Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

Lin Yi understood this matter very clearly. The people in the research society knew far more deeply than he and Gulu did.

Judging from Bliss's cunning, hesitant expression and the eerie atmosphere within the academy, it was clear they had been prepared for some time.

Lin Yi didn't believe that the research institute that developed this equipment and had been dedicated to it for so long would not have corresponding measures to deal with this kind of marking and tracking.

Their researchers must frequently trigger such probes; if they were always directly targeted like he was, the institute would have been deserted long ago.

The only explanation is that they have some way of circumventing or at least delaying retaliation.

If there were truly no other way, the researchers who had been in contact with the Echo Project would probably have been wiped out by that monster long ago, making further research and the creation of this resonator impossible. Survival is the first prerequisite for research.

Upon hearing Lin Yi's words, Gulu lay sprawled on the bed and waved his hand, indicating that he really didn't want to move.

“Go yourself if you want to. The skills I used when I was fighting that monster didn’t come without a price.” Her voice was clearly tired. “I lost one-twentieth of my blood. Although it doesn’t have a big impact on my physical condition, I won’t get over this weakness anytime soon.”

Lin Yi understood. This was probably similar to the sacrifice skill he had acquired, which allowed him to exchange a certain price for extremely high burst damage in a short period of time.

He didn't say much, took out a bottle of light blue potion emanating a calming aura from his storage space, and tossed it to Gulu.

"Hypnotic and calming substances can accelerate mental recovery and also help alleviate feelings of weakness."

Gulu caught the potion, uncorked it, sniffed it, and after confirming it was okay, gulped it down. "Thanks."

She mumbled something, lay back down, and was almost immediately enveloped by a strong sense of sleepiness.

Lin Yi left enough shadow ninjas to guard the room, then left the hotel again and headed to the research institute.

The research society's headquarters remained as quiet as if forgotten by the world, but this time, when Lin Yi pushed open the slightly old door and walked into the empty hall, the atmosphere was subtly different.

A few elderly men in academic uniforms were scattered around the hall, each reading a book or fiddling with some strange instruments.

The moment Lin Yi stepped in, almost everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their gazes toward him.

Those gazes held scrutiny, curiosity, and a hint of... wariness? As if they were looking at someone carrying infectious germs.

Lin Yi paused almost imperceptibly, his brows furrowing slightly. This collective reaction was no accident.

He subconsciously sniffed his own body lightly—only the faint smell of hotel-standard disinfectant; the bloodstains from the previous battle had long been cleared away and could not be detected by an ordinary person.

Was it because the spying he received while using the resonator left a trace on him that transcended ordinary scents? Or something else? Those who have mastered it can obviously perceive such traces.

He didn't linger in the hall, ignoring the stares, and headed straight for the area where Bliss was.

This time, Bliss wasn't playing chess; instead, he was in his room organizing several newly delivered metal boxes with special seals.

Seeing Lin Yi return, a familiar smile immediately spread across his face: "Oh? You're back so soon? Did you not have enough contribution points, or did you find some good stuff again..."

He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence.

He sniffed, a hint of surprise flashing across his face, before his smile became somewhat subtle.

He put down what he was holding, beckoned to Lin Yi, and lowered his voice: "Come in and close the door."

Lin Yi followed his instructions and entered the room, closing the door behind him to shut out the outside world.

Bliss didn't speak immediately. Instead, he turned around and took out a small bottle that looked like a metal mosquito repellent spray can from a cabinet. He then sprayed it several times around Lin Yi.

A cool mist, mixed with mint and some unknown herb, spread out, quickly neutralizing the strange smell that was originally present in the air.

"Alright, the 'watchdog' vibe is much milder now," Bliss said with a sigh of relief after finishing all that.

"Watchdog? Smell?" Lin Yi caught the key words and immediately understood the origin of those gazes in the hall earlier. It was indeed contaminated with something.

“It’s that faint, lingering odor you just picked up,” Bliss explained, waving the spray can in his hand. “Looks like I underestimated you, buddy. You’ve only had the resonator for a short time, and you’ve already been flagged by the ‘watchdog.’ You know, even some of the researchers within the Institute who are in charge of the Echoes project might not be ‘lucky’ enough to be spotted by it even after months of work. Your efficiency… is truly impressive.” His tone was ambiguous, whether it was admiration or regret.

Lin Yi ignored Bliss's teasing and pressed on, "What exactly is a watchdog?"

Bliss shrugged, his expression slightly helpless: "To be honest, we don't know what that thing is either. Its form doesn't seem to be fixed, and it may look different every time it appears. The only thing we can be sure of is that it has an inescapable stench, like a rotting swamp mixed with rotten blood, and its targeted, relentless hunting instinct."

He walked to the table, poured himself a glass of water, took a sip, and continued, “When the Society first started researching ‘Echoes of Sleep,’ progress was rapid, but strange things also happened frequently. Several researchers who made breakthroughs at key junctures died one after another. The causes of death were all kinds of bizarre, looking like accidents or backlash from uncontrolled energy. At first, no one suspected anything, just thinking it was a research risk.”

