Chapter 2609: Chapter 2609: Getting Trapped

Hearing this, Zen's expression grew grave as he realized the gravity of the situation.

“Since the whirlpool does not disappear,” he pondered aloud, “there must be many other whirlpools in the Sea of Truth, right?”

Dorothy nodded to confirm. “Yes. According to some incomplete statistics, there are about 1, 200 whirlpools in the Sea of Truth.”

These whirlpools began to appear around twenty thousand years ago.

They possessed special magic; people would be trapped forever once they were drawn in.

At first, these whirlpools only appeared in the sixth to ninth sections. At that time, a lot of unfortunate creatures were drawn in.

Even if they were extremely talented, once trapped, they could not free themselves from the force of the whirlpool. It was a harsh reality.

Back then, creatures entered the Sea of Truth warily and cautiously eyed the movement of the water at all times.

Sometime later, someone had come up with an intelligent way to spot the whirlpools. The method was basically to pour some special dye into the whirlpools.

Once a whirlpool appeared, its area was completely isolated from the outside. The dye allowed the others to easily spot the light green or yellow spiraling waters in the distance. This gave them ample time to avoid the whirlpool.

As time went by, the whirlpools gradually spread to the periphery of the Sea of Truth. Soon, they had appeared in the fourth and fifth sections, but they were yet to be observed in the first to third sections.

“I didn't expect that the whirlpool would appear in the second section. How incredibly lucky we are!” Dorothy heaved a distressed groan.

Zen looked to the incoming Truth Boats. “It's useless for them to try to retreat, isn't it?”

“Yes,” Dorothy sighed. “Since we have been caught in the whirlpool, it means that we are already isolated from the Sea of Truth. No matter how hard we try, we won't be able to get out.”

Splash! Splash!

As they spoke, the Truth Boats brushed past them, carried by the force of the swirling water.

“There must be a way to get out of here. Let's go,” Zen tried to comfort the sulking Dorothy.

Dorothy pursed her lips. She had been waiting for Zen, so she encountered the whirlpool. Otherwise, with her ability, she should have already crossed five lines.

However, she knew dwelling over this was futile. 'How unlucky, ' she sighed inwardly.

Seeing that Zen had changed the direction of his Truth Boat, she turned her boat around to follow him.

Besides the humans, other creatures had also realized what was happening. They tried to change the direction of their Truth Boats, rushing forward.

Soon after, Zen saw humans stopping their Truth Boats in the middle of the sea.

It was as though an invisible wall barricaded them. No matter how hard they tried, they were unable to break through the said wall.

“What bad luck! The first time I ever enter the Sea of Truth, I'm drawn into a whirlpool!”

“I don't believe it!”

“Those rumors can't be true! There must be a way out of the whirlpool!”

The humans let out woeful cries, as if the sky had crumbled before them.

Those who came to the Sea of Truth all wanted to reach the Other Shore. Being drawn into the whirlpool meant that their dreams of doing so would be ruined. řãNО𝔟ΕS

“Woo!”

“Woo!”

“Argh!”

Other creatures could not leave the whirlpool either. They raised their heads to the sky and wept relentlessly in their own languages.

Zen approached the edge of the whirlpool by his Truth Boat. He could clearly see two currents from different directions intersecting. When he tried to drive his boat to the intersection, he felt an invisible force pulling at his boat.

“Is this the power of currents? This is impossible,” he muttered.

The water in the first section flowed much faster than here, but he was still able to cross it. The water streamed a little less intensely here. He didn't think it could stop him.

He then positioned his boat horizontally and tried to steer backward with all his strength.

However, it was futile. He was still trapped in the whirlpool.

“Just give up. It's no use,” Dorothy whined in a dejected tone. “Some people once threw soul chains into the whirlpool to try to rescue a Truth Boat in it but failed. They even attempted to drag the man out without his boat, but all their attempts failed!”

Dorothy spoke with bitterness. She was talking about her cousin, who had gotten trapped in a whirlpool in the sixth section five years ago.

He had tried every means to escape. Even the elders of her clan tried to get him out. They were very powerful in the Source World, and yet, they could do nothing to save him.

Over the years, she had witnessed her cousin turn from one of the most talented to a hopeless bum, drinking to forget his woes.

Not long ago, she had tried to comfort her cousin. She didn't expect that she too would end up in the same situation.

As Zen was trying to escape the whirlpool, a wolflike creature approached him on its Truth Boat. “Human...” it called out in a foreign tongue. “Is there any way out?”

“Idiot off!”

Dorothy shouted harshly. As despair began to take over her, she had no patience for this wolflike creature.

“Human girl, do you know who I am?” The wolflike creature said indignantly, wondering why Dorothy was so hot-tempered.

Dorothy had had enough. Suddenly, the Necklace of Mystic Soul on her chest erupted, a powerful aura bursting forth. The small sword between her eyebrows instantly shot towards the wolflike creature's Soul of Light.

Boom!

With an explosive sound, the wolflike creature's Soul of Light had been cleanly pierced through.

The wolflike creature stood motionless, as if someone had cast a spell on it. Its Truth Boat then cracked and broke into pieces, and it, along with the remnants of its boat, slowly sank into the Sea of Truth.

In a flash, Dorothy had killed the wolflike creature.

“Whoa. She is so powerful!”

Upon witnessing this scene, Zen was taken aback.

He was well aware that Dorothy was not an ordinary girl, but it never crossed his mind that her Soul of Light was that strong when she was vexed.

The kin of the wolflike creature howled in anger. However, as they were intelligent creatures, they knew not to mess with Dorothy, so they didn't dare to come near her.

Dorothy let out a long sigh after having given in to her anger. “It seems I can only choose to be reborn. Zen, if you come to the Source World, I can help you extract your Memory Flame and bring you back to life.”

The only way to get out of the whirlpool was to be reborn, because it only trapped souls.

After being reborn, one's Memory Flame could be placed in a new soul. They would have a new body, and consequently, would have to start their life all over again.

Zen knew this was the only known way to escape the whirlpool, but the price was too high. “Don't worry, Dora.” He smiled reassuringly. “There's an exception to everything, and we will find it.”