Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

The moonlight over Bone Island was swallowed by dark clouds, and screams rang out simultaneously from all directions.

They intertwined, forming a mournful chorus that drifted in the night wind, startling the seabirds perched on the reefs.

Lin Yi stopped and looked back into the depths of Bone Island.

He knew that sound all too well; it was the final lament of a dying person, a desperate roar as life force was forcibly stripped from the body.

He had heard this sound countless times on the battlefield.

The skeleton pirates who were just moments ago jumping around on the dock were now all collapsed on the ground.

Their bodies convulsed violently in the moonlight, and countless cracks appeared on the surface of their bones, spreading from the top of their heads like a spider web throughout their bodies.

"what happened?"

Mond looked curiously at the pirates around him.

That pirate was the bald man who was the first to climb onto the Doom Deck.

Half of his face still had some skin remaining, while the other half was completely exposed bone, with more and more cracks appearing on the bones.

His mouth opened as if he wanted to shout, but he could only let out hoarse, breathy sounds.

Within the empty eye sockets, a ghostly blue flame flickered rapidly, sometimes bright and sometimes dim, like a candle flame about to go out in the wind.

Just minutes after Bone Sheep was sent away, his pirates began to show strange changes.

Some of the pirates who had collapsed to the ground were still struggling, while others had completely stopped moving.

Their bodies were disintegrating in a bizarre way, bones were shattering, flesh was shrinking, and skin was shrunken like dried tree bark.

A pirate struggled to reach out to Lin Yi. The hand had completely lost its human form, with bones broken at the wrist and only a few twisted finger bones remaining, with a few strands of dark red muscle fibers hanging on them.

His mouth opened and closed, emitting broken, breathy sounds, as if he were saying something, or perhaps praying for something.

Lin Yi crouched down and looked at those eyes that were about to go out.

"It hurts..." the pirate finally uttered a complete syllable, his voice so soft it sounded like a sigh, "It hurts so much..."

Then his body completely disintegrated, his bones turned into grayish-white powder, and his flesh shrank into dark red residue. The powder and residue mixed together and formed a pile of foul-smelling paste on the dock planks.

Similar scenes were playing out everywhere. Some pirates lay on the dock, their bodies curled up in a ball, their hands gripping the wooden planks tightly, their fingernails digging deep into the cracks, leaving ten shocking scratch marks.

Some pirates leaned against the wooden crates, their heads bowed, their bodies mostly disintegrated, with only half of their torsos remaining in a sitting position.

Other pirates fell into the sea, their grayish-white powder swept away by the waves and disappeared into the darkness.

Shangyue stood beside Lin Yi, her face contorted in disgust, clearly loathing the sight.

"What are they doing...?"

“The curse is backfiring.” Lin Yi’s voice was calm. “When Bone Sheep was around, his curse power maintained these people’s immortality. Now that Bone Sheep is gone, the curse has lost its source and naturally begins to disintegrate.”

"The curse only made them unable to feel pain, not that the injuries didn't exist. All the damage accumulated over the years erupted at this moment. Broken bones, torn muscles, festering internal organs, everything that was suppressed by the curse has now returned."

Shangyue withdrew her gaze, her tone returning to its usual coldness.

"Let's go. There's nothing to see here."

Lin Yi nodded and turned to walk towards the island.

No one cared about the pirates who were still struggling. They didn't even leave behind intact corpses. In the end, they would only turn into piles of grayish-white powder, scattered by the sea breeze and washed away by the rain, merging into the island they had guarded for countless years.

Passing through the dock area, you'll find the town built by the bone sheep.

It's called a town, but it's more like a huge camp.

The low stone houses stretch up the hillside, all the way to the foot of Bone Mountain in the center of the island.

The roadside was piled with all sorts of debris, including broken ship planks, rusty iron chains, discarded weapons, and other junk whose purpose was unidentifiable.

But at this moment, the road is covered in blood and flesh.

Lin Yi stopped and glanced at the scene before him. It was beyond what could be described simply as "tragic".

From the first stone house onwards, the ground was covered with a layer of dark red paste.

The paste-like substance was so thick it could submerge your ankles, while in thinner sections it revealed the grayish-white stone slabs beneath. Regardless of its thickness, it reeked of blood and decay.

In some places, you can see a row of ribs, half-buried in the flesh, like abandoned fish bones.

In other places, you can see half a face, with wrinkled skin, sunken eye sockets, and a mouth agape like a black hole, as if it is screaming silently.

"After suffering so much damage at once, it's difficult to have a complete body."

