Chapter 186 Mystery In Stone Valley Part 16

In the darkness, silence once again replaced the shouts of not long ago. Now, the only sounds Bong hears are his own furiously beating heart and the heavy breathing in his nostrils. Bong felt like he didn't have enough time to say what he wants to say, or to release all the anger and frustration he felt towards Abrafo in the twenty days they had known each other. 

When anger and frustration welled up in his heart, he was about to scream, but Jin and Feng's voices made him turn around. 

"Your Highness." Jin and Feng called, each holding a torch and walking towards Bong. 

Bong sighed and asked, "Have you told anyone that you found me?" 

Jin and Feng shook their heads. Jin said, "We haven't had time to go back and inform Lord Lixin." 

Bong gritted his teeth and said, "Good..." 

Jin and Feng looked around in the dark lava tube. Feng asked, "Where is captain Yul and his men?" 

Bong walked past Jin and Feng and said, "They're gone." 

"Gone?" Jin and Feng were taken aback.   

"How?" Jin asked. 

Bong said, "They were taken away." 

"By whom?" Feng asked. 

Bong said, "Someone who can open any portal to wherever his heart desires." 

Jin was shocked. He asked, "Is there such a man walking among us? Does Your Highness know where we can find him?" 

Bong frowned in annoyance. "I don't know, so don't ask me. Let's go and try to stay quiet. I have to settle accounts with the kidnapper." 

Jin knew not to continued asking about Yul and his men, so instead he asked, "Your Highness, who kidnapped you?" 

Bong gritted his teeth and said, "Meng, you little bastard, I want to capture Meng today, so don't let the news that you found me leak out." 

Feng said, "We understand." 

Jin said, "Your Highness, in order to ensure that he does not escape, we should let Lord Lixin know." 

Bong said, "You do whatever it necessary to capture that kid alive. I have something that I need to make clear to him." 

When Lixin's other men arrived in Stone Valley, it was already evening. Sitting in Lixin's private tent, after they informed Lixin about the boarders' situation around Misnix, they began to discuss when and where the competition for the pure phoenix egg should take place. 

Ping said, "Heng and I have already ordered some soldiers to start building a fighting stage." 

Heng added, "According to the person in charge of the project, the stage should be ready in two days." 

Shi looked at Lixin and asked, "My lord, what about rules?  Rules should be made to avoid gossip." 

Lixin said, "I will leave that to Prince Da." 

Hui said, "When we arrived, I heard that Prince Bong was missing. Do we have an update on Prince Bong's whereabouts?" 

Shi said, "Not yet...oh...I almost forgot." He looked at the new arrivals. "Hajime is also missing." 

Chen, Ping, Hui and Chao were taken aback. "My Lord! Is this true?" They asked in unison. 

Lixin sighed and said, "That's true." 

Xiang said, "But the whole point of you participating in this competition is because of him." 

Heng said, "Things didn't turn out the way we imagined." 

Hui asked, "What do you mean?" 

Shi said, "We almost didn't make it out alive, The Phoenix Chamber is now flooded with dead men." 

Ping asked disappointedly, "Then what should we do?" 

Hui frowned. "If Hajime is truly missing, our previous efforts will be in vain." He sighed. "We spent a long time trying to catch him." 

Chao said, "My lord, let's us join in the search for the two missing persons." 

Lixin looked at his men, he was confident that with his men, they would find Hajime and Bong faster than the hundreds of soldiers ordered by Prince Da to find Hajime and Bong.  He said, "There are already a lot of people looking for them, but the nine of you are still better than a thousand soldiers." 

Jin barged into the tent and finds that the others have arrived. "My Lord, I found Prince Bong, and Feng is heading this way with Prince Bong." 

Lixin looked at his men and said, "Let's see what Prince Bong has to say." 

Chen shook his head and said, "I'm tired of dealing with this prince." 

Ping joked, "The only way you'll have nothing to do with him is if you go back to farming, or if Prince Bong is transferred back to our western border to fight against the Nok tribe." 

Xiang looked at Ping, then at Shi, and shook his head. "Ping..." 

Ping turned to look at Xiang, and suddenly found that Shi was still in the tent. He smiled awkwardly and said, "I'm sorry... you've been with us for so long that I forgot where you were from." 

Shi said, "I didn't take it to heart. Apart from sharing the same blood with them, I had no other connection with them."  He looked at Ping.  "I've been here so long that I don't consider myself a Souockie anymore." 

Ping smiled at Shi and said, "Anyway, I'm sorry, brother... I didn't mean to dig up your old stories..." 

The curtain rose and Bong walked in with Feng. Bong entered the tent and found that all Lixin's most trusted subordinates had arrived. Judging from the expressions of each of Lixin's subordinates, Bong seemed to have come in during an important discussion. 

Bong smiled and said, "Oh...did I come at the wrong time?" 

Lixin said, "No, we are just deciding how to find you, but since you are fine and not injured, we can continue to discuss the fight for the pure phoenix egg." 

Bong said in differently, "Then you can continue the discussion." He walked out of the tent. 

The people in the tent were surprised to see Bong's cold attitude towards Lixin, which they thought was wrong. 

Chao expressed, "This is a new thing. I have never seen Prince Bong behave like this. In the past, he always nagged until Lord Lixin got tired of hearing the stories he made up or he would take the initiative to stop talking when he ran out of ideas to continue his story." 

