Chapter 169 Into The Phoenix Chamber Part 49

Bong sat alone, keeping his distance from others, with a small campfire by his side. He kept looking at his right hand, wondering when it would turn black, but as he neared his three hours of isolation, his hands still retained the same color and he found that any of the symptoms he had experienced before passing out were no longer experienced now.

Bong was particularly scared. At this time, he saw some of the participants who had been treated by U-ri turned. Therefore, although he was exhausted, he refused to close his eyes for fear of falling into a coma and never waking up.

As U-ri walked towards Michio and Abrafo, Yul also walked towards them. Yul looked around the small campfire but did not see Hajime. He wondered if Hajime was still angry with him, because for the first time, Hajime raised his voice to Yul. He sat next to Abrafo and asked, "Where is Hajime? Have any of you seen him?"

Abrafo looked at the people sitting around the campfire and said, "Yeah, where is he? I didn't see him." He turned to Yul and teased. "Maybe he's still angry with you."

Michio asked, "So what made Hajime angry? I heard him mention our names."

Yul said, "He was angry with me because we had a disagreement."

Abrafo asked, "What's the disagreement?"

Yul said, "I was wondering if we are making the right or wrong decision. If we save Tanzang, more people will suffer because we removed the white dragon tail from No Man's Land. This makes Hajime angry. He told me he wouldn't trade our lives for anyone else's."

U-ri looked at Yul and then at Abrafo and Michio. He sighed and said, "Hajime's isn't wrong to think this way... the definition of priorities differs from person to person. Maybe for us, saving the kingdom and helping people in need are the most important to us, the close relationship between him and us is the most important thing to him."

Abrafo lightly tapped on Yul's right shoulder and said, "We have discussed it. We will find solutions as we go. So, let's not get ahead of ourselves."

U-ri said, "Dreake has thousands of ancient books. I believe that among these thousands of ancient books, there must be a book that can tell us how to kill the unkillable beast."

Abrafo said, "Now that we have obtained the third key, after obtaining the fourth key, we will go to Dreake and U-ri can spend time to find a solution for us. Hajime, Michio, you and I'll get the fifth key."

Yul said, "What if there's no other solution?

Abrafo said, "Well, then we'll discuss this later when we have all the keys or when we're standing outside the entrance to No Man's Land."

Michio said, "Hajime is still young and his growth environment is different from ours, so we still have time to help him cultivate."

U-ri said, "Hunger and fatigue can also causes disagreements. Let's eat well and have a good rest. Everything will be fine tomorrow."

Michio smiled and said, "I've left some food for Hajime."

The three Tanzanies started eating by the campfire while Abrafo walked towards Bong when they heard people shouting to look at the sky.

"Something is heading towards Scattered Forest."

"Look! Up there! It's a big bird."

Abrafo handed Bong some food and everyone was talking when he happened to see the big bird. He saw the blue peacock flying high into the darkness, toward Scattered Forest. "Is that Hajime's blue peacock?" he asked himself.

Yul, U-ri and Michio quickly raised their heads, and they saw the tail of a blue peacock in the distance. Yul quickly grabbed his sword and chased after the blue peacock.

"Yul!" Abrafo shouted, dropped the food in his hands, and chased after Yul.

"Hajime!" Yul shouted as he ran after the blue peacock. "Hajime! Come down! This is an order!"

When Abrafo saw Yul continuing to run towards Scattered Forest, he quickly caught up with Yul, jumped onto Yul's back, and the two fell to the ground.

"Stop! Stop chasing, Yul!" Abrafo grunted and pressed Yul to the ground with all his strength. "You can't go into that forest. You'll die."

Yul swung his elbow back and struck Abrafo on the left side of his chin, knocking him back. When Yul tried to stand up again, he was pinned down by Michio.

"Stop... Abrafo is right... Hajime cannot be killed," Michio said, clutching Yul's upper body tightly.

Abrafo stood up and stood in front of Yul, trying to stop Yul as well. "Hajime can't die...those poisons are nothing to him. He is immortal," Abrafo said. "But you are not immortal. If you step into that forest, you will die."

U-ri calmly walked towards the three men that were wrestling far away from him. U-ri already knew that Hajime would be receptive to such contact, ever since talking to Hajime earlier that night. He continued walking until he came to the three men.

U-ri looked at Yul and asked calmly, "There is no need to follow Hajime, he knows what he is doing?"

