Chapter 33

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said, "The enlarged wound must be sutured this way to align the skin edges, promote wound healing, and at the same time avoid leaving too large a scar."

Translation: Hu Xiaotian nodded and said, "The enlarged wound must be sutured this way to align the skin damage, promote healing, and avoid leaving too large a scar."

The enlarged wound must be sutured this way to align the skin edges, promote wound healing, and at the same time avoid leaving too large a scar.

Li Yifeng said: "I have also seen records of suturing wounds in medical texts, but I have never actually seen anyone do it."

Hu Xiaotian naturally had no chance to look at the medical classics of this era; his mind stirred and he asked: "What kind of thread do they use for suturing?" Suture thread is currently the biggest problem troubling Hu Xiaotian; finding a suture thread that meets standards here is nearly impossible, and if worse comes to worst, he could only substitute ordinary cotton thread, but then the prognosis would be hard to control.

Li Yifeng said: "Mulberry bark thread!"

Actually, surgery is by no means the exclusive domain of Western medicine, nor was it invented by Western medicine. According to records, Chinese surgical practice began with Bian Que, and by the time of Hua Tuo, Chinese surgery had reached a peak; Hua Tuo's developed mafeisan solved the pain problem for surgical patients, and anti-infection was also addressed through internal herbal medicine, external herbal powders, or raw herbal residues. However, the surgical science of this era has clearly not yet gotten off the ground, and in their eyes Hu Xiaotian's actions already count as Arabian Nights fantasies, utterly unimaginable. What delighted Hu Xiaotian was that the mulberry bark thread mentioned by Li Yifeng is fine yet has great tensile strength, with a low coefficient of friction, similar to the polybutyrate ester synthetic suture he often used in operations in the past.

Li Yifeng, after all, is the head of Yiyuantang; although he could not extract the canine-tooth barbed arrow from Murong Feiyan's body, he still had some methods for hemostasis and analgesia. After taking the herbal decoction prepared by Li Yifeng, Murong Feiyan felt the pain in her wound lessen somewhat.

The surgical instruments that Hu Xiaotian had gathered by scavenging were finally disinfected; he had Yuan Shiqing clear out the idle people, leaving only himself, Li Yifeng, and Yuan Shiqing in the room—not because Hu Xiaotian wanted secrecy, but because he wanted to minimize the chance of infection. A pot of aged vinegar on the stove was already boiling vigorously, filling the room with a strong sour smell; Hu Xiaotian employed every disinfection method he could think of. Since this era lacks shadowless lamps, to solve the illumination problem during surgery, Hu Xiaotian had them fetch candles and bronze mirrors, lit twenty candles simultaneously, and then used the reflective surface of the bronze mirrors to project light onto Murong Feiyan's body. He also specifically had Li Yifeng hold the bronze mirror, adjusting the angle of the light at any time to facilitate his own manipulation during the operation. As for Yuan Shiqing, he temporarily served as an instrument nurse; Hu Xiaotian had him disinfect his hands and then promptly hand over the medical instruments to him at his side.

Murong Feiyan watched this fellow bustling about, truly unable to fathom him; to say he was putting on an act, yet his expression right now was so serious that it didn't seem like it, but he clearly was just an unlearned, good-for-nothing playboy? When did he learn medical arts, and from whom?

The reason Li Yifeng and Yuan Shiqing showed such obedience and support toward Hu Xiaotian was, first, because they themselves were helpless against the canine-tooth barbed arrow; second, a more important reason was that Yuan Shiqing had personally witnessed Hu Xiaotian setting an old man's bones, and he had told Li Yifeng about it. Although they did not know who Hu Xiaotian's master was, they both believed Hu Xiaotian possessed considerable skill in treating external injuries.

Hu Xiaotian returned to Murong Feiyan's side, smiled at her, and said: "To make it easier to help you remove the arrow, please, Captain Murong, take off your outer garment."

Murong Feiyan's pretty face flushed, a faint red tint appearing on her pallid countenance, adding a touch of brightness to her sickly visage. However, Murong Feiyan was naturally open-minded, so she did not stand on ceremony.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Knowing it's inconvenient for you, I'll help you!" This fellow took scissors and cut open Murong Feiyan's left-shoulder clothing; before disinfection, he did not forget to stuff a piece of white gauze into her mouth. He also wrapped white cloth around his mouth and nose, leaving only his eyes exposed, then used forceps to pick up the white gauze, dip it in strong alcohol, and disinfect Murong Feiyan's wound.

Although she had previously taken the painkiller prepared by Li Yifeng, the moment the strong alcohol seeped into the wound, Murong Feiyan's pair of sword-brows instantly knit tightly, the pain feeling like a knife cut. The Hu Xiaotian before her remained calm and orderly as he attended to her wound; the alcohol wiped away the blood around the wound, revealing Murong Feiyan's skin, smooth as congealed fat. At this moment Hu Xiaotian harbored no lascivious thoughts—in his eyes, Murong Feiyan was nothing more than his patient. Gazing at his steady, focused gaze, Murong Feiyan suddenly overturned her previous image of him as a completely wicked, spoiled young master.

After the preliminary disinfection, he used boiled and dried white cloth as a drape, separating the rest of Murong Feiyan's body. Lacking medical adhesive tape and hemostatic forceps, Hu Xiaotian used the disinfected clamps to fix the drapes together.

