Chapter 23: The Deal

Doctor Zhao Yisheng looked at Qi Xia with a troubled expression, and Qi Xia didn't know how to respond.

“This can be used, right?” Qi Xia asked softly.

“No problem.” Doctor Zhao Yisheng nodded. “Medical suture needles often use curved ones; as long as it's sharp enough, it's fine.”

Qi Xia thought for a moment and said to the female shop assistant, “Miss, we don't have money. Can we exchange something for it?”

“Money?” The female shop assistant stared blankly at Qi Xia, as if trying to understand what “money” meant. After a long time, she said,

“I don't want money. You sleep with me.”

“Sleep...?” Qi Xia's lips moved. “What do you mean?”

“After we sleep together, we can eat the little piglets!” The female shop assistant showed a frenzied expression and even drooled.

With that, she walked to the dirty bed, sat down bending at the waist, and patted the spot next to her.

That spot had a large patch of dried blood.

“Come on, come over quickly.”

The female shop assistant quickly took off her top; she had nothing underneath. Her emaciated body was covered in dirt and bloodstains, looking like a skeleton.

Qiao Jiajin was silent for a while, then poked Qi Xia with his elbow and said,

“Just sacrifice yourself.”

“Why don't you go?” Qi Xia said irritably.

“The boss specified you.” Qiao Jiajin said gloatingly. “Didn't you hear? As long as you sleep with her, we can eat the little piglets in her pot, and besides, the writer is waiting for that fish hook to save his life. This would be a great deed for you...”

Before Qi Xia could respond, the female shop assistant seemed to have heard Qiao Jiajin's words and turned to him, saying,

“You can come too! All four of you can come!”

“Ah?” Qiao Jiajin was stunned. “Me...?”

“What's going on...” Officer Li finally couldn't hold back. After being a police officer for so many years, the situation before him was completely beyond his understanding. “Miss, what are you after? We're here to buy things; why are you offering yourself?”

“I...” The female shop assistant widened her eyes and suddenly shouted,

“I want to eat the piglets!!”

After saying that, she seemed to remember something and hurriedly put the fish hook and fishing line on the bed, then ran to the iron pot and looked inside.

“Little piglets... don't get overcooked...”

She worriedly picked up a stick and stirred in the pot a few times.

Qi Xia took this opportunity to quietly walk to the bed, pick up the fish hook and fishing line, turn around, and hand them to Doctor Zhao Yisheng, saying,

“Go save the person first; we'll handle things here.”

“Good!”

Doctor Zhao Yisheng took the fish hook and fishing line outside, found a relatively clean stone from the ground, and began to process the fish hook. He briefly described the situation inside the house to the girls.

As a professional, Tian Tian still couldn't understand the shop assistant's behavior.

“Never mind that; Qi Xia is right, let's save the person first.” Lin Geng took the fishing line and turned back to check on Han Yimo's condition.

Doctor Zhao Yisheng used the stone to grind off the rust on the fish hook and tried to make it sharper. Lin Geng sorted out the tangled fishing line beside him.

“That's about it...” After Doctor Zhao Yisheng confirmed everything was ready, he turned to Han Yimo and said,

“I'm going to remove the harpoon for you and then suture the wound.”

“Okay...” Han Yimo nodded slightly.

“But we don't have anesthetic.” Doctor Zhao Yisheng said with difficulty. “The pain might be beyond your imagination.”

“It's fine... At least I can survive, right?” Han Yimo smiled bitterly.

“If the wound doesn't get infected... surviving shouldn't be a problem.”

“That's good... Go ahead...”

Inside the house, the three men stood behind the female shop assistant, watching her fiddle with the pot.

She was completely naked, but the three men's hearts were unmoved; in fact, they felt like escaping.

“Hey, swindler.” Qiao Jiajin whispered. “You stole her 'Dao'; what if she gets angry later?”

“I don't know.” Qi Xia shook his head.

Officer Li was silent for a moment and whispered,

“Don't we still have the 'Dao'? I wonder if she wants it?”

“How can that be?!” Qiao Jiajin said unhappily. “That 'Dao' was exchanged with all our lives; are you just going to give it to this madwoman?”

“But we're also saving a life here!”

As the two were arguing, the female shop assistant slowly turned around.

She seemed relieved and walked calmly to the bed. The fish hook and fishing line that were there were now gone.

She looked at the bed with some hesitation: “Hmm?”

But soon she shook her head and said,

“Right... sleeping. Which of you four will go first?”

The female shop assistant looked up at the three men in front of her, her expression dazed again, and asked,

“It's not four? Have you always been three? Whatever, three is fine.”

Qiao Jiajin shook his head and whispered,

“See, she's crazier than I thought.”

“Um...” Qi Xia was stunned for a long time before saying,

“We don't want to sleep with you; we're just here to buy things.”

With that, he took out a shiny “Dao” from his pocket and placed it next to the female shop assistant, continuing,

“I don't know if this thing is valuable, but it's all we have.”

As Qi Xia thought, people living here probably know about those animal masks and have heard of “Dao” to some extent. This thing exchanged with lives must have some value no matter what.

The female shop assistant curiously looked at the bead, then picked it up and squeezed it a few times.

Then, under the shocked gazes of the three men, she threw the bead into her mouth.

With a “crunch,” she bit it, chewed it, and swallowed it.

“Not tasty...” The female shop assistant shook her head. “It's far worse than the little piglets.”

“This...”

The three big men never imagined that the thing they exchanged with their lives would be treated as a snack, and for a moment, they were speechless.

“If you're not going to sleep... then you can leave...” The female shop assistant sighed helplessly, looking very disappointed. “Someone will come to sleep with me eventually.”

Although the situation was incomprehensible to the three, at least now they could leave.

The three dejectedly exited the house and were about to figure out how to tell the others they had lost a “Dao,” when they saw that Doctor Zhao Yisheng had already removed the harpoon from Han Yimo's body. At that moment, fresh blood was gushing out, and he was covered in sweat.

“Hurry and help!” Lin Geng called out.

Qiao Jiajin and Officer Li rushed over to help hold down Han Yimo's hands and feet.

In such extreme pain, people move involuntarily.

“Han Yimo, look at me!” Doctor Zhao Yisheng said seriously. “Do you still know who I am?!”

“You're Doctor Zhao Yisheng...” Han Yimo said, furrowing his brows and gritting his teeth.

“That's right, you have to stay conscious!” Doctor Zhao Yisheng threaded the fish hook with the line and pierced his skin in one go.

Han Yimo grunted in pain again.

“Chat with me!” Doctor Zhao Yisheng said calmly. “Talk about something you're interested in to distract yourself!”

“Something I'm interested in...?” Han Yimo smiled bitterly.

“Aren't you a novel writer?” Doctor Zhao Yisheng said. “Let's talk about your works.”