Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

Lin Yi and Leonard stood behind the door, facing an endless expanse of ruins.

Gray is the only color in this space; charred trees pierce the leaden sky, and collapsed ruins sit amidst dust and shadows.

The air was thick with the smell of decay, mixed with the scent of the end of all things.

Although the temperature here is extremely chilling, it is not purely a physical low temperature, but more like a desolate feeling of "existence" being denied, which has a natural corrosive effect on living things.

Just then, the Mad King's gaze suddenly became scalding hot.

A gaze originating from the depths of his soul pierced through the barriers of space and locked onto him firmly.

Lin Yi looked up, his gaze falling on the twisted, withered black forest deep within.

The edge of the Black Forest wasn't far from the portal ruins where they were, but it was partially obscured by some huge wreckage and undulating terrain, requiring a long detour to get through the forest.

Moreover, the trees in the Black Forest are also very strange in shape, with gnarled branches like ghost claws, all black, without a single leaf, only bare branches pointing to the sky, which are obviously not good things.

Deep within that forest, Lin Yi "senses" a cold, insane gaze, imbued with the weight of countless years, projecting from behind the forest and firmly anchoring itself upon him.

Mad King!

He is right here!
Or rather, a part of the Mad King's will had already laid a net of inescapable traps in this cursed land, like a spider weaving its web, quietly waiting for the arrival of visitors, waiting for Lin Yi, this special "prey".

It seems that Lin Yi's possession of another body in the skill enhancement chamber has caused the Mad King to remember the aura of Lin Yi's soul, just like a hunting dog remembers the scent of its prey. Once Lin Yi enters this space, the Mad King will immediately be able to detect Lin Yi's presence.

"My lord?" Leonard noticed that Lin Yi's body was a little tense. Leonard had also been aware of Lin Yi's abilities along the way.

After noticing that something was wrong with Lin Yi, Leonard gripped the hilt of his sword and followed Lin Yi's gaze, only to see a desolate and distorted outline of a forest and the shadows of mountains in the distance.

Just then, an extremely faint sound came from behind a pile of collapsed, massive stone beams not far away.

The sound was very soft, but it was unusually clear in the current deathly silence.

Lin Yi's attention instantly shifted from the distant forest, while simultaneously pinpointing the source of the sound.

Leonard immediately moved to the side and stood in front of Lin Yi, casting the torchlight in that direction as much as possible, his longsword held horizontally in front of his chest.

Two figures emerged unsteadily from the shadows behind the stone beam.

The moment Leonard saw the two people's faces, his pupils contracted sharply, a chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and his stomach churned.

Judging from their appearance, they are two humanoid creatures, but their appearance... can only be described as "horrifying".

The two men were of normal height, but their skin was a charcoal-black color, covered with deep, bone-revealing cracks and scars, as if their bodies had been thrown into a furnace and burned countless times, only to be pieced back together after cooling.

His clothes were tattered and torn; they were more like filthy strips of cloth stuck to his exposed skin and muscles than clothing, presenting a horrifying state of festering.

Their faces were also covered with such terrible burn marks, their features were blurred and distorted, their noses were almost just two black holes, their lips were almost gone, leaving only two rows of yellowed, uneven teeth exposed.

Only those eyes, though cloudy, still retained a trace of human consciousness.

One of them suddenly stopped a dozen steps away from Lin Yi and Leonard.

He stretched out a charred and deformed hand, digging his fingernails deep into the skin of his arm, which was covered with tattered cloth. With a tooth-grinding tearing sound and a muffled groan, he ripped off a small piece of charred flesh.

To Leonard's utter horror, the charred black figure stuffed the piece of meat, still dripping with some unknown viscous liquid, into its mouth, which now only had two rows of teeth left.

The yellowed teeth ground against the flesh, making a crunching sound that made your scalp tingle.

His throat bobbed laboriously, as if he were swallowing something extremely difficult to digest. There was no enjoyment in his cloudy eyes, only a mechanical, instinctive desire to eat.

"Ugh..." Upon seeing this scene, Leonard could no longer hold back, and the intense nausea made him gag.

Although Leonard was quite worldly-wise, this was indeed the first time he had ever seen such a sight.

What's chilling is that there wasn't much blood flowing from the areas on the other person's arm where the skin and flesh had been torn off.

At the site of the damaged wound, charred skin and deep red muscle tissue began to writhe like living things, filling the wound at a visible speed.

In just a few breaths, the palm-sized defect was mostly healed, leaving only a darker scar.

The other figure seemed used to this, merely watching his companion's actions numbly, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly, as if suppressing some kind of hunger.

As the figure finished chewing and swallowing its food, its body seemed to have replenished some "energy," and it quickened its pace slightly, walking straight towards Lin Yi and Leonard.

"New here?" The other person's voice sounded very hoarse, with a kind of awkwardness from a long period of lack of communication, but the words were still relatively clear.

