The poisonous mist in Scattered Forest became thicker, and the light mist now turned into a thick poisonous fog, rising above the treetops. Under the thick poisonous fog, the dark brown trees were vaguely visible. As the sun sets, large mountain shadows fall on the already dark forest, making Scattered Forest look eerier.
When the four Tanzanies and Bong flew through Scattered Forest, they found that the thick poisonous fog made it difficult for them to see things beyond the treetops, so at this time they had no way of knowing whether there were still participants heading towards the escape exit. Now, all they could see in the distance was the tree line, which looked a bit like an ink line drawn on a piece of gray blank paper.
Hajime pointed forward and said, "The tree line is ahead. We are almost out of Scattered Forest."
Bong looked up at where Hajime was pointing, then looked down at his hand holding the peacock's blue feathers. Somehow, he couldn't find his right hand. He shook his head and blinked a few times, but he couldn't see his right hand. To make sure that his eyes were not deceiving him because of the poison, he raised his hand to his face and found that his hands had turned blue.
Bong's heartbeat violently in horror at what he saw. Bong quickly pulled his sleeve up and found that his arm was the same color as his hand. Now he was sure that the bites on his arm and shoulder had sent poison into his blood, and soon he would start to hallucinate and die.
Abrafo saw the tree line mentioned by Hajime and turned to look at Bong not far away. He saw Bong quickly roll up his sleeve to cover Bong's right hand.
"What's wrong?" Abrafo asked.
Bong refused to look at Abrafo and said, "There is nothing wrong. Why do you feel something is wrong?"
Abrafo said, "Because you are behaving too well, that's not like you."
Bong still refused to look at Abrafo, fearing that the look on his face would scare others. "I'm tired," Bong said quickly, continuing to keep his conversation with Abrafo as brief as possible.
As the sun sets behind the towering mountains, Scattered Forest becomes dark and filled with a thick smell of decay. Because the smell was so strong, U-ri and the others had moved themselves a hundred yards away from the tree line.
By this time, Gang's foot was getting better, but U-ri had told him that it would take a month to heal, so although the throbbing pain was still there, it was no longer as painful.
Gang, who was still sitting on the rock, looked at Shik and asked, "Do we still have water?"
Shik shook his head. "No, your Highness," Shik replied.
U-ri handed his bag of water to Gang and said, "This is what I have left. Your Highness can drink the rest to quench your thirst."
As Gang reached out to take the water bag from U-ri's hand, he saw five peacocks descending toward the tree line. "Look, there is something coming from the sky coming towards us." He stretched out his finger and pointed at the five blue unknown creatures.
U-ri, Shik and Meng turned to look where Gang was pointing. Although Shik and Meng didn't know what these five creatures were, U-ri knew exactly what they were. U-ri breathed a sigh of relief, knowing his friends were okay, and he felt his shoulders and back become lighter.
Meng looked at U-ri's face and was surprised to find that U-ri was smiling. He asked, "Sir U-ri, why are you smiling?"
U-ri said, "My friends made it."
Meng looked at the five creatures that were still some distance away from him and asked doubtfully, "Your friends? Those birds are your friends?"
U-ri smiled at Meng and nodded.
As soon as the peacock landed, Abrafo turned to look at Bong. Even though the daylight was gone, Abrafo could still see the painful expression on Bong's face.
"Hey!" Abrafo shouted to Bong. When he noticed a confused sigh on Bong's face. "Hey!"
Bong turned to Abrafo; he blinked his eyes several times before he could focus on Abrafo's burly face. "Wha...wha...what..." Bong finally spoke, his eyes thickening and his tongue stiffening.
Bong suddenly coughed violently and spit out thick dark blood. Then Bong closed his eyes, leaned to the left, and fell off the blue peacock's back.
Abrafo jumped off the back of the blue peacock and hovered in front of the two peacocks. He grabbed Bong's hand and pushed Bong up. After Bong sat up, he walked behind Bong and supported Bong's upper body.
"Hey!" Abrafo gently tapped Bong's right cheek a few times. "Hey! Wake up! Talk to me!"
Bong coughed and rolled his eyes at Abrafo again. Now he could no longer see Abrafo. He suddenly went blind. He coughed, and more blood spurted out from the corners of his lips. "I'm going to die, aren't I?" Bong asked weakly.
"Not yet," Abrafo said.
Bong said, "I know I'm going to die... don't lie to me."
Abrafo picked up Bong from the ground and rushed as fast as he could to the people, he saw standing a hundred yards away from them.
