Chapter 151 Into The Phoenix Chamber Part 31

In the early morning, before the sun rose, the four Tanzanies had already left the camp and headed to the forest to find the pure phoenix egg and the third key to No Man's Land.

Abrafo said, "My clothes are still wet."

Hajime turned back and glanced at Abrafo, who was wearing a monk's robe. "To be honest, I think Michio's clothes look great on you."

Michio teased, "Hey, have you ever thought about becoming a monk?"

Abrafo was about to fight Michio when he saw a peacock walking by the mountain wall next to the waterfall. As two other peacocks approached behind the waterfall, Abrafo grabbed Michio's shoulder. "Hey look," Abrafo whispered. "Peacocks."

Hajime, Yul, and U-ri turned toward the waterfall to see three peacocks flashing their tails skyward in the morning breeze. The peacocks turned their heads and looked at the five Tanzines for a moment. The first peacock spread its wings and flew into the mountain wall behind the waterfall and disappeared. The second peacock and the third peacock continued to look at the five Tanzanies. When Abrafo slowly approached the two peacocks, the second peacock quickly flew into the mountain wall behind the waterfall and disappeared. Now, the third peacock is still looking at Abrafo, shaking his head from side to side, then lowering his head, slowly scraping the rocks with his beak, and then the peacock hops to go to the waterfall to drink some water. The peacock glanced at Abrafo again, and walked through the mountain wall, and disappeared.

"Impossible!" Abrafo chased after the peacock. "How did it just disappear into that solid wall."

Hajime and Yul looked at each other and said at the same time, "The Phoenix Chamber."

Yul said, "Let's look around. There must be an entrance here."

Abrafo said, "So, the one in the valley is fake." He began to feel around the rock walls where the peacock disappeared, and he noticed that the texture where the peacocks disappeared was softer than the texture of the rock wall farther away. "Everyone, I may have found the real entrance to the Phoenix Chamber." He turned to look at the other four Tanzanies and smiled. "Let's go in."

"Wait." U-ri quickly took Abrafo's arm. "We don't know what's waiting for us on the other side of this wall."

Michio said, "Abrafo, U-ri is right. What if those three peacocks are just an illusion, just tricking us into going in, and when we go in, we will be eaten alive by an unknown monster."

Abrafo said, "You two think too much."

U-ri replied, "We didn't think too much. We thought enough to make the right decision for our safety."

Hajime said, "I agreed with U-ri's point of view. What about me?"

Yul pushed Hajime away and said, "No." He quickly rushed into the wall only a few yards away from him.

"Yul!" Everyone shouted at the same time, but Yul had already disappeared into the mountain wall.

"Fuck this," Abrafo said, dashing through the solid wall and disappearing with Yul.

Hajime, Michio, and U-ri, have no choice but to follow Yul and Abrafo into the mountain wall.

When Hajime, Michio, and U-ri reached the other side of the mountain wall, they saw Yul and Abrafo standing there admiring the view before them. The entire valley is full of peacocks, peahens, and peachicks of various colors running in the beautiful wetlands.

From where the water lies, the falling water forms many creeks that flow through the small valley. The Phoenix Chamber is surrounded by towering mountains. From where the five Tanzanies were standing, they could see the entire Phoenix Chamber Valley. Although the valley is not big, it has lush trees and tall grass. Finding the third key and the pure phoenix egg in this green grassy valley is as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack.

"We found paradise," Hajime said, looking at Michio and U-ri.

"I couldn't believe my eyes," Michio said, rubbing his eyes twice. "Am I dreaming?" U-ri reached out and pinched the cheek on Michio's right cheek. "Ouch..."

U-ri looked at Michio with a smile and said, "It hurts, so you're not dreaming." He took out his journal and continued to write and draw what he saw. "If we return to Tanzang, His Highness will be happy to read about our journey, but if we fail and die, perhaps others will know about our journey." He smiled and continued sketching.

Yul and Abrafo turned and walked back to the three Tazanies who were standing a few feet away from them.

"I think we're in the right Phoenix Chamber," Abrafo said. "So, how do we find the pure phoenix egg and our key?"

Yul said, "We looked around, and in just three days, the poisonous gas in Scattered Forest will become too thick and we will not be able to return safely, so... we have to find those items before the deadline to leave Scattered Forest safely."

U-ri said, "I wouldn't mind staying in here for another year."

Abrafo said, "And that will be another year of suffering for our people. I would rather finish this and go home and save our people from suffering."

U-ri looked at Abrafo and said, "Sometimes, you need to relax and enjoy yourself, so that you have the strength to save others."

Hajime smiled at Abrafo and said, "U-ri does have a point, and so do you. Let's have fun while focusing on our mission."

Michio looked at U-ri who crouched next to a rock, using the top of the rock as a table to sketch his findings. "But there's not enough food to last a year," Michio said.

