Hearing Tree-Person B suddenly drop to his knees to defend himself, Li Ban noticed a look of shock cross Zhang Baishan's face.
Had Tree-Person B really not told Zhang Baishan why he killed Gu Yueqi?
Had he waited to report it until Chief Du returned?
Sure enough, once the initial shock faded, Zhang Baishan's expression turned incredibly grim.
Tree-Person B hadn't trusted Zhang Baishan, so he had kept him in the dark.
But Zhang Baishan couldn't openly lose his temper over the slight.
After all, wasn't loyalty to Chief Du expected?
What did it matter if a prison official like him suffered a little grievance for it?
No matter how furious Zhang Baishan felt right now, he could only swallow it.
Li Ban shrank back behind Zhang Baishan, deciding to wait and see how things played out.
"Do you have proof?" Warden Du's expression remained perfectly calm as he set down his teacup.
"I do." Tree-Person B pulled a piece of paper from beneath his bark. "Sir, these are my logs of the times and frequencies Gu Yueqi secretly met with the prisoners Cat Girl, Qiao Sheng, and Xue Di. It also includes his trips outside. I tailed him twice and found him frequenting a tavern he rarely visited before coming to the Death Prison. Each time, he stayed for only the time it takes an incense stick to burn."
Lu Qinghe, standing behind Du An, immediately stepped forward, took the paper, unfolded it, and handed it to the warden.
Du An glanced over it before setting it aside.
"And then?"
Tree-Person B jerked his head up. "Sir, Gu Yueqi suddenly became a menial servant right before Cat Girl and the other two broke out, and he was immediately assigned to the fourth level. Despite that, he continued to frequent the first level to interact with the prisoners. When I confronted him about it, he suddenly attacked, trying to silence me. Doesn't that prove there was something wrong with him?"
"But these are only your claims. Do you have any other witnesses or physical evidence?"
"Sir, I don't have any other witnesses or physical evidence, but that's because the greatest witness is Liu Mu—the man who constantly brought Gu Yueqi outside!"
Tree-Person B suddenly pointed at Liu Mu, who was standing nearby.
"He's likely a mole in the Death Prison, just like Gu Yueqi! Whether it was Gu Yueqi becoming a menial servant, getting assigned to the fourth level, or his frequent trips outside, Liu Mu's hand was behind it all."
Everyone's gaze fell upon the heavily injured Liu Mu.
Liu Mu's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He stared at Tree-Person B in sheer disbelief before hurriedly turning to Du An.
"Chief Du, Chief Du, I'm innocent!"
He rushed to defend himself. "Gu Yueqi... Gu Yueqi was selected by Li Ban, and sending him to the fourth level was Official Zhou's request! I only took him out frequently because he used to be from an aristocratic family and was quite knowledgeable. I... I never gave him any special help, and I certainly don't know anything about a mole!"
He immediately dropped to his knees, his forehead slamming against the floor with heavy thuds as he kowtowed.
"Please see the truth, Sir!"
Li Ban had just been watching the drama unfold, completely caught off guard when Liu Mu dragged him right into the crossfire.
He hurriedly looked toward Du An, but the warden didn't spare him a single glance.
Du An merely nodded, seemingly accepting Liu Mu's explanation.
Tree-Person B watched as Liu Mu systematically explained away every suspicious point he had raised, and a sudden sense of dread washed over him.
As a tree-man prison guard, he wasn't adept at schemes and truly had no idea about the complex inner workings of the third level.
"Sir, then... then they might all be in on it together! For these prisoners to actually escape the Death Prison, they must have had help from a mole. Sir, you must investigate this thoroughly!"
It seemed Tree-Person B was dead set on dragging as many people down with him as possible.
Only by doing so could he gloss over the fact that he had killed a servant without permission.
Li Ban observed Du An's expression once more. Compared to Liu Mu's logical, well-founded defense, Tree-Person B's desperate accusations were clearly failing to satisfy the warden.
Just as Zhou Gu stepped forward to defend himself, Du An raised a hand, silencing him before he could speak.
Then, Du An stood up.
He slowly walked toward Tree-Person B. He didn't say a word, yet his very presence forced anyone else who wanted to speak to remain silent.
Step by step...
He stopped right in front of Tree-Person B.
