Author Notes: Hello again, everyone! Enjoy the next chapter :)

Beta & Co-author: jeangirlmy

- Chapter Start -

The first thing Wu Xie sees upon waking up is the familiar ceiling of his bedroom. The second thing he sees is Bai HaoTian's teary face peering at him from about two feet away. The third thing he sees is Princess staring at him from up close before an ear splitting shriek assaults his eardrums.

"Aaaaaaiiiiiieeeeee!"

Princess dives inside Wu Xie's sweatshirt at once, pressed flat against the side of his neck and trembling.

"What is that?! Where did it go? Where is it?" Bai HaoTian grabs the blankets and shakes them.

Still startled and now alarmed besides, Wu Xie sneaks a quick glance down at himself. He's very thankful to find he's decently clad, but he doesn't feel too good. Breathing makes his lungs feel squishy and oddly wet. His bladder is also full to bursting.

"Simei!" Pang Zi shuffles in with one hand to his back. "What is it? What's happened? Tianzhen, you're awake!"

Sitting on the bed, he grabs Wu Xie in a suffocating hug, making him gasp. Pang Zi's hugs are lovely and warm and full bodied, but not right now. Wu Xie pats him feebly on the back.

"I'm alive, now let me go. I need to breathe. And pee."

Princess squeezes out from between them with a 'pop' and flops onto the sheets, also gasping for air.

"Aaaaaaiiiiiieeeeee! There it is! Pang-ye, catch it before it hurts Xiao San-ye!"

The two men disengage to blink at her before following the direction of her shaking finger.

"Oh, you mean Princess?"

Bai HaoTian stares at them. Then she turns to the shellfish politely wriggling her fingers in greeting.

"That's Princess?"

"The one and only," Pang Zi assures her and turns back to Wu Xie. "Tianzhen, you scared me. We almost lost you! We would've lost you if not for that Huo DaoFu!"

Wu Xie stares at him, mind swirling with faint memories of choking on fine cement dust and collapsing on the road, being piggybacked in the rain, and the weird sensation of his lungs being filled with liquid.

"I'm still alive," he says and pats Pang Zi's shoulder. "I'm still here."

A wet sniffle makes him look over at Bai HaoTian's teary eyed face.

"Xiao Bai. I'm here."

"Why didn't you tell me you're so ill?"

"I wasn't planning on telling anyone," Wu Xie says, not daring to meet Pang Zi's very pointed look. Princess chooses that moment to scuttle up his arm so he grabs both her and the opportunity for a change in subject.

"You got your all important wish at last. This is Princess. Princess, meet Bai HaoTian. You can call her Xiao Bai."

"Like she can talk," Pang Zi says with a sigh.

"That's not my all important wish and you know it," Bai HaoTian says, but she gingerly shakes Princess' fingertips. "I've never seen any shellfish shaped like a human hand before."

Wu Xie sets Princess down on the blankets where she promptly leaps at Bai HaoTian who catches her with a shriek. With the two females being thus occupied, he turns back to Pang Zi.

"I plan to bring Xue Wu down in three days," he says in a low voice. "But first, help me to the bathroom before I flood our bed!"

- o -

The key to taking Xue Wu down is Wu Xie's grandfather's Grave Robber Chronicles, an old leather bound journal in which he detailed all his tomb raiding exploits since he was a young man.

Wu Xie knows that Xue Wu would do anything to get his hands on this one remaining heirloom of the Wu family. Putting it up for auction will make him believe that Wu Xie is desperate for money and would sell it to him.

It takes a few machinations, but Xue Wu falls for the trick and coerces the other three interested buyers to let him buy it. Meanwhile, Wu Xie gives an anonymous tip to the Tax Department who takes Xue Wu is for questioning on suspected money laundering. It leads to Xue Wu landing in prison for at least half a year. Wu Xie then gifts a genuine copy of the Grave Robber Chronicles to Curator Lim, one of the interested buyers with the advice to keep Xue Wu behind bars for the rest of his life, if he values his own.

With his mission accomplished in three days, Wu Xie is free to embark on his next adventure - traveling to Thunder City to look for Wu ErBai, his second uncle. With PiaoPiao and Xiao Mei now safe from Xue Wu and his goons, Pang Zi is free to accompany Wu Xie. And with no one at the apartment to take care of Princess, it's a given that she comes along too.

- o -

The following morning, Wu Xie and Pang Zi pack up their gear and load up their van.

Bai HaoTian shows up with Jia KeZi and Li JiaLe whom she's hired to accompany them. Warehouse 11 is still closed to facilitate a thorough investigation after Director Ding was arrested for illegal sale of goods.

Perched on Wu Xie's shoulder and turning around, Princess wriggles with excitement at seeing so many familiar faces. She leaps to Bai HaoTian's shoulder and gets a squeal and a laughing "Hi, Princess!" Then she leaps onto Li JiaLe's shoulder and gets a wary nod and a slightly strangled "Princess." Next, she leaps to Jia KeZi and gets a startled "Ahh! Princess?"

"Huh." Pang Zi shakes his head. "I swear, she makes friends even faster than you, Tianzhen."

"Why're you surprised?" Wu Xie chuckles as Jia KeZi gingerly pats Princess and then freezes as she starts crawling around his neck.

"I'm not," Huo DaoFu says, striding up to them with bag in tow. He doesn't blink when the shellfish pops up from Jia KeZi's collar and leaps to his shoulder, but he does grimace when she burrows inside his jacket collar. "Guh."

"Why're you here?" Pang Zi demands.

"You all still need one more person," Huo DaoFu says, digging inside his jacket and pulling Princess out although she continues to cling to his collar with her fingertips. "If I don't go with you, Wu Xie will die halfway on the journey."

Princess freezes and turns to stare at Huo DaoFu who ignores her. Wu Xie and Pang Zi exchange surprised looks. Bai HaoTian purses her lips while Li JiaLe and Jia KeZi look alarmed.

"Wu Xie?" Li JiaLe asks. "What does he mean?"

"It's nothing," Wu Xie says with a quick smile. "Huo DaoFu, this is Xiao Bai, Li JiaLe and Jia KeZi from Warehouse 11. This is Huo DaoFu, a doctor... friend of mine and a worrywart."

As the four exchange polite nods, Princess jumps back to Wu Xie and taps his cheek.

"I'm fine," he tells her absently.

"So, you're willing to go with us?" Pang Zi asks Huo DaoFu.

"We don't have much money to pay you," Wu Xie says bluntly.

"I don't need your money. Since I undertook Wu Xie as my patient, I'll be responsible for his treatment until the end," Huo DaoFu replies.

"Well then," Wu Xie says and smiles. "Let's get going."

Pang Zi whoops.

"Thunder City, here we come!"

- Chapter End -

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this chapter :)