"Until one day, when a senior researcher was about to complete an important calculation in his high-security laboratory, the monitoring array unexpectedly recorded an extremely blurry image. We then realized that something beyond reason was deliberately preventing in-depth investigation of the echo."

"Later, through some special means and sacrifices, we were able to roughly summarize its characteristics: it can cross part of the boundary between nightmares and reality, marking and hunting down entities that attempt to trace the echoes of deep contact. Because it always comes sniffing the traces like a dog and guards that 'threshold,' we internally call it the 'watchdog.' Blocking related information is also to avoid unnecessary panic and its excessive activity."

Bliss's tone was calm, but the content was bloody and cruel.

The progress of the research society has clearly been built on sacrifice.

"Is there no way to block or counter its markings?" Lin Yi asked the most crucial question, which was also the purpose of his return.

If every use of the resonator attracts this substance, the tracking operation will become impossible, tantamount to suicide.

Bliss shook his head: "At least for now, there's no foolproof solution. If there were, our research wouldn't be progressing so slowly. You can't expect all of us brain-teasing researchers to be both intellectually and physically capable of going head-to-head with those monsters, can you? All we can do is be as careful as possible, reduce the frequency of being marked, and handle any emergency situations that follow."

He pointed to the spray can he had just used: "'Trace Removal Spray,' one of the latest achievements of the Academy, can effectively neutralize and remove the scent of their markings, greatly reducing the risk of being directly located by them in the surface world. However, if you enter the Nightmare Realm, especially near the gaps between realms, the spray's effectiveness will be reduced, and they may still be able to smell the residual traces and track you down."

Sure enough, there were countermeasures, although they were only passive elimination and delay, rather than active blocking or counterattack.

This aligns with Lin Yi's speculation; the research association must have a basic way to protect itself, otherwise the project simply could not proceed.

"Give me some of this spray," Lin Yi said.

“Are you serious, buddy? That thing is no joke. Getting targeted by it is like having your name written down by Death.” Bliss tried to make him realize the seriousness of the situation.

"Otherwise, would I buy a resonator just to display it?"

Looking into Lin Yi's calm and composed eyes, Bliss knew that he was not joking.

He clicked his tongue, seemingly weighing his options, before finally turning around and taking out a small metal box from the cabinet. Inside were ten spray bottles of the same model, neatly arranged.

"Here, take this. Originally, this thing was quite expensive to make and was considered a strategic material, with limited rations... But considering how 'capable' you are and that you're one of my big customers, consider this a gift. I hope you can use it next time we meet."

Lin Yi took the box and put it into his storage space without even looking at it.

"Thanks."

Without saying another word, Lin Yi turned and left.

As Lin Yi left the research institute building and stepped onto the street, his steps faltered almost imperceptibly. A feeling of being watched arose within him.

But this time, it felt different from the gaze from the other world that I had felt before.

This time, the sense of being spied on is more real, closer to reality, with a clear sense of location, and it seems to come from more than one source.

Lin Yi didn't turn around, his facial expression remained unchanged, as if he hadn't noticed anything, and continued walking steadily towards the hotel.

He calmly surveyed the situation behind him out of the corner of his eye, using the blurry reflection in the shop windows. There weren't many pedestrians, and the environment wasn't complicated.

He quickly identified his target.

Two figures dressed in inconspicuous gray robes followed him at a distance, blending into the sparse crowd.

Their robes were wide, obscuring their figures and possible features.

Their tracking skills were superb, and they concealed their presence extremely well, but the deliberately maintained distance and synchronized movement trajectory could not escape Lin Yi's perception.

Are they here for him? Or for the research institute?

Lin Yi remained expressionless, maintaining his normal speed, and turned into the darker alleyway leading to the hotel.

When he returned to the hotel room door, the two stalkers stopped in the shadows at the bottom of the stairs, neither approaching nor leaving.

When Lin Yi returned to the hotel room, Gulu had already sat up in bed, his sharp eyes scanning the doorway, and a dagger was already in his hand.

As a top assassin, she has a beast-like instinct for malice and surveillance.

“Tail?” she asked, lowering her voice and mouthing the question.

Lin Yi nodded slightly, then gently closed the door behind him, but did not lock it immediately. Instead, he left a barely noticeable gap to allow him to sense any movement outside.

“Two are guarding the stairs.” Lin Yi’s voice was calm, without the slightest hint of tension. “They don’t seem to be members of any greedy gangs.”

Gulu moved silently to the door, listened for a moment, and shook its head: "Not human."

"They came for us? Because of that smell?"

“It’s very likely.” Lin Yi walked to the table, picked up the spray bottle Bliss had given him, and sprayed himself a few more times. The very faint scent seemed to dissipate a little, but the feeling of being spied on from outside the door did not diminish.

