Put away your magical powers now!.

Chapter 119 [Monsters and Demons in the Secret Realm] (8200 words)
Chapter 8200 [Monsters and Demons in the Secret Realm] ( words)
The small building in the courtyard doesn't look big, but as soon as you walk into the courtyard, you can immediately feel the air is fresh.

The drizzle that was originally mixed in the air and continuously falling suddenly stopped!
Chen Yan stood in the yard and looked around, as if the surrounding courtyard wall became a dividing line. There was a drizzle outside the wall, but not a drop of rain fell inside the wall.

Chen Yan saw it and felt a slight chill in his heart: It’s a magic circle!
In front of me is a two-story building. The door on the first floor is open. Standing outside the door, I can see a horizontal screen inside, with a landscape painting in ink on it.

The mountains and rivers in the painting, with their rugged and dangerous peaks and the mist swirling around them, are all rendered in black ink, creating a sense of oppression as if from a dark cloud, giving it a spooky, ghostly feel that makes one feel uneasy.

In the hall behind the screen, one can faintly see the dim light and bursts of tinkling music from stringed instruments, as if there is singing and dancing going on inside, and there is even a hint of wine aroma wafting in the air.

After the two of them walked into the first floor door and just walked around the screen, they saw a waiter in black clothes coming towards them with a hunched posture, lowering his head and making a very respectful gesture - still looking like a wooden puppet.

However, this wooden puppet could not speak. It just lowered its head and bent its waist almost parallel to the ground, with a very servile attitude. It used both hands to guide the guests and led the two people into the hall.

·
The lobby on this floor is obviously much larger than the small building appears from the outside!
Apparently, an unknown magic was used to deceive people. From the outside, the small building looked small, with each floor only a few dozen square meters at most.

But once you walk into the hall, you can see that the hall on the first floor is at least two hundred square meters.

The stairs led up to the wooden floor. They took off their shoes at the bottom and walked up in their socks.

The hall was spacious, with long, rectangular paper lanterns hanging all around. The lanterns emitted a dim light, which illuminated the outline of the hall. However, for some reason, although the light looked strong, under this dim light, everything in the hall seemed to be shrouded in some kind of smoke, becoming increasingly blurred.

On both sides of the hall, there was a row of desks, four on each side. Some people were already sitting there, leaving only the two desks closest to the door empty.

In the center of the hall, there were four female dancers in black kimonos, dancing gracefully. They took small steps with their hands and feet, and their postures were graceful, yet seemed to have a faint mechanical feeling.

Looking closely, the faces of these dancers were all painted pale, but when their mouths were open, their exposed teeth were painted black!
Chen Yan's face darkened as he took one look! Because under the Qi-gazing technique, the four Kabuki actors were lifeless, and filled with deathly aura!

The air was filled with an indescribable rich fragrance - but this fragrance did not make people feel comfortable, but instead made people feel drowsy and stuffy.

The scent of an unknown spice... and within that aroma, that nauseating, irritating smell is...

Deadly!

Chen Yan and Chu Keqing both felt this depressing deathly aura, and their expressions became serious.

Then the two were led by the black-clad waiter puppet to the left table closest to the door. They knelt down and happened to see a person sitting behind the table opposite. It was the guy in white clothes and a tall hat riding a paper horse whom they met outside the door.

The man had a pale face, but he actually grinned at Chen Yan. However, his smile was not friendly at all, and there was even a hint of weirdness in it.

There were wine and dishes on the table. It didn't look rich, but it was quite exquisite - white porcelain wine bottles and bowls, and the chopsticks were standard Japanese pointed chopsticks.

However, Chen Yan and Gu Qingyi would naturally not touch these foods.

After the two sat down, they looked around as if nothing had happened. There were four tables on each side of the hall. After Chen Yan and Chu Keqing sat down, only the table on the right side by the door was left empty. Counting Chen Yan and Chu Keqing, there were already seven tables of guests in the hall.

Chen Yan and Chu Keqing scanned the tables one by one and found that the guests were all dressed in strange clothes and looked weird in their own way.

