The Great Medical Saint

A hint of hesitation flashed in Matthew's eyes as he wavered between striking now or holding back. As a martial artist, going after regular folks was against the rules, and it was also the line he refused to cross.

But this street was where Lorraine walked home and where Stanley and Lillian went to the market. He couldn't stand the thought of having Lorraine running into danger on her way back, and he certainly didn't want his parents facing an attack on their way to pick up groceries.

Rules? Fuck them! For the safety of his family, even the strictest rules had to be set aside.

He made his way right over to the beekeeper's stall.

Alistair Pike was hard at work, slicing off a piece of honeycomb with his knife. The sharp blade slid into the glossy and waxy comb with a crackling sound.

He kept an eye on his surroundings. When Matthew came to the village entrance, he paused for a moment while cutting the honeycomb but quickly went back to normal.

Alistair took pride in his cool, level-headed demeanor. It was something he had developed only after killing 15 people. He still remembered how shaken he was the first time he killed someone.

Two young officers told him he was polluting the area by cooking over an open fire. He actually had a gas stove, but he had just run out of gas. Since it was dark, he figured he'd replace it the next day.

On that day, he gathered some dry wood on the mountain to cook a meal over a fire. The two young officers demanded a 50 thousand dollars fine.

That was a whopping 50 thousand dollars! Alistair barely got by in the wild, living like he was cut off from the world. He didn't make much money in a year.

With everyone's living standards going up in the past two years, most people weren't splurging on delights. Hardly anyone ate honey anymore, and money was harder to make.

His wife couldn't put up with the hard times and went off with someone else. He stayed up in the mountains, not seeing a single woman for months. His life was miserable and lonely.

Every so often, Alistair would head into town for gas or supplies and sneak a few glances whenever he saw a woman. When he passed by a massage parlor, he always felt tempted.

But he knew he couldn't afford a place like that. Every penny he made had to go to good use. His parents and children were all waiting for him to send money home.

But then the young officers suddenly wanted to fine him 50 thousand dollars. In a fit of age, Alistair flung the blazing wood near the beehive. With the flames and smoke, the bees flew out and stung anyone they could find.

The two young officers were stung all over in no time, writhing on the ground in agony. Alistair's clothes were thick enough that the bees couldn't sting through, and he had a mask on, so he managed to come out unscathed.

On that day, Alistair hid at the side, trembling as he watched the young officers scratching like crazy. The idea of knocking them out and burying them crossed his mind a few times, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

That night, the two young officers scratched until their skin was a bloody mess, and their cries echoed like wailing ghosts.

Alistair stayed up all night watching, feeling like he was caught in a horror movie. His mind was tormented the entire time.noveldrama

He felt even more exhausted than the two young officers. Luckily, they passed out by morning, giving him a break. After a quick breakfast, he dug a hole and buried them.

Looking back, Alistair realized just how silly he had been for being so scared. Why didn't he just grab a shovel to knock them out and bury them? Why did he put himself through a whole night of torture?

He remained a beekeeper, but he didn't make a living selling honey anymore. Instead, he used his bees to take people out and make a fortune.

In hindsight, Alistair realized he had killed more than a dozen people over the years. One of them even made it to the front page with the headline claiming bees could kill a person. It felt amusing when he thought about it.

As Alistair watched Matthew walk over, he started gauging their distance.

Typically, it took Alistair three steps to kill his target. He'd first slather honey on the target before putting on his beekeeping hat with a veil. In the end, he'd knock over the beehive. The bees would assume someone was stealing their honey, so they'd go after whoever had a honey scent and sting them.

Matthew kept getting closer. With every step he took, the distance between them shrank.