Dr. Zhao glanced at Qixia with a troubled look, and Qixia didn't know how to respond either.
"Can this be used?" Qixia asked quietly.
"Although it's not the best choice, it can indeed be used," Dr. Zhao nodded. "Straighten out the fish hook, thread it with the fishing line, and it should be able to suture the wound."
After pondering for a moment, Qixia spoke to the female clerk, "Miss, we don't have money. Can we exchange something with you?"
"Money?" The female clerk stared blankly at Qixia, as if trying to understand what "money" meant. After a long time, she finally spoke, "I don't want money. Will you sleep with me?"
"Sleep...?" Qixia's lips moved slightly. "What do you mean?"
"After we sleep, we can eat the piglets!" The female clerk showed a hint of madness in her expression, then drooled.
With that said, she walked to the dirty bed, bent down, and patted the spot next to her.
That spot happened to have a large dried bloodstain.
"Come on, hurry up," the female clerk swiftly took off her shirt, revealing that she was wearing nothing underneath, her emaciated body covered in dirt and bloodstains, resembling a skeleton.
Qiao Jiajin remained silent for a long time before nudging Qixia with his elbow and saying, "You go ahead and sacrifice yourself."
"Why don't you go?" Qixia retorted irritably.
"The boss chose you," Qiao Jiajin said with a smirk. "Didn't you hear? As long as you sleep with her, we can eat the piglets in her pot. Besides, the writer is also waiting for that fish hook to save his life. No matter how you look at it, it's a great merit..."
Before Qixia could respond, the female clerk seemed to overhear what Qiao Jiajin said and turned to him, saying, "You can come too! All four of you can come!"
"What?" Qiao Jiajin was stunned. "Me...?"
"What is going on..." Officer Li finally couldn't help it. After so many years in the police force, the current situation completely exceeded his comprehension. "Miss, what are you plotting? We came to buy things, why do you want to involve yourself?"
"I..." The female clerk widened her eyes and suddenly shouted, "I want to eat piglets!!"
After speaking, she seemed to remember something and quickly placed the fish hook and fishing line on the bed, then rushed to the iron pot to check inside.
"Don't let the piglets be overcooked..."
She picked up a stick and stirred the contents of the pot anxiously.
Taking advantage of this moment, Qixia quietly approached the bed, picked up the fish hook and fishing line, and handed it back to Dr. Zhao, saying, "Go save the person first. We'll handle things here."
"Alright!" Dr. Zhao took the fish hook and fishing line outside, found a relatively clean stone on the ground, and began to work on the fish hook. He briefly explained the situation inside to the girls.
Even as a professional, Tian Tian couldn't understand the behavior of the female clerk inside.
"Never mind that, Qixia is right. Let's save the person first," Lin Lin took the fishing line and went back to check on Han Yimo's condition.
Dr. Zhao polished off the rust on the fish hook with the stone, then straightened it as much as possible. Lin Lin also tidied up the tangled fishing line on the side.
"It's almost done..." After confirming that everything was ready, Dr. Zhao turned to Han Yimo and said, "I'm going to remove the harpoon from you and then suture the wound."
"Okay..." Han Yimo nodded slightly.
"But we don't have anesthesia," Dr. Zhao said with difficulty. "This pain may exceed your imagination."
"It's okay... at least I can survive, right?" Han Yimo smiled bitterly.
"If the wound doesn't get infected... there shouldn't be a problem surviving."
"That's good... come on..."
Indoors, the three men stood behind the female clerk, watching her stir the pot.
She wasn't wearing any clothes, yet the three men's hearts were surprisingly calm, even wanting to escape.
"Hey, scammer," Qiao Jiajin whispered, "what if you upset her by stealing her 'goods'?"
"I don't know," Qixia shook his head.
Officer Li remained silent for a moment before whispering, "Don't we still have 'Dao'? I wonder if she wants it?"
"But how can we do that?!" Qiao Jiajin said displeased, "That 'Dao' was obtained with the lives of all of us. Are you just going to give it to this lunatic?"
"We're saving lives too."
While the two were arguing, the female clerk slowly turned around.
Seemingly relieved, she calmly walked to the bedside, where the fish hook and fishing line had been placed, but were now empty.
She hesitated for a moment, looking at the bed, seeming to feel that something was wrong there. "Huh?"
But soon she shook her head and said, "Right... sleep. Which one of you four wants to come first?"
The female clerk lifted her head, looking at the three men in front of her, her expression blank for a moment, then asked, "Not four? Have you always been three? Well, three is fine too."
Qiao Jiajin shook his head and whispered, "See, she's crazier than I thought."
"Yeah..." Qixia was stunned for a moment, then said, "We don't want to sleep with you. We just came to buy things."
With that, he took out a shiny "Dao" from his pocket and placed it next to the female clerk, then continued, "I don't know if this thing is valuable, but it's all we have."
According to Qixia's thoughts, people living here must recognize those animal masks to some extent, and they must have heard of "Dao" to some extent. This kind of thing obtained at the cost of lives should have some value no matter how you think about it.
The female clerk curiously looked at the bead for a moment, then picked it up and squeezed it.
Then, to the astonishment of the three men, she put the bead in her mouth.
With a crunch, she chewed on the bead and swallowed it.
"Not tasty..." the female clerk shook her head, "Much worse than piglets."
"This..."
The three big men never imagined that the thing they obtained with their lives would be treated as a snack by someone. For a moment, they were speechless.
"Not sleeping... then you can go..." The female clerk sighed helplessly, her expression very disappointed. "Someone will come to sleep with me eventually."
Although the situation was incomprehensible to the three men, they could leave now at least.
The three of them left the room with disappointment, thinking about how to explain their loss of a "Dao" to the others. However, when they saw Dr. Zhao had already removed the harpoon from Han Yimo's body, his fresh blood gushing out, and his forehead covered in cold sweat, they hurriedly rushed up to help hold down Han Yimo's hands and feet.
In such extreme pain, people would involuntarily move around.
"Han Yimo, look at me!" Dr. Zhao said seriously, "Do you still know who I am?!"
"You are Dr. Zhao..." Han Yimo frowned, gritting his teeth.
"Yes, you must stay awake!" Dr. Zhao threaded the fish hook, piercing his flesh with it.
Han Yimo groaned again.
"Talk to me!" Dr. 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?" Dr. Zhao said, "Tell me about your work."