Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

The moment the iron cage was opened, those ferocious creatures rushed out impatiently.

Some resembled magnified sea lizards, with thick limbs, sharp bone spurs covering their backs, and corrosive saliva constantly dripping from their mouths, sizzling and emitting wisps of smoke as it landed on the dock planks.

Some resembled variants of deep-sea fish, lacking scales and possessing skin as smooth as if coated with oil, gleaming with an eerie, ghostly blue light under the moonlight.

Several others were even more bizarre in appearance, as if different creatures had been forcibly spliced ​​together, with multiple heads visible on their twisted limbs, each head emitting a different hissing sound.

After the skeleton pirates released the monsters, they retreated behind the bone sheep, their eyes scanning back and forth between Lin Yi and Su Xiao.

They are waiting.

Wait until the two people show a panicked expression.

They've seen this kind of scene far too many times.

Those unlucky souls who landed on the island for the first time were all unable to remain calm when they saw the monsters burst out of their cages.

Some were so frightened their legs went weak, some turned and ran away, and some even knelt down and begged for mercy.

Every time, they were completely satisfied.

But this time, they were disappointed.

Lin Yi's expression remained unchanged; he didn't even blink.

He just stood there, calmly watching the monsters rushing towards him, as if he were looking at a few insignificant ants rather than a group of ferocious beasts that could tear anyone apart.

Su Xiao's reaction was even more indifferent. He didn't even glance at the monsters, but kept his hand on the hilt of his knife, his half-closed eyes fixed on the bone sheep.

Just as the monsters were about to pounce on the dock, two figures leaped off the Doom.

boom!
A dull, loud bang.

Mond slammed heavily onto the dock, the massive planks beneath his feet shattering instantly upon impact, sending shards of stone and wood flying. He stood up, grinning, his eyes sweeping over the grotesque monsters before him, filled not with fear, but with excitement.

"That's it?"

He raised his hands, fingers spread wide. His hands were thicker than an average person's thighs, with veins bulging on the backs of his hands, and every finger exuded power.

The first sea lizard-like monster lunged forward, its gaping maw and its inward-curving fangs aimed straight for Mondstadt's head.

Mondl did not retreat but advanced.

He took a step forward, extended his right hand, and gripped the monster's head tightly with his five fingers like iron clamps.

The monster's charge came to an abrupt halt, its body suspended in mid-air, its limbs thrashing wildly, its tail lashing out, but it was utterly unable to break free.

Mond's left hand also reached out.

He used both hands simultaneously to grip the monster's head, and then—

boom!
A deafeningly loud bang.

The monster's head exploded instantly, like a watermelon being smashed by a giant hammer.

Dark red flesh and bone fragments splattered everywhere, landing on the dock planks, on other monsters, and on Mondstadt's excited face.

Mond stuck out his tongue and licked the blood splattered on the corner of his mouth, his eyes burning with an even more fervent fighting spirit.

"next."

The moon of sorrow moved.

She didn't possess Mondstadt's ferocious power, but her movements were more elegant and more deadly.

Black wings unfurled behind her, and she shot into the monsters like a black lightning bolt.

The scimitar was drawn.

The silver blade gleamed in the moonlight.

The blade sliced ​​across the neck of the first monster, and its head flew into the air. The cut was smooth as a mirror, and blood gushed out several seconds later.

The blade spun back and slashed towards the waist and abdomen of the second monster.

The monster's body was cut in two. The front half was still charging forward, but the back half had already collapsed to the ground, its internal organs spilling out everywhere.

The blade spun again, slashing across the limbs of the third monster.

The monster's four legs were severed at the same time, and its massive body crashed to the ground, only able to roll in place, emitting a mournful howl.

Shangyue's figure weaved through the monster horde, and with each swing of her scimitar, a monster fell.

In less than a minute, the area around Shangyue was already littered with the monster's fragments.

The fragments were still wriggling.

The monster whose head was crushed by Mondstadt had its neck stump sprouting fleshy buds wildly, attempting to regenerate its head.

Those severed into pieces by Shangyue were rolling on the ground, each fragment trying to be pieced back together.

But this recovery rate is too slow.

Compared to the skeleton pirates under Bone Sheep's command who could instantly resurrect, these monsters were far inferior.

