158: Chapter 159 Saving the School Beauty

When Lin Muyang led the young ladies out of the villa at Ziyun Mountain Villa, Chiba Ruri was enveloped by that invisible force of wind, following at the very back of the group. Her senses were almost overturned in an instant.

Everything in her field of vision—the familiar garden greenery, the outlines of villas in the distance, the city lights further away—all transformed into blurred, backward-streaming, colorful streaks of light! This wasn't just simple "speed," but a terrifying velocity that nearly tore through space and brutally compressed distance! The gale should have been howling, but she was enveloped in a soft, invisible force field that kept the wind and sonic booms, capable of tearing steel apart, at bay. Only the rapidly receding scenery proved just how mind-bogglingly they were moving.

"This speed... how is it possible?!" Chiba Ruri's blue eyes were filled with unbelievable shock. Her own Sub-God Rank Talent, [Spatial Leap], could cross over a hundred kilometers in an instant, but that was a form of "jumping," a shortcut utilizing the rules of space. What Lin Muyang was displaying right now was pure, violently extreme linear flight speed! It was super-high-speed movement achieved on a physical level by relying on his own strength and some unknown ability to forcibly break through the air and distort inertia!

From Zhongnan City to Tianhai City, the straight-line distance was over two hundred kilometers. Even for the top powerhouses on Blue Star known for their speed, flying at full throttle would take at least several minutes. Yet she felt that only a dozen or so heartbeats had passed before the rapidly receding scenery around her suddenly slowed, and the familiar city lights and outlines of iconic buildings came into view—Tianhai City had arrived!

A speed of over twenty kilometers per second?! This had completely exceeded her cognitive range for "flight speed"! This was practically the initial velocity of a physical body breaking through the atmosphere!

What made her spirit tremble even more was that Lin Muyang hadn't achieved this speed alone. He was flying with all eight of the young ladies! This meant that this terrifying speed did not stem from some single-target burst skill or secret technique, but was highly likely a stable, continuous "status" or "field" effect that could be applied over a large area?

Aura?! A word flashed through Chiba Ruri's mind like lightning. Only those legendary "Aura" type abilities that involved the level of rules and could take effect on a group could possibly explain this scene! Not only did Lin Muyang possess unimaginably bizarre control and destructive power himself, but he actually mastered such a terrifying group mobility Aura? This was simply raising the strategic mobility of a small army to an outrageous level!

Looking at that black-haired silhouette ahead, still standing tall in the night, seemingly containing endless mysteries, the awe and worship in Chiba Ruri's heart spread like a wildfire, uncontrollable. This could no longer be described as a "strong person"; this was a walking, living miracle and a strategic-level weapon!

Tianhai City, as an economic and strategic hub on the eastern coast of the Xia Kingdom, had defenses that could be called an impenetrable wall of bronze and iron. Powerful magical detection and defensive barriers were set up at key nodes throughout the city, and important buildings were layered with multiple barriers, making it very difficult for ordinary stealth, lurking, or Spatial Leap methods to infiltrate silently without triggering alarms.

The hotel where Shen Muyao's family was staying was just such a place with tight security. It was covered by multi-layered composite barriers, featuring not only physical defense and energy early warning systems but also protections against unconventional methods like mental intrusion, malicious marking, and curse projection. Theoretically, it would be extremely difficult for a level 145 hypnotist to apply deep hypnosis to a target in a specific room from the inside or outside and take them away without alerting the hotel's security and the city's defense systems.

However, outside the hotel, the blonde, blue-eyed masked woman in a high-level stealth state did not intend to forcibly break through the barriers or infiltrate the hotel. Her plan was more covert and even more vicious.

She hovered in the shadows of a commercial building not far from the side of the hotel, her emerald eyes fixed through her veil on the window of the floor where Shen Muyao was staying. In her hand, she held a prism that seemed carved from crystal, its colors constantly shifting in a dizzying display, while she silently chanted a long and obscure incantation. Wisps of mental ripples, almost invisible and carrying hypnotic and suggestive power, used the prism as a medium to penetrate the relatively weak "conventional mental protection layer" on the hotel's perimeter, precisely projecting toward the sleeping Shen Muyao.