Baha landed from the air and stood firmly on Su Xiao's shoulder, his black bean-like eyes sweeping over the blood and gore on the ground.

It tilted its head, remained silent for a few seconds, and then spoke a sentence.

"When they were alive, they were neither human nor ghost; when they died, they didn't even have a grave."

No one answered. Bubuwang ran past Lin Yi's feet, its four legs stomping on the blood and gore, making a squelching sound. It ran a few steps and then stopped, raising one paw to look at it; it was covered in dark red paste.

It shook it off in disgust, but the thing was very sticky and it couldn't shake it off even after a few tries.

Benny jumped off Lin Yi's shoulder. She landed gracefully, her four paws touching the ground simultaneously with almost no sound.

She looked down at the bloody mess at her feet, then looked up and around. There was no sign of discomfort on the cat's face.

When she spent her days in the rainforest, Miss Benny had seen everything.

Rotting animal carcasses, remains half-eaten by parasites, and small animals smashed into pieces after falling from heights—these things are everywhere in the rainforest.

In comparison, although the pirates' deaths were gruesome, it didn't seem like much to Benny.

She raised her paw and rubbed it on a relatively clean rock, then turned back and waved her paw at the group, signaling them to follow.

Lin Yi knew Benny's abilities.

Although Benny's business acumen is unbelievably poor—she can haggle so hard that sellers want to fight her with weapons, and she can calculate so much that she gets herself into trouble—she has one talent that no one can match: treasure hunting.

That kind of talent isn't something you learn through training; it's an instinct ingrained in your bones.

All the people present combined probably weren't as powerful as Benny the cat.

Mond followed behind, muttering to himself, "Is this cat reliable?"

Baha flew over his head, letting out a sneer from its beak.

How many cats have you seen that can find treasure?

“That’s true.” Mond scratched his head and said nothing more.

Benny walked at the front, her tail held high, her pace neither hurried nor slow.

She walked through the street covered in blood and flesh, turned into an alley, and emerged from the other end of the alley to a relatively open space.

The open space was covered with grayish-white vegetation, which resembled some kind of mutated vines, densely intertwined and completely enveloping the rocks and soil.

Huge ribs protrude from the mountainside, gleaming pale in the moonlight.

Some of the ribs were broken, with jagged edges, as if they had been snapped in half by something.

Some of the ribs remain intact, extending from the foot of the mountain to the summit, forming natural arches.

At the foot of the mountain is a huge cave, its entrance hidden by vines, revealing only a dark, gaping entrance.

Benny stopped in front of the cave and meowed at the mountain in front of her.

Her cries were rapid, and her tail was wagging much faster than usual, clearly indicating that she was very excited.

Baha flew off Su Xiao's shoulder and landed on a protruding rock above the cave. He tilted his head and listened for a few seconds before translating.

“Benny said that the bone sheep put the things inside this mountain. But there’s something inside that, like the sun, blocked her senses. She can sense that there’s something inside, but she can’t figure out exactly where it is or which direction to go in.”

Su Xiao walked to the entrance of the cave, squatted down, and touched the soil on the ground with his fingers.

The soil was dry, with a thin layer of ash on the surface. There were no footprints or drag marks, indicating that no one had been in or out of the area for a long time.

"Can a bone sheep's brain hide things?"

He stood up, his tone tinged with doubt.

Lin Yi also thought of this problem.

Judging from the fight with the bone sheep just now, although that guy is crazy, he does things directly and never beats around the bush.

If you let someone like that hide treasure, they'd probably just throw the stuff into a cave, pile some junk on top, and then leave.

Expecting him to design any intricate mechanisms or complex mazes is pure fantasy.

But Benny made it clear that there was something inside that could block her senses.

That level of shielding is definitely beyond what a bone sheep could achieve.

If he had that kind of skill, he would have already taken on the Black Sea Empress and Redbeard's forces all by himself. He wouldn't be stuck on this wretched island with a bunch of skeleton pirates.
Just as Lin Yi was about to have Benny try again to see if she could find the entrance, Bubuwang suddenly darted out from beside his feet.

Its ability to become ethereal makes its body as transparent as a ghost, and hard rocks appear as if they are air in front of it.

Its figure disappeared into the rock wall without leaving a trace.

After Bubuwang disappeared, a faint sound came from behind the rock wall.

Mond listened intently for a long time but couldn't make out anything, so he could only continue waiting.

About three minutes later, a dull cracking sound came from inside the rock wall, as if a lock had been opened.