Their immortality comes from the curse of the bone sheep, but the power of that curse has been diluted too much in them.

After being cut into pieces, although it will not die completely, it will take at least several hours or even longer to recover its complete form.

Mond stepped on a clump of still-wriggling minced meat and crushed it a few times. The minced meat made a squelching sound and its struggle gradually weakened.

"This thing can come back to life?" He looked down at the clump of flesh that was still trying to reassemble, frowning. "How disgusting."

A brief silence fell over the dock.

The skeleton pirates stood behind the bone sheep, their faces frozen in shock.

They stared at the writhing pieces of flesh scattered on the ground, at Mond's excited face stained with blood, and at Shangyue's still dripping scimitar, and instinctively took a few steps back.

These people are more terrifying than they imagine.

The smile on Bone Sheep's face gradually disappeared.

His previously flamboyant smile slowly turned serious, and his eyes, burning with eerie blue flames, stared at the pile of minced meat on the ground, at Mond and Shangyue standing in the middle of the minced meat, and finally at Lin Yi and Su Xiao.

There was a few seconds of silence.

Then he raised his hand and waved.

"Go down."

His voice was much lower than before, and the exaggerated laughter was gone, replaced by coldness.

Upon hearing this, the skeleton pirates felt as if they had been granted a pardon, and one by one they retreated, quickly disappearing into the shadows around the dock.

They dragged away the still-wriggling monster fragments, leaving only dark red drag marks on the ground.

Only Bone Sheep and the few people in front of him remained on the dock.

The moonlight shone down, illuminating his exposed skull, where a ghostly blue flame flickered in his eye sockets.

Who exactly are you?

The bone sheep spoke, its voice carrying a rare hint of solemnity.

His gaze swept across the four faces, from Mond to Shangyue, from Shangyue to Su Xiao, and finally settled on Lin Yi.

"There is no one like you in the Viking Sea. There are no pirate crews in the three major pirate groups, no pirate kingdoms, and certainly no outlaws on those islands."

He paused, his eyes, which were burning with fire, narrowed slightly.

"Where did you all come from?"

Lin Yi met his gaze but remained silent.

Su Xiao didn't say anything either.

This silence itself is the answer.

The bone sheep stared at them for a few seconds, then suddenly let out a cold laugh.

"Did that bitch Agati send you?"

His voice was filled with undisguised hatred.

"She didn't dare come herself, so she sent you outsiders to your deaths. What did she give you? Intelligence? Supplies? Or her sea monster meat?"

Su Xiao finally spoke.

Does it matter?

The bone sheep paused for a moment, then laughed again.

The laughter was much lower than before, lacking its previous flamboyant arrogance, leaving only an eerie quality.

“It’s important, and it’s not important.” He raised his thick arm and pointed to his exposed skull. “Do you know how my head got like this?”

No one answered.

The bone sheep didn't need their answers.

“I met that bitch Agati back when she was still a follower of the Church of the Light of Extinction. At that time, she was still a nobody, just a little girl trying to climb the social ladder. She begged me to help her leave that sect, and I did.”

There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"This is the price."

He pointed to his skull.

"The backlash from the Nightmare God nearly killed me. I survived, but my head is now like this."

"She's living a good life, having left the sect and become the Black Sea Queen, getting whatever she wants on this sea. And me? I can only hide on this wretched island, hanging out with these inhuman creatures."

As Lin Yi listened to these words, he quickly sorted through the information in his mind.

There is an old grudge between Bone Sheep and Agati, and it runs deep.

When Agati left the Church of the Light of Extinction, the Bone Sheep helped her, but was cursed and turned into this state.

No wonder Agati wanted to get rid of him so much.

It wasn't because he had recently robbed her merchant ship, but because this old grudge had been buried in her heart.

Bone Sheep continued, his tone carrying a strange excitement.

"So I don't blame you for coming to me. That bitch Agati has been trying to kill me for a long time. She doesn't dare to come herself, so she sends you instead, which is perfectly normal."

He raised his hand and pointed to the mountain in the center of the island that was made of bones.

"There are indeed treasures, secret relics, and all sorts of strange and wonderful things inside. If you want to look for them, you can go in and search. Find whatever you want, I will not stop you."

