Chapter 162 Into The Phoenix Chamber Part 42

Running through the woods, the men knew the poisonous mist was beginning to take effect on them, their steps starting to slow and their eyes starting to grow burly. They didn't know how long it would take to reach the exit of Scattered Forest, but they knew that if they didn't continue, death would come soon. As they meandered through the dense forest, they would occasionally bite their hands to make sure they were fully awake and not hallucinating. It seems like every time they inflict pain on themselves, they seem to become more focused. 

Shi blinked and seemed to fall behind. He remembered that the last time he looked up, he was behind Lixin, and now when he looked up again, he was behind Heng. 

Heng slowed down, grabbed Shi's hand, and squeezed Shi's hand tightly. "Stay alert...we are almost there," Heng said breathlessly, and he tried his best to catch up with Lixin. "You can't fall behind, no one will go back to help you, understand?" 

Shi gasped and could only nod to Heng. 

Jin held the sword with all his strength, but his hand began to shake. "Two ahead," he said, breathing heavily to Feng. 

Feng held the sword tightly, and his hand began to tremble. "I got the left," he said. 

Lixin saw Jin and Feng running in front of him holding their swords with trembling hands. He also felt that his grip on the hilt of the sword had become weak. He knew that since his hands were shaking so badly, the hands of the two people running in front of him must be shaking more than his, because Jin and Feng had been taking the lead since escaping from the Phoenix Chamber Forest. 

Lixin used up his last strength and held the sword firmly. "Get behind me." He quickened his steps and walked in front of Jin and Feng, about ten yards before him stood two dead men. He rushed forward and chopped off the head of the dead man on the right, turned around, and chopped off the head of the dead man on his left. Jin and Feng quickly took the lead, and Lixin fell behind Jin and Feng. 

As the five men approached the tree line, Jin thought he saw two participants standing at the tree line, but when he looked again, it was two dead men standing there waiting for them. He knew that the poisonous fog had begun to have an effect on them, and he shook his head, but the scene in front of him still switched back and forth between humans and the dead. To make sure he didn't harm any innocent participant, he turned to Feng and asked, "What do you see before us?" 

Feng gasped and said, "Two dead people are staring at us, what about you?" 

"I don't see any difference. Just now they were human, now they're dead men." 

Feng shook his head and looked up. Instead of dead men, there were two people standing on the other side of the tree line. "You're right..." Feng said. He also had doubts about his ability to judge. At this moment, everything seemed to be deceiving their eyes, so he turned to Lixin for confirmation. "My Lord, should we kill?" 

Lixin looked up and saw the same sight as Jin and Feng. It was difficult for him to decide, but at this time, for the survival of himself and his teammates, he decided, so he said, "Kill." 

Since the two wolves disappeared, U-ri could no longer sit still. Gang urged U-ri to continue towards the water holes and walked back to Stone Valley, but U-ri refused to leave, so he just waited. He knew that his chances of survival with U-ri were much higher than deciding to leave alone, as he would also have to wait to see if Shik made it out of Scattered Forest alive and wanted to confirm the identity of the man who saved him. 

Gang just sat on a rock and watched U-ri pace back and forth. When he was about to open his mouth and tell U-ri to rest, he decided to stand up and see if there were any other participants coming out of Scattered Forest, but no one emerged from the tree line, so Gang limped toward U-ri. 

"Sir U-ri, you should sit down and take a rest. You've been standing and pacing for two hours," Gang said. 

U-ri looked at Gang and said, "Your Highness, you should sit down. The more you stand, the heavier the weight will be on your feet, and the more swollen your injured foot will be." 

Gang said, "It won't help them if you continue to pace back and forth. Let's take a good rest first. Once they get out of the forest, we can go straight to the water holes." He sighed. "I know you're worried about your teammates. I'm worried about Shik, too. I don't even know if he's still alive." 

"If he followed my teammates and didn't get separated from them, there is high chance he would survive," U-ri said, trying his best to smile at Gang. 

Gang saw U-ri's face filled with worry and asked, "Do you really believe what you say?" 

U-ri turned to face Gang and said, "Yes, of course I do. I do have confidence in my friends." 

Gang sighed, happened to glance over Uri's shoulder, and just noticed five men running towards them. "Sir U-ri... do you think those people are dead men?" 

U-ri turned around to the forest and asked, "Who are they?" U-ri looked at the five people running towards them and recognized Jin from a distance. "That's Lord Lixin's team." 

As Jin and Feng rush through the woods, they swing their swords directly at U-ri and Gang as Lixin had ordered. Gang pulled U-ri and Gang back to avoid the two swords that were slamming at them. U-ri and Gang fell to the ground. 

"Jin, Feng, how dare you!" Gang shouted to the two men. 

