Chapter 22: Powerful, Needs No Further Explanation

The thunderous sound of drums at the bow of the boat, and the united, synchronized movements of the members on the Dragon boat.

The cheers of the spectators on the riverbank, the large red lanterns hanging on the nearby banyan trees...

All of this composed the lively atmosphere of the Dragon Boat Festival.

Nina was also deeply infected by this festive atmosphere, her little face flushed slightly with excitement.

Even Bai Ningfu, who was holding a parasol, couldn't help but take a few extra glances.

Mu An, on the other hand, didn't seem too concerned; instead, he was lost in deep thought.

If the village where his landlord lived won, he wondered if they would waive a month of his rent?

"Cap... capsized!"

Nina suddenly exclaimed.

Mu An also subconsciously looked in the direction the girl was pointing.

He was amused instantly.

The Dragon boat that capsized was, coincidentally, the very same village he had mentioned earlier that hired foreign mercenaries with black and white skin.

It was fate!

As expected, even their village's Old Ancestor couldn't stand it anymore!

[Wait, this is...]

Mu An's eyes narrowed as he keenly noticed some eerie, blood-stained water churning up at the spot where the boat had capsized.

An inexplicable sense of foreboding rose in his heart, and he subconsciously activated the [Enemy Detection Radar].

In an instant.

A 3D world map spanning a radius of one kilometer generated in Mu An's mind, naturally including all living beings within that range.

And underwater, an extremely unstable space-time rift suddenly appeared like the eye of the deep sea.

The dark, purple-blue intertwined light remained silent, but the monsters emerging from it did not.

They wielded spiked clubs and began biting and beating the people who had fallen into the water.

Those people were caught off guard and struck heavily, which was the source of that blood-stained water.

"Yo, it's old friends!"

Mu An rubbed his chin, feeling slightly shocked.

And those monsters were his very familiar old friends, the Goblins.

However, the Goblins descending into this world seemed relatively weak, generally only Rank 1-3, estimated to be only stronger than two or three adults combined.

The Myriad Worlds Gate App had warned about this before.

About the possibility of future space-time rifts, monster invasions, the recovery of Spiritual Qi, and so on; Mu An had maintained a certain degree of skepticism about this.

Now, faced with the facts, he had no choice but to believe it.

"Nina..."

Mu An was just about to turn his head to say something to Nina, but...

Silence—

A sound like tinnitus rang in his ears.

Subsequently, the world seemed to have been suddenly pressed with a pause button, terrifyingly quiet.

The drumsticks that hadn't fallen, the vanished cheers.

The water droplets on the river surface that hadn't fallen, the paper bag blown halfway over by the wind and suspended in mid-air...

Even everyone and everything was gradually fading into black and white tones, as if placed in a world from the black-and-white television era of the 1970s and 80s.

Looking at Nina and Bai Ningfu beside him who had also 'faded', Mu An couldn't help but shrink his pupils.

"Oi, Boss Bai, can you hear me? If you don't speak again, I'm going to pinch your milk buns, okay?"

That was what he said, but Mu An wouldn't actually be that lewd.

After confirming that the two really had no 'consciousness', he silently retracted his hand that had been halfway extended.

In fact, he discovered that all the people who had turned into this state could not be touched, as if they had entered another dimension.

On the contrary, those monsters could still move freely and had not 'faded'.

However, upon discovering that they could no longer attack humans, they also fell into a brief state of confusion.

Hmm, Mu An confirmed it and found that he also hadn't 'faded'.

"Eh? What is this point of light..."

While Mu An was surprised, a snow-white figure came stepping on the river surface, holding a long sword, looking ethereal and immortal.

The high ponytail tied with a white ribbon looked full of youthful vitality, and her appearance seemed somewhat familiar.

"Slash!"

The woman gave a light shout.

In an instant, with the fall of that sword, the entire river was forcefully split open.

The sword light reached the sky, stretching for several miles.

The solidified river water could not withstand this world-shocking strike, and the weak Goblins at the bottom of the river could not withstand it either.

In the blink of an eye, they, along with the deep space-time rift behind them, vanished instantly.

As if having evaporated from the human world, they ceased to exist.

And during this process, those people who had fallen into the water did not suffer any harm.

Mu An watched this scene in utter shock.

To be honest, with his current strength, he could absolutely not do this.

Facing this sword light, a feeling of total helplessness arose, as it was completely invincible!

At this moment.

The woman in white slowly landed on the bridge head.

As she looked back, the two seemed to meet eyes.

At the same time, Mu An also clearly saw the other person's face.

"Bai Ning... yu?"

Name: Bai Ningyu

Rank: 99

Evaluation: Powerful, Need Not Say More!!!

——————

Mu An: ???

Looking at that extremely exaggerated Rank 99, Mu An was stunned instantly.

No, it was agreed that we were all squishy college students.

Yet you turned out to be so powerful quietly all by yourself?

At the same time.

Bai Ningyu held her palm in front of her chest.

The black-and-white world began to change wildly, countless rays of light gathered in her palm, and gradually formed a ball of light.

Soon, the colors returned, and the sounds returned.

Human voices began to clamor, the wind began to sweep through, and even the water droplets solidified in mid-air began to fall.

The familiar world returned once again.

And the Bai Ningyu who had originally stood on the bridge head had disappeared at some point.

Splash—

The river water that had been swept into the air by the sword light fell slowly, forming a brief sun shower.

"Why did it suddenly rain?"

Bai Ningfu muttered, and hurriedly pulled Nina under her umbrella.

As for Mu An, that big man, she didn't care at all!

Anyway, getting a little wet wouldn't kill him; at worst, he'd just get a minor illness...

Seemingly with a telepathic connection, Mu An suddenly turned his head and happened to meet the girl's crystal-clear, bright eyes.

Before the rain could fall on her, it had automatically 'turned away', quite like the feeling of passing through ten thousand flowers without a single petal touching one's body.

Bai Ningyu held a handkerchief, and like a gentle wife, she gently wiped the rain from Mu An's forehead and hair.

She also said with an extremely serious expression.

"Don't get rained on, you'll get sick."

After a pause, the girl added another sentence.

"Also, don't pinch my sister's, you can pinch mine, I don't mind."

"..."

At this moment, Mu An felt his face was very hot.

Clearly, what he had just said had already been heard by Bai Ningyu.

Thinking about it, it made sense; after reaching the terrifying Rank 99, her full stats were unknown, likely far surpassing ordinary people by many times—it would be strange if she hadn't heard it.

"Ningyu, why are you here?"

At this time, Bai Ningfu was also very surprised why her sister would suddenly appear here.

However, she quickly realized something.

"Could it be..."

"Mm, work."

Bai Ningyu said concisely.