This time, she did not knock him unconscious. Pei Ye simply propped up his head and watched her slice open his skin, sometimes frowning as she compared and pieced together fragments of bone, sometimes reaching into his belly to knead and feel around his organs before withdrawing her hand with blood staining her arm to the elbow...
Pei Ye now roughly understood why Qu Xin liked operating on him. Clearly, for this powerful body, the damage caused by her Cook Ding-like butchery really could heal completely after a night's sleep. A physician could work freely without worrying about the patient's frailty; there could hardly be a better platform for displaying her skills to her heart's content. Besides, he was always facing all manner of rarely seen enemies and sustaining all manner of rarely seen injuries, making him an even rarer specimen in the eyes of someone so utterly devoted to medicine...
Qu Xin, her mouth and nose covered, glanced sideways at him and gently lifted the sinew pinched between her fingers. Pei Ye's hand jerked violently, and his whole body straightened and tilted toward her.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing. Just testing whether this sinew is intact." A little satisfaction rose in Qu Xin's cool eyes as her fingers toyed with its end. "Smooth and clean, fresh and supple, strong and resilient. I really want to pull it out and have a look."
"...Did you say terrifying things like that to yourself when I was unconscious the last few times, too?"
"No. I'm hinting to ask for your consent."
"How could I possibly consent?"
"I'd put it back for you." Qu Xin sighed softly and joined two severed ends with an ointment. "Your bones and channels really are extraordinary. Even without cultivation, you'd have the makings of a fine martial