Just from their reactions, Zhe Qiuhong knew the matter was definitely connected to them. What was more, Rusty Sister was merely sitting there in silence. If they really hadn't done it, Rusty Sister would have spoken up to explain.
"What a pity. I had only just grafted them on and hadn't even had time to observe the follow-up progress!" Zhe Qiuhong grumbled slightly to herself.
When sober, Doctor Zhe was not one to split hairs or squabble over matters. After a quick look around, she simply turned and began washing up beside the doorway.
At any rate, snakes and lizards were plentiful in the desert. As for the surgery, though somewhat complex, she was more than willing to do it—she enjoyed it, in fact.
"Ah... fuck. What's this?" A voice sounded from beside the courtyard wall, followed by the rustling of someone scrambling up from the sandy ground.
The voice sounded familiar. Hearing the commotion, Han Qingyu and the others hurried outside.
Beside the courtyard wall, Boss Dao stood dusting himself off...
"Boss Dao, were you drunk... did you sleep here last night?" He Tangtang asked bluntly the moment they came face-to-face.
To be precise, it had been the early hours of the morning. When the drinking session wound down, Boss Dao had insisted he was fine and could make it back on his own. The others, tipsy themselves, hadn't stopped him. Fortunately, he hadn't actually made it back, or else he might have been hacked to death on the street.
Right now, in the corner by the wall, there was a curled-up hollow scooped into the sand.
Boss Dao shifted a step sideways to block their view. "No, I woke up this morning and had nothing to do, so I strolled over to see how you were holding up."
"Oh," Han Qingyu said.
"Good to see you're all fine." Boss Dao patted the sand from his clothes, grabbed the back of his neck, and craned his head back to roll it, joints cracking loudly as he changed the subject: "Speaking of which, that dragon last night tasted pretty good."
They were toast...
At that exact moment, Zhe Qiuhong was washing up nearby. Hearing this, she froze instantly and turned back toward them, toothbrush still in her mouth and white lather coating her lips.
Han Qingyu and the others looked away, not daring to utter a peep.
"What's wrong?!" Boss Dao asked. Completely oblivious to the glances they were throwing him, he rubbed his forehead, took two steps forward on his own, and called out casually to Zhe Qiuhong, "Oh right, girl, you're a doctor, aren't you?"
Zhe Qiuhong hesitated for two seconds, then nodded.
A dab of toothpaste foam fell from her lip; she caught it in her palm just before it stained her clothes.
"These past few days, my head's been constantly aching. Could you take a look for me?" Boss Dao asked.
Zhe Qiuhong studied him, nodded, then turned back to rinse her mouth and wash her face... She set her rinse cup down neatly, wrung out the towel, and hung it up.
"Follow me."
"Right, okay."
The two stepped inside one after the other.
The five outside remained rooted to the spot, glancing at one another. They had never seen someone court death quite so eagerly.
The situation was practically a sheep strolling straight into a tiger's den, with Boss Dao as the sheep.
"It's over. My bet is Boss Dao's getting a craniotomy."
"Yeah. Wonder if that ring of hair around his head can even be saved."
"He won't even have a head left," He Tangtang said. "Let's just worry about ourselves. It's only because Boss Dao stepped up and took the hit after blurting that out; otherwise, we'd probably all be done for."
"That's why Boss Dao is so loyal... Why don't we head inside and keep an eye on him?!" Zhu Jiaming chuckled. "I've never seen someone get their skull cracked open before!"
"..." Wen Jifei clicked his tongue. "Wish the man well, will you?"
When the five finished deliberating and walked through the door, Zhe Qiuhong was holding a small metal hammer, tapping Boss Dao's head counterclockwise in circles.
"Tap, tap. Does it hurt?"
"Nope."
"Tap, tap. Does it hurt?"
"No, just feel a bit dizzy. Buzzing in my head."
"Mm. For a body nourished by source energy, you won't detect anything unless you tap firmly." Zhe Qiuhong's voice was calm and rational, as always.
"Thump!"
"Hiss—hurts!"
"Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump..."
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow..."
Such was the terrifying authority of a doctor. A man as formidable and reckless as Boss Dao was being hammered like this, yet all he did was sit there crying out in pain, not flinching or dodging even once.
Zhe Qiuhong stopped and rubbed her wrist. "You're certain it hurts, right?"
"Certain," Boss Dao said, reaching up to rub his head before letting his hand drop.
"Mm." Zhe Qiuhong turned around, put away the little hammer, and wiped her hands on a towel. "It makes sense that it hurts. You've got a lump right there."
Han Qingyu and the others: "..."
How to put it? This probably counted as getting off easy.
