Chapter 3403: Chapter 3403: Keep Making Turns

The first to rush upwards were the three Other Shore creatures of the Wind Wave race.

The Wind Wave race was one of the ancient races on the Other Shore. Although they had also submitted to the Element Spirit Civilization, their status was much higher than that of the Violet Cloud race. The Eternal Realm masters of the Wind Wave race even had a certain influence within the Element Spirit Civilization.

This time, the Wind Wave race was quite lucky. Among the four members they sent into the Eternal Scroll Painting, only one died on the first page.

The moment the second Evil Orochi appeared, the three members of the Wind Wave race guessed that it would likely rush up along the passage, so they quietly crept upward ahead of everyone.

They were already in the lead, and when the Evil Orochi below really did rush up, they immediately took to their heels.

“Rush out as fast as we can!”

“We'll be safe as long as we can come out of the maze!”

“……”

The three members of the Wind Wave race also had a strong desire to survive.

They didn't know whether or not they could successfully break out of the maze. However, they knew that if they continued to stay where they were, they would definitely die.

Although the chance of making it out alive was slim to none, they could only continue to fight for their survival!

Nevertheless, what happened next just completely extinguished their hope. The huge black snake hiding at the end of the passage suddenly came out of its hiding spot and slithered towards them at a lightning speed. Its jaws were wide open. The last thing the three of them saw before they were swallowed was an endless, slimy, black hole inside the snake's fanged mouth.

Everything happened in a matter of seconds. The three disappeared without even leaving a tiny bit of scream, much less traces of blood on the scene. But it was actually such a quietly creeping death that planted an indescribable fear in the hearts of the others. Lives had disappeared before they even knew what was happening.

Almost right after those three Other Shore creatures were swallowed, three streaks of bloody light fell on three of the Three Purities Stones in the Grand Plain Stage. The area where they fell was precisely the territory of the Wind Wave race. Upon seeing the bloody lights, the members of the Wind Wave race waiting outside immediately roared in anger.

Each race had suffered heavy losses this time, except for the Wind Wave race, which only had one member dead. The Wind Wave race had been secretly rejoicing in their hearts because of this. How could they possibly think that they would lose the remaining three people at the same time?

The surviving Other Shore creatures in the passage were practically beside themselves with dread. The path ahead was blocked, and the pursuer behind was hot on their trail—they really had their back against the wall now...

But in this situation, they had no time to ponder about other ways to go out.

The passage wasn't long, and the Evil Orochi below would soon come up.

Even though the three members of the Wind Wave race were swallowed by the other Evil Orochi, they still had to continue to rush up!

The next four Other Shore creatures that rushed up were quite lucky. Maybe because it had just swallowed three people, the Evil Orochi couldn't change its direction fast enough to bite those four. Ꞧ𝘈NՕ𝐛ЁS

Seeing the success of the four creatures, Zen and the others immediately followed their lead and rushed up as fast as they could.

Thus, the usually tranquil world inside the scroll painting was now full of hustle and bustle as creatures that had transformed into paintings were all running for their lives.

At the end of the maze, there were many crisscrossing passages, dividing the area into many smaller squares. Upon arriving at the intersection, Zen and the Other Shore creatures immediately changed their direction and went into the passage paralleled to the one they came from.

Just right after they stepped into the passage, the Evil Orochi from below caught up with them.

Two Other Shore creatures didn't dodge fast enough and ended up in its belly.

“How miserable...”

Kirk's face paled in fear upon personally witnessing the two creatures being swallowed alive. As he was a picture now, he could also see his paper-white face.

In comparison, Zen and Egan looked much calmer.

Zen, needless to say, had experienced life-and-death crises none of these creatures had experienced before or would experience in the future. Almost nothing could shock him now. Besides, he had long learned that neither panic nor fear would be of much help in the face of mortal dangers.

As for Egan, he had been relying on his own ability to venture in Stage Thirteen for a long time. The crises he went through in his journey had honed both his abilities and guts.

“The way the Evil Orochi moves is very strange,” whispered Zen, who had pasted himself to the wall in the passage.

“Yes, its speed seems to be fast only when it moves in a straight line,” an Other Shore creature replied.

This creature also had herself pasted to the wall. She was small and had a pair of pointed ears on top of her head. Her body was half-human, half-fox. Because she was in the form of a painting now, her detailed features were almost inconspicuous.

What this “fox” said made Zen subconsciously take a few more glances at her.

Most Other Shore creatures in their group were already in panic by now. They only thought about how terrifying the Evil Orochis were and how to escape. This fox, however, remained calm and assessed the opponent. She also seemed to have come to the same conclusion as him.

“It should be so.” Zen nodded at her.

Just now, when the Evil Orochi made a turn and entered the passage where they took shelter, the speed at which it changed its direction was extremely slow.

Had it been able to change direction quickly at that time, all of them would've been killed, including Zen.

“If the Evil Orochis can't change their direction quickly, doesn't it mean they are quite easy to deal with?”

The gears in Egan's mind turned at a lightning speed. A glimmer of hope for survival had completely rejuvenated him.

There were many huge square areas at the end of the No-break Maze, and each of those areas had countless rooms with hexagram arrays inside.

In such a layout, there would be many corners at which they could turn no matter where they went.

The speed of the Evil Orochis was unbelievably fast. Even the Violet Cloud race, which was well-known for their quick speed, couldn't outrun or dodge them. But if they could only change their directions slowly, the threat they posed on the remaining Other Shore creatures would be greatly reduced.

At this moment, the Evil Orochi that rushed past them had turned around and was now rushing back to the intersection. Its speed was still incredibly fast.

But when it rushed to Zen's side, its speed suddenly became extremely slow. It slowly turned its head and entered the horizontal passage where Zen and the others were!

“It-it's turning around!” An Other Shore creature exclaimed with a trembling voice.

While the Evil Orochi slowly turned its body, its head was already a few feet away from where they were hiding.

“Let's make a turn and move to another passage,” Zen said calmly.

As the passage where they were now was a horizontal one, he, Egan, and the others turned at one of the corners and entered a vertical one.

As soon as the Evil Orochi entered the horizontal passage, it found that its prey had all fled to the vertical one. After a moment of surprise, it slowly turned its head and followed after them.

However, a slow Evil Orochi wasn't a threat to them.

They continued to move back and forth between the horizontal and the vertical passages. Slowly but surely, they crept upward bit by bit.

Their speed wasn't fast either, but by moving this way, they were moving closer and closer towards the exit of the maze. As they continued to slowly make their way towards the exit, the rekindled hope in their hearts continued to grow brighter.

“It seems… the Evil Orochis aren't as powerful as people said...” an Other Shore creature said with a trace of disdain.

“What's so terrifying about animals that can't even turn at a corner?” another Other Shore creature replied with a laugh.

Nevertheless, if it was so easy to deal with those snakes, how could so many Other Shore creatures become their victims before?

Zen didn't say anything. He always felt that something was wrong with this whole thing.

If the Evil Orochis were really that easy to deal with, people wouldn't have put the word “evil” in its name. After all, those who could enter the Eternal Scroll Painting were all supposed to reach the Eternal Realm. They were all smart and would never do something without a good cause.

Just as they moved to another horizontal passage from a vertical one, a black shadow suddenly flew towards them from a distance at a high speed. It was the other Evil Orochi!