Chapter 152 Into The Phoenix Chamber Part 32

The sun had long since set, and the once red horizon was now grey, with a smattering of naval clouds twinkling in the sky. By now the three hammocks had been set up and the gathering birds had long gone; the nightly noise of insects and crickets buzzed loudly in the gray night as the five Tanzanies gathered around a small campfire and began to eat.

"Let's have a night's rest. Tomorrow, when the sun is at the brightest, Abrafo and I will dive into the lake," Yul said, grabbing a lotus root from the pot and moving the pot to Abrafo.

Abrafo took out a lotus root, ate a little, and then swallowed the food down. He said, "Mid-morning is when the sun is up high, so we dive at that time. Yul can hold his breath longer than me, so it is very likely that I will come up first."

Hajime looked at the people around him and said, "Then Michio and I will go look for the pure phoenix egg. U-ri, you just stay here and wait for us."

That night, after the five Tanzanies had finished their dinner, Abrafo, Michio, and U-ri jumped into three hammocks, as Yul and Hajime placed their blankets on the ground next to the bonfire.

Sitting next to Yul, Hajime looked at Yul, and then looked at the small bonfire that was still flickering in the darkness. He raised his head and looked at the millions of stars twinkling in the dark night sky, thinking that no matter how many stars there were in the sky, they would not be bright enough for him to reach his path in life or unable to illuminate his way forward in the darkness because they were too far away from him. To the naked eye, they didn't look as bright as the small bonfire a few feet away from him. This principle is the same for people. In his previous life, he tried his best to live a fulfilling life, but since he walked on the road alone, it seemed that every corner he turned was full of dead ends and heartaches. But here, with friends by his side, he was still able to smile in the face of danger. Suddenly he felt that his heart became very tired, so he rested his head on Yul's right shoulder and took a deep breath.

Yul turned his head, looked over Hajime's forehead, and looked down at Hajime's lips. "If you're tired, you can go to sleep. I'm fine by myself," Yul said. "Since this is a sacred ground, there shouldn't be any danger."

Hajime said sadly, "I was just thinking, how nice it would be if I was born in this era. It would be nice if we met earlier."

Yul said, "No matter what era you are born in, fate will eventually bring you to Tanzang."

Hajime took another deep breath and said, "You're right, but sometimes I do feel that life is not worth living."

Yul asked, "Why?"

Hajime said depressingly, "Back then, whenever I hit rock bottom and had no way out, I had no one to share my fear with, and no one to reach out and hold my hand. I would be scared and alone until the fear slowly passed before I brought myself out of the darkness."

Yul stretched out his hand, grabbed Hajime's hand, and held it tightly in his hand. He smiled sympathetically and said, "My father told me that the strongest person is not the one with the strongest physical strength. The strongest person is the one who charges alone on the edge of the knife and can stand firm no matter how many times he is slashed." He felt a warm dropped of tear touched his hand. He put his arm around Hajime and gentled kissed Hajime's forehead. "I promised that as long as I live, I will never wrong you. In return, as long as I live, you can't leave me."

Hajime put his arms around Yul's waist and buried his face in Yul's chest. "That's a promise, you can't go back on your word," Hajime whispered inside Yul's chest.

Yul smiled and whispered, "Okay, it's a promise."

The night was peaceful and the Tanzanies slept soundly until morning. When they woke up, the sun was high in the sky.

Abrafo jumped out of the hammock in which he slept and stretched his arms as far as he could. "I've never slept so peacefully since we left Tanzang," he said, turning to see four other Tanzanies already packing their bags. He walked over to the tree and began to untie the ropes that held the hammock in place.

U-ri said, "Abrafo, let me clean it up for you. Come and eat. You want to go into the water when the sun is high so that you can see more clearly."

After the five Tazanies finished breakfast, Yul and Abrafo strip down to their underpants. They strapped knives and daggers to their thighs for easier use, and the two of them dived into the small lake. From a distance, Yul and Abrafo were visible to the three Tanzanies until they dived into the water.

Hajime looked at Michio and said, "Let's go." Hajime took out the bangle and handed it to U-ri. "If you're in danger, throw the bangle on the ground."

U-ri took the bangle from Hajime's hand and smiled. "I know how to handle this," he said. "Don't worry, I still have Michio's red talisman."

