Once they reached the gates, the Spirit Grandmasters stopped Yuan and Wang Xiuying and said to them, "Before you enter, you must wear these."
"Handcuffs…? Really? Why are we being treated like criminals?" Wang Xiuying frowned at the sight of these cuffs.
"Why? Because you guys broke the rules, so you're criminals in our eyes." One of them said.
"What?! What rules did we break? We just got here!" Wang Xiuying was in disbelief.
"Just by coming here without permission, you've broken one of our most sacred rules!"
"But we arrived here by accident! We didn't come here because we wanted to!"
"Regardless of your circumstances or situation, it's a fact that you've stepped onto our sacred soil without permission. Furthermore, you're humans! Humans are not allowed in this place!"
"You're humans as well!" Wang Xiuying refuted.
The Spirit Grandmasters looked at each other before bursting out with laughter.
"Humans? Us? Hahaha! We only took the appearance of humans because it's more convenient to travel in such a small form!"
"That's right! We also take up much less space in this form!"
"T-This form?" Wang Xiuying stared at them with wide eyes, finally realizing the situation.
"Don't tell me you're all magical beasts in human forms? I have heard about it, but this is my first time actually seeing it in person…" Wang Xiuying's body trembled once she realized that they were not really humans, only monsters in human skin.
"That's right! We're all dragons!"
They all held a prideful expression on their faces at this moment.
"D-Dragons?! You're all Divine Beasts?!" Yuan looked at them with surprise.
"What? Not all dragons are Divine Beasts! What an ignorant human." The dragons shook their heads at him.
"Anyways, enough chit-chatting. Hurry up and put on these handcuffs, or we'll consider this is resisting us and we'll kill you on the spot."
"..."
Since they were outnumbered and were technically in the wrong for coming to this place without permission, Yuan and Wang Xiuying agreed to be cuffed without much fuss.
"Good. Now we can enter the city."
Wang Xiuying looked at these cuffs with a frown on her face, and she spoke, "Yuan… I don't feel so good. It's like these cuffs are draining my strength…"
"Eh? Really?" Yuan raised his eyebrows since he didn't feel such effects.
"These are special cuffs that will seal the cultivation of anyone wearing them— mostly humans. As long as you wear these, you won't be able to use your cultivation and cause any troubles."
"As if we'd cause any trouble!" Wang Xiuying exclaimed.
"It's better to be safe than sorry, and we only have these kinds of shackles in this place so it's not like we have a choice."
The dragons said to them before bringing them into the city.
Once they were inside the city, the dragons brought Yuan and Wang Xiuying into this building before tossing them into a jail cell.
"The two of you will stay right there until our supervisor comes for questioning," said the dragons before leaving them alone.
"I can't believe it… To think we'd become criminals and even tossed into a jail cell…" Wang Xiuying sighed, as this was a completely new experience for her.
"We'll be fine as long as we cooperate with them," Yuan said to her.
"This is all that damned Mystic Pagoda's fault! Why did it bring us here?! Are we still inside the Mystic Realm? If not, does this mean we have failed the event since we technically left the place? Aaaah! I have so many questions!" Wang Xiuying sighed out loud.
"There's nothing we can really do since we're already in this place. Once they let us go, we will find a way back home." Yuan said.
"You're really optimistic, huh? What makes you think they'll release us? What if they keep us here forever?"
"But we didn't do anything wrong. Why would they keep us here forever?" Yuan tilted his head with an innocent expression on his face.
"You really don't understand, huh. These people are not human, Yuan! They're all magical beasts! I wouldn't be surprised if they treat humans like trash! Even worse— food!" Wang Xiuying shuddered at the thought of being eaten by dragons.
"If anything happens, we can simply log off," Yuan said.
"But we won't be able to log back on afterward since they'll be waiting for us! In other words, we won't be able to play until we have other players rescue us! But who could possibly rescue us when we don't even know where we are? If the only way to come here is through the Mystic Pagoda, nobody will be able to come here!" Wang Xiuying sighed.
Yuan frowned upon realizing how grave their situation was.
"If we die, maybe we'll respawn outside the Mystic Realm…" Yuan then said.
"I doubt it. Did you already forget? We're inside a city, Yuan. All cities are checkpoints, so if you die, you'll simply respawn in your last city visited." Wang Xiuying said.
"Oh, I didn't know that since I have never died before. And I don't really interact with other players either." Yuan said.
"Anyways, we're in big trouble right now. Hopefully, these dragons don't have any grudges with humans…" Wang Xiuying sighed.
About half an hour later, a figure finally entered their room and stood before their jail cell.
"Hello." Yuan greeted this middle-aged man wearing silver armor that had a dragon design on his chest and two dragon heads on his shoulders.
"Hmmm…" This middle-aged man didn't respond to his greetings, merely staring at them with a solemn expression on his face.
"How long has it been since I last saw humans? Ten thousand years? A hundred thousand years? I don't remember. However, the stench you humans give off… I will never forget it." The middle-aged man mumbled with a look of disdain on his face.
Wang Xiuying swallowed nervously after hearing his words. Clearly, this guy doesn't like humans. Which meant their chances of surviving this nonsense just dropped significantly.
After a moment of silence, the middle-aged man spoke, "I will now ask you questions. If anything that comes out of your mouth is not related to the question, I will have you both executed. Do you understand?"
"Y-Yes…" Wang Xiuying quickly nodded.
Yuan nodded silently.