Immediately afterwards, about a hundred meters to the left of the group, a huge rock began to move outward.

The rock is over two meters high and three meters wide, covered with thick vines and moss, making it blend seamlessly with the surrounding rock walls.

If it hadn't moved on its own, you would never have noticed that there was a hidden door here.

The rock slowly pushed outwards, revealing the dark entrance behind it.

The entrance is narrow, allowing only two people to pass side by side. The walls on both sides are rough stone, with no trace of human carving on the surface.

A damp, musty smell wafted out, carrying the scent of earth and rotten wood.

Su Xiao walked to the entrance, peeked inside, and then turned to look at Lin Yi.

"This mechanism was definitely not set up by the bone sheep."

Lin Yi nodded; he had noticed it too.

The hidden door is more than half a meter thick and weighs at least several tons. The mechanism that can push it open from the inside requires an extremely precise gear structure and a sufficiently powerful motor.

That madman, Bone Sheep, is too lazy to even repair his own ship. It would be better to just kill him than to have him design this kind of trap.

Bubuwang emerged from the hidden door, shook off the dust, rubbed against Lin Yi's legs, and then barked twice towards the cave entrance, indicating that it was safe to go in. The passage was winding and varied in width; after walking for about five minutes, a huge space appeared ahead.

Lin Yi shone the light upwards and could see that the ceiling was an arched dome, at least twenty meters above the ground.

Stalactites hang from the dome, some of which have connected with the stalagmites on the ground, forming natural pillars.

But what is most eye-catching is the treasure that fills the entire space.

The gold coins were piled up like small mountains, stacked one after another, gleaming with a golden luster under the light.

The gold coins were of very good quality, with almost no wear on the surface, clearly looted from different places and not yet spent.

The gold bars were neatly stacked in a wooden box, which was mostly rotten, revealing the neatly arranged gold bars inside, each as long as an adult's arm.

Silver and copper coins were scattered more casually on the ground, mixed with pearls and gems, making a rustling sound when stepped on.

The gemstones were packed in an open box, including rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and cat's-eye stones of all colors and sizes, refracting a kaleidoscope of colors under the light.

Several particularly large ones, about the size of eggs, lay quietly on the pile of gold coins, radiating a soft luster.

Besides gold and silver jewelry, there were also some artifacts that looked very old.

These things were piled up in the corner, covered in dust. It was clear that the Bone Sheep wasn't interested in them; after snatching them, it had just tossed them here and never touched them again.

Benny had absolutely no interest in these treasures.

She moved quickly, her tail held high, her ears perked up, clearly having discovered something.

Lin Yi followed behind her, passing through several piles of gold coins and around a row of rotten wooden boxes. In the center of the space, on the open ground, stood a coffin.

The coffin was entirely black, about two meters long and one meter wide, with a smooth, mirror-like surface.

The coffin was not made of wood or metal, but of a substance that Lin Yi had never seen before.

It does not reflect light under light; instead, it absorbs the surrounding light like a black hole.

Each of the four corners of the coffin is carved with a raven with outstretched wings. The raven's eyes are inlaid with red gemstones, which gleam faintly in the darkness.

Benny stopped in front of the coffin, turned around and meowed at Lin Yi a few times.

Baha caught up and translated, "She said it was this coffin that blocked her senses."

Lin Yi looked at the coffin, raised his hand, and gestured for the people behind him to stop.

"Step back."

Mond and Shangyue both took a few steps back.

Su Xiao stood still, but her hand was already on the hilt of the knife.

Lin Yi began to cast a shield on himself, with various colored lights flashing alternately on his body, completely enveloping him.

After Lin Yi applied the final layer of protection, he stepped towards the coffin.

He walked slowly, each step firm and solid, his perception fully extended, covering an area of ​​several tens of meters around him.

The scattered gold coins on the ground clattered under his feet, the sound echoing in the empty cave.

He stopped three steps away from the coffin.

Then continue forward.

Two steps.

step.

The moment my foot landed, the stone slab beneath my feet suddenly sank half an inch.

Click.

An extremely faint mechanical sound came from the bottom of the coffin.

Immediately afterwards, dozens of arrows shot out from the walls on both sides of the coffin at an astonishing speed, the sound of the arrows piercing the air sharp and shrill.

Lin Yi didn't even dodge. The arrows struck the shield with a crisp clanging sound before bouncing off and scattering on the ground.

The arrowheads were coated with a dark green liquid that gleamed eerily in the light, clearly indicating that they had been poisoned.

