Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 258: Covered In Blood

Chapter 258: Covered In Blood

"I don’t like this," grunted Wei Xiao Li as his team of five men wandered around to the different houses in the gated community they had found themselves in.

"So you’ve said... several times," sighed Bai Long Qiang, rolling his eyes as he entered in through the back door of the house in front of him. Finding himself in the kitchen, he opened the cupboards and found countless glasses of all different shapes and sides.

Taking out scraps of clothing, he started to gently pack away his haul into a Rubbermaid container. He would leave it at the front door for when Fan Teng Fei came by to put everything in his space.

"Still, it bares repeating; I don’t like this," complained the other man as two of his men went to help Bai Long Qiang pack away the glasses. The final man ran upstairs, hoping to find the closet where the old owner kept their linens. "You have no idea just how dangerous that man was at the height of his career. He fought tooth and nail to rise from the street and create one of the greatest syndicates that this country had ever known. And now he is back, thanks to your two healers."

Bai Long Qiang paused and looked over at the man leaning against the broken refrigerator. If he was just going to stand there and complain, the least he could do was open cupboards and find some food. Or go into the pantry that was in the corner of the kitchen.

Not only was he wasting air complaining so much, but he was nothing more than a waste of space at the same time.

Seriously. Bai Long Qiang thought that his ears would start bleeding in complaint, having to listen to him for so long.

"Look. You are the one who wanted him healed. My f—the healers on my team, did exactly what you asked them to do in order to give us safe passage out of this city. You really have no one to blame but yourself," grumbled Bai Long Qiang, starting to turn his attention to the... wine glasses.

Or were they martini glasses? He never really knew the difference, nor did he care about it.

He might have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but they were a military family. If it didn’t play a crucial role in keeping you alive, then you didn’t need to worry about it.

"I wanted him healed with the idea that it would make his death less painful on him. But the man was known as the Butcher for a damn good reason, and it wasn’t because of how well he fileted a fish," snapped back Wei Xiao Li, not moving from his spot against the fridge.

"Uh, actually, boss... a fish monger is the one that tends to filet the fish and prepare them for market. A butcher cuts and trims meat from a wide variety of animals, including cows, pigs, and chickens," interjected one of the underlings poking his head up from where he was packing the glasses.

There was a long pause as Wei Xiao Li stared at the man, not sure how actually to respond to him. He didn’t care what an actual butcher did. What he didn’t want to do was be responsible for releasing yet another predator on the unsuspecting humans.

"I see," murmured a soft voice by the back door, causing everyone inside the kitchen to stiffen. They hadn’t heard anyone approaching. "I had expected this from Wan Ying. In fact, he whispered to me several times in my ear just what he wanted to do to me when I was helpless and under his ’care.’"

Liu Hao Yu stepped softly into the kitchen, his footsteps silent against the marble floor.

His leather loafer should have made a sound of some kind, but there was nothing. It was like the man was nothing more than a ghost floating through the space.

"That is not what I mean, Sir," replied Wei Xiao Yu, stiffening up before bowing low to the other man. "I was just concerned for your health."

"And that was what I appreciated about you the most. When so many others abandoned me at the beginning of the apocalypse, you were one of the few to stand by my side. And when the house burnt down around our ears, you were the one to lift that beam up and rescue me, even at great cost to yourself."

Bai Long Qiang’s eyes never left the man casually strolling toward the kitchen table. He was the greatest threat in the room. But he knew he wasn’t a threat to him.

With a shrug, he went back to filling up the container as the other three men were frozen in fear.

That was something Bai Long Qiang never really understood... the idea of being frozen in fear. While he never claimed to be religious, he did believe in destiny. If it was your time to go, nothing was going to stop it. Not freezing in fear or running away as fast as you could. If you were meant to die, you would die.

It was that unwavering belief that never made him question his feelings for Wang Tian Mu, no matter how young she was. He was more than willing to wait until she was ready; until she told him what she wanted because he knew that he was hers.

And now he was learning that he wasn’t the only one to feel that way.

But while he fought it before, he no longer did. If he was Wang Tian Mu’s destiny, and if the others felt that same pull to her, then there was nothing else he could do but accept it.

A hot spray of blood took him out of his musings as he looked up from where he was wrapping up yet another cup he couldn’t identify.

"Sorry about that," apologized Liu Hao Yu as he casually wiped his knife against the sleeve of his jacket. "Somehow, I seem to have forgotten just how much space arterial spray covers."

"Probably because when you stand behind your victim, you don’t have to be worried about being covered by it," shrugged Bai Long Qiang, not really caring. He used his own sleeve to wipe the blood off of his face. It wouldn’t do to worry his Kitten by coming home covered in blood.