Chapter Fifty-Nine Surgery

  "These two people came out of nowhere, and the woman in and out of the palace, Meng Tao and others did not even notice, their skills are even better than theirs; they have done something that has shocked the Ministry of Justice and also caused the Imperial City Guard to investigate all the way here." Zhao Ze repeatedly touched his gun and then put it down again. If he had been in his previous life, these two people would have been killed by him long ago. His principle was that when executing a task, anyone who threatened his safety must be eliminated, and everything else could wait until after they were killed. But today, he hesitated. He knew he had committed a great taboo, but he couldn't suppress his curiosity, listening to the conversation between the two of them, feeling like there was something he wanted to know, yet couldn't grasp."

  "If you speak again, I'll cut out your tongue and make you a mute!" Xiao Mei turned her head and glared at him fiercely.

  "Alright, I won't say anything else. Truth hurts, doesn't it!" Zhao shrunk his body as if he was very afraid, but perked up his ears to listen to their subsequent conversation.

  "Alas, this kid is right, but I still had a glimmer of hope. We've fallen into their trap and been outsmarted by them after plotting against them for half the day. With that old scoundrel's ruthlessness, it's likely they'll meet a disastrous end!" The man sighed and said with an ashen face.

  "Senior brother, once you recover from your injuries, we will definitely rise again!" Xiao Mei said through gritted teeth.

  "Haha, I didn't think that before I die, I could still hear you call me 'Shixiong' (older brother). Now I can die without any regrets!" The man laughed loudly, disregarding the continuous flow of fresh blood from his mouth.

  "Senior brother, you won't die, you won't"

  They were a couple, the man had a good figure, with a wasp waist and a straight back, he could be a male model, but his beard made him look unclear, the woman's infatuated expression suggested that he should be a handsome guy. "You two are being affectionate in front of the child, don't you feel embarrassed? If not, we won't disturb you, it's almost time for lunch!" Zhao couldn't bear to listen anymore and interrupted them.

  "Alright, you guys go ahead, don't tell the adults about what happened when you saw us." Hanzi Lu said with a wave of his hand after being scolded by Zhao Yi.

  "Senior brother, we can't let him go, this little scoundrel is too cunning! He's never seen us before, yet he was able to deduce from the bloodstains and footprints on the ground how many of us there were, who was tall or short, and even knew which one of you was injured. If I hadn't happened to go out, we would have already been captured!" Xiao Mei immediately stopped her senior brother's kind intentions.

  "Oh, he actually has this skill, this kid is interesting!" Lu Xiang said with a sidelong glance at Zhao Chen.

  "Hehe, that's an exaggeration! Hurry up and think of a way to treat his injury, or else the mandarin ducks playing in the water will become a lone wild goose!" Zhao Yishu said with a smile.

  "My wound is beyond cure, I'm afraid!" Lu Xiaoyao said with a bitter smile, shaking his head.

  "It's too late for regrets!" Zhao Yan said as he untied the rope from his leg.

  "Little brother still knows medicine?" Lu Xiangyao said in surprise.

  "Understand a bit, anyway you yourself said it's hopeless, might as well treat a dead horse as if it were alive! Zhao Che walked over and was about to lift the grass curtain off his body."

  "Don't move, don't try any ghostly tricks!" Xiao Mei grabbed Zhao Chu's hand and said.

  "Sister, saving him is like saving myself. I won't joke with my own life. Let go!" Zhao Chu's wrist turned and he broke free from Xiao Mei's grasp.

  "Huh!" Xiao Mei exclaimed in surprise. Lu Xiangyang waved his hand at her, signaling her not to interfere anymore.

  Zhao Ye lifted the curtain of grass, and immediately smelled a strong fishy smell. He opened his clothes to reveal a wound that was purple and black, with a short arrow inserted at an angle into his right ribcage, almost featherless. The tip of the arrowhead protruded from the other side, and some golden medicine had been sprinkled around the wound, but blood and water continued to seep out.

  "Penetrating wound, severe infection, shouldn't have damaged internal organs, otherwise he'd be dead by now. If it's been several days and he's still not dead, that's a good sign!" Zhao made a preliminary judgment. Special forces often had to operate independently, away from the main team, so if someone was injured, they could only rely on self-rescue. Therefore, they all received rigorous emergency medical training, with some even reaching the level of ordinary surgeons. In his past life, Zhao happened to be one of those exceptional individuals.

  "He was shot by a crossbow bolt, the wound is very deep, and the arrowhead is stuck in his ribcage, surgery is needed to remove it!" Zhao Yan said with her hand probing.

  "Little brother, can you make it?" asked Lu Xiaoyao.

  "As long as you're not afraid of pain and can hold still, I can remove the arrow!" Zhao Yan said with a smile.

  "No problem, little brother, go ahead!" Lu Xiaoyao said without hesitation.

  "Alright, Zhao Xin, go find Gui Hua and ask her for a few feet of white cloth and some thread. Tell Jian Xi to bring a jar of new wine from the kitchen, and also find a sharp small knife. Tell him I'll be here for a while, don't look for me. And you can bring lunch back with you!" Zhao Che instructed Zhao Xin, but Xiao Mei looked worried. Zhao Che glared at her and said: "Don't worry, sister, I'm being held hostage here, he won't dare to say anything out of line. You go boil a pot of water!"

  After about half an hour, Zhao Xin came back. It's really hard for this kid. He was holding a wine jar, carrying a food box, and had a roll of white cloth tucked under his arm. From time to time, he would turn his head to see if anyone was following him, running back like a startled rabbit.

