The middle-aged nurse didn't respond to Leader Rong's question. Instead, she reached into her kit and took out a new pair of surgical gloves. After she inspected the whip slashes on his back, she covered the deep wounds with swabs of alcohol. The scent of disinfectant mixed with the iron taste in the room as she sanitized his opened wounds.
Sweat beads formed on his forehead and soaked his fringe as the nurse disinfected one area at a time and treated it. His body trembled and toes curled as he thought of the sound of sizzling stone pots with boiled content inside of it. Just like the sizzling plate dishes that he loved to devour, his back felt like a hot iron was burning into his flesh.
The guards standing by his side shivered even though they had their eyes and back straightened up in front of Leader Rong. Although Alexander hadn't hissed a sound and endured the punishment by himself, each of them knew how harsh Leader Rong was when it came to failing missions.
At last, his wounds were completely taken care of and the nurse had half a garbage bin filled with bloody gauzes. She shook her head and threw away the used gloves. Her eyes remained cold, but her voice was filled with concern.
"If you are going to ask about his condition every time after punishing him, then you might as well not punish him anymore. My hands are used to save people, not perform magic on people. He can't withstand any more whips or else you'll have to call somebody else next time. Not me."
Leader Rong frowned at her words, "who?"
"The staff who works at a crematorium. I could give you the business card to you. You'll get 10 percent off if you tell them that you were referred by me." She packed her kit and stood up to leave the room without giving him a single glance.
"Do you think of me as a joke?" Leader Rong raised his voice by a tad, but his voice didn't reveal any aggressive attitude towards her.
She turned around with a smile, "who would dare? I'm just stating a mere fact. He is my patient and I'm only reporting my professional view of his current state. If you are going to insist on forcing him further, his bones will snap in half and you'll be the one at a loss. I'll bring medicine to his room later. Get a few of your men to carry him back using a stretcher."
After saying what she had to say, she resumed her walk and stepped casually out of the room; leaving everyone on high alert. Nobody had ever dared to talk to Leader Rong the way she did. Naturally, everyone's body hair stood up and felt chills to their back as the tapping sounds of her heels faded.
Surprisingly, their worries seemed to be their own ways of overthinking. Upon the huge slam of the door that the nurse had used to exit the room, Leader Rong waved his right hand; signaling everyone to leave the room.
Of course, since the leader has given his command, nobody would stay an extra millisecond. They crossed their fingers and prayed for Alexander's wellbeing.
It was only Leader Rong and Alexander left now. Both of them remained silent as if they were playing a silent game and whoever speaks first would lose. A soft sigh left the elderly man's mouth and a huff of breath vanished in the cold air.
"Are you not going to say anything to me?" His tone softened slightly as he took a seat in front of Alexander. The poor young man laid on his chest while shivering from the low temperature of the room and his sweaty body.
He lifted his head and replied with an energy lacking voice, "Leader Rong, I wouldn't dare ignore your mighty presence. What would you like me to say?"
Another sigh left the elderly man's mouth, but his tone sounded even more soothing than before. "You know that grandpa only wants the best for you. In front of others, you have to call me Leader Rong. But right now, we are alone. You must be angry at me for punishing you, but think about it carefully. Did I ever reveal your lies in front of others?"
Alexander fiercely glared at him and squinted his eyes as his grandpa continued to speak. "Did you think that I didn't know about how biased you are when it came to that Ariana girl? I've told you and warned you clearly in the past to stay away from her. How many times have you failed a mission because of her?"
"That's none of your concern. I did what I had to do and took responsibility for my actions. Even if you give me a chance to repeat the missions in the past, I would have made the same choices." His lips curved to a small smile; looking proud of his past accomplishments.
"Hmph! That is exactly why you have all those unnecessary scars on your body. If you told her about what you've done for her, do you think that she would come to your arms and thank you? No, she would look down and sympathize with you! I've given you many chances, yet you've never eliminated her. Don't force me to get other people to go after her. Trust me, the success rate is 100% if I tried."
Elder Rong was starting to show his aggressive temper after Alexander fought him once again for Ariana! He inhaled and exhaled deeply as he stared at his grandson's bloody back.
