Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

Chapter 554: The World of Demons (5K chapter, please subscribe and vote)

The land of China was in turmoil, war was raging, the earth was in ruins, and the area within a thousand miles was devastated.

During this turbulent time, the population of young and middle-aged people decreased greatly. Most of them were conscripted into the army by great princes such as Liu Bei and Cao Cao who were fighting for hegemony over the world. They were away from their homeland and thrown into the ruthless war.

In towns and villages, there are many elderly, weak, women and children, who depend on each other and struggle to survive.

Zhao Yun looked at a village with smoke rising from cooking fires ahead, then turned to Lin Yi beside him and said, "Brother Lin, why don't we find a place to stay in this village tonight and rest for a while."

Zhao Yun patted the Red Hare under his crotch. You know, the two of them had been running for a whole day, and after the long run, the Red Hare was already showing signs of fatigue.

Although the Red Hare is known as a divine horse with great speed and extraordinary endurance, it is ultimately just a flesh and blood body and cannot be compared with the black shadow army summoned by Lin Yi.

Those shadow soldiers seemed tireless and could maintain the best combat condition day and night.

"How far are we from Cao Cao's territory now?" Lin Yi asked.

Zhao Yun hesitated for a moment, and after some internal estimation, he replied, "I'm afraid it will take another day or two to arrive."

"Let's go into the village."

Zhao Yun held the reins of Red Hare and walked slowly into the small village in front of him.

The village looked sparsely populated, with only a few children playing in the mud on the street.

Apart from these children, the rest of the people in the village are mainly old people and women.

The old people sat on the doorsteps of their homes, their eyes a little dull, and no one knew what they were staring at, perhaps the war in the distance, or perhaps the memories of the past.

"After years of war, it is these innocent people who suffer the most." Zhao Yun looked at the villagers in front of him who looked lifeless like zombies. He couldn't help but feel compassion in his heart and couldn't help but sigh.

He looked around the village and finally his eyes fell on a woman who was hurrying along with a child in her arms.

Zhao Yun walked up quickly, politely blocked the woman's way, bowed to her, and asked gently: "Auntie, I would like to ask where the village chief is. I am passing by here and hope to find a luxurious place to rest for a night." As he spoke, he took out a few coins from his pocket and handed them to the woman as a fee for asking for directions.

"Oh, you are so polite, young man. The village chief is not here. He went out some time ago and I guess he won't be back for a while. You can stay at Mr. Zhou's house at the entrance of the village. His house is big and can definitely accommodate you." The woman responded to Zhao Yun enthusiastically and took a few copper coins from Zhao Yun.

She looked at the copper coin in her hand, a hint of joy flashed in her eyes, and then she thought of something else: "By the way, my family is having meat today, do you two want to come over and have a bite?"

"No, we'll come find you after we're settled."

The woman nodded, pointed in the direction of the village entrance and said, "Okay, okay, my house is the fifth house on the right side of the village entrance. Come over anytime if you want to eat meat." After that, she walked quickly forward holding the child in her arms.

Lin Yi noticed that when the woman mentioned eating meat, she couldn't help but drool at the corners of her mouth, and she could even vaguely see the saliva dripping onto the baby's swaddling clothes.

However, during this period, people lived in poverty and had few opportunities to eat meat.

The woman's reaction did not arouse the suspicion of the two men.

Following the direction indicated by the woman, Zhao Yun and Lin Yi arrived at Mr. Zhou's mansion.

The mansion's red door was tightly closed, but through the crack in the door one could see the magnificent courtyard and exquisite pavilions inside.

Zhao Yun walked forward and gently knocked on the door.

Soon, footsteps were heard behind the door. The guard opened the door a crack and looked at the two people outside vigilantly.

Zhao Yun politely bowed and said, "Hello, I am Zhao Yun, a general under Liu Bei. I am passing by this village today. As it is getting late, I hope you can do me a favor and stay here for one night."

