Hearing Li Ban's account, Zhang Baishan finally believed most of it. He turned to Huo Jiang, grieving that iron cannot become steel, and cursed, "Look at you! You're not even as observant as a handyman!"
Huo Jiang was the one getting scolded, but Li Ban was the one panicking.
Wasn't this painting a target on his back?
Li Ban quickly stole a glance at Huo Jiang, only to find the man keeping his head down to honestly admit his mistake, without a single trace of dissatisfaction or resentment.
Everyone said Huo Jiang was an honest man, but wasn't this a little too honest?
His superior was berating him for being worse than a low-ranking subordinate, yet he harbored absolutely no complaints against either of them.
Could such a genuinely honest worker really exist in a place like the Death Prison?
Thinking back to Cat Girl's parting warning that both Liu Mu and Gu Yueqi were compromised, Li Ban looked at Zhang Baishan with a touch of sympathy.
With his subordinates acting so abnormally, it was truly tough being Head Zhang.
He quickly stowed away his exhaustion and swept his gaze over everyone present. "From this moment on, no one is allowed to leave the Death Prison. I am lowering the Sealing Stone Gate!"
The crowd had mixed reactions.
"Head Zhang, are we not going to pursue the escaped Cat Girl?" Huo Jiang asked in a muffled voice. "Will Lord Du punish us when he returns?"
"Pursue? With what?" Zhang Baishan massaged his forehead. "Right now, only a first-level prisoner has escaped, but we still hold two fourth-level prisoners. Absolutely nothing else can go wrong in the Death Prison."
Li Ban was surprised at first, but then he figured it made sense.
Cat Girl had even killed the fellow escapee dragging her down. If she was dead set on running away, how many people here could actually catch up to her?
The Sealing Stone Gate slowly descended.
For the next half month, no one would be able to leave the Death Prison.
Zhang Baishan ordered Huo Jiang to properly store the bodies until Lord Du returned to deal with them, and he sent the heavily injured Liu Mu back to rest.
He glanced around, then pointed at Wang Hua. "Go clean up the first three levels."
Then he turned to Li Ban. "You, come with me."
He was actually telling Li Ban to follow him down to the fourth level.
Before leaving, Li Ban cast a sidelong glance at Zhou Gu's room.
The door remained shut tight. Had Zhou Gu really never come out?
Yet to his surprise, when Li Ban followed Zhang Baishan down to the fourth level, he saw Zhou Gu right there.
Zhou Gu was sitting perfectly fine on a bench, but his face looked even more ghastly than the heavily injured Liu Mu's.
Before Li Ban could step forward and greet him, an even more shocking sight caught his eye.
Gu Yueqi's corpse lay quietly at Zhou Gu's feet.
A massive circular hole had been punched right through his heart, the flowing blood staining his brown handyman uniform deep crimson.
His eyes were wide open, as if he couldn't comprehend why he had been killed.
Li Ban couldn't figure it out either.
Who would make a move against Gu Yueqi?
Cat Girl had warned him that Gu Yueqi was compromised, but now this compromised person was already dead.
Did Zhang Baishan discover his involvement in the prison break, or was he silenced by his own accomplices?
"Prison Official Zhou, this... how did Qi die?"
The one to answer Li Ban, however, was Zhang Baishan.
"Tree-Person B did it. He seemed to think Gu Yueqi was the one who murdered Tree-Person A."
Li Ban lowered his eyes in shock.
Did Zhou Gu frame Gu Yueqi?
And Tree-Person B actually fell for it?
He believed that Qi, a newly promoted handyman, could somehow kill Tree-Person A?
Was this tree-person prison guard missing a few pieces of his wooden brain?
"How could Qi possibly have killed Tree-Person A?"
Zhang Baishan spoke in a gloomy tone. "I'd also like to know what is going through Tree-Person B's wooden skull. While the Death Prison was under attack, he was actually busy settling a personal grudge."
Li Ban looked around, realizing he hadn't seen Tree-Person B at all.
"Did prison guard B... run away?"
"He is locked up for now." Zhou Gu finally spoke, though his voice was incredibly weak, lacking any of his previous vigor. "He awaits Lord Du's return for sentencing."
