Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

Chapter 1343 The Bathed in Light Missionary Ground

The warmth and noise from the main hall enveloped them from behind, cutting Lin Yi and his companions out from among the madmen still drinking and playing cards.

The curtain hung down behind his shoulders, blocking out King Kong's mumbled shout of "catch him back to have with wine."

The snow was still falling outside, much lighter than it had been in the evening, but falling very densely. The fine snowflakes looked like a swarm of frozen insects in the searchlight beams.

The streetlights on both sides of the main road cast orange light onto the snow, and at the boundary between the lights were gray-blue shadows, the edges of which were blurred and fuzzy by the hot mist emanating from the heating pipes.

Lin Yi walked in front, with Ghost Girl a few steps behind him on the right, her body slightly leaning forward, as if she was using her entire torso to receive signals in the air that ordinary people could not perceive.

Su Xiao walked at the back of the group, keeping a distance of about seven or eight steps, with the Dragon Slayer Flash hanging at his waist.

The power distribution room is located on the eastern edge of the base camp, right next to the row of canvas sheds newly erected by the engineering department.

A thin layer of snow had accumulated on the canvas roof of the row of sheds, and the edges of the fabric were frozen stiff, making a slight taut sound in the wind.

There were several rows of clear dog paw prints on the snow next to the shed, probably left by the engineering department's mechanical dogs during their night patrol.

The power distribution room itself is not large; it is a square box made of alloy plates. There is a row of heat dissipation grilles on the side, through which a warm yellow light shines from when the equipment is running, mixed with a faint ozone smell unique to transformers.

Ghost Girl stopped at the corner of the power distribution room. She squatted down, put her right index finger in front of her lips, and made a "shh" gesture to Lin Yi.

She turned her head, her gaze passing through the gaps in the ventilation ducts on the side of the power distribution room, and staring at the base of the drain pipe, which was covered in ice, a dozen meters away.

A ring of snow had formed where the drainpipe met the ground. The snowdrift was not in a natural shape, with overly rounded edges, as if it had been pressed down by something and then smoothed out by hand.

Ghost Girl's gaze lingered on the circle of snowdrifts for three or four seconds, then she slowly turned her head and lowered her voice: "Right there, crouching in the corner where the drainpipe meets the ground. She had her back to us, and it looked like she was touching the ice on the pipe, touching it very carefully, like she was studying something."

Lin Yi moved a few steps sideways against the outer wall of the power distribution room. From the angle indicated by Ghost Girl, he could indeed see a blurry outline.

In the shadows where the streetlights couldn't reach, its silhouette resembled a piece of light-colored fabric carelessly placed at the base of a pipe.

If Ghost Girl hadn't pointed out the location beforehand, he probably would have thought it was an old piece of clothing that had been blown over and was hanging there by the wind.

He made a gesture, meaning "Don't rush, let's see what she's going to do first," so the group each found a spot to observe.

Dorothea was completely unaware of all this. She was crouching next to a snowdrift at the base of the drainpipe, her knees almost touching the ground. The hem of her white dress was spread out on the snow, the edges of which had been soaked by the melting snow and turned into a translucent gray.

Her fingers moved slowly along the ice layer on the outside of the pipe. The sensation from her fingertips made her squint her eyes slightly and let out a very soft "mmm," like a kitten smelling food it had never smelled before.

She had made her way to the power distribution room, heading in the direction from which heat was emanating.

The temperature distribution map of the Reincarnation Paradise Fortress in her perception was different from any other settlement she had ever seen before. The heat radiation emitted by the heating pipes spread along the ground in a pattern she had never seen before, like someone had drawn an invisible grid on the snow with a pen.

She ran her fingertips across the ice layer on the outside of the pipe and could feel the heat of the metal beneath the ice traveling up the veins in her palm. The heat was very even, completely different from the warmth that was barely maintained by embers and animal hides at the Muguang Mission Grounds.

“What’s buried beneath this fortress…” she muttered to herself, her voice muffled by the wind. “The heat in those pipes seems to flow out on its own; no one needs to add fuel.”

She stood up very quietly, as if afraid of crushing the snow beneath her feet.

She patted the ice shards off her skirt and was about to turn around and take a few more steps toward the city wall when she suddenly caught a few red dots in her peripheral vision.

The red light appeared slowly, but its position was extremely tricky, blocking her movement in all four directions—front, back, left, and right—at a distance of about three or four meters, just outside the safe radius that she couldn't reach with any of her dodging maneuvers.

Ghost Girl's right hand was slightly open, and several thin blood-red lines extended from her fingertips to the clusters of red light.

Dorothea's movements froze the moment the red light appeared; her body stiffened slightly, as if someone had poured a spoonful of ice water on the back of her neck.

Her gaze shifted from the red light and swept across her surroundings.

Dorothea's brain was racing at the highest point of her life at that moment.

She heard footsteps approaching on the snow. The calm gait indicated that the other party was completely in control of the situation, needing neither to hide nor to urge her, because she had nowhere left to run.