Hu Xiaotian proceeded in an orderly fashion; after completing each step, he would wash his hands in the strong alcohol to perform another disinfection, so as to avoid intraoperative infection as much as possible. Li Yifeng and Yuan Shiqing, the two top medical leaders of Yiyuantang, had now been completely reduced to sidekicks; if at the beginning they had doubted whether Hu Xiaotian could extract the canine-tooth wolf-tooth arrow, the moment Hu Xiaotian picked up the small knife to cut Murong Feiyan's skin, they were utterly shocked by his steady technique and exquisite knife work.

The knife was thin as a willow leaf, resembling the surgical knife Hu Xiaotian had used in the past, except that its blade and handle were forged as one piece, non-detachable, and the blade was extremely sharp; one stroke cut open the delicate skin of the wound, the pink muscle split apart, and then bright red blood welled out. Hu Xiaotian pressed the wound with clean white gauze, then immediately made a second cut. Relying on his rich knowledge of human anatomy, he knew that the incised tissue contained no major nerves or blood vessels, and the slight oozing was nothing to worry about.

As the wound enlarged, the arrow shaft embedded in the body became increasingly exposed.

Murong Feiyan's delicate body trembled from pain; it seemed Li Yifeng's anesthetic had not achieved the effect Hu Xiaotian desired. He secretly sighed, yet could not help but admire Murong Feiyan's tolerance for pain; to end her suffering, he had to speed up the surgical process as much as possible.

"Forceps!" Hu Xiaotian reached out his hand.

Yuan Shiqing hurriedly used the disinfected iron clamp to pick up the pointed forceps and hand them to Hu Xiaotian; this forceps, being similar in shape to a tissue forceps, was temporarily used as a substitute. Although these steps seemed somewhat superfluous to them, they were indispensable measures Hu Xiaotian took to avoid infection. He took the forceps, used the expansion of the jaws to enlarge the wound; the tearing pain of the flesh drilled deep into Murong Feiyan's heart, she clenched her teeth, and her delicate body trembled uncontrollably.

Li Yifeng held up the candlelight, directing the bronze mirror's reflection onto the wound, using the reflection to let Hu Xiaotian see the interior of the wound as clearly as possible.

Hu Xiaotian finally located the protrusion on the arrow shaft; he pressed the tip of the surgical knife against this bump, applied a little force, and with a click, the canine teeth on the arrow shaft all retracted back. The arrowhead and fletching had already been cut off beforehand.

Hu Xiaotian said in a deep voice: "Quick, pull it out!"

Yuan Shiqing wrapped the front end of the arrow shaft in white gauze, gave a hard pull, and extracted the entire shaft from Murong Feiyan's shoulder; due to the intense pain, Murong Feiyan's delicate body jerked backward, her head flung rearward.

Before she collapsed, Hu Xiaotian extended his arm to hook her slender waist, gently laying her trembling body on the bed, helping her maintain a lateral position; blood continued to flow from the wound, but it was merely seepage, requiring no ligation. Hu Xiaotian pressed white gauze onto the wound, then applied the raw-flesh Golden Trauma Medicine provided by Yuan Shiqing to the wound inside and outside the shoulder. After disinfecting his hands again, Hu Xiaotian used forceps to pick up the suture needle, and with mulberry bark thread sutured the through-and-through wound on Murong Feiyan's shoulder.

The entire procedure lasted less than ten minutes, but to Hu Xiaotian this minor surgery could be compared to the most difficult and perilous operation he had ever performed in his previous life. After suturing the final stitch, he covered Murong Feiyan's body with a white sheet. He tossed the bloodstained forceps, knives, and thread into a bronze basin, then his whole body went limp as he sat down, slowly pulling the white cloth from his face; his mind was a blank, and for a long while he did not return to reality.

After an unknown amount of time, Li Yifeng walked over and lightly patted his shoulder, whispering: "Master Hu, Master Hu!"

Only then did Hu Xiaotian come to his senses; he gave a somewhat stiff smile and said: "How is she?" As he spoke, he looked toward Murong Feiyan, seeing her lying on the bed already deep in sleep; from her expression she appeared much more at peace, though her pretty face lacked any color, like a pale camellia blossom; her smooth forehead was still covered with fine beads of sweat, like sparkling morning dew. Murong Feiyan now displayed a previously unseen delicate beauty, naturally evoking from the heart a feeling of protectiveness.

Hu Xiaotian couldn't believe it, he was now in an unknown, unfamiliar era, in this strange world where surgical procedures had not yet begun, lacking proper instruments, without effective anesthesia, he nevertheless performed a surgery, this procedure, which in the past seemed extraordinarily simple, turned out to be remarkably extraordinary. The surgery succeeded! Only long after the surgery was completed did this voice echo in Hu Xiaotian's heart, deep inside he felt an indescribable sensation welling up, Actually, this was just an ordinary surgery, He suddenly realized that his past fame and reputation were not due to his own medical skill, but were granted by others through the drugs, techniques, equipment, and knowledge they provided, Without all that, he would be nothing but an empty husk, a quack who didn't even know how to lessen pain or how to use sutures. Throughout his medical career, he had constantly pursued the latest technological and medical advancements, carefully selecting each operation, striving to make every surgery flawless, and by continually raising the success rate he earned ever greater praise and renown. He had almost perfectly combined medical practice with the pursuit of profit and fame, seeking to maximize the benefits of his medical skills. Yet he had overlooked a doctor's essence: to save lives and heal the wounded! By personally pulling the arrow from Murong Feiyan's body, this simple operation unexpectedly let Hu Xiaotian rediscover himself and moved him. *************************************************************** Today I'm going out on errands, First Update!