Abrafo turned to look at U-ri. "Do you know about this?" he asked.

U-ri nodded.

Michio asked, "Why didn't you stop him?"

U-ri said, "I have no ability to stop him when he wants to experience what it feels like to help others." He looked at Abrafo and Michio. "You two can let go of him."

Michio said, "But..."

U-ri grabbed Michio's hand and said, "Let go of him." Michio and Abrafo slowly let go of Yul. U-ri looked at Yul. "How does it feel knowing you could lose someone you love?"

Yul looked down at the ground, breathing rapidly, but he didn't answer U-ri.

U-ri smiled and said, "I believe you understand what Hajime is thinking now."

Yul closed his eyes, feeling his heart aching. For the first time in his life, he understood the definition of despair. He sighed worriedly and said, "I understand now."

U-ri walked back to Yul and tapped Yul twice on the right shoulder. "Don't worry, he'll come back safe," U-ri said, walking away. "I believe that Hajime will understand you better when he comes back."

Abrafo turned and looked at U-ri, who was walking towards their small campfire. "That mysterious old bastard..."

"I can still hear you," U-ri said loudly.

Hajime began to fly above the thick poisonous fog, chasing the black hawk flying in front. It was difficult for Hajime to see the black hawk clearly through the thick fog. After chasing the black hawk for a few minutes, Hajime lost sight of the black hawk, but he saw a shining spark in front of him, and he knew it must be the green tree.

Hajime's blue peacock landed a few feet away from the green tree. Hajime got off the blue peacock's back and walked towards the tree. When he got close to the tree, he found that not far from the tree, there were two dead men wandering in the fog, but it might be because the fog was too thick, or it might be because Hajime's scent was overwhelmed by the poison. In the fog, the two dead men did not notice Hajime.

Hajime quickly picked off as many leaves as he could, making sure he had extra, and just as Hajime finished gathering the leaves and turn around, he came face to face with the third dead man. Hajime was stunned, and his hand slowly reached for the baton on his right belt, because that was his only weapon.

The third dead man stretched his head towards Hajime. Hajime remained still and continued to reach for the golden baton hanging on the belt on his right waist. The smell of the dead carrion made Hajime hold his breath. The dead man growled lowly at Hajime's face, sniffed Hajime's face, and neck, walked behind Hajime, and continued to sniff, until he was sure that Hajime had no human scent, and then slowly walked to Hajime's left side.

Hajime quickly arrived in front of the blue peacock, jumped on its back, flew to the sky, and continued to follow the black hawk towards the true Phoenix Chamber. When the sun just set below the horizon, Hajime entered the true Phoenix Chamber, and flew directly to the small lake.

Although the outside world is full of dangers, in the true Phoenix Chamber, the beautiful harmony is still the same as when they left. The blue peacock landed by the lake, and Hajime jumped off the blue peacock's back. He opened the six water bags he carried with him and began to fill the first water bag.

When Hajime was filling the water, he looked down to see if the water bag was full. When he saw his own image in the lake, he was startled and fell on his backward on his buttock. His heart was racing, and he believed that what he saw in the water was just an illusion. After taking a few deep breaths, he plucked up the courage and stared at his reflection in the water again.

Hajime smiled as his tears fell into the lake, causing ripples, but after the ripples subsided, the reflection remained the same. At this time, he didn't know whether he was crying because he missed his former self or because he hated his former self, but no matter what the reason was, he knew that although he could deceive the world, he could not deceive himself. The reflection in the water is indeed him. Over the months he spent here, he let go of his past bit by bit, to the point where he no longer recognized his identity. No wonder he was startled when he saw his own reflection looking back at him. Thinking of this, Hajime chuckled again.

Hajime looked at his reflection and asked, "So, have you really forgotten what you really look like?" He grabbed the second water bag.

"Hehe Hehe" the woman's voice giggled.

The giggling female voice made Hajime stand up and turn around. "You..." Hajime murmured.

"Fakes will always be fakes." Tuya smiled and punched Hajime hard in the center of the chest, sending Hajime twenty yards away to the lake shore and hitting the medium-sized boulder.

The impact of Hajime's body caused the boulder to crack. Hajime fell to the ground and spit out a mouthful of blood.

Tuya slowly walked towards Hajime with a smile. Hajime's vision became blurred, and when he fell, he happened to see the reflection of the identity of the person walking towards him, and then he fell face down on the round smooth rocks and passed out.