In the row opposite the two of them, that is, on the right side of the hall, behind the first table at the top, an old man was sitting alone.

The old man was wearing a dark black robe, had a thick long beard, and had disheveled hair. He looked quite dignified.

He sat there, but he didn't kneel like the others. Instead, he leaned sideways, his gown open at the front, exposing his chest. On his chest, one could see a hideous, old scar, as if it had been cut from his right shoulder and continued down towards his left abdomen...

At the table below this long-haired old man, there were two guys who looked like big-headed dolls. They were dressed exactly the same, both wearing black and white kimonos with small patterns.

The two men appeared short, with heads as large as buckets and completely bald heads. Both wore white masks. However, a closer look revealed different expressions on the masks: the one on the left had a smiling face, while the one on the right had a crying one.

Below the two big-headed dolls at the next table is the guy in white clothes and a top hat riding a paper horse.

In the row where Chen Yan and Chu Keqing sat, there was actually a girl sitting at the very top.

Judging from her clothes, this girl is the most normal in the room - a Japanese schoolgirl sailor suit, a standard JK, and long straight black hair.

Very campus anime style outfit.

However... if you look closely, the girl's long, straight black hair is hanging down, covering her entire face. You can't see her facial features and outlines at all. But you can vaguely see a red eyeball between the ends of her hair!
At a table below the female student with long black hair, sat a guy wearing ancient Japanese warrior armor!

He wore a horn helmet and a full set of armor, which looked cumbersome. He sat cross-legged, his hands resting on his knees, motionless. He also had two long swords slung across his back.

Sitting at the desk below the armored general was a guy wearing a black hat - his attire and appearance were almost exactly the same as the guy in white clothes and a tall hat opposite him!
The only difference is, one is white and the other is black.

The man was dressed in black and had a tall black hat on his head that looked like a black chimney.

The layout of the room becomes:

The row on the right: an old man with long hair, two big-headed dolls, wearing white clothes and tall hats.

The row on the left: a female student with long black hair, a military commander in armor, a man in black clothes and a tall hat... and finally Chen Yan and Chu Keqing.

After Chen Yan observed everyone at the tables in the hall one by one, he could not see the cultivation level of these people clearly with his Qi-Observing Technique.

However, Chen Yan was not surprised - after practicing for a long time, he gradually discovered that the art of observing qi was not omnipotent. There were many spells that could block the observation of qi. Not to mention the distant ones, he himself had learned a qi-gathering talisman that could block the outside world from spying on his vital energy.

These guys in the room looked weird, obviously they were not ordinary people. They probably used some magic or rune tools to shield their own cultivation.

·
In the room, the four dancers were dancing gracefully, while the guests at several tables were sitting quietly.

Only the long-haired old man was drinking heavily, his eyes fixed on the dancing Kabuki in the center of the room, laughing from time to time, and shouting a few words from time to time, looking quite unruly.

Chen Yan frowned, feeling helpless - he didn't speak Japanese and couldn't understand what the long-haired old man was saying.

Mr. Chen's Japanese is basically the same as that of thousands of ordinary young people in Longguo. He learned Japanese thanks to the contributions of those hard drive teachers, and his Japanese attainments are limited to knowing only a few limited words.

Just as he was feeling distressed, Chen Yan suddenly felt something being stuffed into his hand. He turned his head and saw Chu Keqing staring at him.

Chen Yan hid his hand under the table and took a look. It was a yellow rune.

Chu Keqing's lips moved slightly a few times, and Chen Yan heard Chu Keqing's subtle voice in his ears.

"Senior, I know you don't speak Japanese. These are the 'Transmission Sounds' of my Yun Sect's Talisman Technique. There are two talismans. You and I will each hold one in our palms. When you speak, as long as you infuse your vital energy into them, the words you speak will be transmitted to the other person's ears, while others will not be able to hear them."

Chu Keqing's words stirred Chen Yan's heart, and he heard Chu Keqing continue: "The sound transmission talisman can be used for an hour. I will quietly translate what the people here say to you later."

Chen Yan nodded, looking calm, but suddenly put his arm around Chu Keqing's waist.