This skill was named [Sleepwalking Suggestion], and its grade was as high as epic-grade. Its effect was not a direct attack or control, but rather, when the target was in a state of deep sleep or mental relaxation, it quietly implanted a preset behavioral instruction and environmental cognitive distortion.

The afflicted would voluntarily execute the instructions in their dreams, such as getting up, opening the door, or following someone away, and would subconsciously ignore the irrational aspects of their surroundings, as if everything were natural. Because the skill itself contained no aggression or obvious malicious energy, the hotel's defensive barriers were slow to react to it, possibly even misjudging it as the guest's own sleepwalking or some harmless natural mental fluctuation.

Under the masked woman's continuous and focused spellcasting, inside the hotel room, Shen Muyao, who had been sleeping, saw her long eyelashes tremble slightly. Her eyes, usually clear and bright, remained tightly closed, but her body seemed to be pulled by invisible threads as she slowly sat up from the soft bed. She was wearing the dark blue dress she hadn't changed out of when she went to sleep, her feet bare as she stepped onto the cold carpet, her movements somewhat stiff.

Like an exquisite sleepwalking puppet, she slid off the bed silently, bypassed the simple furniture in the room, and arrived at the door. Her fingers rested on the doorknob, and with a gentle twist—the door opened. The soft emergency lights in the corridor spilled onto her expressionless, stunningly beautiful profile. She stepped forward, walking slowly and firmly, step by step, toward the elevator area. With her cognition distorted, all of this might just be "getting thirsty in the middle of the night and wanting to go downstairs to buy water," or "hearing a familiar voice calling out."

A hint of triumph flashed in the masked woman's emerald eyes. The plan was going smoothly. As long as she could get the target out of the hotel and away from the area with dense barriers, the subsequent transfer and control would be much simpler. Using this girl to threaten that genius Summoner named Lin Muyang, forcing him to submit and join the organization, or at least obtaining some of his secrets... Lord "Gods Chosen One" would surely grant a generous reward.

However, just as Shen Muyao's foot stepped out of the room and into the corridor, and the masked woman prepared to adjust the suggestion to guide her toward the hotel's side door, a sudden change occurred!

The masked woman's delicate body trembled violently, and her emerald eyes were instantly filled with horror! The psychedelic prism in her hand gave a soft "click," and spiderweb-like cracks appeared on its surface, the mental light flowing within it suddenly extinguished! The invisible mental link between her and Shen Muyao, constructed by [Sleepwalking Suggestion], was severed instantly as if by the sharpest blade! The backlash caused her to groan, and her face turned pale.

"How is it possible?! My skill was forcibly interrupted? Who is it?!" Alarm bells rang in her heart, and she immediately wanted to activate a life-saving or escape skill, while her mental power spread wildly, attempting to sense any enemies that might be nearby.

But it was too late.

At the exact same moment the skill was interrupted, inside the hotel corridor, Shen Muyao, who had been walking in a sleepwalking state with empty eyes, suddenly lost all support for her body and collapsed softly forward. Just as her forehead was about to hit the cold, hard marble wall—

A pair of arms reached out from the side, steady and powerful, catching her soft waist just in time, receiving her light body and bringing it into a warm and solid embrace.

Lin Muyang had appeared in the corridor, no one knew when. His expression was calm, his gaze not even looking at the unconscious young lady in his arms, but instead penetrating the hotel wall and locking onto the masked woman outside, who was in turmoil due to the skill backlash.

After sensing that Shen Muyao was in danger and locking onto the enemy with [Trajectory Pursuit], Lin Muyang had already been rapidly thinking of countermeasures on his way over. Forcibly attacking or breaking into the hotel could cause a commotion and alert the enemy. The simplest method was to directly "nullify" the control the opponent had placed on Shen Muyao.

