Chapter 108: Healing

After hearing Kaleidoscope’s “medical diagnosis,” Hou Qiankun nodded, seemingly reassured. He turned to glance at the Dragon King, who was sitting nearby with an expression of irritation, and let out a soft sigh, as though overcome by some sudden emotion. After pondering for a moment, he said, “People in our line of work truly live with their heads on the chopping block. One day we run into a deadly weapon, the next we collide with a reanimated corpse. Every day is a brush with death. The fact that an old man like me has survived this long is nothing short of a miracle.”

With that, he waved at Kaleidoscope. “Sixth Brother, I’ll leave this to you.”

Kaleidoscope acknowledged him and cast another glance at the Dragon King. He turned back, rummaged through the chest, and took out a roll of bandages, a bag of medical cotton, a small knife, and two little plastic bottles resembling bottles of Name-Brand Soda. One was filled with a dark-red liquid, the other with a white one. He set everything beside Fatty Xu, then walked over to Ghost-Faced Zhang. An awkward look appeared on his face. He scratched his head and assumed the expression of a man who could not bring himself to speak.

Seeing him hesitate so awkwardly, Ghost-Faced Zhang glared at him. Kaleidoscope was so frightened that he took two steps backward, then looked over his shoulder at Hou Qiankun as if searching for a supporter.

“If you have something to say, say it,” Ghost-Faced Zhang said coldly.

Kaleidoscope scratched his head again, forced a smile onto his face, and squeezed out a grin so repulsive that it made one feel ill.

“T-Third Brother. Second Brother asked me to treat the injuries of Seventh Brother’s disciple, Little Xu. Could you trouble yourself to give me some of your wound medicine?”

He deliberately smiled again, then turned to look at Hou Qiankun.

Ghost-Faced Zhang frowned. He crushed out the cigarette he had been smoking, which still had half of it left, and tossed it onto the ground. He glanced at Fatty Xu, who lay there as though dying, wheezing and gasping for breath, then looked back at Hou Qiankun.

When he saw Hou Qiankun nod, Ghost-Faced Zhang understood. He reached into his coat and pulled out a large medical test tube filled with black and red medicinal powder. Its mouth was sealed with a wooden stopper, suggesting that its contents were extremely precious. Without even looking at it, he threw it into Kaleidoscope’s hands, apparently impatient.

Kaleidoscope lunged forward and caught the tube. He nodded and smiled at Ghost-Faced Zhang, then stepped closer and lowered his voice.

“Third Brother, I know you’ve never liked Little Xu.” He sighed, his face filled with regret. “But really, anyone would be angry seeing such a lovely young woman ruined by him. And since you have such a tender heart when it comes to women…”

“What are you trying to say?”

Ghost-Faced Zhang cut him off before he could continue. Seeing that the man did not want to hear any more, Kaleidoscope lightly slapped himself on the cheek with his right hand, purely for show, then leaned beside Ghost-Faced Zhang’s ear and whispered a few words.

As he spoke, Ghost-Faced Zhang’s face twitched faintly, but he said nothing. When Kaleidoscope finished, a sly smile hung at the corners of his mouth. Carrying the wound medicine, he walked over to Fatty Xu.

Kaleidoscope bent down, pulled Fatty Xu’s arms away from his face, and laid them flat on the ground. He picked up the plastic bottle containing the white liquid, shook it, unscrewed the cap, and poured the contents over the rotting flesh.

The moment the white liquid touched the putrefying skin, there came a sharp sizzling sound. It was like hot oil, like meat slices dropped into a frying pan. The wound instantly began to seethe, bubbling violently as foam welled up from within, while a nauseating stench spread through the air.

Watching the treatment from the side, I broke into a cold sweat. It was practically torture, no different from the tiger bench and pepper-water punishments used at Dregs Cave. I could feel how much it must hurt just by looking at it. And he was pouring hydrogen peroxide directly onto the wound without even using an anesthetic.

Sure enough, perhaps because the pain was too intense, Fatty Xu began to whimper despite remaining only half-conscious. Beads of sweat as large as beans rolled down his face in pairs.

“Hold him down. He may start kicking in a moment.”

Kaleidoscope picked up a wad of medical cotton with surgical forceps and slowly wiped away the thick, yellow pus that had collected in the ravines of the wound. Another sour, foul odor drifted gradually into our noses.

