Hu Xiaotian nodded. "An enlarged wound has to be closed this way to bring the damaged skin together. It helps the wound heal and prevents an excessively large scar."
Li Yifeng said, "I've read accounts of suturing wounds in medical texts, but I've never seen anyone do it."
Hu Xiaotian had naturally never had a chance to read the medical classics of this era. A thought struck him. "What kind of thread did they use?" Suture material was one of his biggest headaches at the moment. Finding surgical thread that met his standards here was almost impossible. If all else failed, he would have to substitute ordinary cotton thread, but that would make the outcome much harder to predict.
Li Yifeng said, "Mulberry-Bark Suture!"
Surgery was not the exclusive province of Western medicine, nor had Western medicine invented it. According to historical records, surgery in Chinese medicine began with Bian Que, and by Hua Tuo's time, Chinese surgery had reached a pinnacle. The Mafeisan Hua Tuo developed solved the problem of surgical pain, while infections were addressed through herbal medicines taken internally and herbal powders or mashed fresh herbs applied externally. In this era, however, surgery clearly had yet to get off the ground. To these people, Hu Xiaotian's actions were already as fantastical as tales from the Arabian Nights, beyond anything they could imagine. To his delight, the Mulberry-Bark Suture Li Yifeng mentioned was fine, had high tensile strength and a low coefficient of friction, and resembled the synthetic polybutylene ester sutures he had often used in operations before.
Li Yifeng was, after all, the head of Easy Origin Hall. Although he had no way to remove the Fang-Barbed Arrow from Murong Feiyan's body, he did have methods for stopping bleeding and easing pain. After drinking the herbal decoction he had prepared, Murong Feiyan felt the pain in her wound diminish a little.
The motley assortment of surgical instruments Hu Xiaotian had gathered was finally sterilized. He had Yuan Shiqing send away everyone who was not needed, leaving only himself, Li Yifeng, and Yuan Shiqing in the room with her. This was not because he wanted secrecy, but because he wanted to minimize the risk of infection. A pot of aged vinegar was boiling over the stove, filling the room with a powerful sour smell. He had employed every means of disinfection he could think of. There were no shadowless surgical lamps in this era. To solve the problem of lighting during the operation, he had them bring candles and bronze mirrors. He lit twenty candles at once, then used the mirrors to reflect their light onto Murong Feiyan. He specifically assigned Li Yifeng to hold a bronze mirror and adjust the angle of the light as needed to aid his work. Yuan Shiqing, meanwhile, temporarily took on the role of scrub nurse. After having him disinfect his hands, Hu Xiaotian stationed him at his side to pass over instruments whenever needed.
Watching the fellow bustle about, Murong Feiyan could not make sense of him. If he was merely putting on a show, his expression was far too serious for it. Yet he was plainly an ignorant, idle young wastrel. When had he learned medicine, and who had taught him?
Li Yifeng and Yuan Shiqing were so obedient and supportive partly because neither could do anything about the Fang-Barbed Arrow. More importantly, Yuan Shiqing had personally witnessed Hu Xiaotian set the old man's broken bone and had told Li Yifeng about it. Although neither knew who had taught him, both believed he possessed considerable skill in treating injuries.
Hu Xiaotian returned to Murong Feiyan's side and smiled at her. "To make it easier to remove the arrow, I'll have to ask you to take off your outer robe, Chief Constable Murong."
Murong Feiyan's lovely face grew warm, a faint blush rising on her pale cheeks and bringing a little color to her sickly appearance. She was broad-minded by nature, however, and did not stand on such niceties.
Hu Xiaotian said, "I know it's difficult for you. Let me help!" He took a pair of scissors and cut open the clothing over her left shoulder. Before disinfecting the wound, he remembered to place a piece of white gauze in her mouth. He also tied a white cloth over his own mouth and nose, leaving only his eyes exposed, then used forceps to pick up a piece of gauze, dip it in strong liquor, and disinfect her wound.
Although she had already taken the painkiller Li Yifeng had prepared, the instant the liquor seeped into the wound, Murong Feiyan's sword-shaped brows drew tightly together. The pain felt like a knife cutting into her. Before her, Hu Xiaotian remained calm and methodical as he tended the wound. The liquor wiped away the blood around it, revealing skin as smooth as congealed cream. Yet he harbored no improper thoughts whatsoever. In his eyes, she was simply his patient. Watching his steady, focused gaze, Murong Feiyan suddenly overturned her old impression of him as a wastrel guilty of every imaginable vice.
After the initial disinfection, he used white cloth that had been boiled and dried as a fenestrated drape, isolating the rest of Murong Feiyan's body. Without medical tape or hemostats, he used disinfected clips to secure the sections of draping together.
Hu Xiaotian carried out every task methodically. After completing each step, he washed his hands in strong liquor to disinfect them again, doing everything possible to prevent infection during the operation. Li Yifeng and Yuan Shiqing, the two leading medical figures at Easy Origin Hall, had now been reduced entirely to supporting roles. If they had initially doubted whether he could remove the Fang-Barbed Arrow, the instant he picked up the small knife and cut into Murong Feiyan's skin, his steady hands and exquisite knife work left them utterly astonished.
