Chapter Eleven: Piercing Heart and Bone

  No matter whether it's a hero saving the beauty or inviting wolves into the house, this time I can only go all out and consider it a gamble. As the door slammed shut with a loud bang, Su Tong's heart also skipped a beat, and amidst her nervousness, she secretly comforted herself that even if she still had one foot injured, she couldn't afford to hope for escape, let alone run normally - she could only hop on one foot. Even now, despite feeling no discomfort from the gentle and agile way Tang Ao carried her upstairs since evening, or the solid muscles hidden under his loose-fitting shirt, if he really had any ill intentions, she wouldn't stand a chance either.

  As usual, Su Tong would never have agreed to let a stranger like Tang Hao enter her home to treat her foot injury. After all, they were still strangers, and his business card read "Home Decor Consultant", which was worlds apart from being a doctor who could treat injuries. However, she didn't strongly object this time. Tang Hao didn't give her the opportunity to refuse, but that was only a small part of the reason. Other factors included a sense of urgency in seeking medical attention, as well as a feeling that Su Tong couldn't quite put into words.

  First of all, it was the part where she fell and hurt herself. Whether it was a sprain or a strain, this kind of thing wasn't particularly unusual. When Su Tong was in school, there was once when she ran too fast and accidentally stepped on empty air while going down the stairs, falling from a half-story height and twisting her ankle. For several days afterwards, that foot's ankle was swollen high up, with the top of the foot looking like it had been stuffed with half a bun - it was both swollen and painful. Even then, she hadn't been overly anxious or scared, going to the hospital for an X-ray, confirming that there were no problems with her bones, and then trying to rest as much as possible, not moving around too much. Before long, the swelling had gone down, and she could carefully start walking again. After a month, it was like nothing had happened at all. But this time was different - she had fallen for no reason, and after falling, her ankle felt like it was being burned by fierce flames, and there were also two very clear black handprints on her foot. These strange signs clearly told Su Tong that what she had encountered was not normal, and her intuition also made her feel that even if she went to the hospital, the doctors would probably be powerless to help her.

  Secondly, Su Tong couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly it was about him, she only knew that this was barely the third time they'd met, and all three times were within the same day. No matter how many times she reminded herself in her heart not to be careless, not to underestimate him, he was just a stranger after all. Yet every time their eyes met, specifically his deep, profound gaze, she would inexplicably develop a sense of trust towards this man, and feel that he wouldn't do anything to harm her.

  It was because of this that when Tang Hao seemed unfamiliar with the condition of his ankle, Su Tong had already accepted him treating his injury.

  Tang Ou walked over, put the package in his hand on the ground, squatted down, took a closer look at Su Tong's ankle condition, then looked up at Su Tong's pale face with a serious expression, and smiled warmly at her, saying: "Don't worry, although I don't dare say 100% cure now, but still have some confidence, this looks a bit scary, but the operation is not difficult for me, you should have faith in me."

  Su Tong forced a smile, responding to Tang Ao without opening her mouth. She didn't know what to say now, and her ankle was hurting more and more, which was really torturing her. On the other hand, she was still tense, if this Tang Ao was just a good-looking face but actually a hypocrite with an ugly heart, then she had to wait for the best moment to make a move.

  "Is there ice in your house?" Tang Ao asked her again after checking the black handprint on Su Tong's ankle.

  Su Tong nodded and pointed towards the kitchen: "There's an ice tray in the fridge, there should still be some ice cubes inside."

  Tang Ao walked into the kitchen, Su Tong sat on the sofa in the living room and couldn't see his shadow in the kitchen, he could only judge what he was doing from the sound. It sounded like he first opened the bowl cabinet, took out a large bowl from inside, then opened the refrigerator, poured out all the remaining ice cubes with a clatter, it seemed that he didn't even let go of the crushed ice in the ice tray, after finishing these, he twisted open the faucet and fetched some tap water.

  When the kitchen was completely quiet, Tang Ao walked out with a large bowl in his hand, filled with water and floating ice cubes. He walked back to the sofa, knelt down on one knee, and placed the bowl beside Su Tong's feet. Opening the small cloth bag with a drawstring that he had brought over, Su Tong endured the scorching pain while also being curious, sneaking glances at the small cloth bag in Tang Ao's hand, wondering what kind of strange thing he would pull out from it. However, to her slight disappointment, after rummaging for half a day, Tang Ao only pulled out a roll of gauze.

  "Otherwise..." Su Tong looked at him stretching out his hand to hold her foot, and only then suddenly thought of something that wasn't quite right. Although she considered herself the type with good personal hygiene, after running around outside all day, now letting a stranger touch her foot still made her feel very embarrassed, wanting to shrink away. With just a slight movement, there was another wave of unbearable pain, and she could only take in a cold breath, almost squeezing out the second half of the sentence from between her teeth, "You wait for me for a bit, I'll go wash my feet first..."

  Tang Ao raised his head, looking at her with a painful and embarrassed expression, smiled and shook his head, gently holding Su Tong's ankle: "Don't worry, I think it's quite clean. You don't have to care about so much now, just relax a bit, don't be so tense, the rest will be handled by me."

  Su Tong felt that Tang Ao's outstretched hand was like a flame, and the moment it touched her foot, she ignited herself. Otherwise, why did she feel like her face was burning now? It was scorching hot, and she was so embarrassed that she didn't know what to say. Her mind went blank, and all she could do was bite her lip lightly and wait silently for Tang Ao's next move.