Sensing the elder's anger, Alexander smirked and said, "If you lay a strand of her hair, I will kill myself in front of you. You will not have any heirs left since I'm your daughter's only child. Grandpa, if you want me to respect you as an elder, then maybe you should be more honest with me."
"I told you plentiful times already that I have no idea what you're talking about. You probably had a nightmare and thought it was reality. Why won't you let this project bullshit go already?" Leader Rong's hands shook as his emotions exploded and he shouted at his grandson.
"Then why were you afraid that I would be able to figure things out? I only mentioned the underground tunnel once, and you immediately emptied out the place. The guards stopped showing up there and there were obvious evidence of something being kept inside those vacant rooms. Why did you move everything around? Because you're guilty or were you afraid that your evil doings would be exposed to the world once I find out?"
Alexander chuckled and spat out a small amount of blood from his mouth, "What's with the silence? Didn't you want me to talk to you? What? Cats got your tongue?"
"Nonsense! When will you ever stop talking to your elders this way? Did you really think that I wouldn't punish you because you're my kin? If you don't change that attitude, I will make a move on that Ariana girl's close friends and family. This is my final warning."
"Haha...what a joke. What are these scars and the bloody flesh of my back doing on my body if you didn't want to punish me?" Alexander mumbled as his vision blurred.
Seeing that he was on the verge of collapsing, Leader Rong cleared his throat and ordered two men to carry Alexander back to his own room using a stretcher. Only after every person had left that the old man sat down and frowned, "one day you'll understand that I'm doing this all for you."
When Alexander woke up, he was in his room. The nurse had her arms crossed and looked as if she loosened up her tensed body when she caught his eyelashes fluttering rapidly. She walked to the tray of medicine where pills were placed in a plastic container, and a thermos was next to it.
She poured the hot water from the thermos into a mug and mixed it with some lukewarm water to lower the temperature of the liquid. Once the water seemed fine for drinking, she brought the mug and plastic container of pills to him. "Medicine."
Even though her tone seemed indifferent, he knew that she had a soft spot for her patients. She adjusted his posture to make taking medicine easier. Seeing the pills in the container, he didn't ask at all about what it is and swallowed it in ease.
"You aren't interested in what the medicine is?" She maintained her composure and walked back to the tray with his empty mug and medicine container.
"If you wanted to kill me, you would do that years ago. Aunty Ling, behind closed doors, you don't need to be this stiff. I've always treated you as if you were my mother." He didn't mind her coldness because he understood that she had her own difficulties to deal with.
"Sorry, I don't have a son. Your grandfather already took away my family, so all I have left is a stone heart and toxic hatred in me." Her hands froze in midair after hearing his words because it reminded her of her daughter. Every time she treated Alexander's wounds; she couldn't help but wonder how her husband and daughter have been doing.
"It's okay if you hate him. I will repay you for what he's done. I know it won't be enough, but I appreciate your professionalism in helping your enemy's grandson. You could have killed me many times, but never did. I know you're a good person."
She frowned, " Of course it won't ever be enough, but I'm a fair person. You are you. That old man is that old man. You two are two separate bodies and different people. You're innocent, so I naturally won't have a reason to harm you. I still have work to do in the lab, so I'll go first."
"Aunty Ling! I know that there is nothing else to say because everything already happened and I can't fix the past. I took on a few missions, and one of them was to look for a girl name Shi Xue. She's your daughter, am I right?"
Her hands almost slipped, but luckily the mug leaned towards her chest so nothing fell to the floor. "S..She's my daughter. Did something happen to her?"
Alexander shook his head, "I covered up her tracks, so nobody would be able to find her. She's in a safe place right now, and someone is taking good care of her. You can relax. I've already looked into her recently."
"Oh..thank god. Then what about her father? Is he doing well? Did he remarry?" Hearing that there was news about her family, she felt incredibly joyful. Unfortunately, the next piece of news sent wiped out her happiness like a burned-out candle.
"He... died from cancer. I'm very sorry." His words dug a hole through her heart. After many years of not seeing her family, she finally got to hear about them. She felt astonished by the news of her late husband, and her legs gave out on the spot.
Alexander wanted to help her up, but his injury limited large movements. Therefore, he could only watch as she shed silent tears on the floor. He could hear her mumbling, "No...it's impossible.."