Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 88: Birthright

Chapter 88: Birthright

This time, when I woke up, my body was in a much better mood.

The shower had done wonders for my muscles, and even my brain was starting to perk up. That might have something to do with the energy drink I had promised myself for breakfast, but whatever it takes.

Maybe I’ll even make myself a bacon sandwich before I leave. Mmmm... bacon.

I sat up in my bed and stretched my arms over top of my head, and moaned as the bones creaked and popped back into their proper position.

"And now you are back to looking like a Kitten," smiled Cheng Bo Jing from where he was perched on the foot of my bed. I stuck my tongue out at him, not wanting to get into a fight this early in the... I checked the clock beside my bed... afternoon.

Huh, it must have been a good sleep if I was out of it for over twelve hours.

"Morning," I croaked, my voice rusty since I just woke up.

"Afternoon," replied Cheng Bo Jing, the smile on his face only getting bigger.

"Whatever. I just woke up; it’s the morning to me. And I have a crap ton of things to do." I don’t know how I managed to sleep with that smell, but now that I was awake, the stale spilled beer was almost more than I could take.

I would need to take care of it before I got started on cooking the bacon. The two smells would definitely not go well together.

I got out of bed, not caring how I was dressed.

For all intents and purposes, I was alone; I think it would be perfectly fine to clean your own house in... fox fleeces.

Cracking my neck from side to side, I walked down the hall and into the kitchen. Going into the pantry, I grabbed the bucket from the bottom shelf. I would need vinegar and dish soap if I wanted to get my carpet clean. Then, once that was dry, I would need to sprinkle baking soda over the top and then vacuum it up after a while.

I groaned as I thought about all the work that needed to be done as a result of a last-minute decision. But it probably saved my life, so it was worth it.

-----

"Holy fuck," breathed Si Dong, not a single joke on his tongue at the mountain of supplies that Cheng Bo Jing and Fan Teng Fei managed to find in the attic. God only knew how much more there would have been if the house hadn’t been ransacked before they got here.

"There is no way we can take them all," grumbled Ye Yao Zu as he studied all of the items. Food, camping gear, alcohol, cigarettes? Why would she have a few cases of cigarettes? None of them smoked.

Fen Teng Fei jumped down from the attic entrance, satisfied that they had managed to get everything that Wang Tian Mu had collected for them.

Walking over to stand between Si Dong and Ye Yao Zu, he started cataloging everything. He had hoped that he could have found some things in there that they wouldn’t need, but everything was right on point.

Fuck.

He didn’t want to leave anything behind. The guys would need everything in front of them at some point in time, and he wasn’t willing to leave anything behind for some wolf to come up and steal.

"Our packs are pretty much empty; we can divide up what we can between the five of us and leave the rest?" Ye Yao Zu’s words started off as a statement and ended with a question. No one wanted to leave anything behind,

Fan Teng Fei stared at the supplies; he needed to bring everything with him. It was crucial to their survival, and it was something that his woman had spent a lot of time, energy, and money on. This was basically her love letter to all of them.

No, nothing would be left behind.

His brain was still going through all the different ways he might be able to pack everything; he was surprised when it all just disappeared right in front of him.

"What the fuck?!" he gasped, looking around the room. "Where did they go?!?"

"No clue," replied Bai Long Qiang, walking forward until he was in the center of the room, right in the middle of where all the supplies were.

Fan Teng Fei closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. It was his responsibility to be able to provide his teammates with everything that they needed, and he was failing spectacularly.

Oh sure, no one really blamed him, but they didn’t have to say it for him to be able to feel it. None of them had more than half a protein bar each day for the past week. Even their water was running dangerously low.

They needed food, they needed water, and they needed shelter. And everything that they required was in the supplies Wang Tian Mu had set up in the attic. There was enough water that each one of them could have had a gallon a day for the next year. Food too! The MREs, most of which he recognized from the military, but also rice, dehydrated meats, veggies, and potatoes. Enough food for at least six months. A year if they stretched it.

And yet, it all disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Where the fuck did it go!?

Then, as if by magic, the scene in front of him shifted.

"Hello, descendant of the Fan Clan," came an old voice inside of Fan Teng Fei’s head. "It is a pleasure to meet one of my line finally."

Fan Teng Fei opened his eyes and saw that he had been transported into another world. In the distance, in front of him, was a mountain with water falling from one of the peaks. There were what looked to be several small buildings built into the rocky surface.

Feet away from where he stood was an entire forest of Pagodas.

"What?" breathed Fan Teng Fei softly, scared that he would break the calm atmosphere that surrounded him.

"This is your birthright. On the day of your birth, your mother gave you a jade amulet and placed a drop of your blood on it."

"She said that it was for my protection. That the amulet would protect me when I needed it."

"Today, you need it," the old voice chuckled softly like it wasn’t a big deal.

Fan Teng Fei spun around, trying to take in everything, and saw all of the supplies that were in the living room on the ground just behind him.