Chapter 804: [A Mouthful of Old Blood] (Part 2)

Seven poison needles had struck Huo Shengnan's chest, five of the needle tips remained outside; Hu Xiaotian removed them without much effort, while three were deeply embedded. At first Hu Xiaotian was distracted, but he soon focused. He was not only a competent doctor but an excellent one, his medical ethics beyond doubt; when truly treating, he set aside distractions and regarded Huo Shengnan as an ordinary patient.

Instead, Huo Shengnan felt ill at ease, sensing Hu Xiaotian rubbing and pinching her chest, she couldn't help doubting his motives; she shut her eyes tight, bit her cherry lips, and asked, 'Is it done yet?'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Almost done, there are three left, they're too deep in the flesh, I may need to make a small incision, but don't worry, it shouldn't leave a scar.'

Huo Shengnan grunted, her cheeks flushed like fire; she had never let a man take such liberties with her, though calling it frivolous seemed unfair to Hu Xiaotian—he was indeed treating her wounds, proven by the five poison needles he had already removed.

When leaving Yongdu, Hu Xiaotian had also brought a set of surgical instruments personally crafted by Zong Tang; after probing and locating on Huo Shengnan's chest with both hands, he used a willow-leaf blade to cut the superficial skin layer. In such dim light, only his extraordinary vision allowed him to see the finest details.

'Does it hurt?' Hu Xiaotian asked with concern.

Huo Shengnan clenched her cherry lips; it was pointless to ask—of course it hurts.

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Found it, I'll start pulling the needles on the count of three!'

Huo Shengnan nodded.

'One!' Hu Xiaotian, upon counting one, pulled out a poison needle with the vascular clamp; Huo Shengnan, unprepared, sucked in a cold breath, opened her beautiful eyes and glared at him, saying, 'You said you'd wait until three!'

Hu Xiaotian laughed: 'To distract you, this will lessen the pain.' As he spoke, he pulled out the second steel needle.

Huo Shengnan screamed again, and Hu Xiaotian burst out laughing.

Huo Shengnan spat: 'What are you laughing at?'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Your cries sound quite nice.'

Huo Shengnan said: 'Believe it or not, I'll kick you off.'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'I believe you. But first I have to pull out the last poison needle.' He then cut open Huo Shengnan's chest skin again with the willow-leaf blade.

Huo Shengnan grunted, but recalling Hu Xiaotian's earlier words, she gritted her teeth and bore the pain in silence.

Hu Xiaotian said: 'I actually forgot—Liu Yucheng once gave me a bottle of anesthetic.' What use is it now?

Huo Shengnan said: 'I don't need anesthetic; I can endure this small wound.'

Hu Xiaotian gazed at the pink scar the size of a copper coin on her left chest and asked, 'Did you suffer a serious injury before?'

Huo Shengnan nodded and said: 'When I was fighting the Black Hu, a cold arrow struck me on the battlefield. I nearly lost my life; if it weren't for my foster father's desperate rescue, I would have died.' As she spoke, she grew somewhat wistful.

Hu Xiaotian said: 'I'll later help you cut out that scar and reapply Mo Jade Regenerating Ointment; the scar should disappear.'

Huo Shengnan smiled faintly: 'No need; to me it's an unforgettable memory.'

The third poison needle was deeply embedded, likely lodged in Huo Shengnan's ribcage; Hu Xiaotian would need to separate some muscle to find the needle tip. Though she had endured without anesthetic earlier, this time she might not, so he went to fetch the anesthetic.

Huo Shengnan, however, stubbornly shook her head and said: 'No!'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'It's going to hurt a lot!'

Huo Shengnan said: 'I can endure it!'

Hu Xiaotian noticed a masochistic streak in Huo Shengnan's nature; such obstinacy wasn't merely due to her strong will—perhaps she hadn't overcome the pain of leaving her homeland, seeking to forget the anguish Da Yong had brought her through pain.

Hu Xiaotian shook his head helplessly and said: 'Pain actually cannot be transferred; to forget pain, one must strive to find one's own happiness.' He then began separating the muscle.

The intense pain made Huo Shengnan's delicate frame tremble, but the pain didn't last long. After the tearing agony, Hu Xiaotian accurately clamped the needle tip with the vascular clamp, gave a firm tug, and pulled out the poison needle. He lifted it to examine, then brought it to his nostrils to sniff, and whispered, 'It's poisonous.'

Huo Shengnan said: 'Didn't you give me an antidote earlier?'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Although you took an antidote, this poison is potent and deeply embedded; I fear residual toxin may not be fully cleared.'

Huo Shengnan said: 'What should we do then?'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Unless someone helps suck out the poisoned blood, but no one would dare take such a risk.' Having taken out the needle, he fixed his gaze on Huo Shengnan's chest.

Huo Shengnan, knowing full well his meaning, gritted her teeth and snapped: 'Get out of my sight before I decide to kill you!' She called him a scoundrel, a rascal, who had freely groped her all day and now wanted to go further—such shameless words, I don't know how he could utter them. Do you think I'm an ignorant, innocent fool? How could I not see through such an obvious ruse?

Hu Xiaotian said: 'When the birds are gone, the bow is put away; when the rabbit dies, the hound is cooked—General Huo, you're changing sides too fast.' I can assure you I have a doctor's benevolent heart, with no ulterior motives; if you insist on thinking ill of me, there's nothing I can do.' He then took out the Mo Jade Regenerating Ointment and Golden Trauma Medicine, bandaging Huo Shengnan's wounds completely. Huo Shengnan hastily grabbed her chest wrap, ignoring the bloodstains, pulled it on, and seeing Hu Xiaotian still looking at her, she snapped, 'Turn around!'