“I’m here to cooperate.” Her voice was clearly audible in the snowy night. “I come from the Bathing Light Mission Grounds, where we are about to be destroyed. Rest assured, we do not believe in gods. Our doctrine is about continuation, the continuation of humanity, to prevent extinction by the alien race. Although it may not be trustworthy for me, as someone who is half alien, to say this, it is the truth.”

After saying that, she knelt down, put her hands on her head, and her forehead almost touched her knees.

She performed the kneeling posture very skillfully, as if she had practiced it many times. The angle at which her knees landed was just right to place her center of gravity in the position least likely to be dragged, and the posture of her hands behind her head did not block her vision.

Dorothea's eyelashes trembled slightly, but she quickly added, "I didn't bring any weapons. I was able to infiltrate this area purely because of my unique hybrid physique. I don't have anything offensive on me."

Lin Yi stopped about five steps away from her and looked down at the white figure kneeling in the snow.

The skirt is of very average quality, with many frayed and worn edges. There are two slightly darker patches at the knees. The workmanship is not very fine, but the stitching is very tight.

"Raise your head," Lin Yi said.

Dorothea's neck twitched, and she slowly raised it.

Her face looked younger than her actual age, as if it were a physiological characteristic of someone who had been in a state of semi-starvation for a long time, with slightly prominent cheekbones and a few sunken shadows around her eyes.

"A hybrid of a mutant and a human?" Lin Yi's voice was devoid of emotion.

Dorothea's lips moved slightly, as if she was choosing her words carefully, and then she nodded: "The offspring born from a parasite that takes over a human body and then mates with a human have only a very low chance of surviving and inheriting the characteristics of both parents. My father is human, and my mother is a parasite."

She said this in a very flat tone, as if she were reciting a menu.

The ghost girl crouched behind the wooden crate, her expression shifting from wariness to a subtle curiosity. Pointing at Dorothea, she asked, "So, how many mothers do you have?"

Dorothea paused, blinked twice, as if trying to decipher a logical trap in the question. After a few seconds, she answered, "There's only one. Although she's not my biological mother—she's just someone the parasite established a relationship with after taking over a human body—she is nominally my mother."

Ghost Girl let out an ambiguous "hmm" and didn't ask any further questions.

Su Xiao emerged from the shadow of the storage box, his Dragon Slayer still hanging at his waist, but his right thumb was already resting on the top of the hilt.

He stopped half a step behind Lin Yi, his gaze sweeping from the top of Dorothea's head down to her ankles before looking away.

"You said you came from the Muguang Missionary Grounds, but where exactly are you located?"

Dorothea's throat bobbed, and she swallowed hard. She could feel the almost undisguised aura emanating from Su Xiao.

Muguang City is an underground city, located only a few dozen kilometers away from the alien stronghold. Due to the ongoing internal conflicts among the aliens, coupled with the fact that most of the humans in Muguang City possess supernatural abilities, the two sides have reached a stalemate.

After the spacetime crystals began to fall, the alien king forced several commanders to stop their internal conflicts. The alien army destroyed Muguang City in three days. This underground city, which was hailed as humanity's last hope and vowed to bask in the sunlight, was destroyed by the alien army.

As for the Muguang Missionary Site, it was located fifteen kilometers east of Muguang City, originally an inconspicuous little settlement. After Muguang City was destroyed, the few surviving humans fled there to hide, intending to live out the rest of their lives there.

She paused here, her gaze lingering on Lin Yi's face for a moment, as if to confirm whether he was still listening, before continuing, "Our mission ground doesn't proselytize; it just has the word 'missionary' in its name. Our doctrine is about continuation, about ensuring the human race continues to exist and isn't completely wiped out by other species. We accept anyone who wants to live, regardless of whether they were beastmen, humans, or anything else before. We don't worship any gods, nor do we believe in any mythologies."

"You ran out to call for help?"

“Not entirely.” Dorothea’s gaze shifted from Lin Yi’s face to the snow at his feet, as if looking at the crushed snowflakes. “I just wanted to see what was going on, and then I saw you fighting the aliens. I thought, since you managed to fight your way into the alien fortress, maybe you could help me. But when I got here, I found out you actually obtained a King’s Heart.”

"Help with what?"

Dorothea's eyelashes fluttered again, and she looked up to meet Lin Yi's gaze once more: "Help us stay alive. If you'd like, I can tell you about Wang Xin."

Lin Yi stood up, looked down at her for a while, and then turned to look at Su Xiao.

Su Xiao's thumb had been removed from the hilt of the knife. His posture was a little more relaxed than before, but the relaxation was extremely limited. It was roughly the change from "being ready to draw the knife at any time" to "being able to wait a second before drawing the knife".

"You said you sensed Wang Xin's aura. What is that thing? Explain it clearly." Lin Yi's voice slowed down, as if he were adding punctuation to a difficult text.

Dorothea's lips parted, the words heaving in her throat for a moment before finally being pushed out: "I'm sorry, I can't say for now, unless you come to the Bathing Light Mission Grounds."

"Oh? Not afraid of death?"

Dorothea's lips tightened again. She looked down at the hem of her skirt, her fingers no longer twisting the fabric, but simply resting lightly on the surface, her fingertips slightly white, as if pressing down on a trembling part.

