Li Ban's right eye activated its dynamic vision, instantly analyzing the black panther's charging posture to discern its true intent. He immediately shouted a warning to Tree-Person A. "Sir, it's after the red grain!"
Tree-Person A's previously indifferent expression turned tense upon hearing this. He rushed toward the carriage. Though slightly slow, his branch-like arms were long enough to lash out just before the panther reached the vehicle.
The panther abruptly halted as the branch whipped down right before its nose, gouging a small crater in the compacted earth. Digging its claws into the ground, the beast swiftly changed direction.
A chill ran down Li Ban's spine. "Sir, it's coming for me!" he shrieked.
Tree-Person A's vision clearly couldn't keep up with the panther's movements, only realizing the beast's next target thanks to Li Ban's warning. Fortunately, Li Ban's fear of being abandoned didn't materialize.
The tree-person swung a second branch like a blade, striking half a meter before Li Ban—perfectly timed to smash against the panther's skull with a sickening crack.
Li Ban felt several drops of beast blood splatter across his face and clothes. His lips trembled as the metallic stench invaded his throat. Yet despite the grievous injury, the panther still lived.
Growling low, it recoiled to dissipate some impact force. One eye blinded by the wound, its remaining eye locked onto Li Ban with disturbingly human-like hatred before darting toward the forest.
"It's escaping!" Li Ban urgently warned.
Tree-Person A grinned ferociously, both elongated branches whipping out to block the panther's retreat from left and right. Foiled, the beast suddenly turned back toward its attacker, perhaps thinking proximity would weaken the branches' force.
The tree-person stood motionless, waiting. Li Ban clutched the carriage boards behind them, watching intently, terrified the panther might feint like before and escape.
Just as tree and panther were about to collide, a sharp wooden spike erupted from the ground, impaling the beast's abdomen with barbed precision, pinning it down. Two more brutal branch strikes landed on its slowed skull—this time the cracking sound was unmistakable as the panther's head split open.
Its pinned body twitched several times before going limp. Only then did Li Ban release the carriage boards, collapsing to sit on the ground while gasping for air. From the initial attack to the final moments, he'd been so tense he'd forgotten to breathe. His face was now flushed crimson, fingertips pale from gripping too hard.
Tree-Person A cheerfully yanked his feet from the ground—the ambush spike had been one of his legs all along. Bending down, he sucked the panther's brains dry before coiling branches around both the beast and the dead slave's corpses.
Dragging both bodies behind him like some demonic procession, he approached the carriage.
"Mother of—" The skinny slave, finally daring to stand, trembled violently at the sight.
"Get to the back! If you dirty the grain, you'll be tonight's main course!" Tree-Person A barked mercilessly. The threat scared the urine back into the skinny slave, who scrambled shaking to the carriage's rear.
Then the tree-person loomed over Li Ban, still sitting on the ground. Reaching down, he grabbed Li Ban by the collar and hoisted him up. For the first time, he spoke to Li Ban kindly: "Not bad. Without your sharp eyes, this beast would've escaped today."
With a brutal twist, he ripped off the panther's thick tail and tossed it into Li Ban's arms. Instinctively catching it, Li Ban grimaced at the foul stench—did this panther wipe its backside with its tail? Yet despite the odor, he dared not drop it.
"This tail's your reward!"
Li Ban immediately hugged the tail tighter, all complaints forgotten. It might be just a tail, but it was meat! He hadn't tasted flesh in half a month!
Back on the carriage, the old horse continued pulling with more composure than either human slave. Tree-Person A was in high spirits—a ring-tailed panther appearing on the main road was apparently significant, something about "elementalization." Anything elemental-related surpassed ordinary beasts in value.
Li Ban glanced back at the suspended carcass's claws—jet black and razor-sharp, clearly extraordinary. The tree-person wrapped both corpses tightly with vines to minimize blood drips as the hastened carriage reached Death Prison by afternoon despite its heavy load.
Li Ban and the new slave Ke each carried two white grain sacks into the sinkhole while Tree-Person A took the carriage deeper into the woods with both bodies. Li Ban guessed Death Prison had other entrances.
Back in the pit, while storing the grain in the shed, Lu came running from the water room brandishing a wooden paddle. "You went for grain?" she asked Li Ban, eyeing the new slave before her gaze settled on Li Ban's neck—where the furry but foul-smelling panther tail hung like a scarf (he'd needed both hands for the heavy sacks).
"Meat..." Lu whispered.
Li Ban swiftly moved the tail from his neck to his arms.
"Ban, Ban," Lu pleaded, grabbing his sleeve with her free hand. "Could you spare some? I won't take it for free. I know your eyes are special—you probably don't know how to train them. Tell you what: give me half, and I'll teach you."
Li Ban yanked his sleeve back. "The jailer gave this to me. I can't share it."
Her expression dimmed. Though she released him, her eyes remained glued to the tail.
Li Ban gestured to the new slave. "This is Ke, newly bought. The other died en route. Tasks will likely be reassigned soon. I'm covered in blood—need to clean up." He hurried toward Death Prison's entrance.
Truthfully, the tail was his to share, and if Lu offered something valuable, he might have bargained. But her claim about eye training methods rang false—Cat-woman had explicitly said those without status couldn't cultivate spiritual essence. This was insider knowledge she'd shared to secure future favors.
Verifying this would be simple—just ask a jailer later. Cat-woman wouldn't lie about something so basic. Yet Lu wanted meat now in exchange for dubious training methods. Even if proven false later, the meat would already be digested.
Besides, compared to Lu, Cat-woman undoubtedly knew more. If trading meat for knowledge, she'd be the better choice. More importantly, meat was essential for Li Ban's training—he'd never give it away lightly out of pity.