The small knife was as thin and light as a willow leaf, closely resembling the scalpels Hu Xiaotian had used before, except that its blade and handle were a single, inseparable piece. Its edge was exceptionally sharp. One stroke opened the delicate skin around the wound, parting the pink muscle beneath, and dark red blood welled out. Hu Xiaotian pressed clean white gauze against the wound, then promptly made a second incision. With his extensive knowledge of human anatomy, he knew no major nerves or blood vessels passed through the tissue he was cutting. A little oozing blood was nothing to worry about.
As the wound widened, more and more of the arrow shaft embedded in her body was exposed.
Murong Feiyan's slender body trembled with pain. It seemed Li Yifeng's anesthetic had not produced the effect Hu Xiaotian wanted. Even as he sighed inwardly, he could not help admiring her endurance. To end her suffering, he had to complete the operation as quickly as possible.
"Forceps!" Hu Xiaotian held out his hand.
Yuan Shiqing hurriedly used disinfected iron tongs to pick up the pointed pliers and pass them to Hu Xiaotian. Since the pliers resembled tissue forceps, they were serving as a makeshift substitute. Procedures like these might have seemed unnecessary to the others, but to Hu Xiaotian, they were indispensable precautions against infection. He took the pliers and spread their jaws to widen the wound. The pain of flesh being torn pierced deep into Murong Feiyan. She clenched her teeth, her slender body trembling uncontrollably.
Li Yifeng held up the candlelight and directed its reflection from the bronze mirror onto the wound, allowing Hu Xiaotian the clearest possible view inside.
At last, Hu Xiaotian found the projection on the arrow shaft. He pressed it with the tip of the scalpel and applied a little force. With a click, all the fang-like barbs retracted into the shaft. He had already cut off the arrowhead and fletching.
"Quick, pull it out!" Hu Xiaotian said firmly.
Yuan Shiqing wrapped white gauze around the front end of the shaft and gave it a hard tug, pulling the entire shaft out of Murong Feiyan's shoulder. The excruciating pain made her body arch sharply backward, her head snapping back.
Before she could fall, Hu Xiaotian slipped an arm around her slender waist and slowly lowered her trembling body onto the bed, helping her remain on her side. Blood continued to seep from the wound, but it was only oozing and required no ligation. He pressed white gauze against it, then applied the Flesh-Healing Wound Medicine Yuan Shiqing had provided inside the wounds at the front and back of her shoulder. After disinfecting his hands once more, he grasped a suture needle with the forceps and used Mulberry-Bark Suture to close both openings of the wound that passed through her shoulder.
The entire operation lasted less than ten minutes, yet to Hu Xiaotian, this minor procedure rivaled the most difficult and perilous operation of his previous life. After placing the final stitch, he covered Murong Feiyan's slender body with a snow-white sheet. He tossed the bloodstained forceps, knife, needle, and thread into a bronze basin, then sank into a seat as though all his strength had drained away. Slowly, he pulled the white cloth from his face. His mind was blank, and for a long while he could not return to reality.
After an unknown length of time, Li Yifeng came over and gently patted his shoulder. "Young Master Hu. Young Master Hu!"
Only then did Hu Xiaotian come back to himself. He gave Li Yifeng a rather stiff smile. "How is she?" As he spoke, he looked toward Murong Feiyan and saw that she was already sound asleep on the bed. Her expression was much more peaceful, though her lovely face remained utterly bloodless, like a pale camellia. Tiny beads of sweat still covered her smooth forehead, like glistening morning dew. She displayed a fragile beauty he had never seen in her before, naturally stirring a heartfelt desire to protect her.
Hu Xiaotian could hardly believe it. Here he was in an unknown era, in a strange world where surgery had not yet even begun to bud. Without suitable instruments or an effective anesthetic, he had actually performed an operation. A procedure that had once seemed so simple had become something extraordinary. The operation was a success! Only long after it was over did that voice finally sound in his heart. An indescribable feeling stirred deep within him. This had, in truth, been nothing more than an ordinary operation. Suddenly, he realized that the fame and prestige he had enjoyed in the past had not come from the brilliance of his own medical skill, but from what others had given him: drugs, techniques, equipment, knowledge. Without all of that, he was merely a pitiful shell, hollowed out within-a quack who did not even know how to reduce pain or how to put a suture needle to use. Throughout his former medical career, he had pursued the latest technology and improvements in medical techniques, carefully selecting every operation and striving to make each one flawless. By continually raising his success rate, he had earned greater praise and renown. He had combined medicine with the pursuit of fame and profit almost perfectly, striving to maximize the returns on his medical skills. Yet he had overlooked the essence of being a doctor: saving the dying and healing the injured! By removing the arrow from Murong Feiyan's body with his own hands, this simple operation had unwittingly allowed Hu Xiaotian to rediscover himself, and had moved him deeply. ********** I have errands to run today, so there will be only one update!
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