Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 123: A Reason To Live

Chapter 123: A Reason To Live

Just like that, Bai Long Qiang was released from whatever the boss had done to him.

"Sir?" asked the man as he once again looked down at the floor.

"I will help you, and in exchange, you will help me. Do you understand?" asked the boss, a bright smile on his face.

"What—"

"What was that? I am what is now being called a spirit user. A stupid name for what it actually means," shrugged the boss like it wasn’t that big of a deal. But Bai Long Qiang knew a spirit user, and all he could do was read minds... nothing like what the boss was doing.

"Ah, yes, I can do that too. But since I work in a fairly crowded arena, I tend to turn that ability off during the day. That many voices in your head is enough to drive anyone insane after a while."

The boss put his hands behind him on the bench and leaned back, his feet barely touching the ground.

"A spirit user," continued the boss, not looking at Bai Long Qiang. "Is only limited by his own imagination. We control a person’s spirit like you control fire. I can read your mind, manipulate you, command you, and control you without any effort at all. And the more you use it, the better you become. Which reminds me, I am going to have to get you set up for training so you can practice your powers, too."

Bai Long Qiang could only blink with all the information coming at him at once.

"Yes," smiled the boss. "If I wanted to, you could be nothing more than my mindless little puppet, dancing to my tune, doing whatever it was that I wanted you to do." His voice turned dark. "Even if I wanted you to kill your partner in the stands."

A shiver of fear caused Bai Long Qiang to shudder as a look of pure terror crossed his face.

"Like I said. I see all, I know all, I hear all. I am your fucking God until I tell you otherwise," murmured the boss with a gentle smile on his face.

"But that isn’t fun," he continued, breaking the heavy mood that had encompassed the locker room. "No. Not fun at all."

The boss got to his feet and made his way to the door. "Your fight is coming up after this one. Get ready."

"Yes, Sir," replied Bai Long Qiang automatically, his mind still reeling from the new information.

----

There was something magical about fighting. It was like your brain was at peace, not thinking about anything or worrying about what came next.

Si Dong ducked the right jab that was coming for his face and followed up with a left uppercut that caused his opponent’s teeth to click shut.

There were no helmets in this ring, no gloves or mouth pieces. It was fighting in its purest form and nothing made Si Dong happier.

The man in the ring with him stumbled back a few steps giving Si Dong the ability to jump up and knee him in the chest.

He could practically see the air being forcefully expelled from his opponent’s lung on his right side, the flesh around the blow rippling out like water after a stone had been thrown in it.

The man fell to the ground and Si Dong was on him in seconds, not giving him the chance to get up. He rained blow after blow on the other man’s face as he tried to get his arms up to block the attack.

Blood splattered everywhere as Si Dong broke the other man’s nose and split his lip.

Si Dong didn’t try to suppress his smile as he continued his assault. Even after the other man stopped moving, Si Dong kept going.

This was one of the few times he was able to really let lose and drop the mask and he was going to take full advantage of it.

’You can stop now. He’s dead,’ came a voice in his head. Si Dong looked up and saw Fan Teng Fei and Ye Yao Zu standing in the crowd. They were easy to spot as they were the only ones not cheering frantically.

’Oops,’ smiled Si Dong as he rose to his feet. There were no referees in this ring. No bells that rang, or judges to decide the winner and the loser. Here, the one left standing was the winner.

And that was Si Dong.

It was always Si Dong

’I could have sworn I saw him twitch.’

’He probably did,’ answered Ye Yao Zu. ’Even after death, the body can still twitch. But I am sure he is well and truly dead right now.’

’If you say so,’ replied Si Dong in his head as he raised his hands above his head and let out a loud roar. Lowering his hands, he moved his neck from side to side.

"And the winner is Zeng ’The killer’ Xian Liang," screamed the owner of the club as he entered the ring and raised Si Dong’s hand. Once again, the crowd went wild. "Do we have any other challengers? Anyone at all? The odds are 11 to 1 in favor of our champion which mean if you kill him, it will be a windfall."

The cheers got louder, but no one stepped forward, much to Si Dong’s dismay. He needed to fight. He needed to get this energy out, otherwise he was going to leave the other two behind and make his way to City I by himself.

He understood the plan, he understood that everyone on his team wanted to see Wang Tian Mu just as much as he did. But that didn’t mean he was willing to wait the two years to see her.

Closing his eyes, Si Dong kept the arrogant smirk on his face. He could keep up this act forever and a day if he needed to, but everything inside of him screamed out for Wang Tian Mu. She was his anchor in the storm.

And he would never be complete without her.

"Look! Another challenger! What’s your name?" asked the club owner, but Si Dong kept his eyes closed, picturing the first time he had ever seen Wang Tian Mu. She was the reason why he agreed to Bai Long Tian’s offer of a spot on his team.

His parents had sent him into the military to die, but he had found his reason to live.

"You can call me The Monk," chuckled a familiar voice and Si Dong’s eyes snapped open as he looked at his new challenger.

Fuck.