Chapter 2663: Chapter 2663: Screams

The eyes of the outermost statue glowed a bright white, emitting brilliant rays of flashing light.

The rays pierced through someone's Soul of Light.

The person let out a shrill scream. It was a woman's voice.

Her Soul of Light twisted and thrashed, trying to break free from the rays of white light that had impaled her. Her efforts were in vain. The light held her in place, glowing brightly, as her screams began to dwindle.

Finally, silence fell. The woman had melted in the light.

Two more rays of radiant white light shot through the air, emitted by the glowing eyes of the second statue.

The group knew something was wrong. They immediately rushed away from the second statue. No one was pierced by the rays, as they narrowly escaped the melted woman's fate.

But it wasn't over. The eyes of every other statue began glowing and pulsing, all emitting rays of white light.

The rays crisscrossed each other, forming an irregular web of luminous white light. The net was tight at first, and then expanded, filling the temple.

The temple was full of statues. As more and more of the statues were activated, shooting out streaks of light from their eyes, the group inside the temple realized they were running out of space to dodge the deadly rays.

As Dorothy and Zen moved quickly through the temple, trying to find a way to escape, they saw a group of maybe around seven people rushing in their direction. They were getting crowded, running out of room to evade the rays of light. Their hearts sank.

“We have to go up!”

Zen saw a stairwell ahead, and rushed into it without hesitation, dragging Dorothy behind him.

Meanwhile, Hammer, Harding, Hackett and the other warriors were still struggling for the Heavenly Cobweb. But as they watched the glowing white web, which grew as more statues emitted rays of light from their eyes, their expressions changed.

The web of light meant that this was now a matter of life-and-death. Their lives were more important than the Other Shore Token—it would have to wait.

They immediately gave up the battle and followed Zen and Dorothy up the stairwell to the next floor.

The temple was more than ten floors high, each level connected to the next via a spiral staircase. As Zen and Dorothy rushed up the steps, they heard another scream from behind.

Three of the people in the last group that entered the temple had been pierced by the rays of light, and found themselves trapped in the web.

Someone stretched out a hand to a companion who had been caught in the web, trying to pull him free. But as soon as they touched, he found that he could no longer let go. He was tied to his companion's Soul of Light, both of them trapped by the rays of light.

More screams sounded as the four people died.

Zen heard the screams and knew people were dying. “Why don't they just leave the Other Shore?” he asked as he moved forward.

Dorothy smiled bitterly. She said, “I forgot to tell you. Once people have entered the temple, they can't just leave when they want.”

The Other Shore held many temples, large and small. Each one required a corresponding Other Shore Key to be unlocked. People ventured inside not only for the chance to obtain an extremely rare and powerful Other Shore Token, but also because it was said that the temples could strengthen souls.

Of course, there was a catch. Every temple was incredibly dangerous.

Dorothy had not been in a hurry to enter the temple. Of course, the Origin Mountain had better plans for her. Still, since the Sacred Mallow Temple was only in Stage One of the Other Shore, she had believed it would be relatively safe. Now she knew how naive she had been. ŗ𝔞𝐍ỔʙÈ𝘴

“What?!” Zen sounded rather helpless.

Before entering the temple, Zen had considered the possible crises he might encounter, and the different countermeasures he could use.

Once his Soul of Light was trapped in the temple, he would make his body cross the sea. That was why before entering, he had asked Dorothy how to use the Other Shore Key.

He realized now that he had been thinking too much.

“Buzz...”

“Buzz...”

Even as they ran upstairs, they weren't safe. The rays of white light bounced off the walls, floors, and ceilings, interlocking with each other, the web spreading quickly up the spiral staircase. The last group couldn't escape the web of light. Despite their hurry, the light struck them from behind, just as they reached the second floor.

They screamed as their Souls of Light were pierced by the rays, and they melted away completely.

