This was Li Ban's first time driving the carriage by himself. Although the old horse knew the way, he still felt somewhat nervous.
Last time on the road, they had been chased by the ring-tailed panther. If not for Tree-Person A being with them, a few slaves alone would never have escaped back to Death Prison.
Though Li Ban had brought the poisoned iron hook again this time, he still lacked confidence.
Being able to go out alone as a menial worker was a good thing.
But the lack of safety when going out was also a problem.
The top priority was still to improve his strength as soon as possible.
Besides absorbing spiritual essence, he needed to see if he could fuse with new elements.
Now that he had reached first-tier Identity, according to what the cat-woman said, first-tier could fuse with one element, so he should be able to fuse a second one.
This second element had better have attack or defense capabilities, not just auxiliary functions.
It was like comparing martial arts to firearms.
Only, Li Ban didn't know how to obtain other elements now.
The mimic rat's tail he had most contact with was an inferior element. Since each person had limited slots for fusing elements, Li Ban wanted to fuse a better one.
After finishing the mission Zhou Gu assigned, he would definitely find someone to ask about elements properly.
Along the way, Li Ban didn't dare close his eyes to cultivate like Tree-Person A did, instead carefully observing his surroundings.
Perhaps because Tree-Person A had reported the panther incident to Qingcheng County last time, no powerful beasts appeared on the official road this time.
Li Ban smoothly arrived at the county gate.
Originally he was hesitating—since Tree-Person A hadn't come this time, should he queue at the small gate or ask the guard soldiers to open the main gate for him?
But the old horse was already familiarly heading toward the main gate.
The soldiers looked somewhat puzzled when they saw Li Ban, but after confirming it was the old horse pulling the carriage, they still opened the gate for him.
"Even a horse has more face than me," Li Ban muttered, but still nodded in thanks to the soldier who opened the gate for him.
Arriving smoothly at the Black Market White Market, he bought all the wine Zhou Gu needed through two wineries.
These merchants also recognized Death Prison's old horse. When trading with Li Ban, their words were full of flattery, and they inquired about Li Ban's identity.
Upon learning Li Ban was a newly promoted menial worker, they not only showed no contempt but actively befriended him, inviting Li Ban in for drinks.
But Li Ban didn't waste time—he had other things to do and politely declined all invitations.
After buying the wine, further ahead was the Black Market's slave grounds.
Coming to the slave grounds, Li Ban originally wanted to find his acquaintance Uncle Ma, but asking the worker at the entrance revealed that Uncle Ma wasn't at the slave grounds—he had gone corpse-carrying again.
This Uncle Ma seemed to have an endless supply of corpses to carry.
Just where did this world get so many corpses?
The Witch World definitely wasn't a place where monsters would respawn shortly after being cleared from an area.
If Li Ban hadn't entered this world from another world with the mission assistance system and met a few colleagues, he really couldn't imagine this being a virtual world.
With Uncle Ma absent, Li Ban randomly found a slave trader to purchase slaves.
The new slave trader was called Li Laoba, his face perpetually smiling, appearing very amiable.
Hearing Li Ban came from Death Prison and wanted to buy three slaves, he immediately invited Li Ban to sit inside the large tent, serving tea and snacks.
Having been tense the whole journey, Li Ban was truly thirsty.
Picking up the perfectly warmed teacup for a sip, he immediately let out a long exhale.
He never used to think tea tasted that good, but tasting it today, the rich aroma filled his mouth, making it seem much more fragrant than any soda or milk tea.
While waiting for the slaves to be brought over, Li Ban ate a few more bites of snacks.
Though they were just home-style dishes, they clearly used more than just salt as seasoning. Li Ban almost teared up from the taste.
Only, mindful of being surrounded by strangers, he forced himself to stop after a few bites.
Then a row of slaves was brought in.
Following Li Ban's requirements, Li Laoba had selected healthy, capable workers.
There were both men and women, aged fifteen to thirty-five.
Seeing Li Ban momentarily unsure who to pick, Li Laoba approached again with a smile, actively recommending four people.
"Brother Li, these four are all excellent workers. This girl can cook and is quick with her hands. These three men are all strong and honest."
Unexpectedly, upon hearing Li Laoba was selling her to Death Prison, the girl's legs gave out and she plopped onto the ground.
Her face turned deathly pale—clearly she'd heard of Death Prison's reputation—her lips trembling, yet not daring to voice any refusal.
The three men reacted better, but their shaking hands and feet were still visible.
Death Prison truly wasn't a good place for ordinary slaves.
Having stayed in Death Prison for over half a month, Li Ban was the only one left of the original three slaves.
And now, as the one selecting slaves, he couldn't afford to be soft-hearted.
Li Ban took a liking to the girl with weak legs.
Her obvious resistance to going to Death Prison proved she wouldn't have complex backgrounds or skills like Lu had. To Li Ban, this made her an easier slave to control.
Just as Li Ban was about to speak, a woman in her thirties at the end of the line suddenly knelt down.
"Sir, I'm willing to go. I can cook, clean, and farm. I only beg you to take my child too. I'll work hard without complaint."
Li Ban looked over, "How old is your child?"
The woman hesitated, "My child is three years old."
Li Ban immediately dismissed the idea.
A three-year-old couldn't work and would just become food for the tree-person jailers in Death Prison.
Li Ban could harden his heart to force an unwilling girl to Death Prison, but he truly couldn't send a three-year-old straight into Tree-Person A's mouth.
He found himself contradictory.
On one hand insisting this was just a virtual world where killing and wrongdoing didn't matter.
On the other hand, he often couldn't harden his heart in certain situations, treating this as a real world.
Perhaps because this world felt too real.
With an internal sigh, Li Ban withdrew his gaze and pointed to the collapsed girl, then excluded the strongest-looking man among the three male slaves.
After Lu's assassination attempt, Li Ban understood that even as an identified menial worker, if your strength was insufficient, you could still become a target for other slaves.
So Li Ban preferred choosing two who looked weaker—at least in a fight, he felt more confident of winning.
After selecting the slaves, Li Ban didn't linger, taking the three back to the carriage.
Among them, the woman was called Min, the lighter-skinned man Qi, and the darker one Wei.
"Sit properly," Li Ban said coldly.
He didn't plan to be kind to these slaves either.
Death Prison didn't need gentle superiors—keeping distance from subordinates would make them fear him.
Just then, someone else led some slaves out from the slave grounds. Having apparently witnessed Li Ban's selection process, he shook his head and muttered, "That woman and child will probably be sent to Eternal Tower tonight."
Hearing this, Li Ban turned to ask, "Uncle, what is Eternal Tower?"
Startled that Li Ban had heard, the man gave an awkward smile without answering, quickly walking away.
Frowning, Li Ban decided to ask the cat-woman about it later.
With three slaves and several jars of wine loaded, the carriage departed.
However, Li Ban had the old horse first make a detour to the beast-fighting arena.
After Li Ban left, Li Laoba yanked up the still-kneeling woman. "Enough, unsellable goods after three months get sent to Eternal Tower. Otherwise I won't recoup three months of feeding costs."
Hearing this, the woman stiffened and fainted straight away.
At that moment, a peculiar figure entered the slave grounds and approached Li Laoba.
Seeing the newcomer, Li Laoba looked puzzled but still respectfully went over.
"Master A, what brings you here? I just saw Brother Li off."
"I know," Tree-Person A said with hands behind his back. "Tell me everything he did here today."