The silence lasted for about five or six seconds, long enough for the snowflakes to accumulate on her eyelashes in a thin layer of white frost.

"I can't say." Her voice was much lower than before, as if it were being squeezed out from somewhere deeper in her throat.

"why?"

"If you want to know, come to the Muguang Missionary Ground. I can only tell you there."

Her tone was no longer flustered and hurried; instead, it carried a deep, unwavering persistence, like a thin wire that had been repeatedly bent but never broken.

Lin Yi looked at her for three seconds, then turned to Ghost Girl: "Temporarily seal her senses."

The ghost girl stood up from behind the wooden crate, patting the snow off her knees: "Okay, my ghost can create a localized shielding layer."

Dorothea looked up at Lin Yi: "Does that thing that's sealing me hurt?"

Ghost Girl thought for a moment: "No, but you'll feel like there's fog floating in your head, like when you're taking a shower and there's too much steam in the bathroom, and everything looks like it's through a layer."

Lin Yi turned to Ghost Girl: "How long will the blockade last?"

Ghost Girl counted on her fingers: "About two days."

Dorothea could only nod helplessly: "Fine, I'll go with you. But I have one condition."

"explain."

"You can't tie me up. I hate being tied up. I was tied up when I was a child, and it traumatized me."

Lin Yi looked at her and paused for a second: "I won't tie you up. But if you try to escape or attack while walking, I will cut off your limbs."

Dorothea's lips twitched slightly: "Fine, you're more ruthless than me."

"This way." Lin Yi turned and walked towards the main road, his pace quickening compared to when he came out.

Dorothea followed behind him, keeping a distance that was neither too close nor too far.

The light from the main hall leaked through the gaps in the curtains, casting a long, flat, orange-yellow band of light on the snow.

The edges of the light band were cut into fuzzy, jagged shapes by snowflakes, swaying slightly with the direction of the wind.

Dorothea slowed her pace for a moment as she approached the warm light. She could feel the noise and heat emanating from behind the curtain, the loose, chaotic, and irregular liveliness unique to human settlements.

The last time she entered a place like this was when she was very young, before Muguang City was trampled by the alien species. There were still night markets and stalls in the city, where vendors would set up iron stoves by the roadside to roast sweet potatoes and meat skewers. The smell, mixed with coal smoke and shouts, wafted into her nose, like a soft blanket wrapped around her face.

She hadn't smelled that scent for many years. The Muguang Mission Grounds were deserted and silent. The survivors sat in their corners all day, lost in thought, even their coughs were muffled, as if a slightly louder sound would attract the aliens.

When Lin Yi lifted the curtain, the warm air, carrying the smells of alcohol, sweat, and warmth, rushed onto Dorothea's face. She subconsciously squinted, and her olfactory organs, which had been frozen stiff, came back to life in an instant.

She saw people of all shapes and colors sitting scattered in the main hall. When they saw her walk in, they looked up at her a few times, then went back to their work. There was no hostility or curiosity in their eyes, as if they were looking at a bag of supplies being moved into a warehouse.

King Kong stood up from beside the low table, still holding the bottle of dark brown wine in his hand.

He took two steps toward Lin Yi, his gaze sweeping over Lin Yi's shoulder and over Dorothea, then grinned and said, "That's it? You went out for a walk and all you brought back was a girl in a white dress? She's as skinny as a bamboo pole, what can she do?"

"I'm leaving this place to you. I'm going back now."

After saying that, Dorothea was led to the medical tent by Lin Yi. When Lin Yi lifted the curtain to let her in, Cinna was sitting on a folding chair flipping through the textbook on nerve suturing.

Seeing Lin Yi bring in a strange woman in a white dress, Qin Na put down her book and stood up. She glanced at Dorothea and then gave Lin Yi an inquiring look.

“She needs to make a detailed statement. You can help her take notes here. Do you have paper and pen?” Lin Yi sat down on the folding stool next to the operating table and gestured for Dorothea to sit on the chair opposite him.

Qinna pulled out an old notebook and a ballpoint pen from the cabinet. There was a ring of teeth marks on the pen cap, probably from when she was thinking.

She sat down next to Lin Yi, opened her notebook to the first page, and held her pen above the paper, ready to take notes.

As Dorothea finished speaking the last paragraph, King Kong's powerful laughter echoed from outside the tent; even through several layers of canvas, one could feel the sheer volume of his lungs.

She stopped and listened to the laughter. The lines at the corners of her mouth relaxed slightly, as if the laughter had carved a small crack in a tense state.

“You people laugh really loudly here,” she said.

Dorothea stared at her palm in silence for about ten seconds, then said, "You said you would send someone to the Bathing Light Mission Grounds, is that true?"

"real."

"When?"

"Tomorrow morning." Lin Yi stood up from his chair, took a clean blanket from the cabinet, and handed it to her. "Tonight you'll sleep on the cot at the back of the medical tent. Qinna will keep watch. I'll send someone to fetch you before dawn tomorrow. You'll lead the way to the Muguang Missionary Grounds." (End of Chapter)