Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

"Athaya?"

Keppel Salom's voice came from inside. Ataya was stunned when she heard Keppel Salom's voice.

After a brief silence, Ataya took two steps back. The black hair that had spread like a living thing slowly shrank like the receding tide, and finally disappeared into her pale body.

"Aunt Salom."

Ataya greeted Kepel Salom in a hoarse voice. Although most of the residents of Dead City had long since become mindless puppets, elite individuals like her still retained some remaining will.

Kepel Salom remains conscious thanks to the protection of the Lord of Dawn, but Ataya's situation is even more special, and even she herself cannot fully understand it.

During these long hundreds of years, Kepel Salom was one of the few warm places in Attaya's cold world.

Those sporadic cares, brief conversations, and even silent companionship became the only recognizable "family affection" in her chaotic consciousness, which is why Attaya stopped in Kepel Salom.

"You went 'hunting' again?"

"I" Ataya opened her mouth, but didn't know how to answer.

As a resident of the Dead City, her body was always in a state of insatiable hunger, as if there was a bottomless abyss hidden inside her, constantly devouring her sanity.

Kepel Salom looked at her, his eyes filled with a mixture of helplessness and pity.

In the end, she just sighed softly and took something out of her arms - it was the cake that Lin Yi had just handed her, soft, sweet, and still slightly warm.

"Come and eat quickly."

The aroma of the cake instantly entered Attaya's nostrils. Lin Yi only saw a shadow flash by, and then Attaya appeared in front of Kepel Salom.

"What is this? It looks delicious?" There was childlike curiosity in her voice. Saliva oozed uncontrollably from the corners of her mouth, but she still resisted the urge to reach out to grab it.

She examined the strange piece of food carefully, as if it were some fragile treasure.

"This is a cake, please eat it quickly." Kepel Salom looked at her and couldn't help but chuckle.

Ataya's reaction reminded her of the greedy children she met on the mainland a long time ago.

Ataya held the cake, but seemed at a loss.

Unlike most residents of the Dead City, she was not corrupted from the outside world, but belonged to this darkness since birth.

She had never seen the blue sky, never felt the sunshine, and never tasted real food.

All the beautiful things about the outside world - warm sunshine, abundant food, bustling crowds - were just distant legends she had heard from others.

At this moment, this small piece of cake became her only bridge to reach that strange world.

When Lin Yi saw Ataya holding the cake awkwardly and unable to take a bite, he took out a plastic spoon from his personal space and handed it to Ataya.

Ataya looked up vigilantly, her eyes moving back and forth between Lin Yi and the spoon.

After a moment's hesitation, she carefully took the spoon, her movements so stiff as if she was operating some strange weapon.

When the first spoonful of cream entered her mouth, her pupils suddenly dilated - the sweet taste exploded on the tip of her tongue, and this unprecedented experience made her tremble all over.

In the next half minute, Lin Yi witnessed a battle of annihilation.

Attaya chopped up the cake with amazing efficiency, and finally even picked up the plate, her pink tongue not letting go of every crumb.

"It seems that I haven't eaten enough," Lin Yi thought to himself.

Now is the best time to build trust. He turned his wrist calmly, and three freshly baked cakes instantly appeared in his palm - the sweet fragrance of strawberry mousse, the mellowness of chocolate chiffon, and the freshness of matcha cheese intertwined in the air into a fatal temptation.

Ataya's nostrils twitched slightly, and her eating action came to an abrupt halt.

She stared at the three pieces of cake and whimpered in her throat.

Reason and desire clashed fiercely in her eyes. In the end, when Lin Yi pushed the cake forward another half inch, she was completely defeated.

"I'm sorry, this child has not experienced the life in the outside world." There was a hint of tenderness in Kepel Salom's voice.

When Ataya picked up the second piece of cake, she suddenly stopped.

The corners of her cream-stained mouth twitched slightly. She raised her eyes and looked straight at Lin Yi, a hint of confusion flashing in her pupils.

"Why...for me?"

Lin Yi squatted down, so that his eyes were level with hers, and smiled: "Delicious food will be more enjoyable if it is shared."

"Share..." Ataya repeated the word in a low voice, as if chewing on an unfamiliar concept.

Her eyes fell on the last piece of cake and she suddenly hesitated.

Kepel Salom noticed her abnormality and asked softly, "What's wrong?"

