Ever since Cat Girl had escaped from the Death Prison, Li Ban thought it unlikely their paths would ever cross again.
Yet he never expected that just over two months later, she would come knocking on his door.
Those twitching, rapidly blinking eyes, those large, fluffy ears, and that face that had noticeably rounded out, finally regaining a healthy glow—
Li Ban took a step back and lowered his voice. "Are you crazy? Do you know who lives next door?"
Cat Girl twirled her veiled hood in her hands, strolling into his room without a care in the world.
"What does whoever lives next door have to do with me? I'm not here for them."
She pointed at her neck with fingers that had regained their slender, pale appearance. "Look, my Obscuring Sun Locks have been removed."
Of course Li Ban saw it. That was exactly why he was afraid!
Standing before him was a Fifth-Tier Gold Token Assassin from the Assassin Hall.
Even Huo Jiang next door was only at the 3rd Tier.
Li Ban figured that even if he jumped out the window to escape, he would probably be instantly killed anyway, so he simply relaxed.
He might as well accept his fate.
Cat Girl hadn't killed him during her prison break, so she had no reason to kill him now.
He returned to the table and poured himself a cup of tea to calm his nerves.
"What are you doing back here? Aren't you afraid of the arrest warrants?"
Cat Girl slapped her hood onto the table, unceremoniously snatched the teapot, and poured herself a cup as well.
"You don't know why I'm here?"
Li Ban looked at her in confusion. "Why would I know?"
"If you don't know, then why are you here at this exact time?"
Cat Girl gulped down her tea, even chewing and swallowing the tea leaves.
"To be honest, I really didn't want to come at first. But when I saw that the candidate they put forward was actually you... haha, I couldn't not come!"
"Candidate? What candidate?"
On the surface, Li Ban looked even more bewildered, but deep down, his earlier, vague suspicions had just been confirmed.
Seeing that she was just drinking and not speaking, he snatched the cup away from her lips.
"What on earth is going on? Don't keep me in suspense."
He could no longer use meat to entice her.
But seeing Cat Girl sitting so carelessly before him, completely lacking the airs of an assassin, Li Ban decided to stick to their usual way of interacting.
Cat Girl rested her chin on her hand and studied his face. "You really don't know anything?"
A smile curled on her lips. "I was intentionally let out by someone in the Death Prison."
Hearing this, Li Ban felt as though the other shoe had finally dropped.
"I had my suspicions. I just never expected it to have anything to do with me." He let out a soft chuckle, tinged with helplessness. "I'm just a 1st Tier handyman. How am I qualified to be part of the schemes of fourth- and fifth-tier bigshots?"
All he wanted was to work honestly, slowly get close to Du An, and finish his undercover mission without drawing attention.
But plans could never keep up with changes. Somehow, he had inexplicably become the center of attention.
Cat Girl curled her lips. "It's exactly because you're only at the 1st Tier. Plus, you're a slave fished out of the River of Forgetfulness. Your background is as clean as a blank sheet of rice paper. That's why they dared to send you over without worrying about you being exposed."
She took a sip of the cold tea and began to explain, eventually laying out the entire cause and effect of the situation for Li Ban.
After Gu Yueqi entered the Death Prison as a slave, he started making contact with her.
That was why, even after Li Ban had been moved to the Second Level, she still managed to get a bite of meat from time to time.
However, Cat Girl patted her chest and declared, "Of course, we still have the best relationship. Qi obviously came to me with an ulterior motive. But you were different. You carried a look of pure, unadulterated foolishness."
Li Ban's face darkened, and he took another sip of his cold tea.
Cat Girl giggled. "Don't be mad, it's a good thing! Back then, you really had this innocence that didn't seem to belong to this world. I was actually quite envious."
She dropped her smile as a memory surfaced. "But on the day of the breakout, I finally realized that it was all an act."
During the prison break, she had seen Li Ban setting fires and assumed he was a Wizard hiding his true identity.
But after so many days had passed, did Cat Girl still think that?
Li Ban wasn't sure.
Cat Girl continued her story.
Aside from Qi taking care of her, Liu Mu, the handyman responsible for the fourth floor, would also drop by occasionally.
For the most part, however, it was Qi who communicated with her.
He subtly guided the conversation, hinting that he had someone backing him, a powerful patron, and waited to see if she was willing to join them.
If she agreed, he could give her a new lease on life.
That was until one day, two prisoners from the first floor were transferred to the Second Level.
"That day, I actually considered whether I should just die and get it over with. But then I thought about it—I originally crawled out from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, so why should I crawl back?"
She looked at Li Ban, her round eyes filled with absolute seriousness.
"I cherish my own life more than anything. Even if I'm reduced to a lump of rotting flesh or a puddle of mud, I still want to live. Unless I die, I will absolutely keep living, and I will climb to a height where no one can ever reach me!"
Li Ban stared back at her. This wasn't his first time sensing Little Cat's resilience, but it was undoubtedly the most profound.
It was even more shocking than the scene he had witnessed in the Beast Arena.
Looking back now, it was utterly laughable that he had once asked her if she needed his help ending her life.
"After you visited that day, Qi came to me again and said that if I didn't want to end up on the Second Level next time, I had to work with them."
Cat Girl puffed out her cheeks and angrily slapped the table twice.
"I mean, if they wanted to cooperate, why didn't they just say so? I'd been locked up for two years—how could I possibly refuse? Yet they intentionally dragged it out for so long!"
"Sister, keep your voice down!"
Li Ban hurriedly made frantic gestures at her.
