Chapter 24: with translation of chapter title

They woke up in the inn, saw this familiar scene, and realized they had now entered the game.

Feng Yan opened the door and saw the king outside with the guards waiting.

Huh! Feng Yan first jumped in fright, then quickly shut the door, panting heavily, making a huffing sound. At that moment Chen Hao slowly got up, saw Feng Yan's disheveled clothes, and asked Feng Yan: "What's wrong? Early in the morning, did you see a ghost?" "No, it's not, go outside and have a look." Feng Yan obviously hadn't calmed down, looked flustered, and Shuo Ye also started to stutter. "It's not that scary." Chen Hao said while walking to the door, he pushed the door open with his hand, glanced, and also quickly shut the room's door, "Huh!" same exclamation, then said to Feng Yan: "Indeed it's terrifying, a big man seven or eight meters tall, standing in a row, looks too frightening, feeling as if sunlight can't reach my body."

The king watched the two people in front and behind make the same gesture, inwardly astonished: 'How could this be?' Then he said to the troops behind him: 'You stay here and don't move; I'll go up and talk to the two adventurers.' 'Yes!' The giants answered in unison.

The king came into the room alone, and Feng Yan and Chen Hao relaxed a little. They stepped forward, and Chen Hao said to the king: 'We just want you to come in alone, Your Majesty.' Hearing this, the king was puzzled, showing a confused expression and said: 'Why must I come in alone?' Chen Hao answered the king's words: 'That's because yesterday we already built passages to each country, but only three people can be taken at once. Although the Adventurers' Book fulfilled this wish, whether it is stable is the question. Considering we are adventurers and we don't want to cause your country to lose talent over this, I decided we two will go, and you, king, can tell the outside world that we went up the mountain to gather materials.'

'Okay, but what about the marriage recruitment?' the king asked the two. Feng Yan replied: 'Since it's been said, it will definitely be carried out splendidly.' 'Then I'll await the good news!' the king said.

The two came to that day's black vortex leading to various countries; before entering, Chen Hao asked: 'Where should we go first?' 'The Lilliputian Kingdom.' Feng Yan's expression darkened, as if recalling the experience of the madman being stabbed to death by his sword.

Inside the Lilliputian Kingdom's palace, the actors were performing a play; the prince watched with interest, wondering whether to throw some valuables from below and then shout 'Good!' At that moment, Feng Yan and Chen Hao stood behind them, the two grabbed the Lilliputian prince's clothing and dragged him into the black hole, then through the hole arrived at the Giant Kingdom. That

The Lilliputian prince still didn't understand what was happening; he opened his eyes and found himself in the Giant Kingdom. Seeing the giants before him, he was so frightened he collapsed straight to the ground. He lifted his head and saw Feng Yan and Chen Hao standing before him. He clearly knew that these two had taken the Lilliputian Kingdom's national treasure earlier. He put on a fawning smile and said to Feng Yan and Chen Hao: 'Sirs, long time no see; originally you two elders went on a distant journey. If there was any offense just now, please forgive, please forgive.' Feng Yan looked at that fawning smile, like a lapdog's, plus his posture collapsed on the ground, and directly turned away, not looking at him. The Lilliputian prince felt slighted, his heart full of resentment, but he dared not act out.

'Is this the prince of the Lilliputian Kingdom?' Feng Yan turned his head and asked Chen Hao.

Chen Hao looked at him; his appearance was actually somewhat handsome, but right now he lay collapsed on the ground, those fox-like cunning eyes darting back and forth at us, plus a terrified expression, his image completely gone—he looked like a begging villain. Chen Hao spat and said: 'Looks like it must be him, after all when I set it up I directly entered each prince's bedroom, so it shouldn't be wrong.'

'You lot, keep an eye on him.' Feng Yan said to the giants, then stuck his sword into the ground and said to the sword: 'If he dares to run, you know what to do without me telling you.' The sword let out a faint hum, then a red light flashed across its blade. Feng Yan nodded, and afterward he and Chen Hao went to the next place, the Benefit Kingdom.

The person before them sat on the throne, with gold, silver, and jewels piled up beside him; a woman sat in his arms. He watched the dancing girl before him, his eyes constantly lecherously fixed on her. He beckoned, a eunuch came over, and he whispered something to the guard. The eunuch nodded and ran backstage to consult with that dancing girl. Feng Yan watched and, turning to Chen Hao beside him, said: 'Do you think I can understand this as an unspoken rule?'

'You put it that way, and it does seem rather like that.' Chen Hao replied to Feng Yan, 'Let's go, let's check out the back.'

Only see backstage, a crowd urged the dancing girl, gesturing for her to accompany the dancing girl, but the dancing girl, despite everyone's persuasion, still shook her head, unwilling to go. Then one dancing girl said: 'This is a great opportunity to obtain vast wealth, not to be missed!' 'Exactly, exactly, a once-in-a-thousand-years chance!' another echoed. Despite their chatter, the dancing girl remained unmoved, tidied her belongings, preparing to leave this place of right and wrong. At that moment, a eunuch leading a squad of guards entered, seized that dancing girl, bound her tightly, then lifted her up, preparing to send her straight to the prince's bedroom. The surrounding dancing girls watched that named dancing girl, all cheered, and made up a little rhyme: 'The prince calls for me, I ought not to heed the prince's summons; when the king comes, the guards rush in, I beg the prince to talk slowly.'

'Ah, these people, are they really so money-obsessed?' Feng Yan said helplessly, lowering his head in a sigh.

'This is also for the sake of a better life,' Chen Hao replied, 'Let's go take a look there.'