  Zhao Zhan smiled, took the things, unfolded the white cloth, tore it into several pieces and a ball of thin thread, all thrown into boiling water. Then he burned a needle in the fire, bent it, and made a curved needle for suturing wounds. Finally, he untied the bandage wrapped around his left hand, let Zhao Xin pour half of the wine into the basin, and soaked his hands in it.

  "Second Master, your hand must be in a lot of pain!" Zhao Xun asked with concern as he looked at Zhao Ye's gritted teeth and twisted mouth.

  "Of course it hurts! I'll deal with this wicked woman sooner or later!" Zhao Che couldn't help but curse, "Is this knife yours?" He asked, eyeing the knife that Zhao Xin had brought.

  "Hmm!" Zhao Xin nodded.

  "This knife is really good, but only the nobles of Liao State use this kind of knife!" Lu Xiaoyao said, taking over the knife and playing with it for a moment.

  "Never mind what knife, as long as it can cut through your flesh, it's a good knife!" Zhao Yan rushed over and held the knife over the ignited liquor to sterilize it.

  "This wine is not bad either, it can actually ignite, it's definitely strong enough!" Lu Xianyao said with shining eyes and licking his lips.

  "Wait for you to get through this hurdle, the rest of the wine is yours, getting drunk will save you from pain!" Zhao said.

  "Alright, I'm getting impatient!" Lu Xiangyao said, sniffing the wine aroma with his nose.

  Zhao didn't waste any more words with them, and immediately prepared for surgery. He used boiling water to sterilize a white cloth, then found a sunny spot to dry it out. Once it was dry enough, he used it as a bandage. Then, he had Lu Xiangyao flip over onto his side, exposing the wound. Next, he continuously rinsed the wound with cool boiled water until all the pus and blood were gone. Finally, he repeatedly wiped the area around the wound with liquor.

  "How is it? Does it hurt a lot?" Zhao asked with a smile.

  "Is" Lǔ Xiāo Yáo also didn't dare to be a good man at this time, and said with a curled lip.

  "Ah, it won't hurt in a bit!" Zhao Yan rushed over and affectionately patted his face, suddenly raising her elbow, the tip of which struck Lu Xiao Yao's chin, causing him to pass out. Xiang Mei, who had been staring at his movements, only managed to let out an "ah" before Zhao Yan was done.

  "Don't move your hands, he's not dead, just fainted!" Zhao said to Xiao Mei, who was holding a knife in her hand. "Although he is now a sick old tiger, if he struggles during the operation later, the three of us can't hold him down, and then it will be too late to save him!"

  Xiao Mei's senior brother was still panting, no longer arguing, but the knife in his hand did not fall, and he stared at Zhao Che's movements without blinking. She knew her senior brother's skills, which were among the top-notch experts in Jianghu, yet he was knocked unconscious by this little kid with a single elbow strike, although it was a sneak attack when her senior brother was injured, it also made her feel apprehensive.

  Zhao Che didn't bother with her anymore, took a piece of cloth that had been folded several times, tore it open and placed it between his upper and lower teeth to prevent him from biting his tongue when he suddenly woke up in pain. Then, holding the knife in his hand, he felt the position of the arrowhead with his left hand, made one cut, then enlarged the wound, cut off the arrow shaft, and carefully pulled out the arrow cluster from between the bones. Finally, he slowly and carefully pulled out the arrow shaft.

  There was no anesthetic, no hemostatic agent, and no way to give him a blood test or transfusion. To prevent massive bleeding, Zhao Zhe could only speed up his movements as much as possible, completing the first step within ten minutes. Then, he cleaned the wound again, cutting away the rotten flesh with a knife, discharging pus and blood, flushing the wound, and finally suturing it with needle and thread.

  Zhao Yi thought to himself that he could only do this much now, and whether or not he could get through the infection was his fate. He turned back to see Xiao Mei's face pale, standing there in a daze, clearly shocked. Zhao Xin, however, didn't show any particular surprise, but instead was excitedly "dissecting" the living person. "Don't hold that knife against me! Do you have any golden wound medicine? I'm also a wounded soldier, don't you see?"

  "Ah!" Xiao Mei came to her senses, what Zhao Chu said was true. His hand that had been beaten was now swollen like a small bear's paw after such intense activity. She quickly put down the knife and applied some golden wound medicine to the wound, then wrapped it with white cloth.

  "Everyone, burn all these bloody things, don't leave a single one!" After 'settling' the matter, Zhao Zhe sat down, looking slightly tired, and instructed Xiao Mei to clean up the scene. He told Zhao Xin to set out the meal so they could eat lunch together.

  "Second Master, aren't you going to invite her to eat with us?" Zhao Xin asked softly as he arranged the dishes on a small table.

  "You're crazy! They tied us up, beat and scolded us. We didn't hold it against them and even helped them recover from their injuries. Now we have to take care of their food too? It's not worth dying for!" Zhao Yan said loudly, glancing at Xiao Mei beside him.

  "Who wants your food!" Xiao Mei snorted and turned her body back to Shifu.

  "Master brother, you're awake!" Zhao Zanfan hadn't finished eating yet when he heard Xiao Mei's excited shout. He shook his head and put down his chopsticks, marveling at the guy's toughness. He estimated that with the blow he had given him, it would take at least half an hour for him to wake up, but it seemed he had underestimated him.

  "Little brother, you're not bad!" Lu Xiangyang didn't respond to Xiao Mei, but instead turned to Zhao Chu, "Hehe, you're not simple either!" Zhao Chu felt a fierce killing intent coming straight at him, but he didn't dodge and instead smiled and stared back at him.