U-ri watched Hajime and Michio disappear into the woods. He sighed and started packing, continuing to complain. "Your Highness should ask others to follow these four youth." He shook his head and continued packing.

Walking towards the mountainside, Hajime found many bird's nests everywhere. Some nests are full of eggs, others are empty.

Hajime looked at Michio and said, "There are thousands of nests here. With our time, can we find the pure phoenix eggs on time?"

Michio stretched, bent back, and relaxed his waist, because he had been bending over since the morning to search for the pure phoenix eggs in hundreds of bird's nests. He said, "I don't know...hey..."

Hajime moved a handful of hay over and looked at the nest in front of him, only to see white and light gray eggs inside. "Hmm..." Hajime turned around.

Michio asked, "Do we know what a pure phoenix egg looks like?"

Hajime shook his head. "I don't know, maybe Abrafo or U-ri should know. Did Abrafo went to that meeting with the other team leader?"

Michio frowned and said, "If Abrafo knew this information, he would have told us already. What if he didn't know? How are we going to find something that we don't even know what it looks like?" He complained while continuing to look at the eggs in the nest.

Michio's words made Hajime suddenly realize that no one had ever sat down and explained to them what a pure phoenix egg looked like. "Michio...I don't remember anyone showing us a picture or describing what a pure phoenix egg looks like," Hajime said, feeling frustrating. "Do you?"

Michio stopped and looked at Hajime blankly. "I... I don't remember either," Michio said.

"We've spent three hours looking at these eggs, and they look exactly the same, without any differences," Hajime said. "What if the pure phoenix egg is not actually an egg, but something else?"

Michio's jaw dropped, anxiety starting to creep into his skin. He looked at Hajime and said, "Then we're looking for the wrong thing."

"Let's go back to U-ri and review all the details that were given to us," Hajime said.

Michio nodded and the two Tanzanies walked back to U-ri.

Sunlight shines through the clear lake water, making everything below become brighter. The crystal bottom of the lake is covered with white and gray smooth and flat rocks, casting millions of black shadows on the bottom of the lake. Under the lake, it was calm and extremely quiet. The only sounds Yul and Abrafo heard here were the sounds of silence and the beating of their hearts still beating in their chests.

Since there are no fish swimming around, finding the third key should be easy, but with millions of rocks at the bottom of the lake, it's still difficult to find where the key is hidden. The two men made hand signal to come up to the surface for air.

Yul and Abrafo surfaced in the middle of the lake and floated on their backs, closing their eyes and trying to relax their muscles and eyes as much as possible.

"I don't see anything," Abrafo said with his eyes closed.

"Abrafo, when you were called to look at the map of Scattered Forest," Yul said.

Abrafo said, "Yeah, what about it?"

Yul asked, "Did the soldiers show you a drawing of the pure phoenix egg?"

Abrafo remained silent, recalling his memory. "Well... I don't remember them showing us any pictures of what a pure phoenix egg looks like."

Yul sighed and said, "Do you think those participants know what a phoenix egg looks like?"

Abrafo said, "I don't know...why didn't I think of this. I was so angry with that stupid prince that I rushed into the forest without collecting the information about the pure phoenix eggs." Abrafo was so angry with himself that if he had been on shore, he would have whacked his stupid face twice. "I think I failed as a captain, and I let my emotions get the better of me."

Yul said, "Every mistake is a lesson learned."

Abrafo said with a smile, "Now, you sound just like your father." Looking up at the blue sky, Abrafo sighed. He never imagined that one day he would swim in an open lake with Yul. When they were teenagers, they didn't have a very good understanding of each other, everything they did was a competition, and at the end, there would always be a winner. So, relaxing in this lake and looking at the clear blue sky, he suddenly realizes that his and Yul's teenage years have been wasted because they couldn't shake off their pride. "Yul."

"Mmm..."

Abrafo chuckled and said, "When we were teenagers, we would quarrel every time we met. If we didn't quarrel and listen to the adults, we would have been best friends long ago." He sighed. "I don't remember why we didn't get along in the first place."

"Me either," Yul said, with a smile, opening his eyes and staring at the clear blue sky. "It'll be dark again in a few hours."

"One more dive today. If we don't find anything, then tomorrow we have to search another area," Abrafo said. "I'm ready whenever you are."

Yul and Abrafo dived into the middle of the lake again.