"It's nothing, just external trauma. You probably bumped it last time you fought a Great Spike. If I'm not mistaken, your combat blade must have bounced back and smacked you in the head," Zhe Qiuhong added.
"Oh, let me think... yeah, that actually happened." Boss Dao stood up and asked politely, "So I'm fine, right, Doctor Zhe?"
"Your head is fine." Zhe Qiuhong turned back, eyeing him up and down. "However, I feel your physical condition isn't quite right. I don't have enough equipment here. Find a hospital around here, borrow a consultation room from them, and I'll examine you further later."
"Ah... okay!" Hearing this, Boss Dao panicked. A man fearless enough to throw his life away hacking at Great Spikes looked visibly flustered on the spot. "Then I'll go arrange things with a hospital right away. Sorry to trouble you, Doctor Zhe, please come over later... I'll send someone to pick you up."
Boss Dao hurried off in a frenzy.
Zhe Qiuhong walked over and glanced at the remaining five. "Do you want an examination as well?"
"No need."
"We're fine."
"..."
Even as they declined, all five of them, including Wu Xu, clapped their hands over their ears, terrified that Zhe Qiuhong might also hit them with:
"I feel your physical condition isn't quite right."
***
Boss Dao proved remarkably efficient; barely an hour later, the car sent to pick up Zhe Qiuhong arrived.
Seeing as he was their boss now after all, and worried he might get dissected on the spot, Han Qingyu and the other four followed along in the car. At the hospital, Zhe Qiuhong ordered them to wait outside the consultation room.
Over an hour passed...
When Boss Dao emerged, he was still in one piece, but his complexion was completely off—his face was an ashen mask.
It looked as though he had been scared out of his wits by something.
"Boss Dao, what... what happened?" Wen Jifei asked, finding it hard to bear.
Boss Dao looked up with feeble eyes. The corner of his mouth twitched bitterly, and he hesitated, words failing him.
"You should be happy. You've snatched your life back," Zhe Qiuhong said as she stepped out behind him.
"Ah, right." Boss Dao forced a smile and said, "Doctor Zhe says I have a tumor in my stomach and need surgery right away... Any later, and it'll be too late."
As he spoke, Boss Dao gave a bitter laugh and gestured across his abdomen.
"What?! A stomach tumor?!" Such an affliction was exceedingly rare among people whose bodies had been nourished by source energy... The five of them exchanged glances on the spot.
So... could this be revenge for eating her snake? Cutting open Boss Dao's stomach in retribution.
Ruthless.
Far too ruthless.
"Then I'll head back first to arrange things with the brigade and clear out some time, Doctor Zhe. We're scheduled for three days from now, right?" Boss Dao asked from the side.
"Mm." Zhe Qiuhong nodded.
"And... the fee?" Boss Dao inquired cautiously.
"Fifteen source energy blocks," Zhe Qiuhong replied calmly. "One share covers renting the consultation room plus the equipment and medication fees; one share covers the expenditure for the surgery and rapid recovery; and the last share is for me."
"Deal." Boss Dao nodded readily. "I'll take my leave then."
It would not do to expose the truth to his face. Once he had left, Han Qingyu's expression soured slightly. Holding back his temper, he said, "Isn't this going a bit too far, Doctor Zhe?"
"Yeah, Boss Dao is actually a good guy, and it might be hard to clean up the mess later," He Tangtang chimed in.
Zhe Qiuhong turned her head. Her gaze swept past He Tangtang and settled on Han Qingyu... Hesitating for a moment, she said with a hint of helplessness, "One or two months later, and he really would have died."
"..."
So, it was real?
It was real.
Zhe Qiuhong was someone who disdained telling such lies. Her overall demeanor convinced Han Qingyu and the others that she wasn't joking, seeking revenge, or just trying to make money.
Well, making money might be a small part of it.
So...
"Can it be cured?" Wen Jifei asked, his tone shifting to genuine concern.
"If I do it, yes." Zhe Qiuhong nodded, radiating the full bearing of a supreme doctor in that moment. Then she turned around, her white lab coat fluttering lightly before settling back down.
She went off to discuss the surgery arrangements with the hospital staff.
This was not something Han Qingyu and the others needed to worry about. Once she went in and chatted a bit, the other party would definitely recognize her extraordinary skill; besides, hospitals in the City of Iniquity didn't have that many rules.
Considering Zhe Qiuhong's standing in medical science within this hidden world, if she revealed her name, the doctors in this hospital would probably go mad. They had surely all read the papers and manuals she had authored...
Outside the consultation room, the remaining five stood frozen in place. After a moment of collective daze, they turned their heads almost in unison to look down the empty corridor.
Boss Dao's figure had already vanished from sight.
"There's a reason he always manages to survive," Wen Jifei remarked.
Wu Xu: "Mm."
Chapter 446