Tree-Person B was still groveling on the floor, but the wild branches across his body slowly began to retract.
He looked like a cornered beast that had just bared its fangs, only to gradually tuck away every last ounce of its hostility.
Du An looked down at Tree-Person B, and his next words seemed aimed not just at him, but at everyone present.
"The Death Prison is not a place for you to do as you please."
"Just because you harbor a suspicion, you think you can kill someone who possesses an identity?"
"Who... gave you that right?"
From start to finish, Du An's tone and volume never wavered.
Yet, the temperature inside Jingyan Hall plummeted.
Even Li Ban subconsciously wrapped his arms around himself to ward off the phantom chill in the air.
But someone was still bold enough to refuse to yield.
"But Chief," Tree-Person B abruptly straightened up, "Tree-man Jia died an unjust death too! He—"
"Dissatisfied?" Du An cut him off with a flat tone. "Swallow it."
In the very next second, countless glowing silver lines suddenly flashed across Li Ban's vision.
Even using his right eye, he could only barely make out that the glowing lines seemed to be composed of tiny, silver triangular fragments.
By the time Li Ban finally managed to discern what the dancing objects in the air were, the glowing silver lines had already vanished.
Clatter!
Li Ban snapped back to reality and looked toward Tree-Person B, the source of the noise.
His eyes widened in shock.
Tree-Person B... had been peeled open layer by layer like an onion. His body bloomed outward, resembling a withered chrysanthemum.
Right in the center of the flower sat a faintly glowing brown core.
Du An reached out and picked up the solid brown core.
There was another loud clatter.
The remnants of Tree-Person B's body, which had barely been holding its shape, instantly collapsed.
He crumbled into a pile of thin wooden boards.
Watching Du An turn around and retake his seat at the head of the hall, Li Ban swept his gaze over everyone else in the room.
Most of them weren't shocked; they were only terrified.
Only Zhou Gu's face was frighteningly pale.
In the blink of an eye, Du An had subjected Tree-Person B to death by a thousand cuts.
Li Ban hadn't even managed to see how the warden launched the attack.
Was it some kind of energy attack?
But the speed was simply too terrifying!
"Have Tree-man Bing take over B's position," Du An instructed Lu Qinghe.
Lu Qinghe quickly voiced her compliance. When she looked back up at Du An, her eyes were filled with absolute reverence.
Only then did Du An turn his attention back to the rest of the room.
"Zhang Baishan."
"Sir." Zhang Baishan hurriedly stepped forward and cupped his hands in respect.
"You have one month. Investigate whether there was a mole involved in this jailbreak."
"Yes, Sir!"
Standing behind Zhang Baishan, Li Ban felt that things were getting stranger and stranger.
Three moles from the first level of the Death Prison had escaped at the exact same time.
Coincidentally, the two prisoners and two slaves involved had all arrived at the Death Prison very recently.
Li Ban wouldn't believe it for a second if someone claimed this hadn't been orchestrated.
It was just that the matter had nothing to do with him. Given his own sensitive position, he naturally wanted no part in it.
But judging by what Warden Du had just said, it seemed he didn't particularly care whether there was a mole or not.
Although he had ordered Zhang Baishan to investigate, he hadn't mentioned any punishment for failing to find anything.
Li Ban suspected that once the month was up, the entire issue would just quietly be swept under the rug.
Either Du An truly didn't want to deal with it.
Or he was perfectly aware of the intricate schemes at play.
It might even be that he was involved in the matter himself.
Had Cat Girl... been deliberately let out?
Was that why Tree-Person B, who had been so hell-bent on tracking down the mole, had been sliced into a thousand pieces?
And not simply because he had killed Gu Yueqi?
Li Ban lowered his head deeply.
Right then, he heard Zhang Baishan speak up again. "Sir, during this incident, Li Ban uncovered the clues regarding Cat Girl and Xue Di's escape and brought back Xue Di's corpse. Although Xue Di was killed by Cat Girl, I believe Li Ban's contributions still deserve credit."
Li Ban wasn't the least bit happy to hear Zhang Baishan claiming credit on his behalf.
He had just started suspecting that the jailbreak had happened with Du An's tacit approval, and now Zhang Baishan was telling the warden that he had tracked down one of the escapees?