In the bedroom, the prince and that dancing girl were playing a cat-and-mouse game; the dancing girl's clothes were disheveled, she cried as she ran, 'Hey, beauty, don't run—let me give you a proper loving.' The prince, meanwhile, wore an evil smile as he chased the dancing girl along the path. Feng Yan and Chen Hao's jaws dropped, watching them run back and forth; several times the prince had already caught the dancing girl but then deliberately let her go, seemingly enjoying it. After a while, the floor was littered with the dancing girl's clothes. Then the two came to their senses; Feng Yan threw his upper garment to the dancing girl, shouting: 'Catch it, miss!' Chen Hao kicked the prince squarely in the face, and the prince staggered and fell to the ground.

'It's fine,' Chen Hao said. The girl collapsed on the ground, tears welling in her eyes, her clothes disheveled, she wore the outer garment Feng Yan had thrown down, her expression panicked, obviously still shaken from the fright. Feng Yan couldn't bear to see her like that; he squatted down and said to the dancing girl: 'Rest assured, I'll take you out of this palace.'

"Enough ruthless!" The Prince slowly rose to his feet, his eyes brimming with resentment, and he shouted, "Come, tear these two people into ten thousand pieces!" As his words fell, a large contingent of guards poured into the palace, weapons in hand, surrounding Feng Yan and his two companions tightly. "It hurts!" The Prince clutched his face, shielding the shoeprint; his features were handsome, especially his face, making him seem the most handsome man walking the earth, yet to Feng Yan he appeared as a man wearing a woman's face, devoid of any masculine vigor.

The soldiers surged forward; Chen Hao kicked a guard aside, snatched his spear, and the guards thrust their spears at them. Chen Hao made an upward thrust, killing one soldier, whereupon they began to retreat, no longer advancing. The Prince shouted, "Kill them, kill them, a hundred taels of gold for each one!" The soldiers launched another fierce attack; Chen Hao gripped the spear, assumed a half‑squat stance, and the soldiers thrust together. Chen Hao leapt up and drove the spear into a soldier, piercing his heart. He withdrew the spear, the soldiers counter‑attacked, Chen Hao failed to dodge and was stabbed in the thigh, then he swept the spear sideways with all his strength, hearing only the crack of the shaft breaking.

"Hahaha, you're finished, the soldiers will kill him!" the Prince laughed loudly, revealing a ferocious expression, "That's it!"

Following the Prince's gaze, a red sword flew into Feng Yan's hand; the Prince stared and saw that the blade seemed to flow, with black threads running through it. He ordered, "Kill the person, but don't hurt that dancer, and don't damage the sword! That's a fine thing!" The soldiers charged; Feng Yan's mouth curled into a smile, he gripped the sword with his right hand, the blade emitted red light, then he swung it, and in an instant all the soldiers fell. "Today I will take her with me; I see who could stop me!" Feng Yan said to the wounded Chen Hao beside him, "All right, all right, drag that trash to Ju Ren Guo; we ought to move on to the next stop."

Thus, the Prince of Li State was also taken back to Ju Ren Guo.

Time passed bit by bit; finally, before sunset, they had finally brought all the princes of the nations (except Ju Ren Guo).

"Then, let's begin by stating your names." Chen Hao took out pen and paper and said.

"Lilliputian Kingdom Hou Fangliu", "Li State Li Ji", "Qi State Qi Xiao Bai", "Chu State Chu Zi Hang", "Quan State Quan Shi", "Zhan State Long Ye", "Good, then everyone is here; tomorrow we will start the competition; the victor may become the Prince Consort of Ju Ren Guo and win the beauty." Chen Hao said.

"Ju Ren Guo's? Isn't that a giant?" "I think it's about the same." A crowd below murmured; Chen Hao, his hands trembling with fear, said, "There's nothing we can do; then let you see the Princess's appearance."

The Princess walked slowly; all the princes could not take their eyes off her face, which was utterly perfect; the afterglow of sunset shone on her golden hair, and at the moment of her appearance, everyone's gaze turned to that beautiful princess, and they all stared dumbstruck.

After the Princess appeared and then left a while later, the princes remained stuck in her beautiful appearance, unable to return to reality; Chen Hao clapped his hands and said, "The competition will be held tomorrow; please rest well today. Since you came suddenly, I apologize here."

The princes looked at the other princes beside them, sizing each other up, yet each secretly rejoiced that the two adventurers before them had not entered this marriage‑contest event, for otherwise they would surely have been unable to win.

Feng Yan and Chen Hao brought the dancer to the inn; Feng Yan ordered the guards to bring the clothing worn by Ju Ren Guo's girls, the guards complied, Feng Yan took the clothes and said to the dancer, "Um, I don't know your name, but please put on the clothes." The dancer looked at the clothes in Feng Yan's hands, lowered her head, and whispered, "Thank you." Feng Yan closed the door and left with Chen Hao.

Outside, they watched the sun set together; now the sun was no longer visible, Chen Hao said to Feng Yan, "Is the time almost up?" Just then the door opened; the dancer stood before them in blue clothing, though her attire was plain, it could not hide her innate beauty; her dark eyes held a story, making her beautiful yet mysterious. "What's wrong, not looking good?" the dancer blushed, just meeting their gaze; Chen Hao pulled Feng Yan aside and said, "You have to tell her our situation." "Um, all right." Feng Yan replied helplessly.

Feng Yan approached the dancer; her face flushed, and Feng Yan said to her, "Please do me a favor: after a while we will go elsewhere and disappear; you stay in the inn, do not leave, and at the crucial moment that sword will protect you." The dancer nodded, understanding.

Their bodies grew increasingly transparent; before vanishing, they entered the inn they had been in and closed the door.