On the way back, Qi kept carefully currying favor with Li Ban.
The other two slaves wore numb expressions.
They had accepted their fate of becoming slaves in Death Prison, but couldn't face it as positively as Qi.
Qi's flattery was clearly aimed at gaining Li Ban's protection.
What he didn't know was that Li Ban had only been a menial worker for one day, having absorbed very little spiritual essence, making him equally weak.
But Li Ban wouldn't tell him that.
Returning to the Death Prison tree hollow, Li Ban had Old Horse return the goods while he led the three slaves inside.
This time Qi went first, with the other two imitating his movements to jump in.
Li Ban brought up the rear, preventing any suicidal escape attempts.
However, he seemed in a hurry, apparently busy with other matters.
"You'll be responsible for assigning their work," he said.
Li Ban acknowledged this and summoned Ke, who was still working in the vegetable plot.
Ke had already noticed Lu was missing.
He hadn't even gotten breakfast.
But being honest to a fault, he didn't dare speak up.
Seeing Li Ban bring three new slaves, he vaguely understood Lu must be dead.
Li Ban explained the slaves' responsibilities to the newcomers.
Qi, who had been ingratiating himself throughout the journey, stepped forward first. "Brother Li, let me handle meal deliveries."
The other two slaves voiced no objections.
Or perhaps didn't dare speak up.
Seeing this, Li Ban assigned their tasks.
Min could cook, so naturally took that role.
With four slaves now, the remaining one, Wei, would handle waste removal and cleaning.
Li Ban instructed Ke to focus more on vegetable cultivation, expanding the plot if possible.
This was just Li Ban's preliminary plan.
If the jailers didn't object, he even wanted to raise chickens and ducks.
Life without meat was truly unbearable.
Though Qi would now deliver meals to first-level prisoners, since Li Ban lived in the storeroom, Qi had to squeeze into the thatched shed with the other slaves.
Thus began another peaceful stretch for Li Ban.
Beyond his daily duties, he mainly supervised the four slaves.
Indeed, Tree-Person A and B shamelessly dumped their original responsibilities onto Li Ban.
They only checked in every few days, needing just enough information to report if questioned.
Li Ban paid special attention to Qi.
Not because of his constant flattery, but because meal delivery was the most dangerous task.
Yet Li Ban discovered Qi was far more astute than himself.
At least Qi knew to first knock out the mimic rats through their cage bars before transferring them.
He even used the iron hook—washed—to prod their rear ends, confirming genuine unconsciousness before opening the wooden cage.
After observing Qi twice, Li Ban stopped accompanying him.
Now Li Ban no longer found Death Prison's second level as revolting as before.
He'd grown accustomed to the stench and flesh-crawling insects.
He didn't understand how these prisoners survived, nor why Death Prison kept them.
He just wanted to work diligently and clear his name completely.
Unbeknownst to him, someone had already decided to pin the blame on him—regardless of his guilt.
One day while delivering meals to second-level prisoners, Li Ban noticed something amiss with one inmate.
Others would twitch slightly when he rapped the iron bars, but Cell Five's occupant lay motionless.
The prisoner lay face-down in a distant corner, half his bare torso ulcerated, the remainder an unnatural bluish-black.
From a safe distance, Li Ban carefully examined him with his right eye.
No chest movement.
No pulse in the emaciated neck.
He must be dead.
Li Ban hastily set down the food bucket and ran for the tree-person jailers.
Tree-Person A answered again.
"Officer A, the prisoner in Cell Five on the second level appears dead."
"Oh? I'll check."
Tree-Person A immediately accompanied Li Ban to inspect the prisoner.
Approaching the bars, he first lifted the motionless figure with his long branch-like limbs, waiting briefly before stabbing another branch into the prisoner's wounds.
He even twisted it around inside.
Li Ban now watched this calmly.
A fortnight prior, another prisoner—either unconscious or feigning—had similarly appeared dead.
Li Ban had reported it.
Tree-Person A had conducted the same test.
That prisoner had twitched under torture, proving alive before being dumped back for feeding.
But this time, Cell Five's occupant remained unresponsive throughout.
Tree-Person A then opened the small door, signaling Li Ban to retrieve the body.
"Get a body bag to wrap it. We'll take it to Officer Zhou for examination."
Another examination?
Were they that terrified of prisoners escaping Death Prison alive?
Li Ban fetched a black body bag from the interrogation room, carefully bundling the corpse inside.
He glanced around, scooping up spilled bits with a small shovel before sealing the bag.
Hoisting it over his shoulder proved effortless now.
Since absorbing spiritual essence, his physical strength had noticeably improved.
Cat-woman explained that while spiritual essence concentrated in elements, it also nourished the body during absorption.
Thus more cultivation meant greater physical enhancement—another Identity advantage.
Li Ban's basic martial skills had sharpened enough to barely qualify as proper techniques now.
Carrying the body bag through second-level corridors, he felt occasional gazes tracking it from cells.
For these prisoners, death might be liberation.
Whatever achievements or strength they'd possessed before Identity removal, now they were just "rotting meat."
After four months, Li Ban finally reached the third level!
Death Prison's third level differed completely from the first two!
It resembled a living quarter.
No dark passages.
No overwhelming stench.
No ubiquitous bloodstains.
Level three had smooth stone-tiled floors and whitewashed walls.
Most astonishingly—oil lamps provided lighting!
Li Ban had assumed open flames were forbidden throughout Death Prison.
Apparently only the first two levels avoided fire sources, disregarding the tree-people's preferences.
His guide Tree-Person A suddenly halted, turning as if remembering something. "I just recalled urgent business. Deliver the body to Officer Zhou yourself. His room's the third one."
Without waiting for response, Tree-Person A hurried off.
Li Ban watched his retreating back, puzzled.
Was he avoiding Officer Zhou's room because of the wall lamps, or something else?
Alone with the body bag, Li Ban reached Officer Zhou's door.
Surprisingly, it stood ajar.
Beyond an antique landscape screen, Li Ban glimpsed shelves holding numerous bottles and jars.
"Officer Zhou?" he called softly.
No response.
"Who are you?"
Startled, Li Ban turned to see a stranger emerging from the fourth room.
The handsome man's gaze treated Li Ban like air.
"Sir!"
Li Ban struggled to bow while shouldering the bag.
Whoever this was outranked him.
"Officer A instructed me to deliver a dead second-level prisoner to Officer Zhou for examination."
The man's lips curled disdainfully.
"Zhou Gu examines corpses? Does he check if they're dead?"