The person before him seemed to have strong opinions about jailer Zhou Gu.
He said Zhou Gu wasn't just checking if corpses were dead—what exactly was he doing with them?
Li Ban knew he was merely a menial worker and couldn't afford to get involved in conflicts between higher-ups.
So he lowered his head and explained, "Sir, I only became a menial worker three months ago. I don't know much about Officer Zhou's affairs."
Judging by the man's tone and the room he came from, Li Ban assumed this refined-looking man was also a jailer.
But the man simply turned and left, as if beyond that single complaint about Zhou Gu, he had no interest in speaking further with Li Ban.
Li Ban was glad to see him go quickly, avoiding any additional awkward remarks.
He watched the man walk deeper into the third level, toward what turned out to be an upward passage at the far end.
Li Ban had always suspected Death Prison had another exit—now it seemed that exit was on the third level.
Li Ban glanced around but saw no one else, and Zhou Gu's room remained completely still.
The officer must not be home.
An empty corridor, empty rooms—the whole world seemed reduced to just Li Ban and the body bag on his back.
The specially-made body bag blocked most of the smell but not the tactile sensation.
Li Ban... suddenly feared the bag might twitch on his back.
When training his Superhuman Vision in the right eye, he'd once seen a crouching figure in the storeroom.
The figure vanished when the lights came on and never reappeared, so Li Ban had gradually forgotten about it.
Now alone with a corpse in the corridor, the memory resurfaced, sending an uneasy chill through him.
Yet Li Ban resisted moving.
He stood motionless in the silent hallway, head bowed, bearing the body bag alone.
No one ahead, no one behind.
Only his own breathing filled his ears.
Li Ban remained like this for nearly an hour in his first visit to Death Prison's third level.
Until finally, footsteps shattered the stillness.
His mind numb from standing so long, Li Ban quickly looked up to see Zhou Gu entering from the opposite end of the third level.
"Officer Zhou."
Zhou Gu glanced over, slight surprise in his eyes. "A prisoner died?"
Li Ban nodded. "Jailer A told me to bring the body to you."
"Come in."
Zhou Gu entered through the completely unlocked door. Only then did Li Ban stretch his stiff limbs and follow.
Carefully skirting around a screen, he finally saw the full room.
To the left stood two antique display shelves, elegant in appearance but packed with wine jars bearing different red labels.
Li Ban spotted several jars he'd previously purchased among them.
The well-sealed bottles released little fragrance into the room.
Aside from these wine-filled shelves, only a redwood desk stood out.
Its corners carved with intricate patterns, the desk held exquisite writing implements—clearly expensive.
Yet everything lay in disorder: uneven stacks of paper, ink-stained wads rolled in corners, splattered ink nearby.
Such fine furnishings, utterly wasted.
Another wooden screen blocked the inner chamber's entrance.
Li Ban allowed himself only a brief, curious glance, careful not to study the writing on the papers.
His exceptional eyesight was something Zhou Gu already knew about.
"Place the body here." Zhou Gu pointed to an empty space behind the entry screen.
"Yes, sir." Li Ban finally set down the body bag he'd carried for hours.
"In future, if I'm not here when you deliver a body, leave it by the outer screen. No need to wait outside."
Instead of examining the corpse immediately, Zhou Gu beckoned Li Ban closer.
"Let me check your spiritual essence cultivation progress."
Li Ban approached.
Zhou Gu took his wrist—not to check his pulse, but to press a thumb against the inner midline of Li Ban's forearm.
After two breaths of examination, he released Li Ban, looking surprised. "You've reached thirty percent progress?"
Li Ban could vaguely sense his own cultivation level.
33.33%
Zhou Gu's estimate was slightly low, but close enough.
"Sir, am I progressing well?"
More than well.
Zhou Gu studied Li Ban with complex expression.
"Your talent for absorbing spiritual essence is remarkable. But reaching thirty percent this quickly also speaks to your diligence. Good—my granting you this Identity wasn't wasted."
At this, Li Ban broke into an unreserved, radiant smile.
