288: Chapter 289 Now you can come with me, right?

Seeing these beggars betraying each other and begging for mercy under the pressure, even going so far as to offer to bring others who were pretty, the two youths in fine robes were stunned for a moment. Then, they exchanged glances and burst into unmasked, mocking, and cruel laughter.

"Hahahaha! Did you hear that, Valen? These cheap bones would even sell their companions to save their own lives!" The youth with a slightly flushed face and vicious eyes tapped his palm with a short staff, laughing until he doubled over.

Valen also curled his lips, his eyes full of contempt and amusement: "Since you are all in the same group, having Third Luo help with the 'stock' is enough. Why keep so many pieces of trash? Rubbish like you are just wasting air and food by living in this world. It would be better to..."

He raised his free left hand, and dangerous, fiery red magical radiance began to swirl around his fingertips; the temperature in the air rose abruptly. The other youth also sneered and raised his hand, with a swirling cyan wind blade appearing in his palm. Clearly, they intended to dispose of these male beggars in the most efficient way possible, leaving only the girls who looked valuable.

However, just as their skills were about to be unleashed—the movements of both, along with the cruel smiles on their faces, suddenly froze.

No, it was not just their movements. They felt an indescribable, irresistible, and terrifying force, like an invisible weight of millions of tons, erupting from all directions, from every inch of space, and even from every cell in their bodies, pinning them firmly in place! Not only were their bodies unable to move, but the surging magical power within them also instantly died down, like a frozen river. The defensive runes engraved on their equipment and the instant-cast spell patterns all dimmed, losing all response.

This was an absolute suppression originating from the level of life itself, from the level of the rules! It made them feel as if they had become insects trapped in amber; even their thoughts became sluggish, leaving only boundless horror spreading wildly in the depths of their souls.

Meanwhile, Sagiri and the other beggars, who had collapsed to the ground and were almost swallowed by despair, also felt that omnipresent, terrifying pressure. But at the same time, they felt that the suffocating malice and murderous intent emanating from the two abusers had vanished instantly, like smoke blown away by a gale. They were still unable to move or speak, and could only widen their eyes in terror, watching this inconceivable scene.

Tap... tap... tap... Clear and composed footsteps broke the deathly stillness of the alley. Under the terrified gaze of the beggars and the two statue-like youths, three figures slowly strolled out from the deeper shadows of the alley.

Leading them was Lin Muyang. His expression was calm, as if what was happening before him was not an imminent massacre, but merely an insignificant street scene. Alice and Gui Wanwan followed half a step behind him on his left and right. Their stunningly beautiful faces seemed to carry their own soft light in the dim alley, completely out of place with the dirty and dilapidated surroundings, adding a sense of unreality and mystery.

As Lin Muyang approached, an invisible, soul-trembling power of silence enveloped the area. Not only were their movements suppressed, but their voices were also completely stripped away. The alley fell into an eerie, absolute silence, with only those steady footsteps striking everyone's hearts.

Lin Muyang's thoughts stirred slightly, and another Aura quietly unfolded: "God-Tier Stealth Aura."

A layer of grayish, ripple-like halo that was difficult for the naked eye to detect spread rapidly from him as the center, instantly enveloping the entire alley and the surrounding dozens of meters. The light seemed to distort for an instant; the faint clamor from the outside street, the chiming of the magic clock tower, and the humming of hovering cars in the distance—all sounds seemed to be isolated by a thick layer of glass, quickly becoming blurry, distant, and finally disappearing completely.

Within this Aura's range, everything happening, no matter how intense the energy fluctuations or how abnormal the scene, would not be perceived by any external means. It was as if this place had been temporarily cut off from the main world, forming an independent and secret temporary space.

The two completely suppressed youths in fine robes rolled their eyes desperately, locking their gazes onto Lin Muyang, and then involuntarily drifting toward the two stunning girls beside him. When they saw the faces of Alice and Gui Wanwan, even while trapped in indescribable fear and confinement, a flash of astonishment and greed still uncontrollably flickered in the depths of their eyes.

They were too beautiful! With such appearance and demeanor, let alone in this Stanro City, even the legendary noble ladies they imagined who lived in the higher floating cities probably could not compare. Such stunning beauties, yet they had never heard of them before? Could they be from other floating cities, or even from the legendary upper districts?

They wanted to speak, to question, to use their family names to intimidate, perhaps even to bargain... But all thoughts were firmly sealed in their throats. They could not move, could not speak, and could only watch helplessly as the unease and fear in their hearts grew wildly like weeds. Yet, a sliver of wishful thinking still hadn't been completely extinguished; their status was extraordinary, so the other party shouldn't dare to actually kill them, right? At most, it would be a lesson, or perhaps the other party had also taken a liking to this 'stock' and wanted a share of the spoils?

Just then, Lin Muyang walked up to Sagiri, who was slumped on the ground. He lowered his head slightly, his calm gaze landing on the young girl's small face, which was stained with tears and dirt but could not hide her delicate beauty.

At this moment, Sagiri's heart was already overwhelmed by earth-shattering shock. She watched as the two youths in fine robes, who were incomparably powerful and demonic in her eyes, were easily suppressed like puppets before that mysterious youth, unable to even lift a finger. Just how strong was this youth? Judging by his age, he didn't seem much older than her! And those two sisters beside him, who were unrealistically beautiful...

