Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 210: What Were You Thinking?!?

Chapter 210: What Were You Thinking?!?

The rest of the team was waiting for us when we arrived at the south gate of the third ring.

"Sorry we’re late," I smiled as we approached Chang Guo Zi. He was standing between the asshole and Duan Zhao Hui, and I could see the look of relief on his face that I was there.

Awe, it was nice to be wanted. Bai Long Qiang had been acting like there was a rain cloud over his head since the moment I walked out of the master bedroom, dressed for adventure.

"We were about to send someone to go look for you," sneered the asshole; however, there wasn’t much heat to it.

"Yeah, we don’t have the ability to set an alarm," shrugged Si Dong like it wasn’t that big of a deal. "Not to mention we had some issues trying to sneak the Doc out of the core."

Bin An Sha rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything. He couldn’t. It was actually hard to get him through the different gates.

"Do I even want to know?" sighed Chang Guo Zi. He looked a lot like one of my high school teachers, standing outside of a bus right before a field trip, trying to get the students in line.

In fact, I was surprised that he wasn’t holding a clipboard and calling out names.

"Well, we are still waiting on some of the other teams, so it’s not like you are officially late," he continued, turning his attention away from us and back the way we came.

"If you think we are really going to let you take all of the credit on a Princess Misson, you have another thing coming." The man coming toward us was not someone that I would have associated with the Retribution Guild or with a team. He seemed... put together.

It’s not like my guys or any other member of our team weren’t put together. But we were wearing black cargo pants with multiple pockets, a black long sleeve shirt, and even black combat boots. Those who carried the backpacks were carrying ones that were either green camouflage or black, and most, if not all, of us were wearing hats.

This new guy was wearing jeans with a button up shirt that screamed ’salmon’ and not pink. His hair was nicely combed back, and his teeth were just a bit too white for my comfort level.

Now, I know I shouldn’t judge a person by how they dressed or looked, but I really couldn’t help myself. The guy looked like a high school jock that was dressed up for a date with the prom queen.

"Ah, Pan Fa, nice of you to join us. Bai Long Qiang, this is Pan Fa, leader of the Rising Sun," introduced Chang Guo Zi.

Bai Long Qiang nodded his head, but Pan Fa didn’t so much as look in his direction.

"You know, if we could, we would give you all the credit for this mission. But unfortunately, the Princess asked for us by name, so there wasn’t a lot that we could do." Another new man walked up to our group and patted Chang Guo Zi on the shoulder as he spoke to the man in ’salmon’.

However, this one I recognized. "Zhong Yong Zheng, I thought I heard your team mentioned," smiled Chang Guo Zi, returning the pat.

"Yup. It is nice to know just how highly we are rated by the Princess. Her trust in us really comes through on missions like this," laughed Zhong Yong Zheng. Like all the other times I have heard about Wu Bai Hee, there wasn’t anything I could put my finger on as wrong with his statement, but it wasn’t right either.

"Maybe I should go talk to her. It doesn’t seem right to drag you four teams around for something so important. You Neanderthals probably wouldn’t even know what proper glassware needs to be found or even what 500-count sheets look like," shot back Pan Fa, still holding his head high.

I guess when you believe that strongly in something... or someone... nothing will make you see anything differently. He talked about Wu Bai Hee like she was a goddess on Earth, and he would worship her like a devout disciple.

In a way, I envied him... so confident in his beliefs. I wonder if she would be the one to come out and save him from the ambush. Since she was a goddess and all, shouldn’t she have seen it coming?

Okay, so I might be a touch bitter right now, having to wake up to her voice... but I was sure to him that it would sound like a choir of angels.

"Hello, I’m Zhong Yong Zheng," introduced the man as he held out a hand toward me. I watched my men stiffen and tried to hold back the smirk. I got to watch women drooling over them since we left Bin An Sha’s place. Payback’s a bitch, and this guy wasn’t even interested.

"Hi," I nodded in return, taking his hand. "I’m Wang Tian Mu."

The man furrowed his eyebrows as he repeated my name under his breath a few times, his hand never dropping mine.

"Wang Tian Mu? The Angel?" he asked stunned. Turning around, he glared at Chang Guo Zi. "What are you thinking, bring the Angel with you?!?"

I jumped at the hint of violence in Zhong Yong Zheng’s voice and quickly snatched my hand away. Rip plastered my back to his chest, his massive arm wrapped around my waist, refusing to let me go even as Si Dong slid in front of me.

But I was long forgotten.

"It’s not what you think," assured Chang Guo Zi as he looked to Bai Long Qiang to explain. "She is safer with us than left in the city by herself. You tell him!"

"But you were doing such a good job on your own," smiled Bai Long Qiang as he turned to the newcomer. "But he isn’t wrong. With all of us leaving for this mission, she would have been by herself. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, let alone her."

"Oh? You two know each other well?"

"I should hope so, we’ve been engaged for more than a few years," smirked Bai Long Qiang. I had to chuckle at the amount of pleasure he was getting from that one sentence.