"U-ri!" Abrafo shouted. "U-ri!"
Hearing Abrafo's cry for help, U-ri quickly grabbed his medicine bag and ran towards Abrafo's voice.
Not knowing what happened, Meng grabbed his sword and chased after U-ri.
When U-ri met Abrafo who was covered in blood holding Bong who was half dead towards him, U-ri became speechless. "Put him down?" U-ri said.
Abrafo quickly put Bong on the ground. "Help him! He was bitten," Abrafo gasped and coughed.
"Where was he bitten?" U-ri asked.
Abrafo said, "I don't know. He only told us he was bitten."
"Take off his robe," U-ri said, reaching for medicines inside his medicine bag.
Abrafo quickly removed the top part of Bong's robe and found two bite wounds on Bong's body. One on the right forearm and the other on the right shoulder.
U-ri took out a small bag and grabbed a slightly dry leaf from the bag. "Open your mouth," U-ri said, looking up at Meng standing next to him. "Chew it and feed it to him."
Meng looked down at U-ri and then at Abrafo. "Ah... mouth to mouth feeding?"
U-ri said, "Yes."
Meng hesitated to take the leaf from U-ri's hand. "Sir U-ri, but... this man... feeding a man mouth to mouth is inappropriate."
Abrafo stretched out his hand and said, "I'll do it."
U-ri pushed Abrafo's hand away and said, "You can't. You are still full of poison." U-ri looked up at Meng. "What are you waiting for? Act now. There is no hesitation when it comes to saving lives, whether it's appropriate or not."
Meng grabbed the leaves fiercely, threw the leaf in his mouth, and started chewing. U-ri handed Meng a small cup of liquid, which U-ri poured from a ceramic bottle.
"Hold the water in your mouth, but don't swallow it. Mixing the chewed leaf with water will make it easier for him to swallow" U-ri said, reaching out to Abrafo. "Your water bag?"
Abrafo quickly untied the bag on his belt and handed the water bag to U-ri.
Meng bent down and tried to open Bong's mouth with his left hand, while his right hand reached for Bong's nose. He lowered his lips, sealed them with Bong, and put the medicine in his mouth into Bong's mouth.
After Meng fed Bong the medicine, Meng stood up quickly and U-ri handed Meng the water bag.
"Rinse your mouth three times," U-ri said.
Abrafo asked, "U-ri, can he still be saved?"
U-ri said, "We have to wait and see because I don't know how long he has been poisoned and it will be difficult to determine the outcome."
By this time, Hajime, Yul, and Michio have arrived at Abrafo and U-ri. Hajime suddenly remembered that his water bag contained water from the true Phoenix Chamber, which was to be given to Lady Lai. So, he untied the rope holding the water bag around his waist and walked to Bong.
"Abrafo," Hajime said. "I want to try this water. I want to know if it is worth giving to Lady Lai."
Hajime bent down next to Abrafo and Bong. He opened the top of the water bag and slowly poured some water onto the wound on Bong's forearm. When the water comes in contact with the skin, a hissing white foam begins to form and the skin around the wound begins to change color.
Abrafo looked at the wound on Bong's arm and then at U-ri. He asked, "Is this a good or bad sign."
U-ri turned to Meng and said, "Young man, go back and tell Prince Gang and Shik that we are fine. We will go back soon."
Meng wiped his mouth, gave the water bag to U-ri, and walked back to Gang and Shik.
U-ri returned to Bong and checked the wound. He studied for a while and said, "It seems that the water is draining the poison out of Prince Bong's body. Hajime... pour some on the wound on his right shoulder."
Hajime poured a small amount of water on the wound on Bong's shoulder, which had the same effect.
Hajime looked at U-ri and asked, "Does this mean it worked?"
"I believe so," U-ri said. "Look at the color of his skin. Before the water, it looked dark and blue, but now it's starting to clear."
Abrafo asked, "How long will it take for him to wake up?"
U-ri said, "We don't know." He looked at Hajime. "We don't need to give all of this water to Lady Lai. We still have a long way to go, so we'd better keep some as a spare."
Hajime closed the top of the water bag and handed it to U-ri. "Don't lose it," Hajime joked. Hajime put his hand into the cross bag and took out three wolf figures and a black panther. He threw the four wooden figures to the ground. "Let's get out of here." Hajime jumped on the back of the first wolf.
Abrafo quickly arranged Bong's clothes. With the help of Michio, they put Bong on the back of the black panther. The five Tanzanies and Bong began heading towards Gang and the others, getting farther and farther away from Scattered Forest.