"The reason you don''t want to kill these three people, and must use votes to select the demon to be killed, if I''m not mistaken,"


    "it could be because you only know that the demon that shares the Strength with you is among these three, but you don''t know exactly which one it is."


    "There is something restricting you from killing all three, isn''t there?"


    Then Chen Miao looked up at the burly man, "Any news? Let''s see if our spection is correct."


    "Yes."


    The burly man nodded and took out some notebooks from his bosom. "It''s almost the same as what you guessed, Brother Miao. The vige chief has been sharing Strength with the demon, a long time ago, three demons came to this vige."


    "And made a pact with the vige. During the day, the vige chief possesses the Strength of the three demons, while at night, the Strength returns to the bodies of the demons."


    "One day, the vige chief, not satisfied with only having the demons'' Strength during the day, devised a n to bind the three demons, intending to monopolize their Strength."


    "However, a human body needs special means to contain the Strength of a demon, and that requires holding a specific sacrificial ritual."


    "The first ritual is the ''vote of the people''s hearts.''"


    "A demon must be executed by voting, so that the executed demon can transfer all its Strength to the vige chief. But the vige chief has held several rounds of voting, with each vote ending in a tie."


    "Though the vige chief has used promises, rhetorical persuasion, warnings, and other means to make the vigers unanimously cast ''death'' votes, the demon on the tform still exerts its Strength at night to sway the minds of some vigers, causing them to cast opposite votes the next day."


    "And so, after many votes, it always ends in a tie."


    "With both sides having equal Strength, no one can gain an extra vote. The vige chief has tried killing people in the vige to make the number of vigers odd, but every time he kills a viger by any means, another viger immediately dies in the same way."


    "The demons may be bound by the vige chief on the tform, but their Strength is notpletely restrained; they can still use part of it."


    "At this moment—"


    "The vige chief discovered us outsiders, who are not influenced by the demons'' maniption, so he brought us back to the vige, intending to use us the next day to announce the death of a demon."


    "No matter who we chose."


    "As long as a demon dies because of our vote, the first ritual ends. Not only does the Strength of this dead demon return to the vige chief, but it also makes him stronger. And the vige chief can also use that demon''s Strength at night."


    "As long as the second and third rituals are sessfullypleted."


    "For the vige chief, it would mean his great n hase to fruition."


    "Hmm."


    Chen Miao nodded agreement, somewhat sighing, "It''s a bit moreplex than I imagined, but not much different. Now, we need to speed things up; there are only a few hours left until daybreak."


    Before daylight, this vige chief is just a little old man they can ughter at will, bully relentlessly.


    But once day breaks,


    the little old man instantly transforms into the vige''s boss, unstoppable.


    The three men on the tform did indeed die, but they did not die during the ritual; they died at Chen Miao''s gunpoint, meaning the Strength of the three demons dissipated into the air, inherited by no one, all gone to waste.


    "ng!"


    Just then, he suddenly heard a metallic shing sound near his ear.


    Turning his head to look, he saw the hunchbacked little old man in his arms, now with crazed and ferocious eyes, somehow brandishing a dagger, ruthlessly stabbing at his waist repeatedly.


    The assault was fierce.


    s, it was in vain, it caused no pain and hardly any wear on his armor — not even a tickling sensation.


    "Tch."


    Chen Miao clicked his tongue, looked up at the burly man in front of him, and signaled that it was time to take action.


    ...


    Their needs were simple. The main mission of the secret realm was to gain the recognition of the vige chief. Compared to the man in the tailcoat who got recognition by fetching water for the vige chief every day, he thought that delivering a round of punches might earn a more sincere recognition.


    "No problem."


    The burly man nodded, hurriedly taking out bottle after bottle of elixirs from his bosom, and while drawing them out, exined to the vige chief, "Don''t be scared for nothing, these are all excellent potions. This one can instantly heal your bone injuries, this one can maintain your sanity and life force even if all your skin is peeled off, this one is a sedative, mainly for the eyes, ensuring you won''t pass out even if your eyeballs are gouged out..."


    The burly man seriously continued to exin, clearly prepared to serve the vige chief a perfect meal tonight, determined not to stop until he gained the vige chief''s recognition.


    ...


    Three hourster.


    The vige chief, tortured to the point of not looking human, had all four limbs broken at ny-degree angles and was significantly shorter than usual, with cuts of meat neatly ced on a te beside him.


    The te also had mustard and soy sauce arranged on it.