Something was definitely wrong with Zhou Gu's condition!
Could it be... he had failed his fusion again?
"Head Zhang, why did you lower the Sealing Stone Gate?"
Zhao Yu's slightly disgruntled voice rang out.
He had just returned from the main entrance.
His saber wasn't even unsheathed.
Zhang Baishan looked back at him, voicing his own displeasure. "What took you so long?"
Seeing Zhang Baishan's anger, Zhao Yu reeled in his careless attitude.
"Head Zhang, I just went to check if there were any issues with Jingyan Hall's seals."
Only then did Zhang Baishan remember that he had completely forgotten to send someone to check on Jingyan Hall.
Although it held no prisoners, Jingyan Hall was Lord Du's domain, and it certainly required inspection.
His expression finally softened.
Zhao Yu's attitude might be problematic, but he was meticulous, bold, and possessed great talent.
His heart just wasn't in the Death Prison.
Zhang Baishan could understand him, though.
He had been at the 3rd Tier for many years, and his three elements had long been filled with spiritual rhinoceros. However, because the highest identity in the Death Prison was only the 4th Tier—which was firmly held by the even stronger Du An—Zhao Yu simply had no chance of promotion.
That was why he sought an opportunity to transfer his identity.
If Zhang Baishan had Zhao Yu's talent and opportunities, he couldn't say for sure that he wouldn't choose to leave, either.
"Since you're back, take up guard duty here. With such a massive incident happening in the Death Prison, you are no longer permitted to request leave."
Zhang Baishan spoke sternly. Although Zhao Yu seemed reluctant, he didn't argue.
Having ensured that the fourth level was guarded, Zhang Baishan ordered Zhou Gu to take the corpse and leave with him.
Li Ban was left behind on the fourth level to clean up the mess.
Zhao Yu stood off to the side with his eyes closed, doing who knew what.
Li Ban diligently scrubbed the floor with a rag.
When he scrubbed near the cells, he heard the sound of dripping water.
He looked up to see the exceptionally handsome Zhai Liu hugging his cell bars and staring at him, drooling without a shred of dignity just like before.
Li Ban rolled his eyes in his mind.
"Hey, little brother," Zhai Liu called out to him, a hint of excitement in his eyes.
Li Ban quickly tossed his rag into the wooden bucket. "This is dirty. You can't drink it."
Smack! Zhai Liu slammed his hand against the bars, his face flushing with anger for the very first time.
Clang! Clang!
Before Li Ban could react, he heard chains frantically shaking in another cell.
He looked over to see another prisoner, Lin Han, curled into a tight ball for some unknown reason.
He completely lacked the imposing aura he'd had during his escape attempt.
Had he gone mad after being locked up for such a short time?
Meanwhile, Zhai Liu caught his breath and dragged Li Ban's attention back to him.
"Who wants to drink that filthy water?! Little brother, I want to ask you—what happened outside?"
Li Ban glanced back at the motionless Zhao Yu.
"Why are you looking at him? He's about to leave, and he doesn't care anyway. Tell me!"
Li Ban thought it over. "I don't know if I'm allowed to say. You'd better ask Prison Official Zhang."
What Zhang Baishan could say wasn't necessarily something he could say.
Talk less, make fewer mistakes.
Li Ban lowered his head and continued mopping, ignoring Zhai Liu as he silently pondered how to solve the problem of his elements' progress in absorbing spiritual rhinoceros.
Zhai Liu had just mentioned that Zhao Yu was leaving.
That meant a prison official position would open up.
This position definitely wouldn't fall to Li Ban. He didn't know if they would promote a prison guard or transfer someone in from the outside.
Since Tree-Person B had killed Gu Yueqi, who knew if he could even keep his own prison guard position?
Even though Gu Yueqi was a handyman, he was still someone with an identity, and he was Liu Mu's man.
And Liu Mu, on the surface, was Zhang Baishan's man.
If Tree-Person B was punished by being stripped of his identity, wouldn't that free up a prison guard position?
However, while Li Ban's first element was full, his second element was only at forty percent, and his third element had only just been fused.
If a vacancy really did appear, would he have a chance at promotion?