Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 255: What Comes Next

Chapter 255: What Comes Next

Liu Hao Yu listened to what the woman was saying and could feel the rightness in her words.

His body had deteriorated exponentially faster once Wu Bai Hee no longer had her hooks in him. And while he had been happy initially about it, he was no longer able to reconnect to his body.

It was like he was nothing more than a spectator in his own body, screaming at himself but not able to change.

But even if this healer wasn’t able to restore his body to the way he was when he was younger, there were still a lot of things he could do.

The first of which would be to slit Wan Ying’s throat.

He might not have the same backing as he did when the Red Dragons were at the pinnacle of their success, but he had fought tooth and nail to build the syndicate from the bottom up.

The blood that he spilled to make a name for himself was enough to fill up the water surrounding City H until it had run red for three consecutive days. He might be 75 right now, but that didn’t change who he was.

But even he could admit that his teeth had become too dull. He had an expectation of what his life would be like when he got older, and while some of it had worked out the way he wanted, the majority didn’t.

"It’s not too late to change that," spoke the woman slowly. She was lazed out in front of him, not at all scared at the disrespect she was showing him. Wait... what did she say?

"I am here in your head with you. There is no part of the conversation that I can’t hear," chuckled the woman with a shake of her head. "And I don’t mean to be disrespectful. I just come from a different place and a different culture than you do."

She shrugged her shoulders like it wasn’t that big of a thing before coming to her feet. "Is this better?"

Well, now he felt bad.

He shook that thought out of his head before she could hear it. He was the Butcher... he didn’t feel bad for other people; weakness like that was just as likely to end him up on the wrong side of a knife.

"Kindness isn’t weakness," she hissed before stopping herself. "Wait... not even I believe that. Being kind to your enemies is to be harsh on yourself. There is no need to be kind to people who don’t deserve it. How about this? Being kind to those who are yours isn’t a weakness. It makes you stronger as a whole because then you have people at your back willing to protect you. Otherwise, be as harsh as you want."

Huh... he didn’t expect her to impart that type of wisdom. But she was wrong.

Look at how easily it was for his grandsons to turn their back on him when the opportunity presented itself.

"But did they really?" she asked, her head cocked to the side as she studied the Butcher. "Or were you manipulated by Wu Bai Hee enough to impact that relationship too?"

He thought about her words and found that... she was right. While he never had the greatest relationship with the brothers, it was never as antagonistic as after Wu Bai Hee appeared in his life.

"You are right," he grunted, willing to reflect on his actions. There were a lot of things that he would have changed, hindsight being 20/20 and all. But all he could do was move forward from this point on and clean house.

"Your body is pretty much healed; I can’t say the same for the tree we were sitting under," smiled the woman as she raised a hand to the mirror, holding him captive.

"Not my house anyways," shrugged Liu Hao Yu, not really understanding what she was saying. Who cared if a tree died?

"That tree gave its life force in order to save you," she explained, her hand hovering over the smooth surface. "Show some respect. I am hoping that I can take some power from the zombies around here to save it, but I will be vulnerable while I do."

Liu Hao Yu nodded his head. While he might not care about a random tree, he could appreciate something that had sacrificed to save him. After all, that type of sacrifice was one of the foundations of the Red Dragon Syndicate.

"I will protect you," he grunted, looking around at his cage and wondering how he might be able to do something like protect someone else when you were a prisoner. But he would find a way.

"My men will protect me. But if you can get yours to find glassware and 500-count sheets, I would be grateful," laughed the woman.

"Wait, I thought you were joking about that!" replied the Butcher, startled. He might not know everything that was going on in the outside world, but he knew enough to know that this was not the time to worry about those things.

"I wish I were," smiled the woman as she laid her hand on the mirror, sending the glass shattering everywhere. "I really wish I was."

----

"Hey, Firefly. How are you feeling?" asked Bin An Sha from behind me.

I came back into my body, only to realize that I was being supported from behind by the man. Smiling up at him, I rested my head on his thighs. "Tired," I replied. "I need to take some of the energy from the zombies, but I don’t know what will happen if I do."

"Don’t worry about anything like that. The guys can fight if they have to. What’s the point in having so many of them if they aren’t going to be protecting you?" chuckled Bin An Sha as he ran his fingers through my hair.

It felt so good that I just wanted to close my eyes and take a nap, but I didn’t know how Liu Hao Yu would react to being back in control of his body.

"I told you already, you will be protected," grunted the man in front of me.

My eyes snapped open to look at the man sitting in the wheelchair. It was like a movie played in rewind as I watched the wrinkles on the man’s face fade until they were no more.

But it wasn’t just his face. All of his skin was regressing, becoming younger and younger with each passing second.

"Neat trick," I croaked, surprised to see a man who looked no more than 30 years old in front of me.

"If you think that’s neat... you should watch what comes next."