Doctor Zhao looked at Qi Xia with difficulty, and Qi Xia didn’t know how to respond either.

“Can this be used?” Qi Xia asked quietly.

“It shouldn’t be a big problem.” Doctor Zhao nodded. “Medical suture needles often use curved needles. As long as it’s sharp enough, it’ll work.”

Qi Xia thought for a while, then said to the female shop assistant, “Miss, we don’t have money. Can we trade something with you for it?”

“Money?” The female shop assistant stared blankly at Qi Xia, as if trying to understand what “money” meant. After a long while, she finally said, “I don’t want money. Sleep with me.”

“Sleep…?” Qi Xia’s lips moved slightly. “What do you mean?”

“After we sleep together, we can eat the piglet!” The female shop assistant revealed a trace of a crazed expression, then actually drooled.

After speaking, she walked to the filthy bed, bent down and sat, then patted the spot beside her.

That spot happened to have a large pool of dried blood.

“Come on, come over quickly.”

The female shop assistant nimbly removed her top. She wore nothing underneath, and her shriveled body was covered with filthy mud and blood, looking like a skeleton.

Qiao Jiajin remained silent for a long time before poking Qi Xia with his elbow, saying, “You should just sacrifice yourself.”

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

“The boss asked for you.” Qiao Jiajin said gleefully. “Didn’t you hear? As long as you sleep with her, we can eat the piglet in her pot, and besides, the writer is waiting for that fishhook to save his life. No matter how you look at it, this counts as immeasurable merit…”

Before Qi Xia could respond, the female shop assistant seemed to have heard what Qiao Jiajin said and turned to him, saying, “You can come too! All four of you can come!”

“Huh?” Qiao Jiajin was stunned. “Me…?”

“What the hell…” Officer Li finally couldn’t take it anymore. After so many years on the force, the current situation completely exceeded his comprehension. “Miss, what are you trying to gain? We’re here to buy things. Why would you also throw yourself in?”

“I…” The female shop assistant widened her eyes and suddenly roared, “I want to eat the piglet!!”

After speaking, she seemed to remember something and hastily placed the fishhook and fishing line on the bed, then ran to the iron pot to look inside.

“Piglet… don’t get overcooked…”

She picked up a tree branch somewhat worriedly and poked around in the pot.

Taking advantage of this moment, Qi Xia quietly walked to the bedside, picked up the fishhook and fishing line, turned back and handed them to Doctor Zhao, saying, “Go save him first. We’ll deal with things here.”

“Okay!”

Doctor Zhao took the fishhook and fishing line outside, found a relatively clean stone from the ground, and began processing the fishhook. He briefly explained the situation inside to the women in a few words.

Even as a professional, Tiantian still couldn’t understand the shop assistant’s behavior inside.

“Never mind all that. Qi Xia is right—let’s save him first.” Lin Qin took the fishing line and turned back to check on Han Yimo’s condition.

Doctor Zhao used the stone to grind off the rust on the fishhook, then tried to sharpen it as much as possible. Lin Qin also sorted out the tangled fishing line beside him.

“That should do…” After Doctor Zhao confirmed everything was ready, he turned back to Han Yimo and said, “I’m going to remove the harpoon and suture your wound.”

“Okay…” Han Yimo nodded slightly.

“But we don’t have anesthesia.” Doctor Zhao said with difficulty. “The pain might exceed your imagination.”

“It’s fine… at least I can survive, right?” Han Yimo asked with a bitter smile.

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

“That’s good… go ahead…”

…

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

She wasn’t wearing a single piece of clothing, yet the three men’s hearts were completely unmoved—they even wanted to escape a bit.

“Hey, Liar.” Qiao Jiajin asked quietly. “You stole her ‘merchandise.’ What if she gets angry later?”

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

Officer Li was silent for a while on the side, then said quietly, “Don’t we still have ‘Dao’? I wonder if she wants it?”

“How can that work?!” Qiao Jiajin said somewhat displeased. “That ‘Dao’ was exchanged with all of our lives. You’d just give it to this lunatic?”

“We’re also saving a life here!”

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

She walked to the bedside with a relieved expression, where the fishhook and fishing line had been—now empty.

She looked at the bed somewhat hesitantly, as if feeling something was wrong: “Huh?”

But she quickly shook her head and said, “Right… sleep. Which of you four will come first?”

The female shop assistant raised her head, looking at the three people before her. Her expression became dazed again as she asked, “Not four? Have you always been three people? Never mind, three is fine too.”

Qiao Jiajin shook his head and said quietly, “See, she’s crazier than I imagined.”

“Mm…” 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.”

After speaking, he pulled a golden gleaming “Dao” from his pocket, placed it beside the female shop assistant, then continued, “I don’t know if this thing is valuable, but this is all we have.”

According to Qi Xia’s thinking, people living here must recognize those animal masks and must have heard about “Dao” to some extent. This thing exchanged with lives, no matter how you thought about it, must have some value.

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

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

With a “crunch,” the bead was bitten and crushed, chewed a bit, and swallowed into her stomach.

“Not tasty…” The female shop assistant shook her head. “Much worse than piglet.”

“This…”

The three grown men had never imagined that something they exchanged with their lives would be treated as a snack by someone. For a moment, they were all speechless.

“Not sleeping… then you should leave…” The female shop assistant sighed helplessly, her expression extremely dejected. “Someone will come sleep with me eventually.”

Although the three couldn’t understand the situation, at least they could leave now.

The three men dejectedly withdrew from the room. Just as they were calculating how to tell everyone they had lost a “Dao,” they saw that Doctor Zhao had already pulled out the harpoon from Han Yimo’s body. At this moment, his blood was gushing out and his entire head was covered in cold sweat.

“Come help quickly!” Lin Qin called out.

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

Under this kind of extreme pain, a person would involuntarily thrash about.

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

“You’re Doctor Zhao…” Han Yimo said with furrowed brows and gritted teeth.

“That’s right, you need to stay conscious!” Doctor Zhao threaded the fishhook and immediately pierced through his flesh.

Han Yimo let out another muffled groan.

“Talk to me!” Doctor Zhao 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 novelist?” Doctor Zhao said. “How about talking about your work?”