Chapter 178 Mystery In Stone Valley Part 8

"What did you say?" Prince Da looked at Master Lu and shouted angrily. "He was drunk before he left the tent. Why does he always get into trouble?" He shook his head. "Unbelievable."

Lixin said, "You know how he was. Maybe his disappearance was his own doing, just to attract attention."

When the curtain door swung open, Lixin, Prince Da and others all looked at the door, and Abrafo walked into the tent.

Abrafo breathed heavily and said, "Prince Bong is not missing, but kidnapped."

Prince Da asked, "How do you know?"

Abrafo said, "After Lord Lixin and others left, a woman came up to me and asked me to send you a message." He looked at Lixin.

Lixin asked, "What is the message?"

Abrafo said, "That woman wants the pure phoenix eggs in exchange for Prince Bong's safety within five days. If you refuse, then Prince Bong will starve to death."

Prince Da asked, "Do you know this woman? Is she among us?"

Abrafo shook his head and said, "She was wearing a mask."

Prince Da said, "Where can I find her?"

Abrafo said disappointedly, "She didn't say."

Prince Da said, "Lord Lixin, order all the soldiers to find Prince Bong. The fight competition will post-pond until Prince Bong is found."

"Yes, Your Highness," Lixin said.

When the soldiers went to find Bong, the loud noises kept people awake. Now that everyone was awake, the four Tanzanies decided to head towards the main tent of the Lai family to check on Yun's condition. When they arrived at the tent, only two soldiers were guarding it.

"Soldiers," U-ri asked. "What's going on? What happen to the other three men?"

One soldier said, "Lord Lixin is here to gather all available people to find Prince Bong."

Michio asked, "Oh, what's wrong with Prince Bong? He just came here not long ago."

The soldier said, "Prince Bong is missing."

Yul said, "Since there are so many people looking for him already, we have no reason to look for him. Let's go in."

Michio said, "Well, if you would tell your lady we are here."

The soldier nodded and said, "I will."

The four Tanzanies walked into the tent, hoping to see Bi, but there seemed to be no one in the tent except Yun, who was sleeping on a cot a few feet from the door. U-ri went over to check on Yun while the other three Tanzanies picked up the fallen chairs and table.

Hajime helped Michio lift the fallen table. He asked, "So, what's going on here?"

Michio said, "Prince Bong suddenly threw a jar of wine on the table. Prince Bong started arguing with Abrafo. I left before the argument was over, so I don't know what happened next."

U-ri said, "It must be what Abrafo said that make Prince Bong lose his temper."

"We were having a normal conversation," Michio said. He paused for a moment. "Abrafo told the guards at the time that he liked Shi."

Hajime shook his head and said, "No wonder Prince Bong is angry with Abrafo."

Michio said, "But Prince Bong was not present when Abrafo make his statement."

Yul looked at Michio and said, "Did you know that walls are known to have ten thousand ears?"

Yun let out a soft groan, causing U-ri to quickly back away towards the three Tanzanies stood behind him. Yul and Michio quickly moved forward, reaching for their weapons.

Hajime whispered, "She's awake."

Yul turned to Hajime and said, " She can't leave this room until we're sure she's not turn."

Yun slowly stood up and looked left and right. The surrounding environment was very unfamiliar to her. Then she looked at the four Tanzanies standing a few feet away from her, and of the four men, she recognized only Yul. She swung her legs over the edge of the cot and continued to stare at Yul.

Yun then raised her right hand and pointed at Yul. "You..." Yun said softly.

U-ri asked, "Do you know this person?"

Yun nodded.

U-ri was about to walk to Yun, but Michio grabbed his hand. Michio asked, "Are you sure it's safe?"

U-ri said, "She recognizes Yul. I don't think she will turn," U-ri said, stepping toward Yun. "My Lady, let me check if the poison has worn off."

Yun jumped off the cot, ran behind Yul, put her arms around Yul's waist, and hugged Yul tightly.

Yun's sudden reaction caught the four Tanzanies off guard. Yul turned to look at Hajime, but Hajime seemed to be as surprised as Yul and the others.

Yul sighed and said, "My friend U-ri is a good man. He will look after you. He saved you."

Yul slowly removed Yun's hands from his waist and moved them to the side. "U-ri..."

U-ri said, "My Lady, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to make sure the poison has dissipated."