This action scared Chu Keqing, but she stopped struggling and let Chen Yan hold her in his arms, resting her hands on Chen Yan's shoulders.

Chu Keqing's heart was pounding as she heard Chen Yan whisper, "Excuse me. Now, if you hear something later, just say it directly into my ear. This way, others won't see you moving your mouth without making any sound, which would arouse suspicion."

Chu Keqing sighed softly, but suddenly an impulse arose in her heart. She smiled softly and said, "Senior, there is actually no need to explain this to me..."

After saying that, she pressed her soft and plump body against Chen Yan's arms again.

Chen Yan's heart skipped a beat, and his whole body inevitably stiffened.

But then Chu Keqing whispered, "Senior, that long-haired old man was shouting and praising those kabuki, saying that they were very skilled..."

Chen Yan came back to his senses, thought for a moment, then shook his head and whispered, "No, that's not what he was praising..."

At this moment, the music coming from all around the room suddenly stopped, and the movements of the four dancers came to an abrupt halt!

The four Kabuki actors took small steps, adjusted their posture, and stood up, then bowed to the guests on both sides.

All the guests were indifferent, except for the long-haired old man who laughed and clapped his hands.

After the ceremony, suddenly, four balls of ghost fire appeared from the bodies of the four dancers. Under the pale green flames, their bodies quickly burned!
Chu Keqing's eyes suddenly tightened! She subconsciously squeezed Chen Yan's clothes tightly with both hands.

Chen Yan's face was stern as he looked coldly at the four burning Kabuki.

Under the burning pale green ghost fire, the clothes of the four kabuki actors were quickly burned off. However, this scene was not attractive at all, because their skin quickly fell off piece by piece and then turned into ashes in the flames!

"It's human skin!" Chen Yan whispered, "These four Kabuki actors are covered in human skin created by some kind of magic! No wonder I always felt that they carried the aura of death."

After the skin fell off, the bodies of the four Kabuki turned into pitch-black skeletons!
No one knew what the skeleton was made of, but it was not damaged at all by the burning ghost fire. After the ghost fire dissipated, the four skeletons slowly bent down, and then retreated with their butts sticking out, leaving the hall.

The long-haired old man laughed loudly and shouted, "Excellent skill! What an amazing skill!"

As he spoke, he picked up the wine bottle on the table and took a sip. He let the wine flow out from the corners of his mouth and stain his clothes, but he didn't care at all. He just shook his head and sighed: "Amazing skills! This skinning technique and the skill of refining human skin are simply amazing!"

At this moment, two puppet waiters in black walked in from outside the screen at the door, bent down and walked to the middle. One puppet held a golden hammer in his hand, and the other puppet held a copper gong the size of a washbasin.

The two puppets walked to the center and struck the gong three times with force.

After the three gong sounds, the guests at the tables sat up straight subconsciously. Even the unrestrained old man with long hair stopped laughing, put away his smile and looked at the two puppets coldly.

The two puppet waiters straightened up and spoke in a mechanical and dull tone.

With Chu Keqing lying in Chen Yan's arms and whispering translation in his ear, Chen Yan finally understood what the two puppets were saying.

"Thank you all for coming! The reception dinner ends here.

Next, we will ask all guests to return to the rooms on the second floor to rest. The trial will officially begin in one hour.

The trial will last for thirty-six hours from the beginning. After the dinner, that is, from this moment on, the secret realm will be closed!

Guests who fail to arrive for the banquet on time will not be allowed to enter and will regrettably lose the qualification to take part in this trial."

As he spoke, the puppet glanced at everyone and continued slowly, "It is an honor for us to welcome seven groups of distinguished guests this time. Now I will announce the specific rules of this trial:

During the trial, all guests who are already in the trial must not stop the trial or leave the secret realm under any circumstances.

Guests can use any abilities here, including all skills, spells, equipment, shikigami, spiritual objects, etc.

Dear guests, the rules of the trial are very simple: after thirty-six hours, as long as you can survive, you will be considered to have passed the trial. Every survivor who passes the trial will receive a gift from the owner of the secret realm.