  Tang Ao gently held Su Tong's heel with one hand, and the other hand soaked the entire roll of gauze in a bowl of ice water that had not yet melted. Once he made sure the gauze was wet, he quickly took it out and wrapped it around Su Tong's ankle at the fastest speed. Although the gauze was cold and wet from being soaked in ice water, when it touched the scalded and painful skin, it felt exceptionally comfortable. The burning sensation seemed to be relieved instantly. Tang Ao's hands had been in contact with the ice water to help the gauze absorb it, so they were also icy cold. As he helped Su Tong wrap the gauze around his ankle, his fingers occasionally touched Su Tong's skin, making Su Tong's heart beat faster for no reason.

  What a loser, previously still making fun of Wang Li, now how about it, isn't he just a handsome and good-looking man? His fingers touched his ankle, and his heart skipped a beat. Su Tong felt that she was utterly embarrassed, even though Tang Hao was focused on treating her ankle problem and didn't notice her blushing face, but she still couldn't help but scold herself severely in her heart.

  After a while, the coolness on the wet bandage gradually became less obvious. Tang Ao quickly removed the bandage, soaked it in ice water again, and rewrapped it around his ankle.

  "Originally, I should have thought of a more convenient way, but in order to solve your foot injury as soon as possible, there was no time to prepare for other things, so it can only be troublesome like this. You bear with me for a moment." He seemed to feel that repeating this back and forth was a bit annoying, and he looked at Su Tong with a hint of embarrassment and apology.

  Su Tong hastily shook his head to show that he didn't mind. Now it seemed that Tang Hao really didn't have any ill intentions. He was kind enough to help him treat the strange disease in his ankle, and wasn't even disgusted by using his hands to support Su's foot. If Su still had all sorts of complaints and dissatisfaction in this situation, wouldn't he be too ungrateful?

  After several ice packs, Su Tong didn't know whether it was the cool temperature that relieved the scorching pain or if the repeated icing had numbed the skin on his ankle. He felt he could hardly sense the unbearable stinging pain anymore, only a slight numbness and coolness around his ankle, which was much more comfortable than before.

  She let out a sigh of relief as Tang Ao once again removed the wet bandage, soaking it back into the bowl, then pulled over a footstool and gently placed Su Tong's foot on it. He remained in the same kneeling position as before, speaking to Su Tong with great solemnity: "I'm going to proceed with the next step now, it may be very painful, but you must endure it, trust me, don't be afraid. This step is crucial, and we must resolve this issue on your body tonight no matter what, or else it could have a significant impact on your entire body tomorrow."

  Su Tong's heart tensed up again as he listened to Tang Ao, nodding slightly and holding his breath. He watched as Tang Ao used one hand to twist the bandage and the other to reach into a small cloth bag, pulling out something yellowish in color. Before Su Tong could get a clear look at what it was, Tang Ao had already applied the yellow substance to the black mark on Su Tong's ankle. The moment it made contact with his skin, Su Tong felt the pain that had been alleviated by the ice pack suddenly return, no, it was more like it doubled back. The scorching pain hit him all at once, and Su Tong couldn't help but cry out, his eyes closed tight as he clenched the sofa cushion with both hands, his fingernails turning white.

  Tang Ao looked at her with some concern, furrowed his brow, and then took out another yellow thing to apply to the other side of the black small handprint on her ankle. He hastily wrapped the cold bandage around it, gently winding it while saying to Su Tong: "Bear with it for a bit, it will pass soon. I'm using an ice-cooled bandage to wrap you up, maybe it can slightly alleviate it. This is the most painful process, but it's very important. Whether or not it can be cured depends on this step. If we can get through this process, then there won't be a problem!"

  Su Tong's forehead was sweating profusely, with beads of sweat rolling down from the corners of his eyes to his cheeks. He nodded slightly in agony, indicating that he had heard Tang Wei's words. Although Tang Wei had kindly used an ice water-soaked bandage to try and alleviate his pain, the effect was minimal. Su Tong struggled to recall, using his nearly incapacitated brain, whether he had ever experienced any pain comparable to this before. The result was zero - except for now, he had never felt such pain before.

  That kind of pain wasn't just a simple ankle ache or something, and Su Tong didn't understand why she was having this reaction. She felt as if there were countless fine embroidery needles inside her body being drawn out by a huge magnet, one by one, from her pores. The stinging pain was everywhere, all over her body, making her shudder uncontrollably, with cold sweat seeping out layer by layer.

  After a while, she didn't know how long it had been, but in Su Tong's perception, it seemed like several hours had passed. However, she was very clear that in reality, it might have only been a few minutes. The pain around her body finally gradually weakened, and when the pain disappeared, it was replaced by a kind of relaxation similar to fainting. She slumped back onto the sofa, panting heavily, with a pale face, watching as Tang Xiao carefully unwrapped the bandage from his ankle. Despite being exhausted, she couldn't help but feel a little curious about what the yellow thing wrapped around him earlier was and why it had such a strong effect.

  But when the bandages were finally unwrapped layer by layer, Su Tong did not see the yellow object she had expected. The things inside the bandage shocked her - they were two long, thin pieces of paper that had been burned to a dark black color. When the bandage was removed from Su Tong's skin, the black paper broke apart and was carelessly rolled up by Tang Xiao and thrown into a large bowl, floating on the surface of the water. The two frightening small black handprints on Su Tong's ankle also disappeared, and the skin on her ankle returned to its original whiteness.