible to leave, does that mean you have no idea how? Or do you know the way, but are stopped by obstacles?"
Zhu Yao lowered her head, her soft laugh sounding more like a sigh. "Every newcomer is the same. They ask how to leave, they try, and then they break, spending their broken days waiting for death. Or they fail and come crawling back to become an honest, obedient laborer."
"If you don't try to break through that impenetrable barrier, you can live very comfortably. At least as long as you conserve your spiritual rhinoceros, you can live normally for decades or even centuries. You could even become the master of a camp."
"But if you insist on trying, you'll lose everything. Then you'll end up like me, living hand to mouth."
Li Ban nodded. "I can tell. You speak from experience."
"I do." Zhu Yao admitted it without hesitation. "I used to be a 7th Tier Priest. Now, I'm... a garbage collector."
"Then, could Senior share some of that experience?"
Zhu Yao pursed her lips. Her expression had been grim ever since Li Ban brought up the topic.
After a moment of silence, she simply pulled over an empty wooden crate and sat down on it.
"You want to know, so I'll tell you. Afterward, I'll take a high-reward task and you'll help us finish it. Once that's done, we'll be even. We'll go our separate ways."
Zhu Yao wiped all emotion from her face.
Li Ban raised a hand, gesturing for her to proceed.
"As far as I know, there are three paths that offer a chance to leave the Recycling Station."
"The first path: directly become a Great Wizard. The Recycling Station cannot imprison a Great Wizard."
Directly become a Great Wizard.
Even in the Wizard World, where spiritual rhinoceros was incredibly abundant, barely any Priests ever managed to become Great Wizards.
Much less here in the Recycling Station, where there was absolutely no spiritual rhinoceros and not even an element could be used.
Zhu Yao gave Li Ban three seconds to digest the information before immediately moving on to the next.
"The second path: there are two stable spatial rifts in the Recycling Station. One is in the center of our Northern Continent, and the other is in the center of the Southern Continent."
"However, both of these rifts are overrun by massive numbers of monsters."
"The monsters born from eating people?" Li Ban asked.
"Yes, exactly those. Even though mass erasure events happen here from time to time, the place is still swarming with them. The monsters even devour each other to grow stronger. If they weren't so mindless, this Recycling Station would have become a monster's world long ago."
"Oh, right. If you want to go see the spatial rift for yourself, just head straight from the camp toward the barrier wall for a month. You'll reach the great canyon where the northern rift is located."
"How strong is the most powerful monster?" Li Ban asked.
"I went there back when I still had the strength of a 7th Tier Priest. I only made it a third of the way before I almost shattered right there. So, I can't tell you how strong the most powerful monster is. But it definitely can't match a Great Wizard. If you can become a Great Wizard, you can easily smash your way through."
Zhu Yao sounded like she was telling a dry joke.
"If no one can even reach the rift, why say it's a way out of the Recycling Station?"
"It's just a guess. I'm providing what I consider a possible method."
"Understood. And the final path?"
"Follow the insect swarm, enter the ice storm, and enter Heaven Beyond Heaven."
"The insect swarm?" Hearing a familiar term, Li Ban looked up, his expression growing serious.
"It seems you aren't a grey-robe priest." Zhu Yao tilted her head. "Which faction's Priest are you? Myriad Ancient Pagoda, Imperial Dynasty, or Mist Realm?"
"—Myriad Ancient Pagoda."
Zhu Yao's expression shifted slightly. She pursed her lips and unexpectedly offered him another word of advice. "On account of you being a Priest of the Myriad Ancient Pagoda... don't try the impossible."
Li Ban smiled. "Priest Zhu Yao, you're still my guide, you know."
Zhu Yao gave a bitter smile. "I hope this Zhu Yao hasn't made you too disappointed in that Zhu Yao."
Hearing that Li Ban was a Priest of the Myriad Ancient Pagoda, Zhu Yao's previously cold attitude softened significantly.
"We still can't be sure if the insect swarm entering the ice storm is the same swarm that comes out of the Unreturning Place. Because everyone who enters this place is trapped, no one has been able to go out and confirm it."
Li Ban was most interested in this final method.
When dealing with the insect swarms in the Unreturning Place, a Priest's safety was basically guaranteed. The only reason the defensive work there was so difficult was because they had to stop the bugs from escaping to the outside world.
Up until now, Li Ban had never encountered a single bug that posed a threat to a Priest.
"What exactly are the bugs and the ice storm here? And what is this Heaven Beyond Heaven you mentioned?"
"It's true that a single bug isn't much of a threat to a Priest. But there is a massive number of bugs here. It's on a completely different scale from the Unreturning Place."
"As for the ice storm, it's a gale that erupts from deep underground, sweeping up frost and ice as it rockets into the sky."