When her gaze met Lin Muyang's calm, deep eyes, a strange, indescribable sense of intimacy, accompanied by deeper confusion and vigilance, intertwined in her heart. Had they been following her? Or was it a coincidence?

Just then, she suddenly felt her body lighten. The invisible pressure that made her unable to move or speak disappeared. She gasped for air, the cold and filthy air rushing into her lungs, bringing a sharp pain but also clearing her chaotic mind a little. She discovered she could move and speak again.

Lin Muyang looked at her eyes, which were still shaken and full of vigilance and confusion, and spoke again, his voice still steady and waveless: "I can save you. However, after I save you, you must come with me. Are you willing?"

His words were direct, with no comfort and no promises, just a simple choice.

Sagiri's heart pounded wildly in her chest, almost shattering her ribs. She looked at the calm face of the youth before her, then at the two youths in fine robes beside him, who were like ice sculptures with terror and disbelief still lingering in their eyes, and at the traitor Third Luo, who was frozen in place clutching a money bag with a twisted expression.

A terrifying thought rose uncontrollably: Could all of this be a carefully designed act? Was it directed by this seemingly powerful youth to make her willingly offer herself? First, have people play the role of villains, and then he would play the hero saving the damsel, thereby making her grateful and completely devoted to him?

The near-paranoid caution she had honed while struggling to survive at the bottom of society made her afraid to easily believe in any kindness. If the end result was just to become a plaything and die in humiliation and torture, she would rather choose a cleaner, faster end.

She bit her dry, bleeding lips, used all her strength to lift her head, and met Lin Muyang's gaze. Her voice trembled slightly from fear and excitement, but it carried a desperate, all-or-nothing determination: "Unless you kill them all. Otherwise, I will never go with you!"

Saying this sentence had almost exhausted all her courage. She closed her eyes tightly, her slender body trembling slightly from tension and fear, waiting for the thunderous rage that might descend. She had already prepared for the worst.

However, the expected anger did not come. She heard a very light chuckle, which seemed to carry a hint of helplessness.

When she opened her eyes in confusion, she saw Lin Muyang just shaking his head indifferently, as if the request she had made was not about several human lives, but merely an insignificant, even somewhat childish condition.

"Very well." Lin Muyang's voice remained calm.

As soon as his voice fell, Gui Wanwan, who had been standing quietly by his side, elegantly raised her jade-white hand, rubbed her thumb and middle finger together, and snapped her fingers crisply.

"Snap."

The sound was very light, but in this absolute silence enveloped by the "God-Tier Stealth Aura," it was exceptionally clear.

The next moment, a scene that would make Sagiri remember it for the rest of her life occurred. Except for her, everyone else in the alley—the two youths in fine robes, the traitor Third Luo, and the other beggar youths who had collapsed on the ground betraying each other and begging for mercy—suddenly had a layer of eerily blood-red flames ignite on the surface of their bodies without warning!

These flames were not lit from the outside, but burst forth directly from inside their bodies, from every single cell! The flames burned quietly; there was no sound, no smoke, and not even the scorching heat that normal flames should emit. There was only a cold and evil sense of destruction that penetrated deep into the soul.

The faces of those enveloped by the flames were instantly twisted by extreme pain and fear. Valen and the other youth in fine robes had their eyes almost bulging out of their sockets, their mouths wide open as if they wanted to let out shrill screams, to beg, to threaten, to bring up their families, but all sounds and expressions were silently swallowed and annihilated by the blood-red flames along with their bodies.

They struggled in vain, their bodies rapidly becoming transparent and fading in the flames, like paper figures burning to ash. In just two or three breaths, the flames quietly extinguished.

And the people who had been standing or slumped there had completely disappeared. There were no ashes, no remains, and no traces left of their existence, as if they had never appeared in this world. Only in the air remained a trace, extremely faint and almost imperceptible, of the void left after their souls were completely annihilated.

The alley suddenly became much emptier.

Sagiri was stunned. She widened her eyes, her pupils constricted, her small mouth slightly parted, but she could not make a sound. Her delicate body trembled violently and uncontrollably, like a leaf in the autumn wind. Dead... they were all dead... he really killed them? Just like that, so casually, with a snap of his fingers, they were all gone?

Although she had made that request earlier, it was more out of testing and a desperate, all-or-nothing gamble; deep down, she didn't really believe the other party would do it, and she certainly couldn't have imagined it would be in such an eerie and thorough manner.

Lin Muyang seemed to have just done a trivial thing. He didn't even glance at the place where those people had disappeared; he just stirred his thoughts again, and several invisible "God-Tier Auras" quietly swept across the area. "Trace Purification" erased all energy residues and life signatures that did not belong here; "Karma Thinning" disrupted the weak, potentially existing threads of fate; and "Time Isolation" temporarily blocked this segment of the area's record in the flow of time, rendering any detection methods based on time regression ineffective for a short period.

After doing all this, he cast his gaze back to the stunned Sagiri.

The young girl's face was a mixture of unparalleled shock, confusion, lingering fear, and a hint of exhaustion after surviving a desperate situation, which she herself hadn't even realized. She looked at Lin Muyang and the two calm, beautiful girls beside him, as if she were looking at three gods who had stepped out of mythology, wielding the power of life and death.

"Now," Lin Muyang looked at her, his tone still without waves, but carrying an unquestionable calm, "can you come with me?"