WHO IS THE SURGEON?

In the morning, again the surgeon had reduced the councilors to 17 people: another councilor was dead. Yõnggãn, the bald councilor, was dead. His lungs were harvested, and kept in a transparent zipper nylon bag, which had a receipt, with the name "The surgeon" on it. Now, fear crept deeper into the minds of the people. Who is the surgeon?

The council arrested Li Chang, at once. He was brought before the council.

'We won't wait any longer to stop this madness! We have endured so much by the hands of the surgeon. Our spy told us that the nights the two councilors were killed, you sneaked out of your house, and the hamlet. We won't wait any longer for any evidence. You would be killed soon. You're hereby sentenced to death by immense torture.' The head of the council says.

'The spy is a liar. I didn't go out of the hamlet on the nights the councilors were killed.' Li Chang says.

'Will you say that your cousin, Jiäohuà, is a liar?' The grey haired woman speaks.

Jiäohuà was brought before the council.

'Are you certain of what you told us about Li Chang?' Another councilor asks.

'Yes. I saw Li Chang sneaking out of the hamlet, the nights the councilors were killed. I have no reason to lie.' Jiäohuà speaks boldly.

The council turns to Li Chang.

'We want to be as fair as possible. we want you to prove yourself not guilty: tell us, what evidence do you have that supports the fact that you didn't leave the hamlet?' The head of council says.

Li Chang thinks for a moment. Of course! He was with Oliver the previous night.

'Oliver, my friend, was with me; he can testify to this fact.' Li Chang says.

–A stranger? What will he say. He's your friend, after all.– Another councilor says in Chinese.

'Since he's your last hope, we'll hear him out, and we'll decide if to believe a strangers words,' The head of the council says. 'Bring him at once!' He orders the two ladies.

Jiäohuã wasn't happy that Li Chang would be vindicated. He wanted him to die, so he hatched a plot to stop Oliver from coming. He excuses himself from the council, and goes straight back to the hamlet. He saw Oliver just before the guards could know that he was Li Chang's friend. Jiäohuà gives Oliver a Chinese snack: a crunchy rise roll.

'Li Chang told me to give you this snacks. He's coming back soon.' Jiähuà lies.

'Why would. . . Thank you for the snacks, I'll eat it later.' Oliver says.

'No... He said you should have a taste of a snack he made himself.'

Oliver quirks his eyebrow.

'Why is he not giving this to me himself? I find it strange that you're the one given me this snacks,' Oliver says.

'I- I...' Jiäohuà stammers. Jiäohuà knew Oliver suspected him, so he hits Oliver on his head hard with a stick, causing him to lose consciousness.

'You want to act clever? Li Chang will be killed, and I will be the new chieftain of Shéshizú.' He laughs. He takes Oliver to his Siheyuan. He ties him up on a chair in his house. 'You want to act brave. I'll show you how a brave man dies.' Jiãohuà laughs insanely.

The ladies from the council searched everywhere for Oliver, and they didn't find him. They were about to return back to the council, when Daniella calls their attention.

'Good morning, Misses. You're from the Shéshizú council and you are looking for Oliver, right?' She asks.

'How did you know?' They retorts.

'I overheard you asking some people. I can show you were Jiäohuà hid Oliver.' Daniella says.

'Where?' The first lady asks.

'In his house. Let me show you.' Daniella leads the ladies to the house.

At the council, The head of council was getting really impatient.

'Where's your witness? Has he choosen to disappoint you? I am getting really impatient!' The head of council thumps an hourglass on the table. 'I give him one hour to come here, if not your punishment will be implemented.'

Li Chang trembles. He prayed that Oliver would made it in time. The sand ran down the first glass vessel to the second. Time was going fast, and the council guards were ready to kill him.

In Shéshizú, The ladies arrived at the Siheyuan. It was so silent. They made their way inside, and into the first house the saw, which was on north side of the courtyard.

'Jiäohuà, we are from the Shéshizu council. Please let Oliver go.' One of the ladies speak, but they heard no reply. So they went into the house. They saw Oliver tied up to the chair. They woke him up from his unconscious state.

