Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

After Saint Tracy dealt with the two prisoners, Lin Yi and Su Xiao did not linger in the wooden house.

They continued along the gravel path, the steady light of the white candles dispelling the swirling gray fog around them, while the shadows lurking in the depths watched from afar, yet dared not approach.

The frequency of wooden houses increased significantly during the rest of the journey.

Every ten minutes or so, a similar wooden hut would appear by the roadside. Some were slightly larger, and some were more dilapidated, but without exception, they all imprisoned people inside.

Lin Yi remained vigilant at first, having Tracy sense the situation inside the cabin before deciding whether to enter.

But he soon discovered that Tracy knew far more about the area than he had expected.

She could accurately determine the general type of prisoners inside, their level of danger, and whether they had anything worth taking from the appearance of the cabin, the distribution of the chains, and even the smell wafting from the doorway.

The answer is almost none.

“You don’t need to go in.” Tracy stood in front of a relatively intact wooden house and shook her head. “The prisoner inside is a conman. He was imprisoned three thousand years ago for swindling the entire church’s wealth. He has nothing on him, but his mind is full of all sorts of tricks. If you talk to him for a few minutes, he can swindle all your Shadow Stones.”

Lin Yi glanced at the wooden house, then walked past it without hesitation.

After walking a few hundred meters, Su Xiao stopped in front of a wooden house.

This cabin is slightly larger than the others, and there are some fine engravings on the wooden planks at the entrance, which look like some kind of runes.

Tracy walked closer to take a look, then said to Su Xiao, "This is interesting. The prisoner inside is an enchanter, quite skilled, but with terrible character. In his own world, he dissected thousands of people alive to study enchanting, and was eventually captured by the Avengers and imprisoned here until now. He should have some valuable knowledge, but you can't believe a word he says."

Su Xiao nodded but did not go in.

Similar scenarios were repeated more than a dozen times.

Lin Yi finally understood—the vast majority of the prisoners in the Death House were dirt poor.

It's not that they have no value; on the contrary, those who are locked in the Death House are all top figures in their respective worlds during their lifetimes.

Which of the most wicked and evil people isn't ruthless and vicious?
Anything they have in their heads, if taken out and left out, would be enough to cause a bloodbath.

The problem is, these things are completely unreliable.

Lin Yi had seen quite a few malicious people, but compared to the prisoners in the Death House, they were as innocent as newborn babies.

These guys had long since developed deception and pretense into an instinct during their long and desperate years of imprisonment.

They know how to use the most sincere expression to tell the most vicious lies, and how to bury deadly traps in inconspicuous details.

Su Xiao was very familiar with this tactic, because he himself had used similar methods to trick his enemies many times.

A seemingly perfect alchemical recipe can turn into poison instead of a potion if you only need to change the most crucial proportions slightly.

A complete cultivation system only needs to plant a trap in some inconspicuous part to cause the cultivator to go astray and become possessed by evil spirits.

Trading knowledge with these prisoners is tantamount to handing over your life to them.

Therefore, Lin Yi and Su Xiao gained almost nothing along the way.

It's not that they don't want to, it's that they really don't dare.

Until they came across that wooden house.

This cabin is quite different from other cabins—it doesn't have that gloomy atmosphere at the entrance, and there are no carvings on the wooden planks; it looks almost too ordinary.

More importantly, through the slightly ajar door, Lin Yi could see that the person inside was not wearing any chains.

He pushed the door open and went in.

The cabin appears more spacious inside than outside, about twenty square meters, and is kept neat and tidy.

A simple wooden table stood against the wall, with several tools on it whose purpose was unclear.

In the corner was a wooden bed covered with hay, and on the bed was a piece of relatively clean coarse cloth.

An old man sat at a wooden table.

He looked to be in his seventies or eighties, with sparse, gray hair, a face full of wrinkles, and wearing a faded, coarse cloth robe.

Seeing Lin Yi and the others enter, he raised his head, a glint of light flashing in his cloudy eyes.

What's most striking is that he wasn't wearing any chains.

It wasn't like Tracy's chains came off; there were no chains at all.

He just sat there freely, without any constraints.

Tracy's gaze lingered on the old man for a moment before she said softly to Lin Yi, "This man came in voluntarily."

Lin Yi raised an eyebrow.

“He has killed people, but not many,” Tracy continued. “The reason he’s here is because he invented something that later killed many people. He felt it was his fault and asked to be imprisoned here to atone for his sins.”

Hearing Tracy's words, the old man gave a wry smile: "The young lady knows quite a lot. But you're wrong about one thing. What I invented wasn't something harmful, but something that could cure diseases. It's just that someone later used it for other things."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Lin Yi and Su Xiao, finally settling on the Dragon Slayer Blade at Su Xiao's waist.

