Chapter 194 Where There Is Life, There Is Also Hope

The sun was setting in the west, and the shadow of the temple covered Budi standing in front of everyone. Although the dark shadow of the temple blocked the daylight, the warm smile on Budi's face made the five Tanzanies feel at ease. Whoever stood in front of them must be a good person. 

Michio quickly walked forward from the others, lowered his head and showed respect to Budi. 

Abrafo looked at Kaizen and said, "So, you do have a name... Kaizen..." 

Budi looked at Kaizen and said, "I've told you countless times, I'm not your master." 

Kaizen looked at Budi and said, "Budi Abbott, I brought back the thief who stole the two items." 

"Hey! Who are you calling thief? The only thief I see here is you," Abrafo said angrily, and he walked towards Kaizen, but his hand was held by U-ri. 

"Thief... be careful with your words," Yul said, glaring at Kaizen. 

Budi looked at the five Tanzanies and said, "It's almost dinner time, let's go in and talk to the others." 

The fived Tanzanies followed Budi up three more stairwells until they reached the temple's main entrance. From where they were, the soft chanting of the monks could be heard. When they walked to the door leading to the main hall, they saw in front of them a huge golden statue of buddha sitting in front of them. In front of the statue of the buddha sit three roles of ten monks in white habit. When the monks finished their prayers, Budi led them into the open hall. 

Michio whispered, "Since we are at the House of Grace, nothing bad can happen. We are in good hands." 

"How do you know?" Abrafo asked. They may be hiding dark intentions that we don't know about." 

Michio said, "I don't believe it." He turned to the statue of buddha, clasped his hands and bowed his head. 

After the monks closed their books, they all stood up and turned to look at the five men standing in front of them. 

Yuuto walked out of the door on the right. He stood in front of Hajime, looked Hajime up and down, then looked at Kaizen, and asked, "Why do you need to bring the person? Bring the two items back is good enough." 

Kaizen said, "Because he doesn't know how to take out the pure phoenix egg from his stomach." 

The four Tanzanies turned to look at Hajime in shock. They believed that pure phoenix eggs did not exist, so when they heard the news, they were completely speechless. 

Yul asked, "So, do you have the pure phoenix egg?" 

Hajime said, "I accidentally swallowed it when I was pressed under that pond. I didn't know that what I swallowed was a pure phoenix egg." He looked at Yul. "I just recently learned from him that what I swallowed was indeed a pure phoenix egg." 

Abrafo said, "It turns out there are real pure phoenix eggs." He smiled and shook his head. "I thought it was a myth." 

Budi looked at Hajime and asked, "Are you willing to give us these two things?" 

Yul asked, "What if he says no?" 

Yuuto said, "Then we will use force." 

Abrafo said angrily, "We know that pure phoenix eggs can cure diseases. Since you are a monk and have no attachments, why do you still fight for that phoenix egg? If anyone knows this news, you will definitely be laughing ducks." 

"We do this for the benefit of humanity," Yuuto said. "The mouth belongs to the individual. Whether they laugh at us or not is beyond our control." 

Abrafo said, "Hajime got that egg from the Phoenix Chamber, so speaking, this phoenix egg is rightfully his." 

Kaizen said, "Wrong!" 

U-ri turned to look at Kaizen. "Wrong?" He asked. "How could Abrafo be wrong?" 

Kaizen said irritably, "The pure phoenix egg was guarded and protected by the red phoenix, but you killed him. You idiots killed the red phoenix and broke the seal that imprisoned Tuya and Onon. The so-called subordinates of..." He sneered. "Those two demons have long wanted to enter the Peace Valley and steal the body of my savior." He rolled his eyes at Hajime coldly. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have known that my savior's body had been stolen, thief..." 

Budi shook his head, "Kaizen... Calm down your anger. He is no longer in this world." 

While the others didn't understand what Kaizen meant, Hajime did. He is the one who stole the body of Kaizen's savior. Hajime now understood why Kaizen held a deep hatred for him, so being called a thief seemed to be the right word. 

Abrafo frowned in annoyance. "If you were smart, you would have created a safer place to bury the body of your savior. Also, you are monks, why would you create such a sinister place to kill people without mercy?" 

Yuuto said, "We did warn those who came in, and we gave them a chance to leave, but those who died, their inner greed outweighed their own lives." 