Since becoming a second-level menial worker, his daily tasks had multiplied. But whenever possible, he'd lie on his crate-bed absorbing spiritual essence.
During absorption, watching the starry river flow, his mind would relax as all pressures faded.
Seeing his right eye's elements gradually increase, his body visibly strengthen, his elemental abilities improve—Li Ban felt immense satisfaction.
Now he finally understood why tree-person jailers were rarely seen.
Unless absolutely necessary, who'd waste time on menial tasks?
"How's your eyesight now? Can you see extremely minute details?"
Extremely minute?
Did Zhou Gu take him on just to use him as a microscope?
Li Ban's current Superhuman Vision couldn't perceive cellular levels, but surface textures and fine dust particles were no problem.
"What does sir wish me to see?"
After brief consideration, Zhou Gu retrieved two adjacent wine jars from the display shelves.
Uncorking them released a potent aroma.
"Look closely—do you see differences between the fleshworms at the bottom?"
Li Ban peered down, his heart skipping.
Each jar contained one plump, white fleshworm.
Each the size of a grown man's fist.
The worms lay motionless at the bottom—were it not for occasional twitches, Li Ban might have thought them ingredients for wine.
He examined both carefully but found no major differences.
Yet Zhou Gu wouldn't ask without reason—there had to be distinctions.
This was clearly a test of Li Ban's abilities.
Though his Superhuman Vision would keep improving, he didn't want to disappoint Zhou Gu on their first assessment.
The officer's attitude could determine Li Ban's future in Death Prison.
Squinting hard, Li Ban strained his right eye's capabilities to their limit.
Finally, he spotted the difference.
Both worms bore extremely fine hairs.
Less than 0.1mm long—one whitish, one yellowish.
Rubbing his sore right eye, Li Ban stood and reported his findings.
Zhou Gu clearly knew the worms' differences already.
He produced two different jars for Li Ban to examine.
This time, no matter how hard Li Ban tried, he couldn't spot any disparity.
Even suspecting it involved the worms' hairs, he saw no variation.
Li Ban honestly admitted failure.
Zhou Gu's stern expression remained unchanged.
"Keep cultivating diligently. When you can distinguish these worms' differences, you may assist me regularly."
He patted Li Ban's shoulder.
"I reward those who serve me well."
When Li Ban left in high spirits, Tree-Person A entered from another third-level passage, approaching Zhou Gu's door.
"Officer Zhou."
"Enter."
Tree-Person A circled the screen, noting the untouched body bag before whispering, "Sir, that boy carried the body but didn't enter."
Zhou Gu nodded.
Whether anyone had entered his rooms, he knew perfectly well.
An open door could also be a trap.
"But I saw him observing secretly for ages, eyes darting about—hardly the honest type. Might he have guessed something and deliberately stayed out?"
Zhou Gu's cold gaze lifted. "Guessed what?"
Tree-Person A faltered.
Actually, making Li Ban wait outside the empty room had been his own idea.
Having transported bodies for Zhou Gu before, he knew where they belonged.
He'd deliberately withheld this from Li Ban, testing the boy's honesty.
Unfortunately... no true misstep had been revealed.
Yet Tree-Person A couldn't let Zhou Gu grow confident in Li Ban now.
For three months he'd lacked opportunities—this rare chance to sow doubt couldn't be wasted, so he exaggerated Li Ban's behavior.
Tree-Person A didn't expect this alone to brand Li Ban a mole.
But with today's incident, more tactics could follow.
And seeds of suspicion could now be planted.
However, Zhou Gu's reaction defied Tree-Person A's expectations.
Previously, the jailer had merely considered using Li Ban while remaining wary enough to order private investigations.
Now, why this sudden regard for Li Ban?
Baffled, Tree-Person A departed.
Only after he left did Zhou Gu close the door and examine the delivered corpse.
Opening the mouth, then extracting the stomach—
Studying the two lumps of rotten flesh in hand, he hurled them violently to the floor in frustration. "Another failure!"