Yul grabbed Yun's left hand and stretched it forward towards U-ri. He turned to Yun and smiled, "Don't be afraid. I'll be here with you."

Yun's left hand holds Yul's right hand tightly, and she slowly stretched her right hand towards U-ri. U-ri quickly checked Yun and after he finished, he sighed happily.

"What's the result?" Hajime asked. "Does it work?"

U-ri smiled and said, "It works. She didn't seem to be poisoned." He turned to Yun. "I have to thank you. Without you, I wouldn't have known that this stupid idea of mine would work in the end." He walked over to the table, took out his journal, and began to write down his findings.

Hajime felt sorry towards Yun when he saw Yun's frightened look. He remembered how scared he was when he was locked in a dark bathroom at night while his mother went out with her so-called friends, and how he prayed that someone would show up, hold him, and tell him that everything was going to be okay.

Hajime sighed and said, "Now that everyone is awake, I'll go find Bi and prepare some food."

Michio said, "Good.... I liked this idea. "

"Hajime..." Yul said, and as he stepped towards Hajime, worried that this situation might cause Hajime to have some misunderstandings between the two, but the moment Yul walked towards Hajime, Yun quickly followed him, tightly her arms around Yul's right arm.

Hajime smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'll be back soon."

Yul watched Hajime leave the tent. Watching Hajime walk away, he felt uneasy inside. Yul turned to Yun and said, "Let's sit at the table and wait for the food."

Hajime followed the guard's instructions and came to the stone house where Bi was supposed to sleep. There seemed to be no one inside and he decided to go into the kitchen to prepare food himself as the maids were probably asleep.

Hajime walked into the stone house with only three walls. He walked to the stove to light a fire and prepared to cook. When he took a closer look, he found two ducks and three chickens hanging upside down on the rope above the stove. He suddenly felt sick, quickly covered his mouth, rushed out of the kitchen, and vomited near the house.

When he couldn't spit no more, he wiped his mouth and thought about how strange his situation was. He hadn't been feeling well since leaving the true Phoenix Chamber. He sighed, thinking that everything he had done the second time he entered the Phoenix chamber was no different than the first time. He decided to give up the idea of cooking, turned around and walked towards the tent, when he saw four maids walking towards him. He thought to himself that it was strange that these four maids were still awake at such hour. He decided to approach the four maids.

"Young maidens, "Hajime said as he approached the four maids. "I thought everyone was asleep."

One of the maids said, "Sir, we just came back from Prince Da's tent, because we have to help other maids cook for the volunteers." She looked at Hajime. "Do you need us to help you with something?"

Hajime said, "I was looking for someone to prepare some food."

The maid smiled and said, "We can help you with that."

Another maid said, "Why isn't the candle lit?" Her words made the other three maids look in the direction of Bi and Yun's room.

Hajime asked, "Is this strange?"

The maid said, "Our Lady is afraid of the dark, so her room is always lit with candles."

Hajime said, "I didn't look into Lady Yue's room, but I looked in Bi's room and she was not inside."

The maids looked at Hajime in shock, and the four maids quickly ran into the bigger stone house that stood beside Bi's small stone house. After searching for a while, the four maids ran out of the room, their faces as pale as ghosts.

"Lady Lai is not inside," a maid said with a trembling voice.

"Could Lady Lai have been kidnapped as Prince Bong?" Another asked in horror.

"Kidnapped?" Hajime said taken aback. "Are you sure Lady Lai is not inside?"

The four maids nodded.

Hajime looked around and found nothing unusual. If Yue and Bi were kidnapped as the maids thought, there would definitely be signs of a fight, but there didn't seem to be any. If there is no struggle, it can only mean that Yue and Bi walked away voluntarily, but the question is why.

Hajime said, "It's not safe for the four of you here. Let's go back and join the others."

The four maids nodded in agreement, but Hajime saw the expressions of the four maids suddenly change, and they began to slowly walk towards the kitchen area. Their shocked expressions made Hajime turn his head, only to see three men in black standing a few feet away from him.

Hajime slowly back towards the maids, and the three people in black also walked towards Hajime and the four maids with swords in their hand. 

Looking at Hajime standing only a few feet away from him, he couldn't believe his eyes. He continued to stare at Hajime, muttering in his heart "Xan..."