Feng said, "Something happened during our trip into the Phoenix Chamber.  Prince Bong was still angry with our lord that we left him behind."  

Heng said, "But this was not intentional. When we reached the exit, we discovered that Prince Bong was not with us." 

Xiang said, "It seems like we missed a lot." 

Jin said, "My lord, we found Prince Bong and Hajime in a lava tube." 

Chen asked, "Hajime was also found? Thank heaven." 

Jin shook his head and said, "According to Prince Bong, Hajime and his friends were taken away by a man who could create a portal to anywhere in the world." 

Lixin asked, "How are you sure that the story he told is true?" 

Jin explained, "Inside that lava tube, there was no other exit. Other than believing Prince Bong's story, there was no other good explanation for why they suddenly disappeared without a trace." 

Feng said, "We saw captain Yul and his three men go down that lava tube with our own eyes, but by the time Jin and I got there, they were gone." 

"Gone?" Lixin said to himself. Now, Lixin began to feel worried.  "No matter how far they disappear, we must find them, especially Hajime." He stood up. "The rest of you stay here. Jin, follow me to Prince Da's tent." 

Based on the information gathered from other competitors, Bong went directly to Meng's tent, which was far away from the others. Since the news of his discovery was kept secret, Bong saw Meng sitting opposite the other participants, talking and laughing.  Bong directed the one hundred soldiers he brought to quickly surround the five people sitting around the small campfire. 

"What's wrong?" Meng said, standing up with the others, and soldiers rushed over and surrounded them. 

The five people looked at each other, wondering why they were surrounded by soldiers. 

"Soldiers," said one competitor. "Why did you suddenly surround us?  We have not broken any rule." 

"If you resist arrest, you will die where you are," Bong said as he walked toward the front of the encirclement. He looked directly at Meng who was standing less than ten yards away from him. "You didn't take me seriously at all when I told you that holding your sword to my throat would be the end of your clan." 

Meng's face suddenly turned pale. "Prince Bong," he said, his voice trembling. "How did you get out?" 

Bong smiled. "You've already admitted your guilt," Bong sneered. "Where is your female companion? Tell me quickly, or I will cut off your tongue and make you never speak again. Where is your female companion?" Bong's angry voice made the other four competitors fall to their knees. 

"Your Highness, please spare my life." 

"Yes... we didn't know anything..." 

Seeing the smirk on Meng's face, Bong became even more angry. "Take them away," Bong said, pointing his spear at Meng. "I will give you another chance to capture me again. If you can escape my spear, consider yourself lucky. If you cannot escape my spear, then today will be your last day." 

Bong sprinted forward with all his strength, swinging his powerful spear at Meng. Meng pulled out his sword and blocked Bong's spear, but the force was too strong. Meng was push back and fell into the soldiers surrounding Bong and Meng. Meng knew that without his power source, it would be impossible to defeat Misnix's number one war hero, so he decided to prolong the fight as long as possible, trying to find an escape gap between the soldiers.  

Whenever Meng was repulsed by Bong's spear, the soldiers would grab Meng and push Meng to the center of the circle, and every time Meng reached the center of the circle, Bong's spear would swing at Meng. Every time Meng blocked Bong's blow, Meng's arms became more and more tired. Meng noticed that Bong's purpose was not to take Meng's life, but to vent his anger towards Meng by toying with him; trying to cause serious harm without endangering his life. 

When Lixin, Kexin, and Lixin's nine men arrived with Prince Da, Meng had been severely beaten by Bong. Meng suffered multiple injuries from his arms to his feet. Meng's face turned beyond recognition, and he could barely stand, but every time he fell to the ground, the soldiers quickly grabbed his arms, pulled him up, and pushed him back towards Bong. 

Seeing Meng bleeding all over his body and losing his balance and coordination, Lixin saw Bong was about to hit Meng again, so he quickly grabbed Bong's hand.  

"That's enough!" Lixin shouted angrily. 

Bong turned to look at Lixin angrily and shouted in Lixin's face, "Don't stop me, or you will get the next blow." 

"Are you challenging me to a duel?" Lixin asked coldly. He pushed Bong's hand away. 

Bong gritted his teeth and whispered, "You only win because I let you win. I can drop you anytime, anywhere." 

Prince Da realized that if he didn't act soon, Misnix's two best warriors would turn their weapons on each other. "Calm down," Prince Da said. He looked at Meng who was seriously injured and beyond recognition. "Soldiers, bring that man here." 

Two soldiers dragged Meng's body and dropped him on the ground a few feet away from Prince Da. 

"So, this is the person who kidnapped you?" Prince Da asked. 

"Even if he turns to ashes, I still remember his face," Bong said with gritted teeth. 

Prince Da said, "I will seek justice for you." He patted Bong tenderly on the shoulder. "Soldiers, take him away and I will lead his execution tomorrow." 

The soldiers dragged Meng past Bong. Meng looked up at Bong and muttered something. 

"Stop!" Bong shouted, and the two soldiers stopped. "How dare you swear at me?" He grabbed onto Meng's collar. 

Blood spurted out from Meng's mouth, but Meng whispered, "Spare my life...I will tell you a secret that Lord Lixin is hiding from you." 

Bong pushed Meng back to the ground and watched as two soldiers dragged Meng away.