Jin and Feng were about to raise their swords to attack the two fallen dead men, but they suddenly stopped their attack when they heard the voice that had just shouted at them. Jin and Feng shook their heads repeatedly, blinked a few times, and found that they had walked out of Scattered Forest. 

Feng turned around and looked at the three people behind him. "My lord," he smiled at Lixin. "We did it. We made it out of Scattered Forest alive." He fell to his knees, panting and looking at the blue sky. "We live!" he began to chuckle. 

Lixin, Shi and Heng fell to the ground and sat on the ground, their legs shaking violently. By the time they realized they were out of Scattered Forest, their energy had been completely drained. 

U-ri wwalked up to the five people and handed the water bag to Lixin. "Lord Lixin, have you seen my friends?" U-ri asked. 

Lixin looked up at U-ri and said, "No, sir, I didn't see your friends. The last time I saw them was when we separated at the foot of the mountain about two and a half hours ago." 

Gang asked, "What about Shik? Have you seen Shik?" 

Lixin said, "No, Your Highness." 

Lixin looked around and said, "I saw you riding Hajime's wolf out of the forest. Where is the wolf?" 

Gang said, "They disappeared about an hour ago." 

"How?" Lixin looked at U-ri and Gang strangely and asked. 

U-ri said, "This means something happened to Hajime." He sighed and looked towards the forest, noticing that fog was starting to appear in parts of the forest. "The poisonous mist is getting thicker." He sighed, hoping for his friends would emerge from the tree line. 

Bong limped through trees and bushes, swinging his sword at the dead man who jumped in front of him, while his robe was grabbed by another dead man who rushed at him from behind. After cutting off the head of the dead man in front of him, he turned around and swung his sword at the dead man behind him, but this time, his blunt sword got stuck in the neck of a dead man. He tried to pull it out but couldn't because the blunt sword was lodged in his neck bone. Then, as the dead men rushed forward, Bong stepped back and fell to the ground. A dead man jumped on Bong, but Bong kicked the dead man away. He dashed through the bushes on his butt as three more dead men leapt at him. 

At this time, Bong began to grab the soil and branches on the ground and threw them towards the dead men. In this horrific moment, when he finally accepts his fate, it is now his time to die because he has nothing to protect himself except the grass and branches around him and his hands. He raised his arms to protect his face, closed his eyes, and a beam of fire swung forward, burning the dead man who rushed towards him. He felt himself being dragged backwards from the burning dead body, and he knew it must be another dead man dragging him to satisfy his hunger, so in his last attempt to save himself, he waved his arms backwards, but his right arm was held by a hand. 

Bong looked back to see who was coming to save him, so he followed the hand to his arm. As soon as Bong's eyes touched the man's sleeve, he knew who was coming to save him, so he pulled his hand away. 

"Let's go," Yul shouted. 

Bong said, "I can't walk. So, let me be." 

Abrafo scoffed angrily at Bong and handed the sword to Yul. "I risked my life and the lives of my friends just to come back and save your ass, so don't give me that royal entitlement attitude that I hate," Abrafo said, grabbing Bong's hands, he put Bong on his back and stood up. 

Being carrying on Abrafo's back and running towards the entrance of the Phoenix Chamber, Bong suddenly recalled many memories from the past with Lixin. Now, he finally understood why no matter what he did for Lixin, or what he was going to do, Lixin would never regard him as an important person in Lixin's life, the good things he did for Lixin in the past were not enough for Lixin to take a few steps back to save him. 

From childhood to adulthood, he gave Lixin everything Lixin wanted and desired, but it seemed that nothing he gave was good enough, because every time Lixin rejected all his good intentions. Abrafo, the man he hated deep down, the man he wished more than anything else to die horribly fighting the dead, had somehow fought many of the dead and risked his own life to come back and save him. 

Bong looked at Abrafo and asked, "Why did you come back to save me?" 

Abrafo chuckled and teased. "There is a saying in Tanzang. The saying goes: If you sleep together on the same pillow, you will be husband and wife for life." 

Bong said, "Remember your own words." 

Abrafo chuckled and continued to tease Bong. "And, as a real man, I have to be responsible to the person whom I took his virginity," he said with a laugh. 

"I will not forget your words," Bong whispered with a bittersweet smile, wrapping his arms tightly around Abrafo's neck. 

"What? What did you say? I couldn't hear you?" Abrafo said. 

"I said, hurry up, you dumb donkey. I don't want to be on your back for much longer," Bong said. 

"You ungrateful piece of shit," Abrafo frowned angrily. "How dare you call your savior a donkey?" 

Bong grabbed onto Abrafo's right ear. "Respect me or I'll rip your earlobes out of your stupid donkey ears," Bong said sternly with a smile, knowing Abrafo couldn't see his face. 

"If you don't let go, I'm going to throw you down," Abrafo said, turning his head to the left. 

Bong and Abrafo continued to argue as they followed Yul toward the Phoenix Chamber.