'Oliver, we need to take you to the council.' The ladies tell him. Then suddenly, Jiäohuà comes into the room.

'You won't leave here with that boy. You came here to die!' Jiäohuà brings out a pistol, but the first lady was super fast, with her whip. She wipes off the gun from Jiäohuà's hand. The second lady uses her club to hit Jiäohuà on his left leg, breaking his bone.

'Arrrgh!' Jiäohuà cries. He limps, trying to get away, but the first lady slashes his leg with her whip, and he falls to the ground. Before Jiäohuà could think of another plan, the second lady uses the club to knock him off consciousness.

'Kill him!' The head of council thumps on the table, as soon as the time ran out.

They guards grabs Li Chang's arms. Li Chang was disappointed. He thought Oliver was a true friend.

The guards took him out of the room ( the judgement court.)

Oliver and the ladies arrives at the judgement chamber.

'We have brought him in.' One of the ladies says.

'Is this the 'Oliver' Li Chang was talking about? Tell the guards to return at once!' He commands the other council guards.

The guards took Li Chang to the execution hall. He was sweating really badly. This place reminded him of the torture he faced in that prison in Russia. The atmosphere was hot, as the flames from the furnace flickered. There were different torture equipments on the floor.

The guards manacled him, and picked a whip with chunks of metals fixed on it. They were about to hit Li Chang with the whip, and then they heard a yell.

'Stop! no harm should come to him, if not the council will rip off your skin.' The first lady says.

'It's an order from the council to kill him.' The guard speaks defensively.

'Bring him back to the judgement court! This is an order from the Head of council.'

The guards brought back Li Chang to the judgement court. Li Chang smiles as he saw Oliver.

'Young man, were you with Li Chang, yesterday? And where were you?' The head of council asks.

'Yes, I was with Li Chang yesterday night. We were in the cave, the exist of the hamlet.' Oliver says.

'What were you doing there?'

Oliver pauses for a moment. He knew a stranger was not allowed to see what he saw, so he had to be smart.

'Li Chang, showed me what true purpose means. He told me the truth about heroes: They are not just fictional super beings, They're people; regular people who chose to be outstanding, and to sacrifice for the common good of everyone. Bravery and strength are not what we see it as. Strength is the ability to go beyond sacrificial lengths of regular people. I realized that fighting is not so bad if you're doing it for everyone to remain in peace.' Oliver says.

'He told you all this?' The grey haired woman asks.

'He told me with something more than mere words.' Oliver says.

'Li Chang, is it true?' The head of the council asks.

'Yes, my lord. I was with him, and I told him... somethings.' Li Chang says.

Jiäohuà was brought into the judgement court, as soon as he woke up.

'Jiäohuà, you've lied and rebelled against this court, therefore you're sentenced to a quick death...' Before the head of council could finish speaking, the council guard opened fire on Jiäohuà. The bullets punctured into his skin, and he falls dead. The guards took him out of the judgement court.

'Li Chang, you're free to go on the condition that before two weeks you'll eliminate the surgeon by your own hands. Our eyes are on you.' The head of the council says.

Li Chang was released from the manacles, but he was scared.

'Sir, please give me more time. I don't how to start my search for the surgeon,' Li Chang requests.

'The council has decided on this matter. You are hereby dismissed. Good luck.'

Li Chang was faced with another big trouble – Finding the surgeon who killed the protected councilors, as if they are vulnerable preys. He was totally scared to meet this serial killer.

They grey haired woman, who was part of the councilors, was in her house. She wore a bathrobe, as she was getting ready for the night. She clips her hair behind her with a headband. Then suddenly, she hears a stifled scream; like a struggling weak voice, then it stopped. She pushes away the thought it was the the surgeon. She calls her head guard, immediately.

'Is there any problem?' She asks.

'No, ma, there's no problem.' They guard says. Behind the guard, amidst the shadows, was a man who hard his face wrapped with a bandage like an embalmed corpse. He wore a hoodie, a sunglass, and on his left hand he held an attaché case. He held the gun with a silencer muzzle, to the guards head. The other guards were on the floor dead.

