Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 256: What Have You Done?

Chapter 256: What Have You Done?

Liu Hao Yu looked down at me, his green eyes sparkling with delight.

Huh, I hadn’t noticed the color of his eyes before, and was that a red dragon tattoo coming up from under the collar of his shirt?

I really must be out of it.

I continued to study him in clothes that now seemed too small and too tight as he went over to Bin An Sha and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the man, facing the glass patio doors. "You do what you need to do; I’ll stand here and protect you."

He shot me a smile over his shoulder before turning his attention back to where the others stood, staring at us.

I plunged my hands as deep into the grass as I could, and I felt myself connecting to the root system. The pulse of the earth hummed in my ears as the roots took me straight to a spot where many footprints were pressing down on the plants and soil.

I recognized the bright life forces of the zombies, and without hesitation, I pulled that life force to me. I let it flow through my body for a minute or two, restoring what it needed to restore before guiding it into the tree in front of me.

The damage done to Liu Hao Yu was severe enough that I couldn’t heal him entirely on my own. I needed to draw on something, and unfortunately, I had chosen this tree. But that was okay; I could fix the damage to it as easily as I fixed the damage to the man.

Only this time, I would choose my source better.

I could feel the zombies shifting from side to side, lifting their feet up off the ground to break the connection I had made, but it didn’t do anything.

Unless they could fly, I was able to get my hooks in them.

"That’s enough, Firefly," murmured Bin An Sha, pulling my attention away from the tree and the root highways beneath us and back to the present.

Every time I did that, connecting with the earth in such a manner, I lost a bit more of myself. It was so easy to get lost in the feeling of being everywhere and nowhere that when I came back into my body, I felt... resentment.

I felt like a flower being plucked from the ground and left to die a slow death in a vase.

Gritting my teeth, refusing to dwell on it, I rose to my feet and turned around to face Bin An Sha and Liu Hao Yu.

"You weren’t kidding, were you?" murmured the man as he stared at the tree I had brought back to life. He placed a single hand on the trunk before looking at me with wide eyes. "I can feel it humming with life."

I nodded, not at all surprised. If it hadn’t been for Bin An Sha, I probably would have ended up putting too much energy into the tree and have it explode instead.

I needed to learn to control that aspect before I did more harm than good.

"Shall we?" I asked, dusting off my knees and looking at the two men. "We still have a mission to complete, supplies to find, and a city to get back to."

"And Wu Bai Hee to kill," grunted Bin An Sha. "That woman is really starting to drive me."

"Wait... you know Wu Bai Hee?" demanded Liu Hao Yu, coming to a dead stop and turning to look at us. "She is still alive?"

"Alive and living it up as the Princess of City A," I assured him with a wave of my hand. I really needed to start handing out flyers or doing something along those lines. I was getting really tired of constantly repeating myself over and over again.

"Huh," grunted Liu Hao Yu with a nod of his head. He then proceeded to walk down the path toward the house and the men waiting for us on the other side of the glass door.

"Is that it?" I asked, rushing to catch up to him. "Huh?"

"Well, I might have to pay her a visit. After all, it has been so long since I last saw her, and I have mourned her every day since," smiled the head of the Red Dragon syndicate. He had one hand in the pants pocket while the other one was tapping out a slow rhythm on the side of his leg.

I nodded slowly, not sure what the appropriate response should be. I mean, he didn’t say anything wrong, and nothing about him really screamed murderous rage...

But still... something wasn’t right.

"You can come to City A with us," suggested Bin An Sha as he stepped up onto the patio stones.

"Nah," grunted the other man again. "I have a few things that I have to attend to here before I can find time to meet old friends."

Bin An Sha nodded as if he knew precisely what Liu Hao Yu was talking about. Me? I was left in the dark, and, in this case, I think I preferred it that way.

"Gentlemen," smiled Liu Hao Yu as he slid open the patio door and walked into the kitchen area of the house. It was completely packed with men, both my own and his, to the point where there wasn’t much room to move.

"As you can see, I am completely healed," he continued with a smile, slipping through the crowds of men until he was in the center.

The smile on his face never fluctuated, never gave a hint as to what was going on in his brain. So when he reached for Wan Ying’s head and pulled it back until it rested on his shoulder, it came as a surprise.

A few whispered words into his ear, and he quickly sliced the other man’s throat from ear to ear, sending an arterial spray to everyone in front. Myself included.

Wrinkling my nose at the drops of blood on my face, I quickly wiped it off with my sleeve.

"The Butcher is back, gentlemen. Give me a few minutes to get changed, and then we are all going to sit down for a nice talk."

Liu Hao Yu walked out of the kitchen, the crowds parting for him like they were the Red Sea, whistling a cheerful song, his hand in his pocket.

"What have you done?" demanded Wei Xiao Li, a look of fear on his face. "What have you done?"