Li Ban turned around and was met with an indescribably beautiful face. The only problem was this face appeared behind prison bars, startling Li Ban into stumbling back two steps. Only after putting a meter's distance between them did he stop to observe the speaker.
It was an exceptionally handsome man. Not feminine exactly, but breathtaking at first glance. Like a CGI-rendered face that seemed unreal. The man appeared somewhat thin, as if malnourished. Who knew how long he'd been starving.
The man wore shackles on his neck, hands and feet, but they weren't chained to restrict his movement. Though his expression looked calm as he watched Li Ban, a thread of glistening drool escaped the corner of his mouth. He swallowed hard, only for more saliva to trickle down when he opened his mouth again - as if Li Ban had transformed into a roasted lamb before his eyes.
Being stared at like this made Li Ban's heart race. When he finally calmed down, he found the man's behavior peculiar. Despite visibly salivating over Li Ban, the prisoner had made no aggressive moves when Li Ban stood within arm's reach earlier. Instead, he'd simply gripped the bars with both hands. Moreover, he'd even called out to warn Li Ban when the latter hadn't noticed his presence.
This left Li Ban confused about the man's intentions.
After this brief interlude, when Li Ban looked back across the hallway, the four jailers had already positioned themselves behind Officer Du, who stood before another cell apparently checking on prisoner Lin Han.
Like the cat-woman, Lin Han wore shackles on his neck, wrists and ankles. The iron rings connected to chains that prevented any meaningful struggle no matter how hard he fought against his restraints. After several exhausting attempts, he panted heavily and glared up at Officer Du.
"Du An! A prison officer of your standing reduced to being Wan Chengming's lapdog!"
Among the four jailers, Zhang Baishan immediately drew his saber in anger, pointing it at Lin Han who was already chained to the wall. Du An himself showed no reaction. After confirming Lin Han's condition, he turned to the others and said, "Lin Han was originally fifth rank. Starve him for three months before feeding."
The atmosphere in the entire fourth level immediately relaxed. Though Lin Han continued hurling abuse, everyone ignored him now. During the earlier scuffle, several had sustained minor scrapes, nothing serious.
Zhang Baishan took charge, dismissing the others while instructing Li Ban and Liu Mu to clean up. Only then did Li Ban realize Zhang had brought him along as cleaning help.
During the prisoner transfer, the black coffin had shattered into fragments, and broken bluestone bricks littered the ground. Liu Mu deftly picked up cleaning tools, handing some to Li Ban.
"Sprinkle water before sweeping to minimize dust. The ventilation here is poor - if dust gets airborne, it'll be hard to breathe."
Liu Mu proved quite patient, carefully instructing Li Ban on the work. After months of cleaning duties, Li Ban's movements had become much more efficient than in his previous life.
Yet when it came time to sweep near the beautiful prisoner's cell, Li Ban hesitated. Noticing this, Liu Mu stepped forward to demonstrate. "It's fine."
He swept casually, even extending the broom between the bars into the cell itself. The imprisoned man simply clung to the bars, alternately watching Li Ban and Liu Mu while swallowing saliva.
As they worked, Zhang Baishan remained seated on a long bench, keeping watch over the still-struggling Lin Han. After a while, he picked up an iron kettle and poured himself some water.
"Give me some."
Perhaps from swallowing too much saliva, the beautiful prisoner's mouth had gone dry, prompting him to boldly request water from Zhang. Surprisingly, Zhang agreed before his lips even touched the cup.
With a flick of his wrist, Zhang tossed the earthenware cup - still three-quarters full - toward the cell. Li Ban looked up, expecting to witness one of those classic wuxia moments where the water stays perfectly contained during flight.
Instead, the cup and water went their separate ways midair. By the time it reached the prisoner, Li Ban assumed only an empty cup would remain, thinking Zhang was mocking the man.
Then something astonishing happened - the beautiful prisoner effortlessly caught the cup, and the scattered water droplets suddenly moved as if alive, obediently flowing back into the vessel. Li Ban froze in shock, his sweeping forgotten.
The prisoner withdrew his hand and began happily drinking.
"Zhai Liu, your water manipulation remains intact. Seems we haven't starved you enough."
So the prisoner was named Zhai Liu. Compared to his striking appearance, the name seemed rather plain.
Hearing Zhang's remark, Zhai Liu's smiling face turned bitter, though he kept drinking in quick little sips like a sparrow.
Meanwhile, the new prisoner Lin Han abruptly fell silent, apparently just noticing Zhai Liu's presence. He stared at the other prisoner with a mix of shock and suspicion.
With Lin Han's cursing stopped, an eerie quiet settled over Death Prison's fourth level. Li Ban and Liu Mu completed their cleaning in this strange atmosphere. Aside from some bluestone bricks that couldn't be immediately replaced, everything was soon restored.
When they reported completion to Zhang Baishan, he dismissed them.
On their way out, Liu Mu initiated conversation. "Hello, I'm Liu Mu, the menial worker responsible for the fourth level."
"I'm Li Ban. I only started working the second level four months ago."
"I know." Liu Mu smiled. "I'd been wondering when you'd come down. Didn't expect our first meeting to be on the fourth level though. You must be quite favored."
Was being assigned to the fourth level really a mark of favor? Zhang Baishan - who'd also met Li Ban for the first time today - had been the one to call him down. Was this coincidence, or had Li Ban passed some kind of test?
"Come with me."
Liu Mu led Li Ban to a room beside the stairs connecting the second and third levels. This too was a suite, with an outer chamber containing tables, chairs and tools - about the same size as Zhou Gu's outer room but clearly housing more people.
Liu Mu invited Li Ban to sit and poured him water.
"I don't know if anyone's explained - there are four menial workers total in Death Prison."
Li Ban gratefully gulped down the water after going without all day. "Thanks. I wasn't aware. The jailers haven't told me much. Actually, I'm still unclear about who all the important figures are here."
"Ah, I see. The officers probably think it's unnecessary to explain everything upfront. If you last, you'll naturally learn." Liu Mu smiled understandingly, sitting across from Li Ban and pouring himself water.
"In Yu Province Death Prison, there are four identity tiers. We menial workers occupy the lowest tier - four positions total, all currently filled."
"The other two workers are Wang Hua, responsible for the third level. He's very senior, having worked here decades. He also lives here. The last is Lü Qinghe - she handles the fifth level... and lives there too."
"Wait, there's a fifth level? Why no worker assigned there?"
"Well..." Liu Mu hesitated. "Currently slaves handle the first level and tree hollows. Tree-person jailers A and B mainly oversee the first two levels, with C and D also around though they mostly attend to Officer Du's affairs and don't come here often."
Li Ban nodded repeatedly. "I see. What about the jailers? May I ask about them?"
"Of course. Official positions have set quotas. There's only one prison officer - naturally that's Officer Du. Four jailers, all of whom you met today. Zhang Baishan, the leader, is Officer Du's right-hand man. Next highest is Zhou Gu. The one who opened the locks today was Huo Jiang. Lastly there's Zhao Yu, though he... well, you'll find out later."
Li Ban listened carefully, noticing how Liu Mu paused briefly when mentioning both Lü Qinghe and Zhao Yu, as if hiding something. Clearly he'd need to be extra cautious around those two.
Finally, Liu Mu extended an invitation. "You may not know, but all menial workers were originally supposed to live here. Qinghe stays on the fifth level to serve Officer Du. But you... would you like to move in?"