"I've never been to the ice storm myself. But I've heard that everyone who tried to leave the Recycling Station through Heaven Beyond Heaven eventually froze into ice blocks and plummeted back down, shattering into pieces."
"There's a man in the camp who fell from up there. I'll take you to see him when we have some time. He was fairly lucky; his head survived intact. The camp leader needed his expedition experience, so he took him in."
Li Ban nodded, feeling no immediate rush to meet the man.
Just as Zhu Yao said, none of these three methods for leaving the Recycling Station were simple. For the people here, the success rate was essentially zero.
Even though Li Ban knew he had hidden trump cards, he wouldn't blindly assume he could easily leave this place.
Seeing that Li Ban hadn't immediately rushed off to test his luck after hearing the methods, Zhu Yao's somewhat anxious mood finally settled.
"I thought that once you found out, you would try to break through the Recycling Station's blockade right now, while you're still at your strongest."
"I might be at my strongest right now, but this is also when I have the least amount of information. There are so many incredibly powerful people in the Recycling Station, and none of them managed to break out during their peak, much less me."
Li Ban stood up. "I won't give up on leaving, but that doesn't mean I'm going to risk my life on a blind gamble."
Zhu Yao froze for a moment before finally breaking into a smile. "It seems I misunderstood you."
She stood up and peeked into Ed's room.
Faint snoring could be heard from inside.
"Since you want to gather more information about this place, do you want to tag along with me to pick up a task? You can use the opportunity to walk around the camp."
"I'd be glad to."
Li Ban followed Zhu Yao out of the room.
He noticed that on their way out, Zhu Yao locked the outer iron-barred door.
The way she locked it—wrapping an iron chain around the door—meant that without a key, it couldn't be opened from the inside either.
"What happens if Ed wakes up and can't find us?"
"He'll just go back to sleep." Zhu Yao paused. "Here, if you aren't bustling about for wheat flatbread, there's really nothing else to do."
It made sense. Eating, drinking, pissing, shitting, and sleeping. Two of the five basic human needs were already gone.
What they could eat had been reduced to a single, monotonous food, and as for drinking, the purer the water, the better the effect. What other desires did a person have left to satisfy here?
It certainly saved them some trouble.
Leaving the communal housing district, Li Ban and Zhu Yao headed back to the spot where they had turned in their tasks yesterday.
Perhaps because it was still early, there were hardly any people in the corridor.
Even the window belonging to the fat woman from yesterday was still boarded up.
Zhu Yao didn't stand on ceremony. She marched right up and pounded her fist against the window.
"Thump, thump, thump! Thump, thump, thump—"
She pounded on it for a solid two minutes before a voice finally sounded from inside.
"You got a death wish?! Can't a person get some sleep!" The fat woman tore the wooden board away from the window. When she saw it was Zhu Yao, her vicious curses devolved into annoyed muttering. "Zhu Yao, I knew it was you. What's the point of coming here this early? There's always a garbage collection task waiting for you, no matter what time you show up."
Zhu Yao puffed out her chest. "Today, I want to look at the other tasks."
That finally woke the fat woman up completely. She noticed Li Ban standing behind Zhu Yao and raised her messy eyebrows. "I thought you'd just picked up a baby, but it turns out you struck gold."
Anyone who could secure a new pair of legs on their very first day in the camp was a treasure indeed.
"What kind of task are you looking for? Guard duty? Outside combat? Or gathering?"
Zhu Yao didn't even have to think about it. "Outside gathering."
"I'm just saying, Zhu Yao, you've already struck gold. Why are you still picking up such a low-paying task?"
Zhu Yao didn't say a word. She just stared blankly at the fat woman.
The fat woman pursed her lips and, looking thoroughly bored, pulled out a list.
"The gathering tasks are all the usuals. Wild rye, groundwater, weapons, vehicles, limestone—take a look yourself."
Li Ban leaned in to look at the items on the list.
Other than food and weapons, it was mostly basic infrastructure and transport materials.
The only slightly unusual items were a few types of bugs listed at the very bottom.
Zhu Yao picked up the list, folded it carefully, and tucked it into her pocket. "Got it."
She paused. "If there are any garbage collection tasks..."
"Yes, yes, yes." The fat woman gave her a knowing look. "You're already taking gathering tasks, and you still care about a three-wheat-flatbread task?"
They finished their registration with the fat woman and headed down another corridor.
"For gathering tasks, I need to rent a vehicle." Zhu Yao cleared her throat softly. "Could you lend me some wheat flatbread for the deposit?"
"Sure," Li Ban said casually. "How much do you need?"
"The deposit is thirty pieces."
That was a normal person's ten-day food ration.
"How much do you need to borrow?"
"—Thirty pieces."