    At this moment, the vige chief was kneeling beside the burly man, trembling with pain and fear, his voice quivering hoarsely, "I recognize you, I recognize you!!!"


    After speaking to the burly man.


    He turned back to look at Chen Miao, his voice trembling with heart-wrenching pain, "I acknowledge, I acknowledge you even more!!"


    ...


    "Ding...!"


    Chen Miao raised an eyebrow, hearing the sound by his ear, and nodded with satisfaction, smiling as the task waspleted. The panel indicated that he could leave the secret realm as soon as dawn broke.


    By this time, the vige chief had already fainted.


    Before fainting from the pain, he gave the strong man ast look full of grievance.


    Why didn''t he just speak the simple request directly? Why did he have to torture him nearly to death before mentioning such a simple demand? Could it be that he would refuse toply at the cost of his life? If it had been mentioned earlier, why would he have had to suffer so much?


    ...


    "It doesn''t seem like he fainted..."


    The strong man cautiously felt the vige chief who had copsed on the ground, paused for a few seconds with his finger under his nose, and then murmured as realization dawned, "Brother, I think I went too far, the vige chief seems to be dead."


    "What should we do now?"


    The vige chief cannot die, as his death would mean that the main task is definitely impossible toplete.


    He and Chen Miao wouldn''t need to worry, but the others would certainly be doomed.


    "Mm."


    Chen Miao nodded without much reaction, the man in the tailcoat had been his enemy from the start, and it served him right to die, which wouldn''t affect him at all. As for the sisters, he had no rtions with them either, so their fates did not concern him much.


    When the strong man realized that only he and Chen Miao could pass through the secret realm, he fell silent for a long while before suddenly looking up at Chen Miao, "Brother, there''s something I''d like to ask of you, it''s about my secret cross-dressing... could you..."


    Even though he spoke with reservation, his intentions were clear.


    Chen Miao couldn''t help but shake his head with a light chuckle, "Don''t worry, besides, I don''t even know your name, how could I reveal it to others?"


    "That''s good..."


    The strong man breathed a sigh of relief and then hesitantly whispered in a lower voice, "Brother, I''ve never let anyone know about my fondness for cross-dressing, but deep down I''ve always wished to let this side of me be seen by someone else."


    "Since the others are certain to die."


    "I want to indulge in my desire to cross-dress before leaving the secret realm at dawn unreservedly, and once the realm is cleared, there''ll be no one to leak the news, as long as you, brother..."


    "Mm."


    Chen Miao nodded, keeping any trace of odd expression off his face, and spoke solemnly, "Rest assured, I definitely won''t reveal it, from now on, I''m blind."


    Afterward, he saw the strong man run into the dark nearby and when he came out again, he had applied heavy makeup, wore a wig, and was dressed in a navel-baring short-sleeved top, a mini-skirt, silk stockings, and high heels.


    A man over two meters tall dressing like this gave off an intensely eerie vibe.


    It was as if the world itself had fallen into chaos.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    This was also the first time Chen Miao had seen size 49 high heels, longer than his face.


    At first, the strong man was somewhat shy, but as time passed, he became more and more uninhibited, even running back and forth, knocking on the tailcoat man''s window, unting his seductiveness.


    This spectacle terrified the man in the tailcoat, sending a shiver through him, thinking it was a new supernatural event. The tailcoat man was very rule abiding, sitting motionless on his bed since nightfall, although he recognized the figure outside his window as the strong man who had entered the secret realm with him.


    But... it was already dark, so whether the strong man outside the window was still a strong man was debatable.


    ...


    Dawn was breaking, and it was almost time for them to leave the secret realm. The man in the tailcoat and the sisters still didn''t know their end was near. They didn''t even realize the vige chief had died the previous night.


    "..."


    Chen Miao, leaning on his cane, stood in the very center of the high tform in the vige, looking calmly at the three bodies, patiently waiting for the end of the secret realm. He remembered the Tomb Guardian had said something to him before he entered the realm.


    It seemed to be... that these three people should all be killed.


    It was a bit hazy in his memory.


    He only knew the demon had passed through sessfully. Was the demon the same kind of creature as the demons in this secret realm? Didn''t he remember that after clearing this realm, he would earn the admiration of the demon?


    It didn''t sound like something substantial, and this admiration sounded more like a grudge.


    If you have an enemy, and you set up a nearly certain-death trap to kill them, and then that enemy miraculously survives, would you admire your foe?


    Unlikely.


    But at that moment—


    "Eh?"


    Chen Miao vaguely spotted a white light slowly flickering within the three corpses.


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