2 Blind Trust

-Shen Wei-

Right after Zhao Yunlan had close the door of his office behind him, Shen Wei had found himself staring at said door, wishing to face palming himself for impulsly telling the leader of the Black Dragon Guardians about the classify information he wasn't supposed to disclose to anyone else, aside from the selected members the military picked to 'help' them in the search of Ouyang.

However, he felt the need to tell the Guardian, as he preferred to call him, the true behind the disappearance of the professor. Maybe it was because Zhao Yunlan looked trust worthy or because he found out just yesterday that one of his employees had been a best friend a long time ago, but he couldn't lie to Zhao so boldly when he was obviously trying to dissuade him from going to the mountains, probably for their own good.

After a second more of staring the door, he sighed, looking down at his hand, wondering just what had got into him. He had felt something strange when the Guardian held his hand, like a kind of connection he could not explain. Although he had never meet Zhao Yunlan in person until a few seconds ago, he had seen his pictures before and read quite a lot about him, giving that his group was at the top of the safeguarding business, but that wasn't near enough to make him feel like he knew the handsome man from somewhere else in the past.

Giving his unexplainable sense of deja vu, Shen pull out a folder from the drawer of his desk and open it to find Zhao Yunlan's file. The files of all the Black Dragon Guardians had been sent to him by the government officials that had grant him permission to go search for the missing professor, telling in a short note, that the group had been chosen to accompany them, to safeguard their lives and research, if they found something. It was looking through those files that he had found Chu Shuzhi's expedient and also it was where he begin to suspect that the professor had being involved in something more than just an archeological expedition.

He looked down to the page with Zhao Yunlan's photo and once again stared at him, wondering about what could be the connection between himself, his group and Mount Kunlun. It was more than obvious to him, that there was a connection, because it didn't make any sense that the government hired a private group to safeguard a bunch of professors, when they have the military to do just that, without the need to involve any outsider. There was also the notes send to him, which he could not be one hundred percent sure it came from the missing professor even if the writing looked the same.

Professor Ouyang was more than a colleague, he was his late father good friend, so he knew him since childhood. He had notice him acting a bit strange and nervous just a few weeks before he told him he was going to Mount Kunlun to do a research, after hearing some 'local' rumors of the mountain being accessible after the earthquake. He had even offer himself to go with him, as he couldn't convince him that the place was too dangerous for an archeological expedition, but he had refused to let him go with him, no matter how much he had insisted.

Then he received a bunch of detailed notes, three days before he lost all contact with the professor and after the panic button had been pushed somewhere inside the government, he received full support to go looking for the professor with not only a group of militaries, but also from private guards. It was simple too suspicious. He only hoped that they could find the professor alive and that he was overthinking things.

However, just in case, he planned in telling Zhao Yunlan everything that those notes revealed, as soon as he got the chance. He may be blindly trusting him, but safeguarding was his business and as he had read in his file, he also knew well how the military worked, been a member himself for a few years and with a father in a high up position within the military ranks. If there was someone who could keep them safe, it was him and his team, he trusted no one else, for now.

-Yunlan-

Zhao Yunlan had make the trip back to his office in record time. On the way, he had been thinking about the many things that could go wrong and how they cold possible prevent them or make the best of them if they came to happen. However, the matter that was bothering him the most, was the writing words of the missing professor about things coming out of the mountain will doom humanity, because it meant that they may not only face the dangers of high snowy mountains, but also of that of the unknown.

He had the feeling there was more to the story that he was told, but he could understand it, if the handsome professor keep some things from him. He was a complete stranger to him and probably not trust worthy just yet. The involvement of the military also worry him, because their agenda was unpredictable and definitely not safe for neither his team nor the group of professors. Their involvement was nothing but suspicious and another thing to be wary of.

"Ah, Shen Wei, Shen Wei… you have really involve yourself and my team, in such a dangerous mess…" Zhao whisper as he crossed the main entrance of his office, slightly greeting his receptionist Li Qian and the friendly gate guard old Lee.

He turned to the right and walked toward the big meeting room in which his team was suppose to be waiting for him. He had call for an urgent meeting, so they could properly prepare for the coming trip, giving the new information Shen Wei had disclose even if it wasn't in full. As he open the door, just as he expected, his team of experts were doing nothing but fool around until the moment he enter.

"Chief Zhao…" Da Qing, his second in command said, standing up to greet him first.

"Da Qing, you lazy cat, weren't you supposed to be in charge while I'm gone? Did you check for the equipment I told you we will be using for this job?" Zhao asked and the young man smiled at him quite pleased.

"So, are we taking the job after all? I thought you were going to try convince the bunch of professors to desist on going to the mountains. Was the old geezer Shen Wei a nut too hard to crack?" Da Qing asked and Zhao sighed. Oh, how he had whished Shen Wei to be an old geezer, because maybe if he wasn't so damn irresistible, he could have manage to scare him off with some horrible tales about dying in freezing cold mountains.