"The Slayers?" His tone carried a hint of surprise. "It's been a long time since I've seen a Slayer. Back then, a guy named Marvin came to me and traded a set of alchemy techniques for the recipe to make a talisman. That guy was quite interesting, but he was too poor to even afford a meal."

Su Xiao's gaze shifted slightly.

Marvin Waltz.

He was all too familiar with that name.

"Do you know Marvin?" Su Xiao asked.

"We don't really know each other, we've only met once."

Su Xiao was silent for a few seconds, then asked, "What did he use to exchange it?"

The old man smiled and said, "What, you want to change it too?"

"Check the price."

The old man sized up Su Xiao a few times, then looked at Lin Yi and Tracy behind him, and pondered for a moment: "You know alchemy, don't you?"

"I know a little."

“That’s easy. I’ll tell you how to make an amulet, and you teach me your alchemy skills. Fair trade, just like with Marvin back then.”

Su Xiao looked at Lin Yi.

Lin Yi nodded slightly.

Over the next hour, the two completed the transaction.

The alchemy skills the old man needed weren't particularly advanced; they mainly involved knowledge about material purification and energy stabilization.

These things were only considered basic in Su Xiao's eyes, but they seemed to be very useful to the elderly.

The old man passed on to Su Xiao a method for making amulets.

【Name: Substitute Amulet】

【Category: Disposable Equipment】

[Effect: When wearing this amulet, upon receiving a fatal attack, the amulet will automatically shatter, absorbing all damage for the wearer. After the amulet shatters, the wearer will be randomly teleported to any location within a 500-meter radius.]

[Number of uses: 1]

[Note: This thing won't save your life, but it can give you a second chance.]

After reading the instructions, Su Xiao nodded slightly.

This thing is indeed not a lethal weapon, but it is extremely practical.

In critical moments, a substitute amulet is equivalent to having an extra life.

The old man then looked at Lin Yi: "Young man, what about you? Would you like to make a deal too?"

Lin Yi pointed to his eyes: "Can you tell what I need?"

The old man stared at Lin Yi for a few seconds, then shook his head: "I can't see through you. You young man have too many things on you, all tangled up in a mess, how can an old man like me see through them? But since you were able to bring that young girl out, you must have some skills."

He pointed at Tracy: "Those chains on her, I've been here for so many years, seen countless prisoners, and she's the first one to walk out alive. No matter how you did it, for that reason alone, I'm willing to make a deal with you."

Lin Yi thought for a moment and said, "I'll help you heal your old injuries, and you'll teach me enchanting."

The old man paused for a moment, then smiled: "A wise man. These injuries are from when I was imprisoned here years ago, and no method can cure them. If you can heal them, I'll give you my life, let alone enchantment."

"I don't care about my life," Lin Yi said. "I want to be enchanted."

The deal is done.

The old man's injury was indeed troublesome; it was a lingering effect of some kind of curse, lodged in his spine and joints, continuously corroding his body.

If it weren't for his own profound strength, he would have been worn down to death by this curse long ago.

It took Lin Yi nearly two hours to gradually peel the curse away from the old man's body.

As the last trace of the curse dissipated, the old man let out a long breath, and a rare glimmer of light appeared in his cloudy eyes.

"It's been so many years." His voice trembled slightly. "It's been so many years since I've felt this relaxed."

He kept his promise and taught Lin Yi one of his enchanting techniques.

【Name: Pre-Battle Enchantment】

【Category: Support Enchantment】

[Effect: Temporarily enchants any equipment, increasing its performance by 15% to 30% for the next hour (the increase depends on the equipment's quality and the enchanter's skill). The equipment will not suffer any damage after the enchantment ends.]

[Note: Use this once before a major battle; it will significantly increase your chances of surviving.]

Lin Yi looked at the skill and was quite satisfied.

The value of this thing lies not in the extent of its improvement, but in its "temporary" nature.

Without consuming the equipment itself or causing any damage, it only requires consuming some materials to upgrade the equipment's performance at crucial moments.

For people like him and Su Xiao who frequently face life-or-death battles, this kind of support ability is more practical than purely offensive skills.

After the transaction was completed, the old man looked at Lin Yi and suddenly said, "Young man, aren't you curious why I don't have chains?"

Lin Yi looked at him: "Didn't you say you came in voluntarily?"

“I can leave this cabin whenever I want,” the old man continued. “The chains of the Death House don’t work on me because I didn’t intend to leave when I came in.”

The old man pointed to the doorway: "Outside, there's that gray fog, those shadows, those madmen imprisoned in those wooden huts. What would I do if I went out? There's no one I know in the outside world anymore. The things I invented have killed so many people. What can I do after I go out? Continue to atone for my sins?"