“The spray can remove the odor, but it obviously can’t remove the ‘mark’ itself that has already been locked on,” Lin Yi concluded. “They recognize the ‘mark’, not just the odor. The odor is just the bait that initially lured them in; once they’ve been targeted, removing the odor won’t help.”

This is problematic, as it means that even if the scent is eliminated, the other party can still track him down in some deeper way.

"Kill him?" Gulu made a throat-slitting gesture; she clearly didn't like being blocked at the door.

Lin Yi pondered for a moment, then shook his head: "No rush. They're just guarding the area and haven't made any further moves. Killing them might immediately alert what's behind them, or trigger an even more troublesome backlash from the rules."

In such places, any direct conflict could trigger unknown mechanisms.

Especially given that he has already been marked as both a "nightmare" and a "watchdog," it would be unwise to act rashly; he needs more information.

With a thought, Lin Yi sent a shadowy ninja silently slipping into the crack in the floor and heading downstairs.

Through the shared vision of the ninjas, Lin Yi clearly "saw" the two men in black robes.

They stood like statues on either side of the staircase corner, their faces obscured by wide hoods, their entire bodies shrouded in unremarkable black robes, even their hands hidden in their sleeves.

They showed no obvious energy fluctuations or vital signs, like two empty shells.

The ninja soldier tried to emerge from the shadows behind them. The moment it appeared, the two men in black robes did not turn around, but subtly adjusted their bodies, instantly locking onto the ninja soldier.

Lin Yi immediately ordered the ninja soldiers to sneak back into the shadows. The man in black robes did not pursue them and returned to a state of stillness.

“They are sentinels,” Lin Yi concluded. “Their mission is to ‘guard’ us, or rather, to guard this ‘mark’ on me.”

"They specifically sent people to watch over us? What does that mean? Are they treating us like rats in a cage?"

“It’s more like planting a conspicuous flag for the prey marked by the ‘watchdog,’ or…” Lin Yi’s gaze narrowed slightly, “to ensure that the prey doesn’t escape before the ‘watchdog’ arrives.”

The feeling of being treated as a sure-killer made Gulu extremely unhappy. She snorted, "Then let's see whose claws are sharper. What do we do now? Charge out and tear them apart?"

"Don't move for now." Lin Yi rejected the suggestion again. He walked to the center of the room, and shadow energy silently spread out. More shadow ninjas emerged from the corners, enough to guard the room tightly.

"They are currently only monitoring and have not shown any aggression. This means that the 'watchdogs' may not be arriving immediately, or they may be following some kind of 'rules' that we do not yet know. A hasty attack is likely not to end the trouble, but rather to prematurely ignite a bigger one."

He recalled Bliss's words—"Watchdogs" can cross part of the boundary between nightmares and reality. The aura of these black-robed sentinels was strange, neither alive nor dead, and they most likely also originated from that eerie realm. Attacking them might itself be a strong signal, or it might directly tear apart some kind of barrier.

"So we're just going to sit here and wait for that damn thing to come to us?" Although Gulu understood Lin Yi's concerns, passively waiting was definitely not her style.

“Of course not.” A sharp glint flashed in Lin Yi’s eyes. “We need information. About the ‘watchdogs,’ about these sentries, about the rules by which they operate.”

He looked at Gulu: "How are you recovering?"

"The potion worked well; the weakness has subsided considerably, and I'll be fully recovered in a little while." Gulu flexed his wrists and neck, making a soft clicking sound. "What do you need me to do?"

"Stay here," Lin Yi ordered. "Guard this room. If the sentries outside make any unusual movements, or if anything else appears, prioritize your own safety. If necessary, you can force your way out without waiting for me."

"You're going out?" Gulu asked, somewhat surprised. "Those two guys outside are guarding the stairs; they've locked onto your mark."

“They’re guarding ‘me,’” Lin Yi pointed to himself. “Or rather, the mark on me. Their target is very clear; the moment the ninja appeared, they instantly locked onto it because it had the same mark. But what if… the mark disappears? Or is temporarily isolated?”

Gulu immediately understood his intention: "You want to use that spray to completely eliminate the smell, and then try to sneak out?"

"Of course not. I have my own way of doing things, just wait."

After Lin Yi finished speaking, he disappeared into the shadows right before Gulu's shocked eyes. Gulu was dumbfounded when he saw this. "Not a buddy? Are you the assassin or am I the assassin?"
Almost at the same moment Lin Yi disappeared, the two black-robed, statue-like bodies trembled very slightly, and their faces, covered by hoods, turned towards the door.

The marking sensation targeting Lin Yi suddenly became blurred, leaving only the residual aura permeating the room.

The two sentries did not move, but Gulu could vaguely sense their confusion even through the door.

“…Awesome.” After a long pause, she finally managed to utter a sentence, realizing what Lin Yi meant by “my own method.”

Lin Yi directly broke away from the current plane and entered a deeper shadow dimension.

Unless the other party can accurately track him across dimensions, there's no way to pinpoint his location anymore. (End of Chapter)