Ataya clenched the spoon, her black hair twisting restlessly.

"Auntie Salom...you eat too." She suddenly pushed the cake towards Keppel, her movements clumsy but firm.

Keppel was stunned. This was the first time in hundreds of years that Attaya showed the willingness to "give".

"No need, Auntie, you eat it."

Lin Yi looked at this scene and suddenly took out another box of strawberries from the space.

"Try this?" He handed over a bright red fruit.

Ataya took it carefully, her fingertips stained red by the strawberry juice.

She took a small bite, and when the first bite of the flesh melted on the tip of her tongue, Ataya froze completely - the explosive sweetness carried a fresh breath she had never experienced before, causing her pupils to shrink to the size of a pinpoint.

"Is this... the smell of the sun?" She looked up, her long black hair moving without wind. "I heard them say that the sun is warm and sweet..."

There is no sunshine in the Dead City, and the residents here have long forgotten what warmth looks like.

"After we get out, I'll show you the real sun."

Ataya's fingertips trembled slightly. She suddenly grabbed Lin Yi's sleeves and said in a voice so soft that it was almost inaudible: "Won't the people outside... be afraid of me?"

The ends of her hair fell down, revealing the black lines spreading across her neck - those were the marks of erosion by death.

"Don't worry, I'm the Duke outside, and what I say goes."

Facing Attaya, Lin Yi started to deceive people again.

"Duke?" Ataya tilted her head, with cream still on the corner of her mouth. Her black hair seemed to have life and she rolled up the fallen strawberry and put it into her mouth. "Is he a higher official than Aunt Salom?"

"It's bigger than Aunt Salom. This way, when Ataya goes out, she won't be bullied." Keppel Salom seemed to want to say something, and at this time the curse pattern on her neck suddenly lit up.

Keppel Salom shook his head and pulled up the window in front of him. Lin Yi heard the low prayer sound echoing in the room again.

"Let's go." Ataya threw a strawberry into her mouth, and the bright red juice dyed the corners of her mouth red. She grabbed Lin Yi's wrist with amazing strength, "Auntie Salom's prayer time has come."

"If you meet that old man, remember to tell me, I will definitely kill him." When Ataya mentioned the old charlatan, her hair moved without wind. It was obvious that the old charlatan had completely offended Ataya.

Leaving the alley, Ataya brought Lin Yi to the street.

Just at this moment, two tree eclipses happened to be walking on the street.

As if they smelled Lin Yi's scent, the two tree erosions instantly rushed towards Lin Yi with loud shouting, wanting to devour Lin Yi.

Seeing this scene, Ataya roared, and her black hair instantly grew long and entangled one of the tree eclipses.

The seven-meter-tall monster howled in fear, but was powerless under the girl's slender arms.

The brunette dragged it into Ataya's petite body, followed by a creepy chewing sound.

"It tastes bad."

Ataya frowned and complained as she ate.

The tree erosion that once satisfied her now became tasteless after tasting Lin Yi's delicious food.

The rotten wood turned into bitter residue in her mouth, making it difficult to swallow.

As for the other tree erosion, Attaya just waved her hand and threw it out with black hair like a rag, smashing it heavily on the building in the distance, and the dead branches were shattered all over the ground.

"Attaya, do you know where the Birthplace is?" Lin Yi asked in a low voice, his eyes sweeping across the mottled Gothic buildings on both sides of the street.

"The Birth Hall? Why are you going there? Aunt Salom said that place is very dangerous and told me not to go there on weekdays." When Attaya mentioned the Birth Hall, a look of fear appeared on her face.

Even in the dead city shrouded in gray fog all day long, the Birth Hall is obviously a forbidden place that makes people shudder.

"I need to do something there, how about I trade two boxes of strawberries for a spot in the Birthplace?"

When she heard the word "strawberry", her eyes moved back and forth between the strawberries and the gray skyline in the distance, and her inner struggle was clearly visible.

It was obvious that the location of the Birth Hall was very dangerous, but Ataya wanted to eat strawberries.

About half a minute later, Ataya grabbed Lin Yi's right hand and motioned him to follow her.

"Come with me. The Birth Hall is located in the central area of ​​the city. It's a very dangerous place. I seldom go there even for hunting on weekdays." Ataya's black hair was wrapped around Lin Yi's body. These black hairs were like a layer of flowing armor, isolating him from the rotten air of the Dead City.

