When Hajime finally opened his eyes, he found himself in a cave-like place. Hajime didn't know where he was. The excruciating pain was gone, but Hajime could still feel pain all over his body. Hajime looked up at the opening and found that it was already morning. The morning light shone faintly into the dark cave, and the chirping of birds was endless.
Hajime raised his hands towards the light. Judging from the condition of the wound, it seemed that it had begun to heal, but it was still very slow. Hajime slowly sat up, and to his surprise, he found that Bong fell asleep leaning against the cave wall. Hajime walked up to Bong and put his hand on Bong's right shoulder.
"Prince Bong," Hajime said, trying to wake Bong up. "Prince Bong."
Bong yawned, stretched out his arms, and slowly opened them, seeing Hajime staring at him with a burning face. Shocked, he pushed Hajime's arm away and tried to step back, but the back of his head hit the wall because he didn't realize he was leaning against it.
"Are you a ghost?" Bong asked.
"If I were a ghost, would I talk to you now?" Hajime said.
Bong looked at the burns on Hajime and felt a little disgusted, because he had never seen anyone seriously burned. "I'm sorry...it's just that I've never been so close to someone who was burned before. Hey...I thought you were going to die, why are you still alive?" Bong looked at Hajime and realized that Hajime's injuries were no longer as serious as the first time he saw Hajime.
"I... I have the ability to heal myself," Hajime said. "But the progress is likely to be very slow."
Hearing Hajime's words, Bong's jaw dropped.
Hajime looked around and asked, "Where are we?"
"We are trapped in an endless lava tube," Bong said.
Hajime asked, "So, is there no other way?"
"Unless we find an exit to the sea, but finding an exit to the sea does not mean we are free, who knows what endless tunnels are below. Another way is if we find an opening at the top that is not high enough for our ability to climb up," Bong said. "The last way out is to let people outside find us before we starve to death, but that's unlikely because I don't have anything on me to send a signal to the outside world."
"Without these three options, is there no other way?" Hajime asked.
Bong shook his head, suddenly realizing that Hajime could lead them out of here. "Hey, you can get us out of here," he said, smiling. "Call your eagle and fly us out of here."
Hajime sighed and said, "I wish I could, but I didn't bring my crafts. Either I lost them, or they might have been burned in the fire."
Bong muttered to himself, "Ah... we're done." He fell to the ground and put his hands behind his head.
Hajime looked at Bong who was lying on the ground in despair. He paused for a while, then turned to look at Bong and asked, "The people above are looking for you. They said you were kidnapped, so who kidnapped you?"
Bong sat up quickly and said, "Is that bastard kid, Meng." He turned to look at Hajime. "Who burn you so badly?"
Hajime said, "I don't know. I haven't seen them before."
Bong asked, "Them...? Do you think they have cooperated with that boy Meng?"
Hajime said, "I don't think so. They are just here for the pure phoenix egg."
Bong sneered, "If they came for the pure phoenix eggs, they should burn Lixin and my uncle, but why burned you?" He paused and then stared at Hajime. "Unless you have that pure phoenix egg in your possession."
Hajime suppressed his trembling voice and tried to speak in a calm tone. "We had a fight with some people, and for a while, we did get the pure phoenix egg, but later, we returned the pure phoenix egg to Lord Lixin. So, I guess, the three people who were chasing me, may think that I still have the pure phoenix egg." He paused, giving Bong some time to absorb the half-true story he had just told.
Bong said, "It does make sense if that is the situation."
Hajime said, "But what doesn't make sense is the person who kidnapped you."
Bong asked, "What do you mean?"
Hajime said, "Abrafo said that the person who captured you is a woman, how could it be Meng? Are you sure about the identity of the person who captured you?"
Bong looked at Hajime angrily and asked, "Do you doubt my judgment?"
Hajime said, "Sort of."
Bong asked, "Why?"
Hajime said, "Abrafo and Michio said you were drunk when you went to the tent to cause trouble."
Bong scoffed at Hajime's remark and said, "I drank a little bit of wine, but my thinking ability is still as clear as someone who has never drank a drop of wine. I am one hundred percent sure that that person is Meng. This makes me very angry." His brow frowned. "This has never happened before."
Hajime asked, "So, this is the first time someone wants to steal the pure phoenix egg?"
Bong said, "Yes, because no one has ever come back with a pure phoenix egg. We originally thought someone would steal the pure phoenix egg, but we didn't expect that the matter would turn out to be such a mystery. This makes me think that there is more than one group of people who want to steal the pure phoenix egg. It's hard to confirm anything while we're stuck here..." He sighed. "Who knows if we will be able to escape or if we will starve to death?"
Hajime said, "Yul and Abrafo will not let us die in here."
Bong said, "Maybe your husband won't let you die here, but who can say the same for me."
Hajime smiled and said, "After learning that you were kidnapped, Abrafo has been searching non-stop."