He shook his head, his tone as calm as if he were talking about someone else: "It's fine to stay here. People come occasionally, we do some business, chat, and pass the time. When I feel I've had enough, I'll walk out on my own and let those shadows swallow me up. That will be true liberation."

Lin Yi remained silent.

The old man didn't need him to speak.

He simply waved his hand: "Alright, the deal is done, you should go now. Walk a little further ahead and you should run into your companions. I just sensed a fight over there, a really fierce one, I guess it was one of your men getting into a fight with some clueless prisoner."

Lin Yi nodded and turned to leave.

Before leaving the cabin, he looked back once.

The old man had sat back down at the wooden table, picked up a tool from the table, and continued his work.

Lin Yi withdrew his gaze and continued forward.

Tracy followed behind him, and after a few steps, she suddenly whispered, "That old man should have been free long ago. He stays here not because he can't leave, but because he still owes something." "Something?"

“He himself couldn’t explain it,” Tracy said. “Maybe he owed an explanation to those who were killed by his inventions, or maybe he owed himself an answer. He’s been waiting here for countless years, perhaps waiting for the day he would suddenly understand.”

Lin Yi did not respond.

As the journey continued, the wooden houses appeared less frequently, and the surrounding gray fog thinned out.

Tracy continued to introduce them to the various prisoners they encountered.

Some are liars, some are serial killers, some are madmen, and some are things she herself can't even define.

Following her instructions, Lin Yi and Su Xiao quickly filtered the data, wasting almost no time.

Just as the white candle had burned down to two-thirds of its original size, a white dot appeared in the gray mist ahead.

Lin Yi stopped in his tracks.

The white dot was visible from a distance of more than ten meters, swaying slightly in the gray fog.

Upon closer inspection, it was clearly a candlelight.

Tracy said softly, "It's candlelight, not in the cabin."

The original inhabitants of the Death House do not need white candles; only the participants in the war can walk by lighting candles in the gray fog.

Currently, only five of the participants remain in the Death House.

Lin Yi, Su Xiao, Shang Yue, Mond, and Di Lin.

The candlelight had clearly spotted them as well.

It paused for a moment in the gray fog, then began to move into the distance.

Lin Yi gestured for Su Xiao and Tracy to quicken their pace.

The white candle burned steadily in his hand, and the golden light shield moved forward rapidly with his movements, tearing apart the surging gray mist layer by layer.

The candlelight ahead was much slower at clearing through the black mist, and Lin Yi caught up with it in less than a few minutes.

In the candlelight, a figure turned around.

It is the Moon of Sorrow.

She wore a tight-fitting black leather armor, with black wings slightly folded behind her. Her right hand rested on the hilt of the curved sword at her waist, and she was in a state of alert, ready to fight at any moment.

When she saw that the people who came were Lin Yi and Su Xiao, her tense body relaxed slightly, but her right hand still did not leave the hilt of the knife.

Lin Yi noticed that she wasn't in good condition.

There were several fresh tear marks on the leather armor, revealing the wounds that were faintly visible underneath.

Several feathers are clearly missing from the edge of the left wing, and the break is uneven.

The white candle in her hand was only as thick as a thumb and about ten centimeters long, and the flame was so weak that it seemed as if it could be blown out by the wind at any moment.

The candlelight illuminated an area of ​​less than two meters, right next to Shangyue's own body.

Shangyue's gaze fell on the two white candles, each nearly a meter long and as thick as an arm, in Lin Yi and Su Xiao's hands.

Her expression didn't change much, but Lin Yi clearly saw her eye twitch slightly.

The silence lasted for about three seconds.

"Where did you get these candles from?"

Su Xiao didn't speak, but just glanced at Lin Yi.

Shangyue took a deep breath and stopped asking the question.

Sometimes it's better not to ask than to ask.

"Who's that behind you?" She looked at Tracy behind Lin Yi, her right hand resting on the hilt of her knife again.

During the time that Shangyue was in the Death House, she experienced just as much as Lin Yi and Su Xiao.

She encountered several cabins, and the prisoners inside were all incredibly difficult to deal with.

Some of her attempts to force her way through almost resulted in her being dragged into madness by those twisted souls.

She tried to use her wits to navigate the situation, but almost ended up being deceived by those cunning lies.

The most dangerous incident occurred in what appeared to be an ordinary-looking wooden cabin.

The cabin was slightly larger than the others, and there were some fine carvings on the wooden planks at the entrance.

Shangyue thought it was some kind of hint, so she went in to take a look.

It turned out that what was imprisoned inside was an ancient monster that had lived for thousands of years.

The man looked like a kind-faced old man, speaking slowly and deliberately, with a friendly demeanor.

It told Shangyue that she could get a white candle for free if she answered three questions correctly.

Shangyue almost believed it.

Fortunately, she realized something was wrong at the crucial moment.