U-ri looked up at Michio and said, "I saw the clearing not far from here. I believe there should be a small lake or pond in that clearing. Where there is water, there will be fish."

Yul looked at Hajime and said, "Mark our way out."

Hajime quickly rubbed the fingers of his right hand, and a glowing butterfly appeared in his palm. He placed the glowing butterfly on a rock next to the waterfall.

"U-ri," Hajime said. "Did you finish your work?"

"I'm done," U-ri said, standing up and closing the journal.

The five Tazanies went down the stream, and after about an hour, they came to a small lake with crystal clear water. The water was so clear they could see the bottom. Thousands of small, smooth, flat rocks of various gray colors dot the lake.

Michio looked at U-ri and said, "There are no fish."

Yul pulled out the leather map, hoping it would give them more clues, but the markings on the map remained the same.

Abrafo looked at Yul and asked, "Does that old map show anything new?"

Yul shook his head and stuffed the map back into his robe. "Let's go search the area and be back here before sunset," Yul said.

The five men nodded and went their separate ways according to the original plan.

As the sun set, Hajime and U-ri made their way back to the lake. They threw the lotus roots to the lake and Hajime began to clean them, while U-ri started to light a fire.

"Do you think we can eat it raw without cooking it?" Hajime asked.

U-ri blew twice against the dry leaves on the ground. When he saw the small smoke rising, he grabbed the journal and began to gently fan the dry leaves. "Not those," U-ri said. "It's too bitter when eaten raw, and the roots will soften when cooked. Oh, remember to peel them to get rid of the bitter taste." He quickly added the twigs he found to keep the fire burning.

Yul and Michio came from a distance. Michio saw the small bonfire and rushed towards U-ri. "U-ri," he shouted happily. "What are you cooking?"

U-ri said, "I haven't cooked anything yet. I just made a fire to cook the lotus roots we found."

Michio frowned sadly and sat next to U-ri.

U-ri asked, "Have you two discovered anything?"

Yul said, "We found nothing. The trees here don't produce editable berries."

"We didn't find anything either, there were a few small ponds with lotus flowers, so we got some roots," U-ri said. He looked around. "Where is Abrafo?"

Hajime walked up to the three Tanzanies and put the pot of lotus roots on the fire. "If we don't find what we're looking for here, what do we do next?" he asked.

Yul said, "We're going to have to miss the deadline and stay here for another year, but first we have to find a food source."

"We don't need to worry about food sources," Abrafo said as he carried two pheasants and walked towards the four Tanzanies.

Michio stood up happily. "Where did you get these?" he asked, expecting some decent meat for tonight dinner.

"I found them on the other side of the mountain," Abrafo said, pointing to the far right.

Michio grabbed the two dead pheasants and said, "I'll cook them." He quickly took the dead pheasants to the lake.

Yul quickly stood up and shouted, "Michio stop!"

Michio stopped and turned to look at Yul. "What?" he asked.

Yul said, "Come back with those pheasants."

Michio looked at Yul dumbfounded. "Why?" he asked, walking towards the four Tanzanies.

Abrafo looked at Yul and asked, "What's wrong?"

Yul said, "Listen..."

Abrafo asked, "For?"

Yul said, "It's too loud."

Abrafo suddenly listened carefully and found that the natural sounds in the valley became unusually loud. Abrafo finally understood what Yul meant. "You're right... it's too loud," Abrafo stood up, hands on his waist. "Why?"

Hajime looked around and found that many feathered birds had gathered around them, but these birds kept a good distance from them. "They're gathering around us," he said, scanning the area for signs of danger.

U-ri looked at the birds gathered on the branches. "I've heard that animals sometimes gather to warn people to stay away from sacred grounds or not to do anything that would disturb the purity of the sacred ground."

Abrafo looked around and said, "I've never heard of that."

Michio said, "Sacred grounds are often places where eminent monks meditate until Nirvana. Because the surrounding beings are often exposed to monks chanting sutras, they also accumulate good virtues. Therefore, the place becomes a sacred ground."

Abrafo looked at Michio. "In other words that are easier to understand," Abrafo said.

Yul said, "It's the burial place of the individual."

Hajime asked, "Like a tomb?"

U-ri smiled and said, "Yes, this valley must be the tomb of someone who reached nirvana."

Hajime asked, "But I just washed the lotus roots in the lake before, and the birds did not gather. So, is there any problem?"

U-ri turned to look at Michio, holding two dead pheasants hanging upside down in his hands, blood dripping on the ground. "They gathered here to tell us that we should not let blood stain the lake," U-ri said.

Hajime looked at everyone and asked, "Is there something going on in this lake that these birds don't want us to know about?"

Abrafo looked at the lake and said, "That means there is something hidden at the bottom of the lake." He smiled evilly. "The only thing I can think of is our key to no man's land."