His mouth parted into a grin, revealing a row of gleaming white teeth.

"But you need to think about one thing clearly."

Those eyes, burning with eerie blue flames, stared at Su Xiao.

“Even if you kill me, Agati won’t let you go. She’s the kind of person who’s always scheming and plotting. If you help her get rid of me, she’ll find a way to get rid of you next.”

"Do you believe that after I die, she'll sell your information to Redbeard and send you to fight that old bastard?"

"Then she can sit back and watch the two fight it out, and when you're both exhausted, she can come out and clean up the mess."

Bone Sheep's tone was full of sarcasm as he said this.

“I may be crazy, but I’m more practical than her. If I say I’m going to kill you, I’ll do it right away. What about her? She’s always smiling, always acting, always waiting for you to jump into the trap she’s dug.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Yi's lips twitched slightly.

Although this madman is crazy, he has a pretty good eye for people.

Agati's strategy of using one wolf to devour another was explained in just a few words.

But Su Xiao did not react.

He simply looked calmly at the bone sheep and waited for him to finish speaking.

After the bone sheep finished speaking, its eyes, burning with flames, stared at Su Xiao, seemingly waiting for his reaction. Silence lasted for a few seconds.

Su Xiao spoke, but only uttered four words.

"Are you done talking?"

The bone sheep was stunned for a moment.

The next second, Su Xiao moved.

The dragon's shadow flashed.

His figure vanished instantly from the spot, without any warning or preparatory movements; he simply disappeared into thin air.

The sheep's pupils contracted sharply.

He instinctively raised his hand, and the curved sword at his waist instantly unsheathed, slashing forward.

But it was already a step too late.

When Su Xiao reappeared, she was less than a meter in front of him.

The Dragon Slayer Flash was drawn.

Zheng—

A clear, resonant sound of a blade ringing out.

The bluish-green blade flashed in the moonlight, heading straight for the bone sheep's neck!
The bone sheep reacted quickly.

The moment Su Xiao appeared, his scimitar had already slashed down.

The two knives clashed together.

clang!
A piercing clang of metal clashing rang out.

Sparks flew, illuminating their faces.

Su Xiao's Dragon Slayer Flash and Bone Sheep's scimitar were locked in a fierce struggle, the blades rubbing against each other and producing a piercing screeching sound.

The bone sheep's power was beyond Su Xiao's expectations.

The force was as heavy as a mountain, transmitted from the blade, causing Su Xiao's arm to go slightly numb.

The two sides fought to a standstill.

A hint of surprise flashed in the Bone Sheep's eyes, but more than that, excitement.

"That's interesting."

He grinned, and the power in his scimitar increased even further.

But the next second, his expression changed.

Strength boost, agility boost, defense boost—all sorts of auras simultaneously descended upon Su Xiao.

Su Xiao felt the power within his body surge instantly. The power that was originally on par with the Bone Sheep had now firmly overwhelmed the opponent.

The Dragon Slayer began to advance forward.

The blade pressed inch by inch against the bone sheep's neck, sparks flying even more intensely.

Bone Sheep's face turned extremely ugly.

He could feel himself being suppressed.

Moreover, it was a kind of suppression that was impossible to resist.

It's not that he wasn't strong enough, but that the other party suddenly became stronger.

He roared, his arm muscles bulging, and all his strength was focused on the curved blade.

boom!
A loud bang.

The stalemate between the two knives was broken, and the Bone Sheep forcefully shook Su Xiao away.

Su Xiao was knocked back two steps, but quickly regained her balance.

The sheep are not having an easy time either.

He staggered back a few steps, his arm holding the scimitar trembling slightly.

That kind of outburst is not a sustainable strategy.

He forcefully pushed Su Xiao away, but the price he paid was that his entire arm was numb, and the web of his hand holding the knife was cracked, with dark red blood flowing down the hilt.

But he had no time to catch his breath.

Because Su Xiao moved again.

Dragon Shadow Flash was activated again, and Su Xiao's figure instantly appeared in front of the Bone Sheep.

This time he was faster, and his blade was even sharper.

Bone Sheep didn't have time to swing his knife to block, so he could only dodge to the side.

