Before the Dust Settled

Qi Xia looked troubled. He had already tried, but the harpoon's barbs were so intricately designed that pulling it out of the body was almost impossible.

Watching the blood gush out, Qi Xia fell into a daze.

Were they really dead?

Could dead people... still get hurt?

Qi Xia steadied himself. This was no time to ponder that question. They had to cut the rope immediately.

All the harpoons were slowly retracting now. How could they use another harpoon to cut his rope?

The only certainty was that once all the ropes retracted into the walls, every harpoon would disappear, and Han Yimo would die.

"We have to get hold of a harpoon... but how..." Qi Xia frowned slightly, his eyes darting around the room.

He could only take another gamble.

He grabbed two slowly retracting harpoons from the floor, quickly tied their ropes together, and pulled the knot tight.

"Hey! Stop crowding around Han Yimo," Qi Xia said. "Do what I'm doing! We need to keep at least one harpoon."

Lin Qin immediately understood what he meant. She found two harpoons as well and swiftly tied a knot.

But her knot had an odd shape, one Qi Xia had never seen before.

He had no time to think about it now. All he could do was watch the two harpoons in front of him.

As the ropes continued retracting, they pulled taut against each other.

At this rate, one of the ropes would snap before long, leaving one of the harpoons behind.

Qi Xia slowly backed away. The two ropes were making alarming noises. If his guess was right, a rope snapping under that tremendous tension could injure someone.

Sure enough, a moment later, one of the ropes snapped with a deafening crack.

The other rope whipped its harpoon wildly through the air a few times, then slammed into the floor, leaving a deep gouge.

Qi Xia rushed forward, hoping to untie the broken rope before the harpoon retracted into the wall.

But he discovered that the immense tension had completely distorted the two ropes he had tied together. Forget untying them-he could barely make out their original shapes.

"I've got one!" Lin Qin shouted from nearby. "Whoever's strongest, hurry over and help cut the writer's rope!"

"You've got one?"

Qi Xia looked back and saw that Lin Qin's knot was ingeniously tied. It had come apart on its own when the rope snapped.

Officer Li had not even finished tying his first knot. At her words, he quickly dropped the harpoons in his hands and said, "I'll cut it. Give it to me!"

Taking the harpoon, Officer Li hurried over and reached Han Yimo's back just before he was dragged to the wall.

Fortunately, although the harpoon appeared to have only a pointed tip, there was a small sharpened edge near the point, enough to use as a knife.

Qiao Jiajin stepped forward to help as well. Though Qi Xia had thought of a solution right away, Han Yimo was already less than half a meter from the wall.

The tearing pain left Han Yimo unable to resist. He could only retreat slowly with the rope; otherwise, the barbs in his chest would inflict unbearable agony.

Officer Li grabbed the rope behind him. After a moment's thought, he aimed at the section closest to Han Yimo's body and began cutting with the sharp harpoon.

His hand was steady, every stroke landing precisely on the rope.

But the rope was tougher than he had imagined. Several strokes left only a small notch.

He quickly gauged the distance and realized they were in trouble.

He would cut through the rope eventually, but time was what they lacked most.

In less than a minute, Han Yimo's body would reach the wall. Cutting the rope from behind him would be impossible then.

"Damn, aren't you done yet?" Qiao Jiajin asked anxiously. "You're so bloody slow, you're going to get this poor bastard killed!"

"Shut your damn mouth!" Officer Li snapped, putting more force into his cuts.

As Han Yimo drew closer and closer to the wall, beads of sweat covered Officer Li's face.

His composure was truly remarkable. Despite the tense, oppressive atmosphere, he never made a single mistake with the tiny harpoon. Every stroke landed in the notch he had already made.

But now Han Yimo was less than thirty centimeters from the wall, and Officer Li could barely move his arm.

Qiao Jiajin reacted instantly, stepping behind Han Yimo and wedging his own body between him and the wall. This would cause Han Yimo to suffer further injury sooner, but it would keep the distance between him and the wall from shrinking for a little while.

"Cop! Hurry!"

Officer Li steadied his breathing and kept cutting. The rope was more than halfway severed now, but it still held together.

Han Yimo kept howling in agony. After piercing through his body, the harpoon had dug its barbs back into his chest. Blood had soaked his clothes, making for a horrifying sight.

"Am I going to die..." Han Yimo said through gritted teeth. "I really am going to die, aren't I... who the hell wants us dead..."

"Act like a man!" Officer Li said sternly. "Everyone's trying to keep you alive. Stop your damn whimpering!"

Han Yimo immediately fell silent. He knew Officer Li was right. Everyone was rushing around to help him; he could not hold them back.

The barbs sank deep into Han Yimo's flesh. He groaned, keeping his teeth clenched.

Doctor Zhao immediately picked up a strip of cloth and stuffed it into his mouth.

After all, someone in extreme pain could bite hard enough to shatter their own teeth.

Everyone crowded around Han Yimo.

Those mere twenty seconds felt like hours as Officer Li continued cutting the rope without faltering.

Finally, with one last stroke, the tough rope split apart.

At that same moment, Han Yimo and Qiao Jiajin both lost their balance and collapsed to the floor.

The others immediately stepped forward to help them up.

It looked as though Han Yimo had survived.

Doctor Zhao immediately pulled Han Yimo aside and began examining his wound. Its condition was no different from what he had expected. The harpoon would still have to be pulled out from the front.

The most pressing problem now was stopping the bleeding.

Doctor Zhao thought for a long while, then finally used several strips of cloth to plug the wounds around Han Yimo's harpoon.

"Hey, doctor, aren't you going to take the harpoon out?" Qiao Jiajin asked.

"I can't. If I do, he'll die," Doctor Zhao said grimly.

"Die?" Puzzled, Qiao Jiajin stepped forward and shoved Doctor Zhao. "What the hell? We went to all that trouble, and now you're not going to save him?"

"I am saving him!" Doctor Zhao impatiently brushed Qiao Jiajin's hand away. "To put it bluntly, he can only stay alive if that harpoon stays in him."

"Why?" Xiao Ran could not help asking from beside them.

"If we pull the harpoon out, all that will remain is a wound that keeps bleeding. His death will only be a matter of time," Doctor Zhao answered calmly. "Leaving it in will cause him terrible pain, but at least he won't die from blood loss. Before long, the blood will clot in those smaller wounds and temporarily stop the bleeding."