[Divine Mind Protection (God-Tier Aura)]: Within the Aura's range, designated friendly units are immune to all negative status effects such as mental control, confusion, suggestion, and fear. The Aura's effect can take effect instantly, ignoring distance (within the Aura's coverage range), with extremely high priority.

As Lin Muyang entered the hotel's perimeter carrying his Aura effects (the range after Spell Expansion was more than enough to easily cover it), the effect of [Divine Sense Protection] was instantly applied to Shen Muyao. That intricate [Sleepwalking Suggestion], which coiled around her consciousness like spider silk, was as fragile as thin ice under the sun in the face of this supreme mental defense rule, instantly dissolving and disintegrating. Shen Muyao's consciousness broke free from the distorted dreamscape, but the sudden relaxation of her mind and the shock of the skill being interrupted caused her to fall into a deeper, physiological slumber.

Lin Muyang steadied Shen Muyao, gently scooped her up into his arms, and turned back to the hotel room door she had just opened. At the same time, he moved his thoughts again.

[Spatial Prohibition (God-Tier Aura)]: Centered on the caster, it generates an absolute field of spatial turbulence. Within the field, all spatial-type skills, teleports, summons, the accessing of spatial storage equipment, and even high-level escape techniques involving spatial rules are rendered ineffective. Duration: Until cancelled by the caster.

The invisible, absolute suppression field targeting spatial rules quietly spread out from the hotel, firmly "pinning" the masked woman outside—who had just recovered her senses and was preparing to activate a spatial escape skill—to the spot! She discovered with horror that her connection to the spatial elements had been forcibly severed by an irresistible force, and her spatial movement talent, which she could usually command with ease, felt as if it had been encased in concrete, unable to move an inch!

"It's over!" The masked woman felt a chill in her heart. She hadn't even seen who the enemy was; she only felt her skills broken, her retreat sealed, and an indescribable, overwhelming terror—as if she were being stared at by a higher-dimensional existence—enveloped her.

Meanwhile, Lin Muyang had already returned to the guest room with Shen Muyao in his arms and gently placed her on the soft bed. He quickly glanced at the unconscious young lady's status—her life Aura was stable; she was simply suffering from mental exhaustion and shock, and would need some time to recover and be comforted.

He did not hesitate and raised his hand to activate another Aura.

[Sleepless Power (God-Tier Aura)]: Can apply an "Absolute Wakefulness" status to a designated target, forcibly dispelling all sleep, slumber, or coma effects, and preventing the target from falling asleep naturally for a period of time. It can also be used in reverse to force a target into a deep sleep.

The Aura's wakefulness effect took hold of Shen Muyao.

"Mmm..." A low moan, filled with heavy confusion and fatigue, escaped from Shen Muyao's lips. Her thick, curled eyelashes fluttered violently like the wings of a startled butterfly before she slowly opened them. Her eyes, which should have been bright and lively, were now misted with lingering tears, her gaze unfocused and blank, as if she had just struggled out of an extremely long and chaotic nightmare.

She felt her body go limp, unable to muster any strength, and her brain felt groggy. As her vision gradually cleared, the first thing that came into view was the hotel room's unfamiliar ceiling chandelier with its luxurious patterns. Immediately after, she felt as if she had been held by someone... no, she had just been put down, but there seemed to be a figure standing by the bed.

She subconsciously wanted to struggle to her feet and escape this strange and dangerous situation, but the soreness in her limbs slowed her movements. And just as she managed to prop up her upper body and look toward the bedside with vigilance—she froze.

The person standing by the bed was tall and straight, with black hair and black eyes, a handsome and calm face, and deep eyes, watching her quietly. This face... this face that had been so high-spirited on the Provincial Tournament stage, this face that had appeared in her dreams countless times... Lin Muyang?!

Shen Muyao's brain instantly fell into a deeper state of confusion and blankness. She blinked hard, even wanting to raise her hand to rub her eyes, suspecting that she might still be in that bizarre dream and hadn't woken up, or that she was hallucinating due to excessive longing.

How could Lin Muyang be here? This is Tianhai City! In the middle of the night, in a hotel room? This is too absurd! Unless...