'Are you sure?' The woman asks.

'Of course, ma.' The guard says, and disconnects the call.

'I've done what you asked me to do. please, let me go.' The guard begs.

'I'll let you go, alright.' He pulls the trigger.

'The 4th job is waiting for me.' The surgeon whistles a spooky tune. He walks surreptitiously and tactically close to the entrance. The guards in the entrance were with 4 German-shepherds (Alsatians). The surgeon sets down his attaché case. He removes a scalpel, and a can full of poisonous treats. He throws a bait near the dogs, and the guards didn't see it. The dogs ate the treat, and the passed out soon after. The cool breeze blew on the surgeon's skin, hinting he was human. A human with the devil's soul. He takes hold of a gory dagger and the scalpel. He looks at the guards. He could feel his heart growing cold again. He shoots the first guy with the pistol, but the silencer muzzle prevented the sound from roaring. The second guy was alerted and pointed his gun to shoot, but he felt a sharp pain in his neck. A scalpel which was hurled by the surgeon to him, pierced into his throat. Blood just spurted out from his throat, as he gasped for breath.

He was still moving as the surgeon walks to him, and holds him down. The surgeon uses the scissors to cut through his gullet, while he was still awake. The guards struggle for a moment, but he dies soon after.

'Good!' He says. He puts the guard over his shoulder. The second stage of his plan was yet to be done.

Inside the house, everything looked okay. The councilor was ready to go to bed. She puts off her bed lamp, and she puts the blanket over her. Then she hears her living room door opening and closing. She puts the blanket away. 'Who was that?' She asks herself. She rushes to the living room, and the door was closed.

'Adrien, are you there?' She asks. She walks outside, she felt a sudden nausea, as she saw 9 of her guards lifeless bodies, all stacked together, in her Veranda. One of her guards was missing. She felt fear creep over her. She enters inside, and lucks her door. She scuddles to her cellphone, but she sees the dreadful serial killer, the surgeon, walking towards the phone.

'Hello, lovely lady.' He says. She runs to the door she locked, but he grabs her by her neck, and hits her with a hammer, causing blood to gush out. She scurries into her room for her life, but her missing guard was on the bed. His throat and his intestine were harvested, and put in a transparent zipper nylon bag. The blood was every where on the bed. 'No! No!' She screams. Her heartbeat was throbbing really fast. She latches the door. She felt cold and frightened to death. She looks at her window which had iron grills on it. it was impossible to go outside through the window. She sat beside the bed shivering. Her head was bleeding badly. Her gun was not in her room, she could have used it. rivulets of blood streamed down her head. The pain intense; a splitting headache, trying hard to tear her head into two. She sat whimpers, praying for her.

She heard the surgeon knocking on the door. She grabs the bed lamp, and she was ready to smash his head with it.

'You won't hide for long, my dear.' The surgeon says. Then suddenly, there was a large bang on the door, and the door swings open.

Immediately, the old lady charges forward, but she feels a severe pain in her stomach. Tears fell off her green eyes. She looks down, only to see a scissors in her stomach.

'Hey lady, we could have had a nice date tonight, but you ruined it.' The surgeon smiles. 'What will I use to mark my signature murder.' He laughs. 'Oh! Your brain looks like it will be nice.' The surgeon stabs her at the side of her head with a scalpel, blood spurts out from her heard rapidly. She falls on the ground, and she starts having seizures.'

'Oh no! I killed a lady.' The surgeon ridicules. The lady continued having seizures until finally she gave up the ghost.

The surgeon tears into her skull with a knife, and opens it. He removes her brain carelessly, and put it in a zipper nylon bag, which had his name and the markings of Shéshizú. He cackles loudly, and he searches through her things. He unlocks her phone with her fingerprint. He looks through her messages.

'We need to send Li Chang back to the Us, he's the only one who knows the whereabouts of the key.' The surgeon read. '..."Li Chang", huh? Who is this "Li Chang?" I know this name... Yes! Häo hàn Chang! This must be his son.' The surgeon smiles. He takes the phone with him, and leaves the residence.