The Deal

Doctor Zhao gave Qi Xia an uneasy look. Qi Xia had no idea how to answer either.

"Can we use this?" Qi Xia asked quietly.

"It should be fine." Doctor Zhao nodded. "Curved needles are often used for surgical sutures. It just needs to be sharp enough."

Qi Xia thought for a moment, then addressed the shopkeeper. "Miss, we don't have any money. Could we trade something for it?"

"Money?" The shopkeeper stared blankly at Qi Xia, as though trying to understand what "money" meant. Only after a long while did she speak. "I don't want money. Sleep with me."

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

"Once we've slept together, we can eat the piglets!" A hint of madness crossed the shopkeeper's face, and then she actually began to drool.

With that, she walked over to the filthy bed, bent down to sit, and patted the spot beside her.

There was a large patch of dried blood right where she patted.

"Come on. Get over here."

The shopkeeper deftly took off her top. She wore nothing underneath, and her shriveled body was covered in grime and bloodstains. She looked like a skeleton.

After a long silence, Qiao Jiajin nudged Qi Xia with his elbow. "Just take one for the team."

"Why don't you do it?" Qi Xia snapped.

"You're the one the boss picked," Qiao Jiajin said, reveling in his misfortune. "Didn't you hear? As long as you sleep with her, we can eat the piglets in her pot. Besides, the writer's waiting for that fishhook to save his life. No matter how you look at it, you'd be doing a world of good..."

Before Qi Xia could respond, the shopkeeper seemed to hear what Qiao Jiajin had said. She turned to him. "You can come too! All four of you can!"

"Huh?" Qiao Jiajin froze. "Me...?"

"What the hell..." Officer Li finally lost his patience. In all his years as a police officer, he had never encountered anything remotely like this. "Miss, what are you after? We're here to buy something. Why throw yourself into the bargain?"

"I..." The shopkeeper's eyes widened, and she suddenly roared, "I want to eat piglets!"

Then she seemed to remember something. She hurriedly set the fishhook and fishing line on the bed, then ran over to peer into the iron pot.

"The piglets... I hope they haven't overcooked..."

Looking worried, she picked up a twig and prodded around in the pot.

Qi Xia seized the opportunity to sneak over to the bed and pick up the fishhook and fishing line. He turned and handed them to Doctor Zhao. "Go save him first. We'll handle things here."

"Okay!"

Doctor Zhao took the fishhook and fishing line outside, found a reasonably clean stone on the ground, and began working on the hook. He briefly explained the situation inside to the women.

Even as a professional, Tiantian still couldn't understand the shopkeeper's behavior.

"Forget about that. Qi Xia's right. Let's save him first." Lin Qin took the fishing line, then turned back to check on Han Yimo.

Doctor Zhao used the stone to sand the rust off the fishhook, then sharpened it as much as he could. Beside him, Lin Qin untangled the fishing line.

"That should do it..." Once Doctor Zhao had made sure everything was ready, he turned to Han Yimo. "I'm going to remove the fishing spear and stitch up the wound."

"Okay..." Han Yimo nodded faintly.

"But we don't have any anesthetic," Doctor Zhao said uneasily. "This may hurt more than you can imagine."

"It's fine... at least I'll survive, right?" Han Yimo asked with a bitter smile.

"As long as the wound doesn't get infected... you should survive."

"That's good enough... go ahead..."

Inside, the three men stood behind the shopkeeper, watching her stir the pot.

She wasn't wearing a stitch, yet none of the three men felt the slightest stir of desire. If anything, they wanted to run.

"Hey, swindler," Qiao Jiajin whispered. "You stole her 'merchandise.' What if she gets angry?"

"I don't know." Qi Xia shook his head.

Officer Li stood silently beside them for a moment, then said quietly, "Don't we still have 'Dao'? Maybe she'd take one?"

"How is that okay?!" Qiao Jiajin said unhappily. "We all risked our lives for that 'Dao,' and you're just going to hand it over to this lunatic?"

"We're saving a life here too!"

As the two argued, the shopkeeper slowly turned around.

Seemingly reassured, she calmly walked over to the bed. The spot where she had left the fishhook and fishing line was now empty.

She looked at the bed uncertainly, as though something seemed amiss. "Huh?"

But she soon shook her head. "Right... sleeping together. Which of you four wants to go first?"

The shopkeeper raised her head and looked at the three men before her, seeming confused again. "Weren't there four? Have there always been three of you? Never mind. Three works too."

Qiao Jiajin shook his head and whispered, "See? She's even crazier than I thought."

"Um..." After standing frozen for a while, Qi Xia said, "We don't want to sleep with you. We're just here to buy something."

With that, he took a gleaming golden "Dao" out of his pocket and set it beside the shopkeeper. "I don't know if this is worth anything, but it's all we have."

As Qi Xia saw it, anyone living here was bound to know about those animal masks and must have heard at least something about "Dao." Something earned by risking your life had to hold some value.

The shopkeeper looked curiously at the bead, then picked it up and squeezed it a few times. It seemed slightly elastic, though its material was unknown.

Then, before the three men's stunned eyes, she tossed the bead into her mouth.

With a crunch, she bit the bead apart, chewed it, and swallowed.

"Doesn't taste good..." The shopkeeper shook her head. "Nowhere near as good as piglets."

"What..."

The three grown men had never imagined that someone would treat something they had risked their lives for as a snack. For a moment, they were all speechless.

"If you won't sleep with me... then leave..." The shopkeeper sighed helplessly, looking utterly dejected. "Someone will come sleep with me eventually."

Though none of the three could make sense of the situation, at least they could leave now.

The three men slunk outside, trying to figure out how to tell the others they had lost a "Dao." Then they saw that Doctor Zhao had already pulled the fishing spear out of Han Yimo. Blood was gushing from his wound, and his head was drenched in cold sweat.

"Come help!" Lin Qin called.

Qiao Jiajin and Officer Li rushed over to help pin down Han Yimo's arms and legs.

Pain this intense made people thrash involuntarily.

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

"You're Doctor Zhao..." Han Yimo said through gritted teeth, his brow furrowed.

"That's right. You need to stay conscious!" Doctor Zhao threaded the fishhook and drove it straight through his flesh.

Han Yimo let out another muffled groan.

"Talk to me!" Doctor Zhao said calmly. "Talk about something you're interested in to take your mind off the pain!"

"Something I'm interested in...?" Han Yimo gave a bitter smile.

"Aren't you a novelist?" Doctor Zhao said. "How about telling me about your work?"