The newcomer looked Lin Yi up and down, especially at the brass compass in his hand with its constantly trembling pointer.

His gaze lingered on the compass for a moment, then shifted to Lin Yi's face, as if trying to discern something.

"Heinrich's descendants?"

The man's gaze then shifted to Leonard, who looked as if facing a formidable enemy. His almost burned nose twitched slightly, as if he were sniffing out something.

He stared at Leonard, a hint of uncertainty in his voice: "You have the scent of those fugitives on you. It's faint, but there's no mistake. Are you a descendant of the 'Oathbreakers'? Or the 'Broken Spears'? I never imagined that after so long, some of the kids who escaped from this forest would actually survive, and that their offspring would actually come back?"

"Rust"? "The Oathbreaker"? "Broken Spear"?
Recalling the jolt he felt when he rushed through the door earlier, a ridiculous yet seemingly fitting thought exploded in Leonard's mind.

Could it be that my vague origins are related to this cursed land? And to these monsters before me?

The shock of this idea even temporarily overshadowed Leonard's physical nausea.

"Who are you? How long have you been here? And what's the deal with that 'Celia' outside?"

The two people opposite him exchanged a glance, seemingly surprised by Lin Yi's composure.

"How long?" one of them asked, making a few hoarse sounds like a broken bellows, as if he were laughing bitterly.

"I can't remember, outsider. There is no sunrise or sunset here, no stars to guide the way, only ashes and His gaze. Perhaps hundreds of years? Perhaps thousands? Or even longer? Time has no meaning here, it's like the stone beneath your feet. The only eternal measure is... pain."

He pointed to his own body, then to the constantly wriggling and healing burn marks on his companion's body: "See us like this? This is part of the 'gift,' and also represents an eternal curse. We were once soldiers, one of many, many soldiers."

A flicker of fear, overwhelmed by pain, flashed in his eyes: "By order of the King, we have followed the army to invade the 'Whispering Forest,' which is the forest you see here."

"Then we met Him. He alone swept through our army of tens of thousands. Like harvesting wheat... no, simpler and more thorough. Wherever He went, only despair remained."

"The Mad King?" Lin Yi confirmed, and the necklace on his chest radiated heat again, as if responding to the name.

The other party nodded, which was considered an answer to Lin Yi's question.

“Yes, Mad King. He didn’t kill us all; instead, he spared our lives. With a curse more terrible than death. He said we defiled His forest and must remain here forever to ‘atone.’” He raised his newly healed arm, his voice numb: “Immortality, immortality. Any injury will heal. As long as you can find something to ‘eat,’ even just yourself, you can continue to move. The price is eternal hunger, eternal pain!”

"And you'll end up looking like this. Every moment you can clearly feel your skin burning, as if you're forever roasted over embers that have just been extinguished but still emit deadly heat, experiencing it all with perfect awareness! But you can't die! You can never die!"

"So what's the deal with that woman in red, Celia?" Lin Yi pressed again, steer the conversation back to the key point.

He already had a direct understanding of the curse, but Celia's way of being was clearly different from the two of them.

“Her?” The charred human figure let out a hoarse, mocking laugh. “She was lucky. Cunning and ruthless. She wasn’t the first one; she was ‘transformed’ much later from the depths of the forest. Unable to bear the pain and ugliness, she chose to ‘embrace’ the curse.”

"Embrace?"

“Yes, give up resistance, completely open your mind, and let the power of the curse fully integrate into your soul and flesh, like water droplets into ink.” Another charred humanoid figure, who had been silent all along, spoke up, his voice equally hoarse, but sounding even older.

“That way, your appearance will be restored to its original state, or even more beautiful. But your inner self will become completely part of the curse, no longer a ‘human,’ no longer an independent soul, but a puppet extended by His will. We call such people ‘fallen ones.’ Celia had been wandering on the edge of the forest, bewitching fools blinded by desire and despair, trying to open the gate, spread the curse, and pollute the outside world.”

How did she escape?

"Escape?" The charred human figure sneered. "She's not that capable! The 'door' itself malfunctioned. Just... a few decades ago? I can't quite remember. For a very, very short period of time, the power sealing the door suddenly weakened. Very, very weak, but it definitely weakened."

"What happened at that time? What distracted 'He'?" Although Lin Yi already had the answer to this question in his mind, he still needed to confirm it.

Upon hearing Lin Yi's question, the two of them shook their heads blankly at the same time.

"I don't know. We only sensed a fluctuation in the Mad King's will deep within the forest. Like a sleeping giant, its eyelids twitched slightly. Then, the power sealing the gate loosened for a moment. That red-clad bitch, at that moment, slipped out like an eel."

“Once His attention returned, the power of the gate never dissipated; in fact, it became even stronger. We tried countless times, only to be repelled or torn apart by His ‘hounds’... and then resurrected…” His voice was filled with despair and numbness.