The blade of the Dragon Slayer flash sliced ​​across his waist, leaving a deep wound.

There was no bleeding from the wound.

Under the moonlight, the bone sheep's body began to change.

His skin gradually turned pale, his muscles contracted, and the wound left by the knife healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Within a few breaths, the wound disappeared completely, leaving no scar.

But Bone Sheep's expression became even more unpleasant.

Although the wound had healed, he felt intense pain the moment he was struck by the Dragon Slayer.

The pain was unlike any ordinary knife wound.

Something entered his body through the wound, tearing apart his curse power.

He looked down at the wound on his waist, where a faint bluish-green light remained.

The light was slowly fading, but before it disappeared, it had already devoured a portion of the curse's energy.

The sheep's pupils contracted slightly.

This power could hurt him.

It wasn't an ordinary injury; it was a real injury.

Just then, Su Xiao charged forward again.

This time his movements were even more ferocious, a side kick aimed straight at the sheep's abdomen.

The bone sheep had no time to dodge and could only take the hit head-on.

He crossed his arms in front of him, trying to block the kick.

boom!
A dull, loud bang.

The bone sheep felt as if it had been hit head-on by a giant ship.

The force was terrifying; his crossed arms were instantly knocked away, and the kick landed squarely on his abdomen.

puff-

The sound of flesh and blood exploding.

A bowl-sized hole was kicked into the sheep's abdomen, from which dark red flesh and bone fragments splattered and scattered on the ground.

His body flew backward and crashed hard into the wooden crates piled up on the dock.

Boom!

The wooden crate shattered, and debris was scattered everywhere.

The bone sheep lay in the ruins, looking down at the wound on its abdomen.

The hole was so big that you could see the shattered internal organs inside.

But under the moonlight, those shattered internal organs were rapidly reassembling, and the torn flesh was growing wildly.

In just a few breaths, the bowl-sized blood hole had mostly healed.

The bone sheep crawled out of the ruins, wiped the dark red liquid that had spilled from the corner of its mouth, and its gaze fell on Su Xiao.

His expression changed.

All that previous extravagance, arrogance, and feigned madness has vanished.

Only a solemn calm remained.

"Your power is not right."

His voice was low, carrying a rare hint of apprehension.

This is not a question, but a certainty.

Su Xiao didn't answer, she just stared at the health bar above his head.

That kick, plus the previous slash, did indeed reduce the Bone Sheep's health bar.

Although the drop was not significant, only about two or three percent, it did indeed fall.

The effect of Camille's ability to counter curses still applies to him.

Those immortalities bestowed by the curse were as fragile as paper in front of Blue Steel Shadow.

Bone Sheep followed his gaze to the wound on his abdomen. Although the wound had mostly healed, the area that had been eroded by the Blue Steel Shadow energy was healing much slower than the normal area.

"interesting."

The sheep's voice carried a complex meaning.

Having lived for so many years, he has seen all sorts of strange and unusual abilities.

He had seen everything that could kill him, hurt him, and instill fear in him.

But this was the first time he had encountered a power that could suppress the curse itself.

"No wonder that bitch Agati didn't dare to come herself."

"She knew you were capable, which is why she sent you here."

Lin Yi, who was standing not far away, twitched his lips slightly upon hearing this.

Did Agati know that Camille could counteract the curse?
I definitely don't know.

She only knew that Su Xiao and Lin Yi's power was extraordinary because she saw that they could kill ancient gods.

As for what specific power it was, she had no idea.

But the bone sheep clearly misunderstood.

He took this as information that Agati had deliberately concealed, as part of that woman's scheme.

This misunderstanding is to his advantage.

Bone Sheep's gaze swept over the four people, finally landing on Su Xiao.

"Even if you can hurt me, so what?"

He raised his hand and pointed to the bone mountain in the center of the island.

"My heart is in there. Can you find it? Even if you do, can you destroy it?"

He paused, a strange excitement creeping into his voice.

“The heart is connected to this island. As long as the island is destroyed, the heart will not perish. As long as the heart is destroyed, I will not die. You can kill me once, and I will be resurrected once. You can kill me a hundred times, and I will be resurrected a hundred times.”

"I'd like to see whether you run out of strength first, or I'm scared to death by you all first." (End of Chapter)