To avoid misunderstanding, there is no limit to the number of winners of the trial, and the quality of the gifts obtained will not be affected by the number of people!

I am informing you of this because the Master of the Secret Realm does not encourage guests participating in the Trial to fight each other—of course, the Master of the Secret Realm will not object or interfere.

After the two puppet attendants finished their loud announcement, there was a pause. The puppet attendant on the left holding the golden hammer spoke alone, "The above are the rules of this trial. If you have any questions, please ask now."

"So, I understand that I can do anything here! Anything! The only rule is to survive for thirty-six hours, is that right?"

The one who spoke was the guest in military armor. His voice sounded muffled through the helmet.

"Yes." The Golden Gourd Hammer puppet immediately bent down and replied, "Your Excellency can do anything here."

"Does this include demolishing this building, or doing anything harmful to the secret realm?"

"Of course, as long as you can do it." The puppet answered in a dull tone.

brush!
The general in armor suddenly stretched out a big hand and pulled out a long sword from his back! He chopped it down!
A gust of wind blew up, and a sharp light burst out from the blade, rushing straight across, flying out between the two big-headed dolls and the two tables of guests in white clothes and tall hats across from him! The knife light directly cut into the right wall of the hall, but a faint gray light seemed to wriggle on the wall. After a moment, the knife light was instantly swallowed up and disappeared silently, without even a trace of the wall being broken.

"Idiot." The long-haired old man sneered, "This is your first time participating in this trial. How could you destroy this secret realm so easily?"

The armored general ignored the long-haired old man, sheathed his sword, nodded, and said in a muffled voice, "I have no problem anymore."

The Golden Gourd Hammer puppet slowly said, "Does any other distinguished guest have any questions?"

The long-haired old man slowly stood up and said coldly, "Guests who passed the trial last time can choose rooms first this time. Am I remembering this rule correctly?"

The Golden Gourd Hammer Puppet nodded and bowed: "Yes, Mr. Jiudai, according to the rules, you are one of the guests who passed the trial last time, you can choose the room first."

The old man with long hair nodded and squinted his eyes at the girl in student uniform sitting opposite him.

He shouted in a loud voice: "Hey! Xisang family, which room do you want to choose? I can let you choose first for your father's sake."

That female student with long, straight black hair was actually the winner of the last trial? Chen Yan subconsciously glanced over there.

The black-haired female student shrugged her shoulders and slowly stood up. Her long black hair hung in front of her, covering most of her face. Only a single crimson eye could be vaguely seen from beneath the hair. She spoke in a cold and hoarse voice:
"Kyudai, there's no need to pretend you know me by saying things like that! You know exactly why I came here this time! I'm going to kill you right here!"

"Baga!" (Chen Yan understood without Chu Keqing's translation) The long-haired old man sneered, "Kill me? Even your father can't match me, let alone a little kid like you? Are you daydreaming?"

"If it weren't for you in the last trial, my father wouldn't have died here." Xisang, the girl with long black hair, sneered.

"Ha! Last time, I was kind enough to let you walk out of here alive." The long-haired old man Jiudai shook his head: "You don't know how to be grateful, but you hate me? But if you insist on blaming me for this, then this time I will just kill you here.

The girl with long black hair ignored him and said coldly to the puppet waiter, "He just told me to choose first! So I'll choose the room on the second floor, the one on the left, the innermost one!"

The Golden Gourd Hammer puppet nodded immediately, then raised its hand and a key flew onto the table in front of the girl with long black hair. It said respectfully, "Dear guest, this is your room key."

The girl with long black hair grabbed the key, sneered at Jiudai, turned and left - there was a staircase at the innermost part of the hall, and she went upstairs.

The long-haired old man Jiudai stared at the girl's back. After she disappeared upstairs, he turned his head to look at the golden hammer puppet: "I want the room next to her!"

"As you wish, my dear guest."

A key flew over, but the long-haired old man Jiudai didn't wait for the key to land on the table. He grabbed it with one hand and strode upstairs.