If any resident shows hostility towards this outsider, Attaya can turn these gentle hairs into deadly weapons in an instant.

Lin Yi felt a slight itch on his waist, and those hairs were like countless tiny snakes, sliding on his skin as Ataya walked.

"Don't move." Ataya warned without turning her head, "Your scent is too fresh. It will attract the 'scavengers'."

As if to confirm her words, there was a sudden, sharp sound of metal scraping against the ground in the distance, like a rusty blade dragging on concrete.

Lin Yi looked in the direction of the sound and caught a glimpse of a deformed silhouette flashing in the shadow of the alley entrance - the thing was at least three meters tall, with a giant mortar covered with iron nails on its hunched torso, and six spider-like mechanical legs intertwined with each other, leaving corroded scorch marks on the ground with every step.

"What is a scavenger?"

"I don't know, I just know that this ghost thing is very hostile to the living."

When seeing the scavenger, Ataya's face showed a trace of solemnity. It was obvious that this scavenger was definitely not an easy character to deal with.

The scavenger suddenly stopped, and the joints of its six mechanical legs made a harsh clicking sound.

Its mortar-shaped head covered with iron nails slowly turned, and its hollow face stared straight in the direction of Ataya.

Sticky dark green mucus oozed from the ends of Ataya's hair, spreading on Lin Yi's skin like a living thing.

The mucus quickly condensed into a translucent film, emitting a damp humus smell - that was the unique smell of the residents of the Dead City.

Lin Yi immediately held his breath and suppressed the restless power of the abyss in his body to the surface of his skin to prevent the power of the abyss from eroding the protective layer secreted by Attaya.

The scavenger tilted his head, and the gurgling sound of liquid sloshing could be heard in the mortar.

It caught the familiar decayed fluctuations of the Dead City from Lin Yi. With a disappointed sound of metal friction, it moved its six long legs and continued to crawl deeper into the street, dragging its heavy body. The iron nails scraped a string of sparks on the stone slabs.

After confirming this, the scavenger turned around and continued walking deeper into the street.

Today he felt the door was opened, and there must be a living person running in.

"Let's go, get out of here quickly."

After Ataya confirmed that the scavenger had left, she began to take Lin Yi through the streets and alleys of the Dead City and headed towards the Birth Hall in the central area of ​​the Dead City.

The two of them walked quickly through the streets of the dead city. The gray and black houses stood like silent tombstones, and blurry shadows swayed behind the dirty window glass.

Some rotten wooden fences were hung with faded black cloth strips, eerily still in the windless air - these clothes that were once hung out to dry have now become the last proof of the residents' existence.

The soles of Lin Yi's boots made a crisp sound as they stepped on the stone road.

He noticed a strange phenomenon: the ground of the entire city was a seamless gray rock layer. Even though there were traces of battle dozens of meters deep in some places, the exposed rocks were still of the same texture.

The only place where you can see soil is the large pottery jars in front of and behind every household. There is light black soil in them, and the plants planted on them have long since dried up. Soil seems to be a very rare thing in the Dead City.

Without soil, the Dead City naturally would not produce any food.

After turning a corner, a small open space suddenly appeared in front.

Ataya's eyes lit up and she rushed to a simple stall as if she had found a treasure.

The old woman behind the stall had sparse white hair and wrinkled skin stuck to her bones, making her look like a moving mummy.

Lin Yi took a look at the things on the stall, and found that there was half a rotten apple, a bottle of green water, and half a bottle of wine.

If placed anywhere else, these things would be worthless.

But in a place like Dead Silence City where even soil is a luxury, what this old woman took out was already an extremely precious item.

"Little Ataya, how come you have time to come to grandma's place today?"

When the old woman saw Ataya, a smile appeared on her face.

She handed half a rotten apple from the stall to Ataya. Ataya shook her head, took out a strawberry that Lin Yi gave her from her pocket and handed it to the old woman in front of her.

The old woman looked at the bright strawberries in front of her and a hint of surprise appeared on her face.

"Are you a living person?"

The old woman looked at Lin Yi. Since Ataya had covered Lin Yi with a layer of disguise, the old woman was unable to recognize Lin Yi's identity just now.

"Ah."

