Dr. Zhao looked at Qi Xia awkwardly, and Qi Xia wasn’t sure how to respond.


    "Can this be used?" Qi Xia asked quietly.


    "It shouldn’t be a big issue." Dr. Zhao nodded. "Medical suturing often uses curved needles, as long as it''s sharp enough."


    Qi Xia thought for a moment, then turned to the female clerk and said, "Miss, we don’t have money. Can we trade something instead?"


    "Money?" The female clerk stared blankly at Qi Xia, as if trying to comprehend what "money" meant. After a long while, she finally spoke, "I don’t want money. You can sleep with me."


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


    "We can eat the piglets after we sleep!" The female clerk gave a crazed look and even started drooling.


    With that, she walked over to the dirty bed, bent down, and sat on it, patting the space beside her.


    The spot was covered with a large pool of dried blood.


    "Come on, hurry up."


    The female clerk quickly took off her shirt, revealing she was completely naked underneath. Her emaciated body was covered in dirt and blood, looking like a skeleton.


    Jiao Jiajin remained silent for a while, then elbowed Qi Xia and said, "Just sacrifice yourself."


    "Why don’t you go?" Qi Xia retorted.


    "The boss picked you," Jiao Jiajin said gleefully. "Didn’t you hear? If you sleep with her, we can eat the piglets from her pot, and the writer is also waiting for that fishhook to save his life. No matter how you look at it, this will be a great deed…"


    Before Qi Xia could reply, the female clerk seemed to have heard Jiao Jiajin and turned to him, saying, "You can come too! All four of you can come!"


    "What the…?" Officer Li couldn’t hold back anymore. After years of police work, the situation in front of him was completely beyond his comprehension. "Miss, what are you after? We came to buy something, why are you offering yourself?"


    "I…" The female clerk widened her eyes, then suddenly shouted, "I want to eat piglets!!"


    After saying that, she seemed to remember something and quickly placed the fishhook and fishing line on the bed, then ran over to the iron pot to check inside.


    "Don’t let the piglets get overcooked…"


    She seemed worried as she picked up a stick and stirred the contents of the pot.


    Taking advantage of this, Qi Xia quietly walked over to the bed, grabbed the fishhook and fishing line, then turned around and handed them to Dr. Zhao, saying, "Go save the person first, we’ll handle things here."


    "Okay!"


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Dr. Zhao took the fishhook and fishing line outside, found a relatively clean stone on the ground, and started working on the fishhook. He briefly explained the situation inside to the few women with him.


    Sweet, being a professional, still couldn’t understand the female clerk’s behavior.


    "Forget about that, Qi Xia’s right. Let’s save the person first," Lin Qing said, taking the fishing line and turning back to check on Han Yimo’s condition.


    Dr. Zhao used the stone to scrape off the rust from the fishhook, then sharpened it as much as possible. Lin Qing also tidied up the tangled fishing line beside him.


    "Almost done…" After confirming everything was ready, Dr. Zhao turned to Han Yimo and said, "I’m going to remove the fish spear and stitch up the wound."


    "Okay…" Han Yimo nodded slightly.


    "But we don’t have anesthesia," Dr. Zhao said awkwardly, "The pain might be more than you can imagine."


    "It’s fine… as long as I can survive, right?" Han Yimo smiled bitterly and asked.


    "As long as the wound doesn’t get infected… you’ll be fine."


    "Good… go ahead…"


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


    She was completely naked, but the three men felt no stirrings in their hearts; they even wanted to run away.


    "Hey, liar," Jiao Jiajin whispered, "You stole her ''goods''. What are we going to do if she gets mad?"


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


    Officer Li stayed silent for a moment, then whispered, "Don’t we still have the ''Dao''? I wonder if she wants it."


    "How can we do that?!" Jiao Jiajin said, a little upset. "That ''Dao'' was obtained by giving up all our lives, and you’re just going to give it to this crazy woman?"


    "But we’re also saving a life here!"


    As the two argued, the female clerk slowly turned around and walked back to the bed. The fishhook and fishing line, which had been there earlier, were now missing.


    She hesitated and looked at the bed, seemingly feeling something was wrong. "Huh?"


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


    The female clerk raised her head and looked at the three men in front of her, her expression momentarily dazed. "Not four? Have you always been three? Never mind, three will do."


    Jiao Jiajin shook his head and whispered, "See? She’s crazier than I imagined."


    "Yeah…" Qi Xia was stunned for a long time before speaking. "We don’t want to sleep with you. We’re just here to buy something."


    With that, he took out a shining "Dao" from his pocket, placed it beside the female clerk, and continued, "I don’t know if this is valuable, but it’s all we have left."


    Given that the people here must recognize the animal masks and have likely heard of the "Dao", something obtained at the cost of a life, Qi Xia assumed it would be valuable.


    The female clerk curiously looked at the bead, then picked it up and squeezed it. The bead seemed somewhat elastic, though he wasn’t sure what material it was made from.


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


    With a crunch, the bead was crushed, chewed, and swallowed.


    "It doesn’t taste good…" The female clerk shook her head. "It’s way worse than piglets."


    "Uh…"


    The three men never expected that the life-risking item they had obtained would be treated like a snack, leaving them speechless.


    "If you won’t sleep with me… then you can leave…" The female clerk sighed helplessly, her expression full of disappointment. "Someone will come and sleep with me eventually."


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


    The three men reluctantly stepped outside, already planning how to explain to the others that they had lost a "Dao", only to find Dr. Zhao had already removed the fish spear from Han Yimo’s body, and blood was spurting from his wound, his face drenched in sweat.


    "Quick, come help!" Lin Qing called out.


    Jiao Jiajin and Officer Li rushed over to help hold Han Yimo’s limbs in place.


    In this excruciating pain, a person would instinctively struggle.


    "Han Yimo, look at me!" Dr. Zhao said sternly, "Do you still know who I am?!"


    "You’re Dr. Zhao…" Han Yimo frowned and gritted his teeth.


    "That’s right, you need to stay awake!" Dr. Zhao threaded the fishing line through the fishhook and quickly pierced through his flesh.


    Han Yimo groaned in pain.


    "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 asked. "Why don’t you tell me about your works?"