Death... and me

While that was happening, the first team of Nascent Soul Realm experts moved together with the Royal Family's experts. At the front was the only Soul Forging Realm cultivator that came with them, Erbec Jialin. All of them were moving in the valley's direction so that they could check on what was happening.

However, they had to stop since they also saw the same phenomenon that occurred to the red barrier.

"What's happening to the barrier?"

"No idea. Then again, it doesn't seem like good news."

Tiria and Julian looked at each other as they pondered if they should continue moving forward. The other Nascent Soul Realm cultivators from the other sects also did the same thing. It was then that Erbec spoke.

"I don't know about you all, but my Jialin group will keep moving forward. If you think you should retreat, by all means, go do it."

Without even waiting for the others' responses, Erbec continued moving ahead. Tiria and Julian were the first ones to react to that. They quickly turned to the other members of Dalamu behind them and asked if they wished to continue. In the end, all of them decided to keep at it.

Lagan, Rohe, and Laan Sect also decided that they might as well continue since they were inside. Of course, Laan Sect's experts were the ones with the best reason to continue. After all, they had just settled themselves in Jialin, so they needed to show some presence. This event just so happened to give them that opportunity.

***

Rean and Roan were quite far ahead since they used the maximum range of the Circuitry Teleport Formation. Finally, they were now quite close to Aloran City, allowing them to see its walls from a distance.

However, they didn't get any closer. That's because even from far away, they could tell that something was off.

'No people are coming out or going in.'

Rean nodded as he said.

'Considering the situation, the city exits are supposed to be crowded to the brim with people. After all, they also needed to investigate. The fact that no one's there is strange.'

Roan pondered a bit before saying.

'Can your Hidden Radar Skill detect any Spiritual Sense from where we are?'

Rean shook his head as he replied.

'No. I've kept it running ever since we've arrived, but nothing so far.

Roan nodded.

'That might be good or bad for us. Good because there aren't any Nascent Soul Realm experts with Spiritual Senses big enough to reach this place... And bad because the city might have been finished off already. There might be no one inside anymore.'

Rean sighed before thinking about what to do next.

'Let's use my skill and try to approach the walls without being detected. If things go south, let's enter the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm straight away.'

Roan agreed with him as the two immediately departed. Rean had been bending only Spiritual Sense so far, but now it also bent light, which immediately concealed the twins from naked eyes.

Roan also helped out by controlling the shadows as best as he could as well. And just like that, they reached the west wall of Aloran City. At this point, Rean finally began to feel the presence of a few Spiritual Senses. However, none of them had enough power to pass through his Fourth Form.

The twins didn't use their own Spiritual Senses, though. After all, not even Rean could prevent others around their cultivation level from feeling it. Nonetheless, they acted quickly as they jumped over the wall. It was then that they saw why no one was outside. That's because the inhabitants were all dead. There were bodies everywhere as far as they could tell. The only ones walking seemed to be some people with strange red patterns on their bodies.

'Who are those people? Are those tattoos?'

'I don't know. However, they don't seem to be tattoos or anything like that. I might be wrong, but I feel like those lines are part of their body constitution.'

Roan believed Rean's judgment in this kind of issue since he was the one to always focus on recovery. Not to mention that Rean had performed Sect Duties in the sect's Healing Hall several times as well.

Roan then shook his head and changed the topic.

'It seems like the massacre was done just a while ago.'

Rean sighed as he nodded.

'Those guys down there are probably looking for survivors. This city seems quite large, so I wouldn't be surprised if they found a few more hidden somewhere inside.'

Rean and Roan then looked at each other and nodded. They didn't have time for the people in this city, nor could they do anything at their current level. In the end, they could only ignore that fact and return to their initial plan, which was to get information.

The two looked around, looking for an easy target. Rean left this part to Roan since he was better at judging an enemy's strength without using Spiritual Sense. Finally, Roan's eyes lit up as he looked at one of those people.

'That one. Let's go.'

The twins jumped down from the wall and made their way to the target. With Rean's Light and Spiritual Sense bending skill, no one noticed them passing. Of course, Roan was helping with the shadows.

The guy they aimed for had a spear in his hand as he walked by the corpses on the ground. Every time he passed by a corpse, he would pierce it with his spear. That was an easy and fast way of confirming if someone was really dead or not. After all, you never knew if someone was using some technique to look like they were dead.

Sure enough, the method really helped. So far, this guy was able to identify two fake deaths between the thousands of corpses he checked. Let alone the other members who were also doing the same thing.

Rean and Roan quickly arrived at the street where the guy was doing his job when all of a sudden, Rean felt a very faint amount of life force from a baby on the ground. Not only that, the guy was moving right at it.

'You can't be serious.'

Roan asked what was happening, so Rean explained through their Soul Connection as he immediately dashed forward.

'Life Style, First Form, Enhancement!'

Roan couldn't help but curse inside.

'Fuck!'

Without any other choice, he could only use the same skill as Rean as he followed by his side. He wanted to first wait for an opportunity until a gap in the scanning of the Spiritual Senses appeared before they attacked. However, it was obvious that Rean wouldn't wait for such a gap.

Just as the spear was about to pierce the baby, it was hit by something else as it was sent flying.

"What?!"

The guy was taken aback, but he immediately understood that someone had attacked him. However, just as he was about to call for help, he felt an intense pain in the back of his head. His vision turned dark right after. Before he could even start to fall on the ground, his body disappeared in midair.

That wasn't the only thing to disappear, though. The baby's 'corpse' also disappeared at the same time. Sure enough, Rean couldn't let that happen.

Roan then looked at Rean before saying.

'Someone definitely saw this guy disappearing from their Spiritual Senses. Let's get out of here.'

The two immediately left the scene soon after that.