By now, Zen and Dorothy were on the third floor, while Hammer and his companions had sped up to reach the fourth floor.

Everyone charged upstairs as fast as they could. They had no time to think what was waiting for them on the upper floors. They had no time to think of anything except escaping the immediate danger of the shining white web.

They ran past the fourth floor, the fifth floor, the sixth floor...

By the time they reached the twelfth floor, all the floors and steps below were densely crisscrossed with the rays of white light, which never slowed down. While the people were getting tired, the rays didn't lose any momentum as they filled every available space.

Then everyone reached the thirteenth floor, and found that there were no more stairs. This was the top of the temple. This was the end.

On the far wall of the top floor stood a huge statue. As they stared at it, and even as the rays from below followed them up the stairs, the eyes of the statue began glowing with a white light.

“Buzz...”

This was it. Once the rays of light were released, everyone would die.

“There, over there!”

Dorothy gasped in Zen's ear. There seemed to be a few hollow spaces embedded in the walls.

Zen saw what she was pointing at. Instantly he rushed towards the hollows, dragging her with him.

They had barely reached one of the hollows when the white light flashed behind them.

“Ahhhhh!”

Screams echoed within the walls on the top floor as the rays pierced through several more victims, trapping their Souls of Light, and melting them.

After what seemed like forever, the screams died down. Zen and Dorothy huddled down in the narrow hollow of the wall, hidden from the rays of light.

They stayed as motionless as they could, feeling fortunate they had reached this hollow in time.

If they had moved just a little bit slower... if they had reached this spot just a couple of seconds later... then they would have been too late, and their Souls of Light would have been melted.

“What is this light?” Zen whispered, keeping completely still.

Dorothy's voice was full of fear. “It's Soul-melting Light. It's a notorious challenge in the bigger temples. But for this light to appear here in Stage One of the Other Shore... it was unheard of before. This isn't supposed to be here.”

The Souls of Light, after undergoing heavy trials, could become able to compete with corporeal bodies. However, there were still things that could defeat the souls, and this deadly white light was one of them.

“How long will the light keep shining? It can't stay this bright for too long, can it?” asked Zen.

After all, light was light. It consumed energy. It wouldn't be able to trap them for too long.

“No, I don't think it can,” Dorothy said, having come to the same conclusion as Zen.

Zen felt a rush of relief. This quickly changed to surprise when someone spoke up beside the two of them. “Harding, Hackett! Where are you? Are you all right?”

It was Hammer's voice.

He and some other people had seen the hollows in the wall when Dorothy pointed at them, and had rushed to take cover as well.

They had seized at the possibility of survival. Like Zen and Dorothy, they were crouched down in their hollows, safe from the light for the moment.

“I'm here! Yes, I'm fine,” Harding whispered back. “But Hackett... Hackett didn't make it.”

When Harding and Hackett had rushed towards the hollows, Hackett had moved just a bit slower, and had been shot through by a ray of light.

Upon hearing the news, Hammer groaned bitterly.

The three of them had been filled with such hope and anticipation when they first stepped together onto the Other Shore. Yet now, mere hours later, Hackett was dead.

Dorothy and Zen felt Hammer's sadness and shook their heads.

Loss of life was not unexpected on the Other Shore. While the warriors who made it here were often extremely strong, and eager to gain even greater power in this place, it came with enormous risks.

Indeed, in the Source World, many people would arrange their funeral affairs before they started to cultivate, wary of dying on the Other Shore and leaving a soulless body.

Zen and Dorothy could hear Hammer making sounds of grief near them. They wondered how many of them had reached the hollows in the wall and survived the white light.

As they waited, they heard something new. It was a clicking sound, like something tapping or climbing on the wall.

Zen strained to make out what was causing the sound. Then, to his shock, he heard a shout from the hollow beside theirs.

“What is this? Stop! Don't move any closer! Ahhhh!”

There was a shrill screech. Then, suddenly and ominously, the sound stopped.