“What do you think I’m doing? Can’t you tell? I’m preparing to perform surgery on you!”
Su Tong looked completely unconcerned.
“W-why is it you?” Ma Liu’s voice cracked with fear.
“Oh! I heard that whether you undergo surgery or not, you’re doomed anyway. Since death is inevitable, you might as well let me practice…
Don’t worry! My hands are very steady. When I slaughter chickens, I always kill them with one clean cut—very efficient!”
“You… you’re insane! How could they let you do this!” Ma Liu’s face showed utter disbelief.
Su Tong sneered coldly and said:
“They said the crimes you’ve committed are enough to get you executed several times over. Since you’re useless alive anyway and just wasting medical resources, you might as well sacrifice yourself for my medical research. Consider it your contribution to the people!”
As she spoke, Su Tong picked up a scalpel and gestured with it. “Come on! Let’s first get a feel for what it’s like when the knife touches your body?”
She pretended to place the scalpel on Ma Liu’s chest, lightly tracing the tip across his skin.
A sharp chill carrying a piercing sensation slowly traveled downward, moving leisurely from his chest to his abdomen, as if ready at any moment to plunge into his body and gut him open.
“You…”
Ma Liu’s eyes widened in terror, his entire body stiffened, and his throat felt as if it were being choked.
He wanted to scream but didn’t dare, afraid that if Su Tong’s hand slipped, the blade would slice right through, piercing his flesh.
Goosebumps were already visibly rising on his skin.
“Hmm! This should be about the right spot. Okay! I’m ready to make the incision!”
The scalpel had reached his abdomen. Su Tong muttered to herself, “Should I cut horizontally or vertically?”
Ma Liu’s nerves were stretched to the breaking point, nearing complete collapse, but he refused to back down verbally. “You bitch! You’re messing with me! You just want to trick me into talking! If you’ve got the guts, really cut me!”
“Tsk! Not bad! I hope you’ll still be this brave later!” Without the slightest hesitation, Su Tong pressed the scalpel down.
Although under half-body anesthesia and feeling no pain, Ma Liu could still sense the scalpel genuinely slicing through his skin—it wasn’t just a gesture!
Nor was it for show!
This woman!!!
She actually dared to cut into him!
“You! You goddamn… stop—stop it—” Ma Liu let out a horrified cry.
He understood his own physical condition better than anyone. Born with a coagulation disorder, even doctors in Hong Kong had said it was a constitutional issue with no cure, regretfully advising him to avoid injuries whenever possible.
Where did the police find this stupid woman!
How dare she cut without even understanding the situation!
She truly didn’t value his life at all!
Were the police just abandoning him?
Didn’t they need to extract information from him anymore?
Ma Liu was so terrified his face turned pale, feeling as if he’d lost more than half his soul…
Su Tong had already cut through the peritoneum, accurately locating the appendix. She could see the red, swollen, and suppurating appendix.
Although she had made the incision as small as possible, blood continued to gush out profusely, rapidly soaking thick gauze pads one after another.
Any ordinary doctor would have been unable to proceed at this point. The incision was obscured by the heavy flow of blood, making it impossible to see the lesion clearly and proceed with the operation. If delayed too long, the patient would go into shock from massive blood loss.
Su Tong remained expressionless, deftly and agilely picking up the sterilized silver needles and swiftly inserting them into the acupoints around the wound and along the major arteries.
Within minutes, the bleeding visibly slowed.
Traditional Chinese medicine is a treasure passed down through millennia by our ancestors. While coagulation disorders stem from constitutional issues, they don’t affect the efficacy of applying silver needles to hemostatic acupoints.
Having studied Chinese medicine with her grandfather since childhood, Su Tong had mastered its essence through over a decade of accumulated practice. Hemostasis was but a basic needling technique for her.
Ma Liu encountering her was truly fateful. Although historical records document hemostasis with silver needles, few in reality could skillfully employ the method.
When replacing the gauze, it now absorbed the blood from the wound, clearly revealing the affected area.
Su Tong intentionally piled the bloodied gauze conspicuously where Ma Liu could see it.
While continuing her work, she deliberately let out a moderate exclamation, “Heavens! The bleeding is getting worse! It really won’t stop!”
“Quick… call someone!!! A blood transfusion! I need a blood transfusion now!” Ma Liu shouted hoarsely, staring despairingly at the pile of bloody gauze.
“Don’t get agitated! Agitation will make you bleed faster! Know your place—do you even deserve a blood transfusion…” Su Tong provoked him unhurriedly.
“Yanwang Mountain, the twenty-fourth of the first month…” Ma Liu squeezed out the words through clenched teeth, trembling, before Su Tong could finish.
He needed to buy time. He knew what the police wanted. Having been in this line of work for years, he understood their habits thoroughly.
They had discipline and principles. Even if they used some tactics, he could endure it. By stubbornly refusing to talk, he would at most suffer a bit—they wouldn’t dare take his life.
But this foolish woman was different! She could turn on him in an instant! Wield a blade without hesitation! She had no principles, no regard for consequences, and didn’t play by the rules!
If he held out any longer, she would literally play him to death!
He wasn’t afraid of death, but he didn’t want to die yet!
He had unfinished business!
All these years of risking his life were for this very purpose!
He didn’t want to die inexplicably under this foolish woman’s blade—being toyed to death by her was worse than a bullet to the head!
Hearing Ma Liu finally relent, Su Tong calmly responded, “Don’t think spouting some nonsense I can’t understand will get you a blood transfusion. Blood is precious these days! It’s not for just anyone who asks…”
“They’ll understand!” Ma Liu interrupted furiously, “Yanwang Mountain, Xiaoya Village, Lao Wan, the twenty-fourth of the first month… Tell Qin! He’ll understand!”
Qin Yi stood quietly before the glass door, occasionally hearing roars and screams from the operating room, but he seemed oblivious, his gaze piercing through the corridor to the faint moon in the night sky, as if lost in thought.
Although the hospital housed many patients, the ward lights went out early. In this remote county town, there were few nighttime activities, and people fell into deep slumber quickly.
The winter moon wasn’t bright, casting a faint glow on the snow-covered ground, shrouding the surrounding buildings and trees in hazy shadows, making the night seem even more secluded and lonely.
The creak of the door behind him shattered the silence.
Qin Yi turned around and saw Su Tong leaning out with a slight smile, her eyes sparkling as if filled with light.
Then she waved at him, signaling him to come inside.
Qin Yi felt a wave of relief and followed her into the operating room.
While removing her surgical gown and cap, Su Tong explained, “The surgery was very successful, but the delay beforehand was too long. There are signs of infection in the abdomen, but we’ll add anti-infection treatment—it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Qin Yi glanced inside and saw Ma Liu lying quietly on the operating table, the monitor beside him blinking with a steady green light.