Bong scoffed. "He was looking around because he felt guilty about leaving me behind."
Hajime asked, "You didn't think Abrafo worried about you?"
Bong said, "He doesn't care about my safety, and I don't care if he cares. Even if I face death, I will not let myself be saved by him."
Hajime smiled and said, "You are as stubborn as Abrafo."
Bong looked at Hajime angrily and said, "If you still want to stay in the same space as me, don't compare me with that despicable friend of yours."
Hajime laughed to himself; he had never seen such a stubborn person. He said with a smile, "Abrafo is not the person His Highness imagined... Abrafo likes to tease those who he has no feelings for, but for the people he really cares about, he will not tease and even be indifferent to them." Hajime's words made Bong look at Hajime. "Abrafo once stabbed me once, and I was dead for half of the day."
Bong said, "You had a good relationship with that bastard, why did he stab you?"
"When I first went on this journey with them, I had no relationship with them, we were just strangers," Hajime explained.
"Then how did you become so close?" Bong asked.
"When we learn that if we don't protect each other, no one will," Hajime said.
Bong stared at Hajime's eyes and said, "You keep mentioning this journey, and I heard the five of you talking about some kind of keys. So, are the five of you traveling together just to get these keys?"
Hajime said, "It's a long story."
Bong said, "We have all the time in the world. We are basically waiting for rescue or death, so why not tell me something valuable before I die, or if I find your story interesting, I can fund your journey."
Hajime knew that with Bong's relationship with Abrafo, he would not reveal their secret to anyone else. "Promise not to tell anyone?"
Bong nodded with a 'mmm'.
Hajime said, "Yul, Abrafo, Michio, and U-ri are all from the Kingdom of Tanzang. Yul is the commander of the imperial guard, and U-ri is the advisor to His Highness. As for Michio... I heard that he is a monk who was expelled from the monastery after being caught eating meat."
Bong giggled and said, "Looking at that monk's appearance, I believe he would do something like that." He looked at Hajime. "What about that bastard Abrafo?"
Hajime smiled and said, "Abrafo... Abrafo is the second in command of the Tanzang army."
Bong scoffed mockingly, "Second in command... The second in command... not even a general. After all, he is not that powerful."
Hajime said, "Because of the supreme law of Tanzang, only those with the same bloodline and surname Bayarmaa as Tanzang Great Grand General can become general. Although His Highness Jawara is the current king, all military power of Tanzang is held by the Bayarmaa family. So, although Abrafo's skill is equivalent to Yul, as long as the supreme law is in place, he will never become a general, but don't get me wrong, although Abrafo is the second in command, he has the same power as any general and is more respected than some of the generals in the Bayarmaa family."
Bong said, "You mean the most powerful family in Tanzang is the Bayarmaa family?"
Hajime said, "According to what U-ri told me, the two most powerful families in Tanzang are indeed the Bayarmaa family and Chuma family."
Bong asked, "Who are the Chuma family?"
Hajime smiled and said, "That's Abrafo's family."
Bong scoffed. "Then tell me the reason why the five of you need to enter No Man's Land?" Bong asked.
Hajime was surprised that Bong asked the same question again. Judging from the look Bong gave Hajime, Bong was serious this time. Hajime said, "You don't believe our story we had told?"
Bong said, "I am not stupid enough to be fooled by your little lies. I have already told you that entering No Man's Land is not an option. I will do everything possible to prevent the five of you from entering No Man's Land."
Hajime said, "What if we enter No Man's Land to save Tanzang? In that case, does His Highness still want to stop us?"
Bong turned to look at Hajime and asked, "What do you mean?"
Hajime said, "The reason why no one knows the existence of Tanzang outside of Greead Desert is because the Kingdom is cursed. If the curse is not lifted, Tanzang and its people will disappear in twenty years. The only way to lift the curse is if we must use the white dragon tail to purify this land."
Bong said, "If the land is cursed, the people and simply leave. Therefore, there is no reason for any of you to remove the white dragon tail from No Man's Land."
Hajime said, "If it were that simple, they would have done it many generations ago, but the people were cursed with the land. U-ri said the kings of the past sent thousands of people every year to seek help or find a way for the people of Tanzang to leave Tanzang Kingdom, but they were never seen or heard from again. Therefore, even if they wanted to leave, they couldn't. All they can do is endure the suffering and wait for a miracle to happen."
Bong stared at Hajime with loss of words. He said, "And the five of you are that awaiting miracle."
Hajime said, "If our mission fails, millions of people in Tanzang will die."
Bong said, "The death of millions of people is better than the existence of humanity. I have told you that taking Eldrys out of No Man's Land means the death of everyone. Why do you still insist on releasing this unkillable beast?"
Hajime looked at Bong and said, "What if I told you I knew how to kill that unkillable beast."
Bong looked at Hajime in shock. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You do?" Bong asked, as his heartbeat accelerated.
Hajime smiled and said, "Yes...I do."