Hu Xiaotian clicked his tongue, yet obediently turned around: 'What's there to look at? I've got one too!'

Huo Shengnan gazed at his back, feeling an urge to kick him down, but though she thought it, she never acted. On a nearby rock lay seven dark-blue steel needles; facts spoke louder than words—Hu Xiaotian had indeed rid her of trouble. Seeing the scar on his shoulder and recalling how he had fearlessly come to her rescue at a life‑and‑death moment, her heart was moved; she no longer found him hateful, but rather endearing in an indescribable way, as the saying goes, to love someone is to accept all of them—could that be her?

Hu Xiaotian said: 'All done?'

Huo Shengnan said: 'You said they might still come tonight to assassinate us?'

Hu Xiaotian shook his head, turned back, and saw Huo Shengnan fully dressed; their eyes met. Huo Shengnan naturally felt a bit embarrassed, though she was fine. Yet she felt their situation was terribly awkward—having seen what she shouldn't have last night, retribution came today; how could she ever marry in the future?

Hu Xiaotian was unfazed, quickly packing away the surgical instruments; Huo Shengnan picked up the willow-leaf blade, examined it, and said: 'You used these tools to perform double‑eyelid surgery on the empress dowager.'

Hu Xiaotian laughed: 'Weren't you there at the time?'

Huo Shengnan spun the surgical knife in her palm like a windmill, then handed it to him: 'I thought you were just an uneducated thug, but you actually have some skill.'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'So-so!'

'The horse doesn't know its own face!' Huo Shengnan grew ever fonder of sparring with him.

Hu Xiaotian smiled narrowly: 'Whether long or short, you've already seen it.'

'Uh…' Huo Shengnan's pretty face flushed crimson; in verbal sparring she was no match for Hu Xiaotian, so she hurriedly changed the subject: 'I was asking you—you said they wouldn't come tonight to assassinate us?'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'They probably won't!'

'How do you know that?'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Although we're wounded, they've suffered heavy losses too—two dead. The other three, even if they don't give up easily, couldn't launch an attack when our vigilance is at its peak.'

Huo Shengnan pulled another quiver from her luggage, patted it, and said: 'Even if they come, we're not afraid.'

Hu Xiaotian narrowed his eyes and said: 'I have a feeling they're lurking somewhere nearby, watching us.'

Huo Shengnan gasped involuntarily: 'If the enemy is spying on us, then the scene just now of Hu Xiaotian pulling out my needles must have been fully visible to them—goodness, that would be mortifying.'

Seeing her embarrassed expression, Hu Xiaotian knew what she was thinking and smiled: 'You needn't worry; hidden here, they shouldn't be able to see the full picture. Moreover, in the dark night, few have vision surpassing mine.'

Huo Shengnan then relaxed a little and whispered: 'Let's seize the time to recover; tomorrow we'll find the remaining assassins and wipe them out in one fell swoop.'

Hu Xiaotian surveyed the pitch‑black forest around them and said: 'They're in the dark, we're in the light. Moreover, this gang not only excels at using the surrounding environment but also masters animal speech; wanting to wipe them out in one go is hardly that easy.'

Huo Shengnan said: 'What then? We haven't even left Grizzly Bear Valley; if we keep going, it's hard to say we won't run into their attacks.'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'The wilderness is vast; as long as they remain hidden, the chance of finding them is minuscule. To eliminate them, we must lure the snake out of its hole.'

Huo Shengnan nodded and said: 'That makes sense, but how do we lure the snake out?'

Hu Xiaotian said: "Do you remember what that dwarf said today?"

Huo Shengnan didn't know which sentence he was referring to; the dwarf had said quite a lot, and moreover, at that time she was fully focused on the life-and-death battle, so how could she remember that clearly?

Hu Xiaotian said: "He said I had been poisoned with the Seven Steps Severing Soul Poison, that I would soon succumb to the poison, and you were also struck by that hunchback's Poison Needle; in their minds they naturally assumed we were poisoned, and even if we died they wouldn't find it strange." Hu Xiaotian paused, then added: "I just said they wouldn't rush to launch an attack; another reason is that they are quietly waiting for us to die from the poison."

Huo Shengnan said: "You mean, pretend to be dead?"

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said: "Not bad! But to be safe, I'll pretend to die, lure them out, we'll split up and act, doing our best to draw them all out this time and wipe them out in one fell swoop."

Huo Shengnan's beautiful eyes lit up, she nodded firmly and said: "Good!"

Hu Xiaotian curled the corner of his mouth with a wicked smile and said: "You're so eager to kill and silence witnesses—are you afraid tonight's events will be leaked?"

"Pah! You still dare to say that!"

The guaranteed two updates delivered, activating today's repayment mode; yesterday there were a total of 1314 chapters' worth of Monthly Tickets, which means we should have an extra thirteen chapters, plus one floating red chapter, making fourteen chapters in total; Zhangyu has so far delivered an extra seven chapters, still owed seven chapters, not sure if there's a miscalculation—if there is, please remind us; we beg for Monthly Tickets, repayment mode starts, write a chapter release a chapter, soon there will be new chapters to read! (To be continued~^~)