But the toxins couldn't even penetrate the first layer of the shield before being deflected by the force field.

Mond saw this from behind and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"This mechanism is way too simplistic; they think they can stop people with this?"

"For a creature like Bone Sheep to come up with such a mechanism is already an extraordinary feat."

Lin Yi ignored the conversation behind him.

He continued forward, triggering one mechanism after another beneath his feet.

A giant boulder fell from the ceiling, was deflected by the energy shield, rolled to the ground, and smashed a pile of gold coins.

Spikes that pierced the ground were blocked by the force field shield, breaking off and scattering fragments.

None of the mechanisms could break through Lin Yi's outermost shield.

The traps set by the bone sheep were far too rudimentary.

There are no chain triggers, no stacking damage, and no energy erosion; it's just the most basic physical mechanism.

These things might be useful against ordinary pirates, but they wouldn't even be worthy of tickling Lin Yi.

Lin Yi stopped in front of the coffin. The coffin was taller than he had expected, with the edge of the lid reaching his chest.

He looked down and saw that there were no words or patterns on the coffin lid.

He reached out and placed his hand on the coffin lid.

The coffin lid was heavy and cold to the touch; the texture was not like wood or metal, but more like some kind of stone.

He exerted his strength and pushed the coffin lid open to one side.

There was a person lying in the coffin.

a woman.

She looked to be around thirty years old, with a serene face and exquisitely sculpted features.

Her long, golden hair cascaded over her shoulders, shimmering softly in the light.

She wore a long white dress, the hem of which spread out at the bottom of the coffin. Her hands were folded over her abdomen, her posture elegant and serene, as if she were asleep.

But her left hand position is vacant.

It broke cleanly at the wrist, with a smooth cut, as if it had been severed in one go by some sharp weapon.

The sleeves hung empty at her sides, with nothing inside.

There was no blood at the wound, only a thin, pale gold film covering the cut.

Lin Yi's gaze shifted from the severed hand to her body.

Even though she has been dead for countless years, her body still retains the shape it had in life, showing no signs of decay.

Lin Yi looked at the corpse, and a name flashed through his mind.

Neutral deity, Goddess of Light and Flame, Assaye.

The goddess who was killed by Nigardi, the god of nightmares.

His weapons were taken by Nigardi, his divinity was devoured by Nigardi, but his body is here.

Su Xiao walked to the coffin, her gaze falling on the corpse, her brows furrowing slightly.

"That unlucky goddess, the God of Nightmares?"

Lin Yi nodded.

"It must be her."

Mond peered into the coffin at the woman inside, a look of confusion appearing on his rugged face.

"Who is this? He's quite good-looking."

Shangyue gave him a cold glance.

"Assaye, the Goddess of Light and Flame. One of the former rulers of the Viking Sea, the embodiment of daylight. She was killed by the God of Nightmares, her divinity was taken away, and her weapons were stolen."

Mond was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening.

"Is that the unlucky goddess who was killed by the God of Nightmares?"

Lin Yi's gaze lingered on the corpse for a long time.

That guy, Bone Sheep, was definitely involved in the god-killing back then.

Otherwise, the body wouldn't be so intact.

Beings like the Nightmare God, after killing an enemy, will either devour, refine, or destroy it; they will never leave a complete corpse here as a decoration.

The only possibility for getting hold of this corpse and hiding it in such a secluded place is that the Bone Sheep participated in that battle and secretly snatched the corpse when the Nightmare God wasn't looking.

He recalled what the bone sheep had said earlier.

He said he helped Agati break free from the cult of obliteration, but the price was that his own head became that shape.

In retrospect, the price he spoke of was this corpse.

Or rather, it was the corpse that brought him a curse.

The curse on the bone sheep was not placed by the god of nightmares.

Ancient gods like the Nightmare God are all masters of manipulating curses. If He were to cast a curse Himself, the Bone Sheep would have long since turned into a pile of rotten flesh and would not have been alive until now.

This curse was cast by the Goddess of Light and Flame before her death.

She paid with her own life to etch the curse into the soul of the Bone Sheep.

The idea of ​​cursing the God of Nightmares is pure nonsense.

The ancient gods were all experts at manipulating curses. If Assayer were to cast a curse on the God of Nightmares, it would be nothing more than showing off one's skills in front of an expert, utter nonsense.

She had no choice but to settle for second best and cast the curse on the accomplice.

That's why the bone sheep turned into that appearance, becoming a monster that was neither human nor ghost. (End of Chapter)