Originally, Mr. Zhou's guard didn't want to bother with Lin Yi and Zhao Yun, but after hearing Zhao Yun's background, his expression changed.

You have to know that these days, having money is not important, having talents in your hands is the most important thing.

"Sorry, I need to inform the head of the family. Please wait here for a moment." After the guard said this, he hurried into the house, obviously to report the arrival of Lin Yi and Zhao Yun to the owner.

After more than ten minutes, a man who looked like a butler came out of the house. He looked Zhao Yun up and down, and then asked respectfully: "Excuse me, sir, are you General Zhao Zilong under Liu Bei?"

Zhao Yun was a little surprised to hear that the butler could call out his name.

He nodded and said, "It is me. May I ask who you are?"

The housekeeper smiled and explained, "My master is a relative of General Zhou Cang. He has mentioned General Zhao's reputation many times in his letters. So when my master learned of your arrival, he specially ordered me to come out to greet you."

When Zhao Yun heard the name Zhou Cang, a look of understanding appeared on his face.

Zhou Cang was also considered a powerful general under Liu Bei. Guan Yu met Zhou Cang when he was riding alone for thousands of miles.

Hearing of Guan Yu's reputation, he went down the mountain alone, followed Guan Yu and became Guan Yu's man.

Although he does not hold any position in Liu Bei's military camp at the moment, not many people dare to look down on Zhou Cang.

If we really calculate based on the martial arts value, Zhou Cang should be ranked in the top ten in Liu Bei's army at this moment.

"So you are General Zhou's relative. I am so sorry for your disrespect." Zhao Yun bowed. The doubts in his heart dissipated because of this relationship, but a trace of sadness still welled up in his heart.

Zhao Yun also saw Zhou Cang in the military camp. The guy who gave Lin Yi an axe when he was chasing the two was Zhou Cang.

"Well, please come in, the master has been waiting inside for a long time." The butler led the two in with a smile.

He turned around and motioned to the two guards behind him to come forward and lead Zhao Yun's Red Hare to the stable for settlement.

Walking through the gate, a small lotus pond comes into view. There are lotus leaves on the water and lotus flowers dotted in between, which looks particularly elegant.

In the center of the lotus pond, a small pavilion stands quietly, and a few tall willows sway gently above the pavilion, adding a bit of dynamism to the quiet scenery.

Follow a winding path along the lotus pond, through several flower beds, and you will arrive at the entrance of the hall.

On both sides of the hall are the living room and dining room. In the center of the hall hangs a landscape painting, which, upon closer inspection, depicts the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

In the distance is an inner courtyard with a central courtyard and two corridors, east and west. There are several large locks hanging on the east corridor, and servants are guarding it because some precious toys are stored there.

The most eye-catching thing in the yard is the large lotus pond.

There are more than a dozen rockery arranged in an orderly manner in the pond, which contrast beautifully with the blooming peonies, peonies, crabapples, peach blossoms and morning glories around them.

These flowers bloom with the change of seasons, bringing endless vitality and color to the courtyard.

The tall plum trees beside the pond are full of fruits. Each plum is big and sweet, and the tempting fruity aroma fills the air.

The surroundings are covered with colorful paper barriers, which flutter gently in the wind like gorgeous ribbons.

A narrow path was left between the paper barriers, leading to the back door of the house.

For safety reasons, more than ten guards were deployed there to guard the place closely.

In this quiet atmosphere, Lin Yi faintly smelled a hint of blood.

Alarm bells suddenly rang in his heart and his vigilance reached the extreme.

"Butler, is there any happy event in the family recently?"

"There is no happy event, but there is one good thing. The owner of the family recently painted a new painting, which pleased the owner very much. So the owner was very happy and killed a few livestock and distributed some of the leftover meat to the villagers below, as a way to give everyone a taste of meat."

After hearing what Lin Yi said, the butler smiled and explained to Lin Yi.

At this time, Lin Yi finally understood where the woman's meat came from.

In ancient times, it was not easy to enjoy meat.

