Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 205: Zhong Yong Zheng Told Me

Chapter 205: Zhong Yong Zheng Told Me

With a cry, I lunged forward, knocking us both onto the floor.

Ye Yao Zu’s arms reached up and cradled me to his chest as he lay on his back. I frantically kissed him, not sure if this was yet another dream, but I was not willing to live with regrets.

"Shhh," he whispered between kisses. "Everything is okay. You are in my arms. I can see you, I can hear you... and I can taste you."

"Ye Yao Zu!" I cried out, letting my head drop to his shoulder as my body shook with tears.

"That’s me, Little Fox." He repeated his nickname for me over and over again as his hands stroked my back up and down.

"Is this real?" I asked after I managed to control my breathing.

"It is," he assured me, never once removing his hand. "We are inside Bin An Sha’s master bedroom. On the floor. Between the bed and the door. The bathroom is just off to my left, and your safe space is beside that. The lights are off, so the only light you see right now is coming from the hallway. There is a pile of sheets on the floor beside us, but Bin An Sha removed them."

He detailed everything around us, letting me paint a picture inside of my head of where I was.

"We are going to stay here for a few more minutes while you relax, and then we can go out into the living room to see the rest of the guys. Chang Guo Zi was worried about you, so he and Duan Zhao Hui, his second in command, are also in the living room. Rip is right outside of the door, protecting us from anyone outside the room."

The more Ye Yao Zu spoke, the calmer I felt. The tension slowly leeched out of my muscles, and I could feel myself starting to shake uncontrollably.

"She is going into shock. Can you grab one of the furry blankets from her safe space?" murmured Ye Yao Zu, but my brain was too foggy to really understand what he was saying.

Something about a furry blanket?

My pink one?

I wanted my pink furry blanket.

"Okay, Firefly, I’ll get that for you," said another voice soothingly. That was weird. I had never heard that voice speak in that tone before. Normally, it was gruff and to the point. "That’s because you just scared the crap out of me, and I’m trying to recover too."

Ye Yao Zu hummed in agreement under me, and I let out a long sigh as I felt the weight of my blanket covering me.

"There we go. That’s it. You are safe. Do you know where you are?" asked Ye Yao Zu. My eyes were starting to feel heavy, but I knew there was something important that I had to do. I couldn’t sleep before I had...

Before I had what? What did I need to do?

"Little Fox," murmured the body under me. "Do you know where you are?"

"Bin An Sha’s condo," I grunted, my eyelids getting heavier and heavier.

"Good girl. Now, do you understand that you are safe?"

"Yes," I nodded, pulling the blanket up even higher so it was tucked under my chin.

"Do you know what happened to you?"

I nodded my head but didn’t open my eyes. "Saw Bai Long Qiang and the others dying. It was an ambush."

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I sat upright, the panic I was feeling before coming back. "You can’t go out on the mission. No one survives it."

"Hush, Firefly," murmured Bin An Sha, rubbing my shoulders from behind. I could feel Ye Yao Zu’s hands gripping my hips and...

I blushed when I realized that I was straddling his pelvis. And unless I was mistaken, he was happy to see me.

"Sorry!" I gasped, not knowing what to do.

"It’s okay," chuckled Ye Yao Zu. "I have no problems being in this position."

"I bet," grumbled Bin An Sha as he reached under my arms and helped me to my feet. "But let’s get back to the topic at hand, shall we?"

I nodded my head.

"You okay, Little Bird?" asked Rip, poking his head inside the room when he saw me on my feet.

"Not by a long shot," I admitted, walking straight into my arms. It just occurred to me that Bin An Sha and Rip weren’t in my nightmare. Did that mean they didn’t die?

Shaking my head, I let Rip wrap an arm around me as he led me down the hall and toward the living room, where everyone was waiting.

"Do you think I am going crazy?" I asked softly, looking up at the mountain of a man towering over me.

"No," he said. He didn’t hesitate to give me his answer, nor did he elaborate. And that simple word soothed my mind.

"Okay," I nodded. I trusted Rip to tell me what I needed to hear, not necessarily what I wanted to. If he said that I wasn’t crazy, then there needed to be another explanation about what was going on.

"You’re awake," smiled Cheng Bo Jing as he stood up from where he was sitting on the couch and walked toward me. He wrapped his arms around me, and I breathed in his scent. However, as soon as I closed my eyes, I could see him being ripped apart by the five zombies... his last words telling me that he loved me.

With a gasp, I pulled out of his arms and stumbled back into Rip, letting his arms circle me.

"No. You aren’t going on that mission," I gasped, shaking my head back and forth.

"Kitten, I know you hate us going out. But we need to accept it," murmured Bai Long Qiang as he, too, stood up and approached.

"Yeah, I get it. If you don’t get everything on that list, everyone is going to be kicked out of their houses, out of their guild, and stuck back in the fifth circle until you prove yourselves again. But is that really worth walking into an ambush?!?" I screamed, completely unable to control myself.

"What?" asked Bai Long Qiang, stumbling to a stop. "Is that the consequences you were talking about?" He turned to face one of the men seated in the chair.

Chang Guo Zi nodded his head as he turned his attention to me. "It is," he confirmed before his eyes narrowed. "But how did you know that? I haven’t had a chance to tell your men anything before you passed out."

I waved my hand, not thinking or caring about what I was about to say. "Zhong Yong Zheng said it," I answered, my head still shaking back and forth.