"You are a living being, you don't need my things, only they need them. No, why haven't you been assimilated? Why haven't you been assimilated? This is unfair, you should be assimilated too..."

After hearing Lin Yi's answer, the old woman's expression began to change rapidly, and her words became hurried.

"grandmother."

As if the pause button had been pressed, the old woman instantly became quiet.

She blinked blankly and wiped the stains from the corners of her mouth with her sleeve: "I'm sorry, I've been here for a long time and my mind is starting to get a little unclear. I hope I didn't scare you."

"It's okay, I'm used to it."

Lin Yi looked very calm when he saw this scene. After all, Dead Silence City was a place that could only be described as "warm and hospitable".

Most of the residents will rush towards you and want to open their hearts to you when they meet you. This kind of welcome ceremony is rarely seen in other places.

"Since you can come in, it means that there is a new king on the throne."

Hearing the other party's words, Lin Yi was stunned for a moment, then looked at the old woman in front of him.

When Lin Yi noticed the faint black mark between her eyebrows, his memory suddenly flashed back - the faded royal portrait in the old charlatan's secret room.

The woman in the painting, wearing a silver crown and smiling like a flower, gradually overlapped with the wrinkled face in front of me.

"You are... Queen Reese."

"Rise?!" The old woman suddenly began to tremble violently, and her dry fingers scratched her face convulsively.

"No, no! The king will not have a woman as ugly as me." Her voice rose and fell, like a broken bellows. "The king's woman should be the most beautiful, not someone like me."

About a minute later, Queen Ruiz finally recovered.

Perhaps because of Attaya's presence, Queen Ruiz's mental state was relatively stable, and she did not attack Lin Yi because of his words.

"Living man, are you here for the king?" Queen Ruiz's eyes fell on Lin Yi.

Although time and curses had long since eroded her appearance, she could still clearly sense that what was wrapped around this young man was the thread of cause and effect that connected him to the Black King.

As the queen, she was extremely sensitive to the Black King's aura; even the faintest trace of it could not escape her perception.

"Well, it is."

"In that case, I'll give you this thing. I hope you can really free the king."

The corners of Queen Ruis' mouth twitched slightly, as if she wanted to smile, but ultimately failed.

Her skinny fingers trembled as she reached into the tattered collar of her clothes. She fumbled for a moment, and finally carefully took something out of her arms - an exquisite ribbon.

The ribbon still emitted a soft luster in the dim light, and its delicate texture formed a sharp contrast with her tattered clothes.

[Phantom Binding Spirit Satin]

Quality: Epic
Type: Consumables
Effect: Throw a ribbon at the target, immediately restraining the enemy, making it unable to move or use displacement skills (but can release non-limb-dependent abilities), the restraint time is 3-15 seconds (determined according to the enemy's attribute values).

Rating: 689 points (Epic items have a rating of 530 to 700 points.)
Introduction: Woven with "nightmare spider silk" and "cosmic mercury", it looks soft but contains the power to imprison space.

Selling price: 310000 Paradise Coins

"let's go."

After handing the ribbon to Lin Yi, Queen Ruiz slowly stood up, her skinny figure hunched, and moved towards the dark room behind her. As for the items on the stall, Queen Ruiz didn't even look at them.

At this moment, a space fluctuation suddenly appeared, and with a click, a bloody arm appeared. After throwing down a bloody parchment, the arm was dragged back into the different space.

Feeling the breath coming from the arm, Ataya's mental state suddenly became unstable. She could feel that this arm belonged to the old charlatan.

Lin Yi picked up the parchment on the ground, opened it and found that it was a map, a map of Dead City, with some small words marked in blood on it.

Arriving at the edge of the clearing, Lin Yi began to look at the map that the old charlatan had sent him through some unknown method.

Lin Yi didn't recognize most of the words on the map, but in the very center of the map, the old charlatan marked four buildings with blood.

"The birthplace, the healing house, the altar, the holy place."

There were two Xs drawn in blood between the treatment center and the Supreme Sanctuary. The meaning was very clear. The old charlatan warned Su Xiao not to get close to there.

Lin Yi raised his head and looked around, comparing it with the map, and gradually his mind became clear.

The towering building that he had always used as a landmark was the High Sanctuary, and the spire building shrouded in shadow not far behind it should be the Birth Hall. (End of this chapter)