"Don't let Official Huo..."
His voice suddenly trailed off.
"Is Huo Jiang the person backing Gu Yueqi?"
"I don't know. I only ever talked to Qi," Cat Girl said, shaking her head.
Li Ban immediately overturned his own theory.
"No, Huo Jiang doesn't have that much power or capability. There has to be someone else behind him. Is it Lord Du? In this entire Death Prison, he should be the only one capable of orchestrating all this."
Under normal circumstances, Du An was the only person who could make Zhang Baishan, Huo Jiang, and Zhou Gu simultaneously recommend him to become a prison guard.
It also explained why Cat Girl had been able to escape so smoothly.
To outsiders, it looked like a prison break initiated from the outside.
But the awl had actually pierced its way out from inside the sack.
He had been exceptionally promoted by his direct superior, entrusted with heavy responsibilities, and given plenty of benefits.
It seemed like something to be happy about.
But with privileges came obligations.
There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
Li Ban was finally about to find out what price he had to pay.
"So, what do they need from me?" he asked, rubbing his cheeks.
Cupping her face in her hands, Cat Girl said, "After I broke out of the Death Prison, I returned to the Assassin Hall and resumed my identity. But afterward, I needed to help them plant someone inside the Hall. Congratulations, Li Ban! You're going to be a little assassin!"
"An assassin?" Li Ban furrowed his brows tightly.
Remembering to keep his voice down, he whispered, "Do I look like assassin material to you? You're the one who taught me martial arts. Don't you know how bad I am?"
Weren't assassins supposed to be highly skilled in martial arts and completely cold-blooded?
How did his persona fit the role of an assassin in the slightest?
Looking at him with a perfectly innocent expression, Cat Girl said, "Of course I know your situation, but—"
She covered her mouth with a hand. "Who told them to choose you? Are you sure your identity... hasn't been exposed?"
"What identity? I don't know what you're talking about." Naturally, Li Ban couldn't admit to anything; he didn't even know what a Wizard actually was.
His abilities came from the mission assistance system, but that was a secret he absolutely could not share.
He could only brush the question aside and let her imagination run wild.
"Fine, fine, keep your secrets. Anyway, when it comes to catching people off guard and playing dumb, you definitely have what it takes to be an assassin.
"As for their exact purpose in sending you into the Assassin Hall, you'll have to ask them yourself. Now that you've seen me, you should be able to meet the mastermind behind all this."
Amused by his growing headache, Cat Girl smiled cheerfully. "Just tell them that I'm quite satisfied with you as the candidate."
Sighing in defeat, Li Ban sat back down. "I don't want to go."
His mission was tied to Du An. What was the point of going to the Assassin Hall?
Did he really need someone to tell him which mission was more important?
"So, are you going to run away?" She figured that as a Wizard, if Li Ban wanted to walk away from this, no one would be able to stop him.
Massaging his temples, Li Ban replied, "I can't leave the Death Prison yet. If I absolutely have to join the Assassin Hall, will I have to abandon my current identity?"
Cat Girl shook her head with a smile. "If becoming an assassin meant abandoning your original identity, wouldn't all the assassins in the Assassin Hall be exposed by now?"
Her fluffy ears perked up. "Don't worry. The Assassin Hall has its ways of letting its assassins maintain dual identities.
"Plus, to prevent your new identity from being exposed, they'll do everything they can to help cover for you once you become an assassin.
"When a mission comes up, you just need to find a way to cooperate with them. After all, striking when least expected is the true mark of an assassin."
"You'll have an even bigger advantage than other assassins hiding their identities. After all, you'll have people from the Death Prison helping to cover your tracks."
Although Li Ban had no interest in becoming an assassin, a sudden thought crossed his mind, and his eyes lit up.
"If I have dual identities, does that mean I can integrate double the elements?"
That way, he could openly use multiple elements without fear!
But instead of answering, Little Cat slowly let out a yawn.
"Ahhh~ I'm so sleepy. Why don't you come sleep with me? You can have whatever you want in your dreams."
With that said, she trudged over to the bed, kicked her shoes off in random directions, collapsed onto the mattress, and instantly fell asleep.
Li Ban crossed his arms over his chest.
"'Whatever I want in my dreams?' So that's a no. Sigh... Having all these abilities but being forced to hide them... In my current state, I really am just like the supreme expert secluded in the mortal realm that Cat Girl thinks I am."
It was clear that he couldn't refuse this assignment to the Assassin Hall.
But looking at it from another angle, didn't this mean he had officially become Du An's trusted aide?
The situation had its pros and cons.
By joining the Assassin Hall, Li Ban would definitely have to shoulder more burdens and take on greater risks.
But it would also allow him to uncover more of Du An's secrets.
This was information that ordinary prison guards and prison officials could never hope to access.
Perhaps he could find a way to investigate whether Du An was actually the General.
If he was, then Li Ban would only have a chance to touch the Core Element by earning his trust.
Although he disliked the Laboratory and had no desire to risk his life completing missions, Li Ban had to admit that finishing the quest was the only way he could ever escape his life of lying indefinitely in an Experimental Capsule.
His original plan of lying low and doing nothing had been completely derailed. Now, all he could do was put in a little effort and follow the current to get closer to the truth.
The night was already late.
Li Ban had no intention of going to bed.
Even though there was a fast-asleep, soft-looking Cat Girl occupying his bed, he stubbornly stayed in his chair and cultivated through the entire night.
Sleep with a Gold Badge assassin?
Heh... That would be courting death!