U-ri grabbed onto Abrafo's arm before he could speak again. "Abrafo...Sir Kaizen, we didn't find any body when we entered the valley, so the body you mentioned should still be inside." 

"Really?" Kaizen's eyes stared at Hajime unblinkingly. 

Seeing the conversation between the monks and them becoming more and more intense, anything could happen at this time. The phoenix egg was never his, so Hajime was not the real owner, and to protect Hajime's secret, Hajime knew that the only way to solve their troubles was to give the monks the pure phoenix egg. 

Hajime said, "There is no need to argue about this matter. I am willing to give you the pure phoenix egg and everything you need, but when you take the phoenix egg from me, I want to ask for your mercy." 

Budi said, "As long as you leave the two items behind, harm will not come to you or the others." 

Hajime asked, "What is the other item? As far as I know I only have the pure phoenix egg." 

Budi looked at Hajime's waist and said, "The other item hanging on your waist." 

To avoid conflict with the monks, Hajime quickly took off the golden baton from his waist and handed it to Budi. "As for the pure phoenix eggs, to be honest, I don't know how to get them for you," Hajime said. 

Yuuto said, "Don't worry, we know how to get it from you." 

Yul asked, "Can I ask, how are you going to get it out of him when he's already swallowed it?" 

"Cut him open and take it out from his stomach," Yuuto said. 

Yul wasn't going to let that happen, so he looked at Abrafo and Michio. Without saying a word, the Tanzanies knew that it was their time to escape, so the five Tanzanies rushed towards the front door, but before they could reach it, the door slammed shut in their faces. 

Kaizen looked at the five Tanzanies and said, "I have told you, as long as I am here, you will have no way to escape." 

Yuuto said, "If we must fight, the five of you can't defeat us. So, please let us take these two items and solve this problem as peacefully as possible." 

Yul gritted his teeth and said, "I won't let you hurt Hajime." 

Budi sighed and said, "Amitabha, life is precious, why are you so stubborn?" 

Hajime witnessed Kaizen's fighting skills with his own eyes, and he knew that with their combined strength, they could not defeat Budi or Yuuto, who were more powerful than Kaizen, so if the thirty-one masters and Kaizen blocked their escape route, they would have no chance of escaping unharmed. 

Hajime slowly pulled his hand away from Yul's and said, "Don't fight. We can't defeat them with our skills." 

Yuuto said, "It would be a wise decision to not fight." 

Yul said, "If he cuts you open, you'll die." 

Yuuto said, "With my medical knowledge and title, I can guarantee that he will not die. If you don't believe me, you are welcome to watch me perform the operation. If he dies, I will give you, my life." 

Hajime said, "With this guarantee, let's stop fighting. No matter what it is, these things are not ours in the first place. Moreover, this way we will have a chance not to be chased by Kaizen while we complete the task His Highness has given us." 

Abrafo said, "Hajime, this is a matter of life and death. Let's discuss it first." 

Hajime said, "Sooner or later, we are going to die one way or the other. This is my life; this is my final decision." He turned to Yul. "This is the best decision for everyone." 

U-ri said, "Then I will watch the operation process." 

Yuuto walked up to Hajime, took out a small bottle from his sleeve, opened the bottle and handed it to Hajime. "Sleeping potion. You won't feel pain when I take the pure phoenix egg out of your belly," he said. "Please extend your hand." Hajime stretched out his hand to Yuuto and stared at the sleeping potion in his right hand. As Yuuto measured Hajime's pulses, his expression suddenly changed. Just when Hajime was about to drink the sleeping potion, Yuuto quickly took it away from Hajime's hand. "Stop!" 

Yuuto closed the bottle and walked to Budi. After whispering a few words to Budi, Budi looked at Hajime with the same shocked expression as Yuuto. Budi sighed and said, "Amitabha..." 

Yuuto shook his head and said, "No matter how we try to prevent history from repeating itself, we can't stop fate. This is heaven's will." 

Budi sighed and said, "Although we cannot prevent history from repeating itself, today is not yesterday. Where there is life, there is also hope. Today we will not make yesterday's mistakes. As long as we guide correctly and learn from the lessons of the past, the one who will live today will not be another Huoyan." Budi walked up to the five confused Tanzanies. "Do you want to hear the story of Huoyan?"