Lin Yi confirmed that it was his unexpected intrusion as a "variable" that awakened the Mad King's consciousness, causing his attention to be distracted, which gave "Celia" an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

Earl Edwin's misfortune was indirectly related to his skill upgrade.

This coincidence of fate is truly ironic.

"Edwin Heinrich, he was the last one to enter this place. Where is he? Is he dead, or has he become like you?"

The two charred black figures looked at each other again.

"That guy who was abducted?"

“He did come in. He plunged into the edge of the forest and then disappeared. However, we later found traces of his temporary camp near the Wall of Sighs on the outskirts of the forest. He seemed to be hiding from something, but recently we discovered that he appeared in the Elven capital and has fallen.”

He paused, looking at Lin Yi: "You want to find his whereabouts? We could find our way through these ruins and the edge of the forest with our eyes closed. We have nothing to do but wander and endure suffering. How about it? A deal? We'll take you to Edwin. In exchange, give us some 'fresh' food." His gaze swept over Leonard, finally settling on Lin Yi, with a wild, animalistic longing.

Leonard felt a chill run down his spine from the look in his eyes and couldn't help but take two steps back.

However, their words cannot be denied. Their familiarity with this cursed area is unmatched by any map; they are veritable "living maps" of this land of despair.

As for food? Lin Yi has enough supplies in his storage space to cope.

While the food wasn't exactly gourmet, it was definitely better than what these guys usually ate, and it was enough to get them through the deal.

"Lead the way, and you can have food." With a flick of his wrist, several pieces of high-energy compressed dry rations wrapped in oiled paper appeared in his hand, emitting a faint aroma of grains and meat.

Upon seeing the item in Lin Yi's hand, the two men's eyes instantly lit up with a terrifying light—an instinctive reaction to seeing hope after countless years of hunger.

"Okay...okay!" one of them replied eagerly, extending his charred hand, but he dared not touch Lin Yi directly, for fear of frightening him.

Lin Yi tossed a few pieces of dry food over, and the two of them, like starving hyenas, practically pounced on them, not even bothering to tear off the oil paper wrappings, and frantically stuffed them into their mouths, which were now only filled with teeth!

"Crunch... Glug... Ugh..."

As they consumed the food, their wounds seemed to become more active, and the oozing mucus seemed to decrease slightly.

The brief respite brought by this meager meal was a heavenly blessing for the two of them.

“Go…this way…” The person with the somewhat aged voice pointed to a path hidden by skeletons in the ruins.

The path meandered, disappearing into even denser shadows and mist.

Lin Yi glanced into the depths of that desolate forest; he knew the Mad King was watching.

From the moment Lin Yi stepped into this cursed land, no matter what he did, he would eventually stand before the Mad King.

Therefore, the Mad King will not take any unnecessary actions, will not send his henchmen to search for Lin Yi, and will not directly impose any so-called punishment.

He will simply stand patiently in place, like the heavens and earth themselves, waiting.

"Keep up," Lin Yi said to Leonard, and started walking, following the two onto the path leading to the core area.

Leonard took a deep breath, suppressing his surprise and doubt, forcibly calming his mind, gripping his longsword and torch tightly, and quickly followed Lin Yi and the two charred figures leading the way.

The path winds its way uphill with a steep slope.

The torchlight in Leonard's hand was suppressed by the increasingly thick dust, illuminating only a few steps in front of him. The flickering flame cast swaying shadows on the charred, cracked skin of the guides.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, the narrow path suddenly opened up.

The group climbed to the edge of a cliff, where their view suddenly rose higher and became incredibly expansive.

Below the cliff lies the chilling black forest, the core area of ​​the Whispering Forest.

At this moment, the group felt as if they were standing on the back of a giant beast, looking down at this desolate inferno.

If they hadn't encountered these two people, Lin Yi and Leonard would probably have been forced to find a way to get through this forest, which would have been an absolutely crazy and life-threatening endeavor.

A cold wind swirled up from the bottom of the cliff, forcing Leonard to turn to the side and use his body to shield the torch from the wind.

Lin Yi scanned the edge of the forest below and the area near the cliff, and saw many moving figures among the trees.

Some of them were unusually short, only reaching the waist of an average person, with sturdy builds. Even from a distance and through the dust, Lin Yi could still make out their thick arms.

These figures, also charred black, wandered aimlessly through the ruins, occasionally stopping to dig at the ground or rocks with their equally charred and deformed hands, seemingly searching for scarce food.

Other figures clearly exhibit animalistic characteristics, with some heads vaguely resembling wolf or bear shapes, and broken horns or pointed ears appearing as blurry silhouettes in the grayness.

They hunched over, crawling on all fours, occasionally opening their mouths, filled with yellowed, sharp teeth, silently towards the gray sky, as if roaring, yet uttering no sound. (End of Chapter)