She decisively abandoned the question and turned to run away.

The old monster screamed shrilly behind her, the chains binding him rattling, but he could not catch up with her.

She later learned from some carvings outside the wooden house that several extremely dangerous beings were imprisoned in this area, one of whom was known as the "Beast Saintess".

The features described on the engraving were almost identical to those of the woman in front of him—long golden hair, emerald green eyes, a white dress, and that chilling sense of oppression.

So when Tracy walked out from behind Lin Yi, Shang Yue's right hand was already gripping the hilt of the knife.

“The Beast Saintess,” she said, emphasizing each word.

Lin Yi waved his hand: "Her problems have been resolved. She is now a free person and will stay with me for the time being."

Shangyue was stunned.

She looked at Lin Yi, then at Tracy, then back at Lin Yi, a rare look of bewilderment appearing in her eyes.

Free?
Follow you?
She recognizes both words separately, so why can't she understand them when they're put together?
"You mean..." she carefully chose her words, "that she was originally locked in a wooden cabin? And then you cured her? And now she's gone with you?"

Lin Yi nodded.

Shangyue remained silent for a few seconds.

During this time, she experienced so many dangers, fought wits and courage with those prisoners, almost died in that wooden house, and finally had to use a trump card given by the Feather Clan elder to barely escape—and the person in front of her directly turned one of the most dangerous prisoners into her subordinate?

She suddenly felt that the nearly burnt-out white candle in her hand was even more dazzling.

But then she thought about it again, and realized that after spending time with Lin Yi, she seemed to have developed some kind of immunity to this situation.

He is the Abyss Healer.

It's not unacceptable that he could heal the Beast Saintess, is it?

Shangyue took a deep breath and suppressed these thoughts.

"Are you injured?" Lin Yi asked.

"It's a minor injury," Shangyue said. "I fought with a prisoner, won, but paid a price."

She didn't elaborate on what the price was, and Lin Yi didn't ask.

"Follow us," Lin Yi said, waving the white candle in his hand. "Use this."

Shangyue glanced at the nearly burnt-out candle in her hand, then at Lin Yi's massive candle, which was as thick as an arm. She paused for a second, then extinguished her own candle.

A golden light enveloped her, instantly dispersing the gray mist clinging to her to a distance of ten meters.

The shadows lurking deep in the fog let out unwilling howls, but dared not approach.

Shang Yue breathed a slight sigh of relief.

This feels so much better than before.

The three people and the saintess continued forward.

Shangyue walked beside Lin Yi, her gaze occasionally sweeping over Tracy.

Tracy didn't look at her, but quietly followed behind Lin Yi, her steps so light they were almost silent.

"What's the situation with that prisoner you just encountered?" Lin Yi asked.

Shangyue paused for a second, then spoke: "A madman. He claims to be a general of some empire, has killed countless people, and destroyed several countries. He's been imprisoned here for thousands of years and has gone completely insane. When he fought me, he kept shouting nonsense about 'honor' and 'loyalty.' He's a complete lunatic."

How did you win?

"I used what the elder bestowed upon me." Shang Yue's tone was calm, but Lin Yi could hear a hint of heartache beneath that calm. "I only had three chances to use it, and I used one. In exchange for that madman's complete disappearance."

Lin Yi nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

Tracy suddenly spoke up: "I know that madman you're talking about."

Shangyue looked at her.

“It was indeed a general in its lifetime, and it did kill many people,” Tracy said. “But those it killed were foreign enemies who invaded its country. It spent its whole life protecting its homeland, but in the end it was betrayed by the people it was protecting and executed as a war criminal. After it died, it was imprisoned here, and over thousands of years it became what you see here.”

Shangyue remained silent for a few seconds.

"So all that talk of 'honor' and 'loyalty' it spouts isn't just nonsense?"

“That’s the only thing it remembers,” Tracy said. “It’s forgotten everything else, just these things.”

Shangyue did not speak again.

The group continued forward, the gravel path stretching into the unknown ahead in the candlelight.

The gray fog churned around the edge of the light shield, and the lurking shadows peered in, but never dared to approach.

Tracy walked at the back, her gaze sweeping over the faint outlines of the wooden houses.

She herself was one of them.

But now, she walks this path, no longer the one who was imprisoned.

As she looked at Lin Yi's back, an indescribable feeling welled up inside her.

Those three hours of treatment were nothing short of a rebirth for her.

She had originally thought she would stay in that cabin until she went completely mad, or until the girl returned.

The former is highly likely to happen, while the latter is impossible.

But Lin Yi arrived.

He used those three hours to pull her out of the abyss.

Tracy didn't know how to repay this kindness, but she knew that from now on, she would do whatever this person asked her to do.

Even if it means death. (End of Chapter)