"And..."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Chen Miao''s eyes narrowed slightly; just now, when the rocket was about to descend on the vige chief''s head, its speed suddenly became extremely slow, as if the man''s body was dodging the spear in mid-air at a pace slowed down by countless times.


    It seemed like...


    a domain-type slowing skill?


    Was it possible to slow down everything within a certain range, except for one''s own attacks?


    It looked somewhat like a rule-based skill.


    This young man, being a high-level supernatural being, surely wouldn''tck tools with special effects or taboo items. But even so, without using any means other than a rocket, he was controlled and immobilized on the spot.


    Yes.


    Wasn''t this a skill that possessed extremely strong controlling power?


    ...


    This scene was witnessed by everyone below the stage, causing several to twitch at the sight. No one expected the vige chief, who seemed frail, to have such strongbat power.


    The burly man standing next to Chen Miao whispered, "This is the disgusting part about the C-level Secret Realm, there''s always some bizarrely powerful stuff that defies all logic. It''s nothing like the E-level Secret Realm—how strong can an old man get, after all?"


    "Like this old man, he''s a plot character."


    "Within this secret realm, he''s an invincible existence, virtually impossible to kill. The only way to clear this Secret Realm Mission is toplete the task."


    Secret Realm Mission?


    If he remembered correctly, wasn''t the task of the Secret Realm Mission to gain approval from the vige chief? Yet the vige chief had seen through his lie about deceit in the vige from a young age, seemingly not very impressed with him on first impression.


    Could he still earn his approval?


    "Everyone has worked hard."


    At this moment—


    Supported by several vigers with the help of a cane, the vige chief approached and said with a smile, "You''ve all been through a lot today and must be tired. There are a few empty houses in the vige where you can rest for the night. Tomorrow at noon, we will officially hold a trial for these three on the stage."


    "You''ve all worked hard."


    "Little He, show them the way."


    "Yes."


    ...


    Soon—


    They were led to several houses in the very center of the vige. There were seven unupied houses in total, all of which looked fairly clean through the windows, free of dust.


    ording to the man leading the way, these houses were unupied for a long time, specifically reserved by the vige chief to amodate outsiders.


    Beyond a sneer in his heart, Chen Miao had no other thoughts. He had never heard of such remote mountain viges setting aside houses especially for outsiders. These houses at the center of the vige gave off a subtly enclosed feeling.


    It felt like surveince.


    Next door was the vige chief''s house.


    The chief''s house was also thergest in the vige, very imposing. In front stood two stone female figures.


    Yes, not stone lions, but stone women.


    The two stone sculptures of women were headless, cleaved off at the neck, their bodies incredibly white. It seemed that they hadn''t been defaced by children''s reckless doodling.


    At this moment, the vige chief also returned, smiling and waving at them before slowly making his way into his house with the support of the vigers below, looking like a dying old man, showing no signs of the man who had just speared another to death moments ago.


    "Oh, right."


    After Little He had settled them in, he suddenly reminded them with profound meaning, "After nightfall, try not to leave this room. There might be some unrest in the vige, and each of your rooms will be equipped with a protection talisman."


    "As long as you have this talisman, you are absolutely safe."


    Having said that, he turned around and left alone.


    Leaving the five of them standing in ce.


    ...


    "Here."


    The brawny man nced at the departing figure of Little He, fumbled in his pocket for a while, and then pulled out a cigarette, cing it between his lips. He lit it up and started puffing out smoke rings, "The new plot is unfolding, and if nothing goes amiss, there''ll be all sorts of demons and ghosts tonight."


    "But ording to what they say, as long as we stay indoors, sheltered by the protection talisman, there shouldn''t be any problems."


    Chen Miao looked at the brawny man in surprise, not because he was surprised by the man''s understanding, but by the cigarette dangling from his lips.


    That cigarette was obviously muchrger than a normal one; just its diameter was a good 10 centimeters, and its length was about forty centimeters, giving off the impression that one might faint from excess tar intake right after smoking it.


    "Oh."


    The brawny man caught Chen Miao''s gaze, grinned, and exined while shaking the cigarette in his hand, "I''m too big, and all muscle, the regr cigarettes are too small, I can''t even hold them."


    "So, I had a batch custom-made, and they''re much more satisfying to smoke."


    "One canst me half a day."


    "I used to smoke two packs a day, but ever since I got these custom cigarettes, I only smoke five a day now, so my smoking has significantly reduced."


    "..."


    Chen Miao''s face wore an odd expression, and he didn''t speak; he actually wanted to say that one of those was equivalent to several packs of cigarettes, but he still gave a thumbs-up, showing his admiration, before casually walking into one of the houses.


    The sky was gradually turning dusk.


    One could vaguely see a yellow tint on the horizon, but it was still light.


    The moment he entered the house, he saw the protection talisman hanging on the door, a pouch filled with herbs, emitting a strong fragrance, and covered with all sorts of symbols he didn''t understand.


    If no one had mentioned it was a protection talisman, he might have thought it was just a scented sachet.


    After fiddling with the object for a bit, he didn''t disturb its cement, but let it continue hanging on the door. The furnishing inside the house was exceedingly simple. It was just a small rectangr house with no backyard.


    A square-shaped residential housing.


    About fifty square meters in size, which for a single room was quite spacious, even felt a bit empty. The main reason for this sense of spaciousness was because there were too few pieces of furniture in the room.


    A bed, a table, a chair, a chamber pot.


    That was it.


    There was no toilet in the house, nor a backyard, just a chamber pot under the bed, which clearly indicated that if one needed to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, the pot was the only option, besides the basic sleeping arrangements, there really was nothing else.


    Even necessities for washing up were absent.


    Not to mention cooking and entertainment amenities.


    However, what caught Chen Miao''s attention was that the space under the bed was hollow, and the distance between the bed and the floor was a good thirty centimeters—a terrifying number. It meant hiding a person under the bed was an overly simple matter.


    It would be quite usible for someone to suddenly crawl out from under the bed in the middle of the night.