A terrifying thought flashed through her mind—could she have been kidnapped, and the person who kidnapped her had used Disguise to look like Lin Muyang to trick her? Given Lin Muyang's current fame and strength, it was indeed possible for someone to impersonate him to achieve some ulterior motive!

"You... who are you?!" Shen Muyao's face instantly turned pale. She used all her strength to shrink backward, her back pressing tightly against the soft headboard. Her voice trembled noticeably from tension and weakness, and her eyes were filled with suspicion, fear, and a hint of resistance and sorrow—which she hadn't even realized herself—at the thought that "the person in front of me might be an imposter."

Watching Shen Muyao's guarded, terrified expression, Lin Muyang sighed softly in his heart. He knew that appearing here suddenly, especially right after she had woken up from a bizarre incident, would make it hard for her to believe him immediately.

"I am Lin Muyang." He softened his tone, trying his best to make his voice sound steady and reliable. "Shen Muyao, don't be afraid, calm down. You were just targeted by someone using a mental skill and were almost taken away. I happened to notice and rushed over to stop them."

He succinctly stated what had just happened, including that the other party was a hypnotist sent by the Oracle organization, that the goal was to kidnap her to threaten him, and how he had arrived in time to interrupt the skill and capture the caster outside.

His narration was clear and calm, without any exaggeration or melodrama, as if he were stating something unrelated to himself. But it was precisely this plainness that carried a convincing power.

As Shen Muyao listened, the suspicion on her face was gradually replaced by lingering fear. She recalled that before she fell asleep, she seemed... indeed to have been a bit groggy, falling asleep faster than usual? Could that not have been normal fatigue? Combined with her location upon waking up and Lin Muyang's account... although she still found it incredible, she already believed him 70 or 80 percent.

"Is... is that so?" Shen Muyao's voice was still trembling, but the fear in her eyes had faded quite a bit, replaced by a sense of relief at having survived a disaster, as well as deeper confusion. "But... how did you know? Tianhai City is so far from Zhongnan City... And, that hypnotist..."

Her words were unfinished, but the meaning was clear. How could you cross such a long distance in an instant? And how could you so easily subdue a level 145 powerhouse who specializes in mental control?

Lin Muyang did not answer her question directly; he simply turned slightly to the side, clearing his line of sight a little.

Just then, the balcony's French window was silently pushed open. A petite, pale-skinned figure drifted in as if weightless. It was Gui Wanwan. In her hand, she was casually holding a woman like a ragdoll—the woman was wearing a tight black night-traveling suit, her blonde hair was messy, her mask was crooked, and her empty eyes held fear that reached into her very marrow. It was the hypnotist.

Gui Wanwan threw the woman onto the room's thick carpet with a "thud," as if tossing trash, and then looked at Lin Muyang, asking in her ethereal, drifting voice: "Master~ should I take off her mask?"

The masked woman was thrown to the ground, her body twitching slightly, but she didn't even have the strength to crawl up. She just stared fixedly at the floor with those bloodshot, terror-filled green eyes, not daring to look up at anyone. She could feel that there was more than one Aura in the room that made her soul tremble.

Shen Muyao looked at the masked woman who had been carried in like a chick and thrown onto the floor by Gui Wanwan, her pupils contracting slightly. This was the woman... who had almost taken her away silently just now, potentially to fall into an endless hell from then on?

Lingering fear, like a cold tide, washed over her again. She subconsciously looked at Lin Muyang, then at the terrifyingly quiet pale-haired girl, and finally, her gaze fell back onto the shivering captive on the floor.

"Is she... the person that organization sent to kidnap me?" Shen Muyao's voice was very soft, carrying a trace of imperceptible trembling. She couldn't imagine what the consequences would have been if it weren't for Lin Muyang... Becoming a bargaining chip to threaten Lin Muyang? Being used to force Lin Muyang to yield? Then she would rather...

"Yes." Lin Muyang nodded and turned his gaze to Gui Wanwan, "Xiao Wan, did you find anything out?"