The Trade

Dr. Zhao looked at Qi Xia with some difficulty, and Qi Xia didn't know how to respond either.

"Could this work?" Qi Xia asked quietly.

"Not a big issue," Dr. Zhao nodded, "Medical sutures often use curved needles, as long as it's sharp enough."

Qi Xia thought for a moment and then said to the female clerk, "Miss, we don't have money. Could we trade something with you?"

"Money?" The female clerk stared blankly at Qi Xia, as if trying to understand what 'money' meant. After a long while, she said, "I don't want money, sleep with me."

"Sleep...?" Qi Xia's lips moved slightly, "What do you mean?"

"After we sleep, we can eat the little piglet!" The female clerk showed a trace of madness and then actually drooled.

With that, she walked to the dirty bed, bent down to sit, and patted the spot beside her.

That spot just happened to have a large dried bloodstain.

"Come on, come over here."

The female clerk quickly took off her shirt, revealing that she was wearing nothing underneath. Her body, covered in dirt and blood, looked like a mess.

Jia Jian was silent for a moment and then said, "You should just give in."

"Why don't you go?" Qi Xia said with an annoyed tone.

"The boss pointed at you," Jia Jian said with glee, "Didn't you hear? As long as you sleep with her, we can eat the little piglet in her pot. Besides, the writer is waiting for that fishhook to save his life. No matter how you look at it, it's a great virtue..."

Before Qi Xia could respond, the female clerk seemed to have heard what Jia Jian said and turned to him, saying, "You can come too! All four of you can come!"

"Ah?" Jia Jian was taken aback, "Me...?"

"What's going on...?" Officer Li finally couldn't hold back. After so many years in the police force, the situation before his eyes was completely beyond his understanding, "Miss, what are you after? We are here to buy something; why do you have to involve yourself like this?"

"I..." The female clerk widened her eyes and suddenly shouted, "I want to eat pig Hui!"

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

"The little piglet... Don't let it get overcooked."

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

Taking this opportunity, Qi Xia quietly walked to the bedside, picked up the fishhook and line, turned around, and handed them to Dr. Zhao, saying, "Go save the person first, we'll deal with this here."

"Okay!"

Dr. Zhao took the fishhook and line outside, found a relatively clean stone on the ground, and began to work on the fishhook. He briefly explained the situation inside to the other women.

Tiantian, as a professional, still couldn't understand the clerk's behavior in the room.

"Forget about that, Qi Xia is right, let's save the person first," Lin said as he took the fishing line and went back to check on Han Yimo's condition.

Dr. Zhao used the stone to polish off the rust on the fishhook and sharpened it as much as possible. Lin Qin also helped to organize the messy fishing line.

"It's almost ready..." After making sure everything was prepared, Dr. Zhao turned to Han Yimo and said, "I'm going to remove the harpoon and then suture the wound for you."

"Okay..." Han Yimo nodded slightly.

"But we don't have any anesthesia," Dr. Zhao said with difficulty, "The pain might be beyond your imagination."

"It's okay... At least I can survive, right?" Han Yimo asked with a wry smile.

"If the wound doesn't get infected... surviving is not a problem."

"Then that's good... Let's do it...

Inside the room, the three men stood behind the female clerk, watching her stir the pot.

She wasn't wearing any clothes, but the hearts of the three men were completely unmoved, even wanting to escape.

"Hey, cheater," Jia Jian whispered, "You stole her 'goods', what if she gets angry later?"

"I don't know," Qi Xia shook his head.

Officer Li was silent for a while and then whispered, "Don't we still have the 'Tao'? I wonder if she would want it?"

"How could that be okay?!" Jia Jian said with some displeasure, "That's the 'Tao' we got in exchange for all our lives. You're just going to give it to this madwoman?"

"But we are also saving a life here!

The two were arguing when the female clerk slowly turned her head around.

She seemed reassured and calmly walked to the bedside, where the fishhook and line were supposed to be, but now they were gone.

She looked at the bed with some hesitation, as if feeling something was amiss: "Huh?"

But soon she shook her head and said, "Right... sleep. Which one of you four will come first?"

The female clerk looked up at the three men in front of her, her expression changed again, and she asked, "Isn't it four? Have you always been three people? Never mind, three is fine too."

Jia Jian shook his head and whispered, "Look, she's even crazier than I thought."

"Hmm..." Qi Xia was stunned for a long time before he said, "We don't want to sleep with you, we just came to buy something."

With that, he took out a shiny 'Tao' from his pocket, placed it beside the female clerk, and continued, "I don't know if this thing is valuable, but this is all we have."

As Qi Xia thought,

People living here must recognize those animal masks and must have heard of the 'Tao' to some extent. This thing exchanged for life, no matter how you think about it, must have some value.

The female clerk looked at the bead curiously, then picked it up and pinched it a few times. The bead seemed a bit elastic, and it was unclear what material it was made of.

Then, to the shock of the three men, she threw the bead into her mouth.

There was a 'crunch' sound as the bead was crushed and chewed by her, and she swallowed it into her stomach.

"Not tasty..." The female clerk shook her head, "It's far worse than the little piglet."

"This...

The three big men never expected the thing they exchanged for their lives to be treated as a snack by someone, and for a moment, they were all speechless.

"If not sleeping... then you may leave..." The female clerk sighed helplessly, her expression extremely disappointed, "Someone will always come to sleep with me."

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

The three men retreated from the room, just trying to figure out how to explain to everyone that they had lost a 'Tao', when they saw Dr. Zhao outside, who had already removed the harpoon from Han Yimo's body, and at this moment, his blood was gushing out, and his head was covered in cold sweat.

"Come and help!" Lin shouted.

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

Under such extreme pain, people will 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 said with a frown and gritted teeth.

"That's right, you need to stay conscious!" Dr. Zhao threaded the fishhook and in one swift motion, it pierced through Han Yimo's skin and flesh.

Han Yimo let out another muffled groan.

"Talk to me!" Dr. Zhao said calmly, "Talk about something that interests you to distract yourself!

Something that interests me...?" Han Yimo gave a wry smile.

"Aren't you a novelist?" Dr. Zhao said, "How about discussing your work?"