The Golden Gourd Hammer puppet continued slowly, "Alright, there are two winners who participated in the trial last time and survived. They have already chosen their rooms first. The remaining rooms will be freely chosen by the guests. Now, I will announce the rules for choosing rooms..."

As it spoke, it gently tapped the gong with the golden hammer in its hand.

The gong's humming sound seemed to carry some kind of soul-stirring power, making everyone involuntarily solemn.

"On the first night, all guests are free to choose their own rooms. Of course, if two or more guests are interested in the same room, then the guests will decide for themselves who will own it."

Chen Yan was shocked when he heard Chu Keqing's translation in his ear.

This is a hidden danger.

And what the puppet said earlier: "We don't encourage fighting among ourselves, but we don't oppose or interfere either." Chen Yan felt that this was wrong when he heard it! If there was no special reason, why emphasize this sentence?

"On the second night, all surviving guests must leave their rooms and freely choose another surviving guest to exchange rooms with. The condition for the exchange is that both parties must be willing.

If there are an odd number of guests surviving the second night, or if some guests cannot find someone willing to replace them, then the single guest or the guest who cannot replace them will randomly choose a room from the remaining empty rooms.

After the Golden Gourd Hammer Puppet finished speaking, he paused deliberately, waiting for everyone's reaction.

Chen Yan frowned after hearing this!

Sure enough, everyone present began to look at the people around them, as if looking for potential partners to "switch rooms" with.

“All the distinguished guests staying here are participating in the Secret Realm Trial for the first time. Let me introduce the trial process to you.

The flow of time in the secret realm differs from that in the outside world. Day and night here alternate every twelve hours, six hours of night and six hours of day. In other words, during the thirty-six-hour trial, each guest will experience three days and nights.

Please note that the arrival of night means the arrival of unknown dangers.

It is absolutely forbidden to leave the room at night! Any guest who opens the door and leaves the room before dawn will be punished according to the trial rules.

During the day, as long as you stay in your room, you will not encounter any danger - please cherish every daytime rest time."

The man in the white coat and tall hat suddenly spoke up, loudly asking, "So, once the trial begins, it's dangerous both inside and outside the room, but you must stay inside at night! During the day, you can come and go freely, but the room is safe—is that what you mean?"

"Yes, the guest understood it perfectly."

"So, what exactly is the so-called danger in the room?" asked the man in white clothes and a tall hat coldly.

The Golden Gourd Hammer puppet replied, "Each room presents different dangers and challenges, each with varying degrees of difficulty. We invite you to explore and experience these on your own."

"Oh Toto! Are you still so timid?" The man in black clothes and a tall hat who was sitting at the table next to Chen Yan and Chu Keqing suddenly spoke up. His dry voice was filled with provocation and mockery: "If you are afraid of death, you can run to my room for help when you are in danger!"

Oh Toto means younger brother in Japanese.

Chen Yan immediately reacted - no wonder these two guys, one wearing a white shirt and a tall hat, the other wearing a black shirt and a tall hat, their clothes are exactly the same in style except for the color - are they brothers?
"Idiot!" The man in the white coat and top hat ignored him completely. After a cold laugh, he turned his head to look at the waiter with the golden hammer and nodded: "Okay, I have no problem."

"So, do other guests have any questions?" The Golden Gourd Hammer Puppet looked at everyone, and no one spoke.

It nodded and said, "Well, the rules have been announced. Now, all guests may go upstairs and choose their own rooms. The keys to each vacant room are inserted in the door locks. After choosing a room, each guest will keep their room key."

After a pause, it added in a dry, mechanical voice, "Special reminder: Please keep your room key safe."

·
Going up the stairs to the second floor, there is a wide corridor.

The floor and walls were covered with wooden boards. Although they were swept very clean, they were filled with an air of dilapidated oldness.

Chen Yan and Chu Keqing deliberately walked at the end of the group. The one walking in front was the guy wearing the general's armor. It was fine when he was sitting, but when he stood up, the armor was so bulky that he took up the space of two people.

As he walked up the building with slow steps, he had already filled up the stairs, and the others could only follow him slowly.

