Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 217: First Night On The Road

Chapter 217: First Night On The Road

The guys looked at each other but only shrugged in unison. "There is nothing specific that we are trying to avoid, but we just don’t want to explain where we disappeared to," explained Bai Long Qiang, doing an absolutely horrible job of it.

"Can you explain why you disappeared?" asked Cheng Bo Jing softly. He didn’t sound accusing or anything around those lines, but it was enough to get my back up. "Exactly. We are more than happy to accept that, especially since we were able to find you before too much time had passed."

A crow flew down to land on Fan Teng Fei’s monk’s staff, letting out a low caw.

"Fine, Hei found you," grunted the man, rolling his eyes. "But, as I was saying, the others might not be so willing to."

I nodded my head in understanding. I had to disappear; I had to answer the call because if I hadn’t, the Tree of Life would have died, and I don’t think that anything would have saved the world after that.

But at the same time, I don’t really want to share that fact with anyone else... besides the guys, that is.

And even then, it won’t be until we get a bit more private time... just in case they manage to freak out. I mean, even Rip had the smallest bit of a panic attack knowing what I did, and he’s the most stoic of all the guys.

Blinking as I thought about their reactions, I shook my head. "Nope, you are right. Sneaking back in is the only way to go."

It took us a while to get to where the others had set up their camp for the night. The guys and I had decided to walk through the woods, thinking that it would give us more cover. It would have taken less time to go by the highway, but then we were sitting ducks to any attack.

The sun had almost completely disappeared into the horizon as we entered the back of the camp. I wasn’t sure what I was thinking, but this seemed... normal.

Okay, so that was a stupid thing to say, but it looked like how I pictured a bunch of Boy Scouts would look on a camping trip. The tents were clearly divided into different sections, each one having its own fire and logs for sitting on. Some fires were burning brightly, with men laughing and joking around them, while others were quiet.

Some fires had multiple people cooking on them, while others just had one person delegated to cooking. There was organization within the chaos, and nobody appeared to be paying attention to anything outside of their own fire.

But my biggest question was: how were the tents staying in place if they weren’t staked into the ground?

I have never been one for the outdoors, but growing up, my parents had erected a tent in the back of our yard so I could play in it during hot summers. I clearly remember helping my dad beat those stakes into the ground, wondering how they were expected to keep the tent in place with just a tiny bit of string.

However, this camp was built on a hard road, so it would be impossible to set the tent up the ’normal’ way.

"I see you found her," smiled Chang Guo Zi as he stepped out of the shadows of a tent much larger than the others around us.

The guys froze for a second before they hurried to surround Chang Guo Zi. Even Bin An Sha appeared at the tent entrance, a knife already unsheathed in his hand.

"They did," I smiled.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, searching my face. However, Bai Long Qiang’s glasses hid most of it. "Are you hurt?"

"I’m fine. And everything is much better than it was before," I answered. I hated being so mysterious, but while I trusted Chang Guo Zi, that didn’t mean I trusted the others around us.

"That’s good to know. Next time you need a break, just let me know. That way, he doesn’t have to come up with so many excuses," he joked, tilting his head toward Bin An Sha.

"I will," I smiled. Look at that; he even gave us an excuse in case anyone asked what happened. I felt mildly guilty for not telling him everything, but I knew it was the best decision.

"Dinner is going to be in the next 30 minutes or so. Yuan Bao is cooking it. He is our permanent chef, but don’t mistake his chubbiness and cheerfulness. He is just as lethal and scary as the rest of us. More so because he can poison your food without you even knowing it."

"Is poison his power?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. It didn’t make sense to let the toxic power prepare dinner, but what did I know?

"No, fire is. The man is a genius at cooking meat over an open flame. But he can be vindictive if you don’t like his cooking," chuckled Chang Guo Zi as he turned around and left our tent.

----

After one of the best meals that I had ever eaten, don’t tell the guys, we all crawled into bed.

The biggest tent was for all eight of us, and it was perfect. I honestly didn’t know how I was feeling about all of us together, but at the same time, I also didn’t want to sleep by myself either.

They also made things easier by not asking my opinion on the matter. I don’t think that I would have made the decision by myself anyway. I would have debated the pros and cons, and then stressed out that I would be insulting someone or slighting another person. This way, everything was natural, and I wasn’t the least bit uncomfortable.

And the nightmares never came.

Surrounded by my men, my power humming in my veins, getting stronger and stronger even as I slept, my fears disappeared, and I was at peace.

When I opened my eyes the next day, it was to see Ye Yao Zu lying next to me, staring at me.

"Morning," he whispered as he reached out and tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear. "You had a good sleep."

I nodded, happy that I didn’t have a nightmare. They mostly happened when I was alone, but even then, I wasn’t plagued by them like I thought I would be.

"I am actually surprised that you didn’t have a nightmare last night. They are a completely normal part of the healing process," mused Ye Yao Zu, and I stiffened.