Even wealthy families cannot eat meat every day.

Except for a few specific days every month, livestock are rarely slaughtered unless there is a festive occasion. After all, these are earned with real money.

Led by the housekeeper, the two came to a reception room, where they saw a man dressed like a scholar painting with ink.

The housekeeper did not come forward to disturb them upon seeing this. Zhao Yun and Lin Yi did not start talking either, but stood aside and waited quietly.

About a quarter of an hour later, the scholar finally finished his work. He gently put down the brush in his hand and stretched his body which was a little tired from painting for a long time.

The scholar looked up and saw the two people, so he asked Steward Sun: "Steward Sun, who are these two?"

Steward Sun replied respectfully, "Master, these two are the comrades of General Zhou Cang. They passed by our village and wanted to find a place to rest for a while."

The scholar smiled enthusiastically after hearing this. "Please invite the two distinguished guests to take a seat. Butler Sun, go and pour the tea."

"Yes, sir." Butler Sun responded and left, quickly going to prepare tea. "Since you two are my cousin's comrades, I wonder how he is doing in the barracks now?"

"General Zhou is fine. He is moving with the army and there is nothing unusual at the moment." Zhao Yun did not tell the truth and told a white lie.

After hearing this, Mr. Zhou seemed relieved. He said enthusiastically, "No news is the best news. If you two are not in a hurry to leave, why not stay at my house for a few more days, so that I can have the opportunity to entertain you on behalf of my brother."

"No, no, Zilong still has military duties to attend to. After resting tonight, he will set off immediately."

Zhao Yun politely declined Mr. Zhou's invitation. Now the safety of the whole world depended on Lin Yi and Zhao Yun. How could Zhao Yun have the heart to eat, drink and have fun here?

"Since you two have important matters to attend to, I will not keep you any longer. Please have a good rest tonight. I will ask Butler Sun to take you to the guest room later." After Mr. Zhou finished speaking, he returned to his desk, picked up a brush, and began to write on the paper with concentration.

Lin Yi noticed that the paper used by Mr. Zhou was not ordinary rice paper.

Soon, Butler Sun led Lin Yi and Zhao Yun to a guest room that had been cleaned in advance.

The layout of the guest room is simple yet elegant. The two beds are clean and comfortable. Several oil lamps emit soft light, adding a touch of warmth to the room.

The room is fully equipped with wardrobes, tables, chairs, benches and other furniture. Although it is not luxurious, it is enough to meet the basic needs of travelers.

"Brother Lin, let's rest early tonight. We have to get up early and travel tomorrow." Zhao Yun said as he began to prepare to take off his armor.

He had carefully cleaned the armor when passing by the stream, but he could still smell a faint scent of blood.

"Don't rush on your way. I'm afraid there's something wrong with this village."

Zhao Yun's hand stopped in mid-air, and he looked at Lin Yi in confusion, "What's wrong, Brother Lin?"

"Don't you think this village is too abnormal? Since we left the military camp, the villages we passed by were all desolate and dilapidated, with corpses everywhere. Even if there were survivors, they would flee in fear when they saw us. But the people in this village are not only not afraid of us, but also seem unusually enthusiastic. Isn't all this strange?"

After the two left the military camp, that was when they entered hell.

In the first village they passed by, there was a strong man who piled up the heads of more than 300 villagers into a Jingguan for passers-by to see.

Now in the Central Plains, not only Liu Bei's army has been possessed by demons, but ordinary civilians in the village have also been possessed by demons.

Originally Zhao Yun thought that this village was just lucky, but now it seems that there may be bigger problems.

"Let's go and check out the house of the woman we met today."

"Ah."

After hearing Lin Yi's words, Zhao Yun didn't say much. He tidied up his armor and followed Lin Yi out of the guest room.

"Where are you two going?"

"We are just walking around the village. We have been on horseback all day and wanted to take a walk to relax our muscles before going to bed." Zhao Yun made up an excuse.