As Kaleidoscope had predicted, Fatty Xu’s body clearly could not withstand the agony. His legs began kicking instinctively, while his face spasmed and convulsed without pause. The Dragon King and Little Du exchanged a glance and pinned down his legs.

Fatty Xu might have lived a life of comfort and indulgence, but he was a large, powerful man. His violent thrashing left the Dragon King and Du scrambling. It took several attempts before they finally managed to hold his legs firmly against the ground.

After roughly five minutes, Kaleidoscope finally soaked up all the pus from the wound with medical cotton. Several piles of stained cotton accumulated beside him. Fatty Xu, meanwhile, had quieted considerably and no longer needed the Dragon King and Du to restrain him.

Kaleidoscope reached back and picked up the small knife lying nearby. He used the forceps to grip a wad of cotton, dipped it in povidone-iodine, and wiped the blade clean, giving it a quick disinfection. Then he slowly scraped away the remaining rotten flesh from the crevices of the wound.

After some time, he picked up the forceps and another wad of iodine-soaked cotton and wiped the wound once more. Only then did he sprinkle the red wound powder he had obtained from Ghost-Faced Zhang into the wound, spreading it in a thick layer. The injury was serious, and the powder would also help keep the wound dry and prevent it from rotting again.

He continued blotting it dry until he was certain the wound was more or less completely dry. Then Kaleidoscope pulled down a strip of bandage nearly fifteen feet long. It was extraordinarily elastic, and when stretched, it extended several feet farther.

He tugged at it, drawing out just enough of its elasticity. Then, covering Fatty Xu’s arm with one hand, he wrapped it as though mummifying him, winding the bandage around the injured limb layer upon layer until neither the inner nor outer layer allowed any air through.

When nearly all of the long bandage had been used, he gave it one final sharp pull, tightened it forcefully, tied a simple knot, and tucked the loose end inside. Only then did he let out a long breath and wipe the beads of sweat covering his face.

I secretly found it amusing. People always said surgery required complete concentration and meticulous care, but surely that was no reason to be sweating and panting as though he had just run a marathon. It showed how many respectable women the old scoundrel must have mistreated in his younger days. His body was already worn out, yet he had somehow managed to work himself into exhaustion just from bandaging an arm.

Kaleidoscope stood there panting for a while before finally regaining his breath. He made a token effort to wipe away the sweat from his forehead, then gave us an “OK” sign.

Hou Qiankun nodded and walked over to Fatty Xu. Fatty Xu, lying on the ground, had already calmed down. Hou Qiankun looked at Kaleidoscope, who was sitting nearby.

“When will he wake up?”

“His injury is only superficial. He was merely frightened by the weapon carried by that Nuo effigy. The extreme terror, combined with the pain of having that acidic liquid poured over his arm, sent him into shock. Give it a little longer, then rouse him and let him drink some water. He’ll wake up before long.”

Splash!

While Kaleidoscope was speaking, Ghost-Faced Zhang had somehow walked over to Fatty Xu’s side. Because he had no skin beside his teeth, he could not hold water in his mouth, but he was holding a bottle of cold water. He poured the whole thing over Fatty Xu’s head as though giving him a ceremonial baptism.

Fatty Xu shuddered and woke up.

I thought to myself that Fatty Xu was truly having a miserable time. First Kaleidoscope had put him through something resembling slow slicing, and now Ghost-Faced Zhang had dumped a bucket of cold water over his head. His treatment was practically on par with the brutal torture inflicted at the Sino-American Cooperation Organization’s prison.

Everyone wore an awkward expression after Ghost-Faced Zhang’s stunt. Even Hou Qiankun, who had always protected him and smoothed things over along the way, looked unable to keep a straight face.

Before anyone could confront him, however, Ghost-Faced Zhang swept his gaze around the room. He saw the Dragon King preparing to lash out, gave a cold snort, and walked over to Hou Qiankun.

“Second Brother, I’m not taking personal revenge. Think about it. We left Heaven Lake for Azure Dragon Lake, entered Fishbone Cave and built the bridge, went down the stairs, entered the stone gate, struck the pipes, broke open the Tiger-Head Coffin, and now we’ve finally run into you. By the time we got here and began removing the nails, we’d already been underground for at least eight hours.

“At our current pace, it may take another eight hours of travel to reach the deepest chamber—and perhaps even longer. Let’s assume sixteen hours for now. Once we enter that chamber, loot the tomb, and make our way back, that will be another thirty-two hours. Think about it, Second Brother. Do you really think we’ll still be able to get out?”