Chen Xiao and the other two ascended to the second floor under the guidance of Steward Li. Unlike the main hall on the first floor, the second floor was divided into many rooms, though Chen Xiao had no idea what each room was used for.
The trio was first led into an elegant room. On a solid wood table, fruits and snacks were laid out, and two beautiful maids with curvaceous figures stood on either side.
"I will take young friend Chen Xiao to the assessment. You two can rest here for now. If you need anything, feel free to ask the maids. After the assessment, we shall all have a good drink together," Steward Li said, his smile unwavering. He spoke to Xiao Liuzi and Wang Ke with great politeness, as if that smile had been permanently etched onto his face.
"Alright, you go ahead. We'll wait here," Xiao Liuzi readily agreed, feeling an immense sense of satisfaction. Following Brother Xiao, his status had instantly soared. Even a high-ranking steward of the Array Talisman Master Guild had to treat him with courtesy.
Chen Xiao, seeing Xiao Liuzi's carefree demeanor, frowned slightly. However, he noticed that Wang Ke also wore a solemn expression, as if she too had sensed something amiss. This put him slightly at ease.
"Then let's go, Chen Xiao," Steward Li said. Chen Xiao knew that worrying now was useless. He would take things one step at a time and followed Steward Li out of the room.
After Chen Xiao and Steward Li left, Wang Ke immediately asked the two maids to leave. Although the maids were confused, they obediently departed.
Initially, seeing that Wang Ke and the other youth were of an age where blood ran hot and appeared to be inexperienced, they had expected some inappropriate requests. To their surprise, the two were so unromantic.
Wang Ke glanced around outside the door before carefully closing it. Turning back, she saw Xiao Liuzi had already eaten more than half of a watermelon. Wang Ke quickly exclaimed, "Don't!"
Xiao Liuzi looked up at Wang Ke, bewildered. Then, his vision began to blur, his body swayed, and he collapsed onto the floor.
At the same moment, the door was suddenly pushed open. Wang Ke heard someone say from behind, "Heh heh, I didn't expect you to be so vigilant, but it's no use."
Wang Ke instinctively turned her head. A puff of yellow smoke blew directly into her face. In an instant, she lost consciousness.
All of this happened silently. Chen Xiao, who had already been taken to the assessment room, had no idea that his two companions had been captured.
The assessment room was much larger than the previous one, spanning several hundred square meters. Dozens of identical white marble tabletops were arranged within the room, each equipped with talismans and brushes. The talismans were smooth and lustrous, and the brushes had exaggerated gold-plated handles.
"Ostentatious and impractical," Chen Xiao mused inwardly. Good talismans and brushes possessed spiritual energy. Merely using expensive materials to highlight the value of the drawing tools was a sign of low class, making one appear like a nouveau riche.
However, besides the ostentatiousness, the assessment room also gave Chen Xiao a sense of danger, a vague unease. But for the moment, Chen Xiao could not pinpoint the source of the problem.
"Just find a spot and draw anything. I've heard about your skills. Frankly, I'm not qualified to assess you; this is just a formality," Steward Li said with a smile, appearing harmless.
As he spoke, Steward Li found a tabletop himself, picked up a brush, and began to draw. He added, "There's a problem that has been troubling me recently. I hope young friend Chen Xiao can offer some guidance after the assessment!"
Chen Xiao was unsure of Steward Li's true intentions but replied humbly, "Steward Li, you flatter me. It's not guidance, but mutual discussion."
"Yes, mutual discussion, mutual discussion," Steward Li's tone softened. He lowered his head deeply, a smile lingering on his lips.
However, what Chen Xiao couldn't see was that Steward Li's expression had turned extremely grim, and that smile was becoming increasingly cold.
Chen Xiao chose a tabletop and picked up a brush, contemplating what array talisman to draw. It was then that the situation took a sudden turn.
The white marble tabletop began to melt at a visible rate, eventually turning into a pool of slurry.
"Hiss!"
Simultaneously, the brush in Chen Xiao's hand transformed into a small golden snake. The snake coiled around Chen Xiao's wrist with lightning speed, its forked tongue flicking as it lunged towards his wrist.
Chen Xiao's expression changed dramatically. The snake was fast, but his speed was even greater. He extended his other hand to grab the snake's vulnerable spot.
Just as Chen Xiao's fingers were about to touch the snake's body, and he could even feel the cold emanating from it, the snake suddenly vanished.
Chen Xiao looked around and realized he was no longer in the assessment room. Instead, he found himself in a primeval forest, the air thick with the scent of decay and suffocating humidity.
"It's an array!"
Chen Xiao suddenly understood. He finally knew why he had felt something was wrong. This assessment room was clearly an array. The moment he stepped into it, he had entered the formation. And everything he saw now was merely an illusion conjured by the array.
Once inside the opponent's array, unless the array's core was destroyed or the formation master was unable to continue casting spells to maintain it, there was no escape. The only remaining path was death.
And the person who set up the array was undoubtedly the ever-smiling Steward Li.
Arrays and array talismans were closely related. Arrays were essentially large-scale array talismans. Those who could draw array talismans would also have some knowledge of arrays. However, unlike array talismans, arrays were usually fixed in a specific location and not drawn on talisman paper. Furthermore, each activation of an array required a large amount of materials. The white marble tabletops Chen Xiao had seen earlier were the materials for this array.
At this point, Chen Xiao finally understood why the talismans and brushes on the tabletops were so ostentatious and impractical. They were merely meant to attract Chen Xiao's attention, mislead him, and prevent him from discovering the existence of the array.
And Steward Li's earlier actions of drawing and writing on the tabletops were simply to secretly activate the array.
There was no one in front of Chen Xiao, yet he stared straight ahead and said with a wry smile, "You've gone to great lengths for me. I am impressed, truly impressed."
Talking to the empty air, the scene was as bizarre as it could be.
Even more bizarrely, there was a response from the empty air, "Heh heh, aren't you a genius? But what good is a genius? Can a dead genius still be called a genius? Cackle..."
A sinister laugh, it was Steward Li's voice, but his figure was nowhere to be seen.
"I have never dared to call myself a genius. But every wrong has its perpetrator, and every debt has its owner. You must at least let me die with understanding. Who wants me dead?" Chen Xiao's voice carried a hint of despair.