As the two of them went out, they happened to run into Butler Sun who was holding a roll of skin in his hand.

The roll of skin looked particularly shocking under the dim candlelight.

"Butler Sun, what is this?" Lin Yi couldn't help but ask.

"Oh, this is our master's habit." Butler Sun explained, "The master loves painting, but ordinary paper can't meet his needs. In order to preserve the paintings for a longer time, he began to use animal skins to paint."

"Well, go ahead then."

After Steward Sun left, Lin Yi and Zhao Yun fell into silence.

"you saw it."

"Well, if I'm not mistaken, that should be the skin of a young woman, and she was skinned alive not long ago." Lin Yi's eyesight is now extraordinary. Since he chose the skill of Master of Anatomy, he can accurately judge the age, characteristics and other information of the skin owner with just one glance.

Zhao Yun heard this and tightly grasped the Dragon Gallbladder Spear in his hand. His voice trembled a little, "Sure enough, Brother Lin is right. This village was not spared either."

"Let's go, we'll know after we go out and take a look."

After leaving Mr. Zhou's residence, the two once again saw the children playing together in the sunset.

I saw these children gathered together, seemingly fiddling with something on the ground.

Lin Yi and Zhao Yun approached, and a very horrifying scene came into their eyes.

The children actually held it in their hands.
"Brother? Do you two want to play?"

When a child raised his head, the black veins on his forehead were exposed and his eyes turned red.

Lin Yi and Zhao Yun understood instantly that these children had been possessed by demons.

"Brother doesn't want to play, you guys play."

Lin Yi was silent for a while and said with a smile.

"Brother Lin, I..."

"I know, leave it to me."

Looking at Zhao Yun's hesitant expression, Lin Yi knew that the other party would definitely not be able to do it.

Lin Yi took out the black and white rose, and several fine sword energies quietly flew out from the blade and silently injected into the bodies of those children.

The children were unaware and continued to play happily with the eyeballs in their hands.

"Let's go."

Lin Yi sighed and continued walking forward.

Zhao Yun shook his head slightly and followed Lin Yi.

Just a few seconds after the two left, several children playing on the ground suddenly trembled violently.

Immediately, countless sword energies pierced through their bodies.

The bodies of several children were instantly torn to pieces by the sword energy.

One of the boys struggled to stand up and continue playing the game, but the damage from the sword had severed his heart meridian.

He felt his life slipping away until his consciousness sank into darkness.

"Are they in pain?" Zhao Yun's voice trembled slightly.

"No." Lin Yi replied softly, "My sword energy directly cut off their heart meridians. They will only feel a black screen before their eyes, and will not experience too much pain."

"What a damn world!" Zhao Yun angrily punched a willow tree on his right, and the leaves fell down.

Doesn’t this damn God even let the children go?

The two continued walking forward, and after a few steps, they discovered that the old man who was originally sitting at the door of the room had disappeared.

As they walked along the road, Lin Yi noticed that a large number of villagers had gathered at the entrance of the village. The crowd was bustling and seemed to be fighting for something.

Lin Yi sniffed the air and a meaty aroma filled his nose.

The next second, Lin Yi's eyes turned cold.

If he heard it right,

"Zilong, be ready to fight with me later."

"understood."

After hearing Lin Yi's cold tone, Zhao Yun seemed to understand something. He took out the Dragon Gallbladder Spear from behind and followed Lin Yi into the crowd.

Lin Yi and Zhao Yun saw what the villagers had in their hands. Then the villagers sat next to the houses, eating and chatting, and they seemed to be living a happy life.

The woman I saw during the day was setting up a large pot.
"Oh, you two brothers are here to eat too? Come on, come on, one bowl each, don't be polite. These livestock are what Mr. Zhou didn't want, so they're just right for us to have a snack." When the woman saw Lin Yi and Zhao Yun coming, she greeted them warmly and served each of them a bowl of hot soup and placed it in front of them.

Zhao Yun looked down and couldn't help but dry heaving.

(End of this chapter)