"He was more than I expected, I can assure you that. So, yes, we are going back to the University fully prepared and pick up the professors to be on our way as soon as possible. Lin, any news from the government? They said, they were going to send someone from the military." He asked to his technology expert and inventor extraordinary.

"Yes, they will be sending four elites tomorrow morning." Lin said typing some things to his computer.

"Any names?" Zhao asked curiously. He knew a few men and women from the military. Maybe if he was lucky, the government will send them someone who knew how to hike at least.

"They didn't gave their names, but honestly, who am I? There is no secret I can't crack. They did took in consideration the place we are going. Zhu Jiu is a weapon specialist, but he have trained in the mountains and so does, Sha Ya, a combat specialist, Cong Bo an information specialist and Ya Qing, a biologist. They are usually called when the military is sent to expeditions to extreme places. They know the drill, so they will not get on our way. As for why the military will be involved in this particular expedition…"

"It's because the government thinks there is something up there than can be a treat to us all. Professor Shen even said so himself, so we need to adjust our initial choice of equipment, because we may face more dangers than previously thought. Zhu, what about Wang? Did she came back?" He asked her martial art expert. Her flexibility make her quite deadly and unpredictable. She had quite the reputation of being undefeated in any tournament and to be honest, when training, not even he could win against her. She was just like a snake, who could contort her body at will, which make her an excellent choice for hiking.

"She said that she will not come back until you decline the job offer. You know how mystic she gets, when in rare cases like this one, when her shaman blood takes over and in her eyes we all are going to meet our ends in the land of gods."

"Damn it! She is our healer, the best one in this whole country. What about her husband, Sang?" Zhao asked.

"He said he will bring her back soon, even if he had to tie her up." Zhao smiled.

"Well then, where is Chu?" Zhao asked next.

"He said, he was going to visit an old friend, but will be here in a few hours at most to check the whole equipment personally. You know he is a freak about security." Zhu answer.

"Alright, then… let's have a chat with the guide and plan this thing with every possible scenario, because I have the feeling that everything that could get wrong, will get wrong this time." Zhao warned them.

"Let's hope not Chief, because I truly want that big and juicy bonus when finishing the job, but just in case… what about beginning with an avalanche possibility?" Lin suggested first.

"Nah, that's too ordinary, what about a military conspiracy to get rid of us, an alien invasion, or even a gods rage? That will be more likely." Zhao said humorously, making Zhu laugh.

"Come on Chief, don't go saying things like that, because it will give Wang more fuel to her flame." Da Qing said and Zhao laughed.

"You are right, okay, let's plan for mundane things first… avalanche it is. Let's just hope we truly don't come across one of those, because other than a strike of good luck, there is very little we can do about them."

"We all know that you are a walking good luck charm, because you are the luckiest man alive. So let's just stick close to you and lady luck will get us out of the pinch in no time." Zhu said.

"Hey Chief, can you lend me one of your jackets? That can be consider a good luck charm right?" Da Qing asked hopefully.

"Hell no and stay away from my clothes, I'm warning you, last time you messed up with my favorite shirt. Touch another one and you will be as good as dead."

"Alright, alright… then, how did the professor twisted you around? You are usually quite convincing when wanting a job turned down." Ah hell, he just had to ask for that, damn you Da Qing. Zhao inwardly said, looking somewhere else, which make Zhu a bit suspicious of her boss sudden inability to convince others. The only thing that would stop their boss from turning down a job, when he really wanted out of it, was when there was a handsome man involved. Could it be…?

"Wait, Lin, can you check professor Shen Wei's info from the University? A picture will be more than enough." Zhu asked and Zhao knew he was double doom.

"Of course, that's a piece of cake… professor Shen's picture on the way." Lin moved his fingers over the keyboard in a flash.

"Hey, don't go hacking the university files! I told you not to use the equipment for those!" Zhao try to stop him, but… a whistle came out of his techno expert a few seconds after, so it was already too late to do anything.

"My, my… no wonder he could not refuse the job. Professor Shen is just his type, hot and smart." The rest of the team almost ran toward Lin's computer to look at the professor picture. Then, Da Qing laughed.

"Like I said, you damn lucky man… such a beauty among all the old men." Da Qing said.

"Yeah… I can just picture him shamelessly hitting on him while facing great dangers…" Zhu said laughing.

"You bet. The poor professor, is going to have a hard time shaking off the Chief away from him…" More laugher.

"You bunch of ungrateful idiots, I'm not a playboy, just a man with good taste, but you can all say goodbye to your bonus this year. None of you seems to deserve it so far…" Yunlan said, resigning himself to his cruel fate. Man, where was Chu, the serious one, when he needed him… Zhao sighed. This was going to be a very long expedition, yet he was looking forward to see professor Shen again, that was truly undeniable. He smiled just picturing his innocent look. Oh hell, am I already that interest? Zhao asked himself, already knowing the answer.

AN: Thanks for reading, this is only an introduction of characters, the good stuff begins when those two see each other again. Still hope you like it.