Fortunately, after this armored warrior came to the second floor, he directly chose a room on the left closest to the stairs. Without asking other people's opinions, he opened the door, took out the key and closed the door.

Others did not stop him.

But the rest of the people were standing in the corridor looking around.

As soon as he reached the second floor, Chen Yan felt that the atmosphere was wrong, and a bone-chilling chill instantly spread throughout his body - he was not unfamiliar with this feeling of shivering!
This is how I felt when I experienced the seven-day catastrophe!

Chen Yan immediately activated the Qi-gazing technique and looked at the corridor, then he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows!
Looking at the corridor on the second floor using the Qi-gazing technique, the entire corridor was shrouded in a black aura.

This is bad luck!

If a mortal is contaminated by even a little bit of it, he will be plagued by bad luck and suffer from disasters and diseases - Lu Sisi was previously entangled in this bad luck.

Fortunately, what made Chen Yan feel relieved was that the evil energy in the corridor seemed to be tightly attached to the building and would not flow towards people.

I don’t know what the two big-headed dolls wearing masks were thinking, but they actually walked to the end of the left side of the corridor.

According to what happened in the hall below, the innermost room at the left end was occupied by the girl with long black hair. Next to her was the long-haired old man, Hisayo.

These two big-headed kids actually chose to live opposite the girl with long black straight hair!
Chen Yan and others watched the two big-headed dolls choose a room and did not stop them. They watched the pair of big-headed dolls enter the room.

"Hmph." The man in black clothes and a tall hat said something - this time Chen Yan couldn't understand it.

Because when standing in the corridor, it was impossible to have Chu Keqing lie in his arms and translate for him by his ear like when he was sitting in the hall.

At this point, the four rooms on the left side of the corridor are all full.

There are four rooms on the left corridor, two doors facing each other, and the layout is as follows:
Long, straight black hair (201) — Long-haired old man (202)

Big-headed doll (203) - General's armor (204) - Stairs.

Chen Yan and Chu Keqing looked at each other, and then Chen Yan looked at the two guys, black and white, calmly.

To be honest, the attire of these two people really reminded him of the Black and White Impermanence - most people would probably have this association, and seeing this kind of attire, they would inevitably feel scared.

However, Chen Yan had seen the two of them with his own eyes, and had even seen them kneeling down to pay homage to the old lady.

So when facing these two counterfeit goods in front of him, Chen Yan did not feel the slightest bit of awe.

"I haven't heard you two speak a word before." The man in black clothes and a tall hat glanced at Chen Yan and Chu Keqing, his tone containing a hint of strangeness.

"This is my husband, he practices the silent meditation." Chu Keqing immediately answered in fluent Japanese, and her tone was deliberately cold.

The guy in the black coat and top hat was about to say something when the white coat and top hat suddenly spoke up in a cold tone, "I want to choose the room at the end of the corridor on the right. Do you have any objections?"

The man in the black coat and tall hat sneered, "What a coincidence! I also want to choose the end of the corridor. Then we can live door to door."

As they spoke, the two men, one in white and one in black, walked to the end of the corridor on the right at the same time, and then chose two rooms opposite each other.

Only Chen Yan and Chu Keqing were left in the corridor - and there was no choice of room.

The last one left.

Chen Yan's heart moved.

It's just weird!

There are exactly seven rooms on the second floor, no more, no less, the same number as the guest tables!
This is very strange.

There were eight tables in the hall downstairs, and one was vacant, so only seven tables were occupied.

When the puppet explained the rules, it also stated that anyone who was late would be disqualified.

It can be seen that there may have been eight tables of guests originally.

But there are exactly seven rooms on the second floor - just enough to accommodate seven groups of guests.

What if no one is late and there are eight tables of guests?
Chen Yan shook his head. The corridor was not the place to talk, so he pulled Chu Keqing to the last remaining room - the one closest to the stairs on the right.

According to the layout of the second floor, there should be a room directly opposite this room.

But Chen Yan looked at the door opposite his room... there was a wall.

After opening the door, taking out the key, and entering with Chu Keqing, Chen Yan closed the door.

·
(End of this chapter)