Chapter 143: 0140 Robbing the Emergency Department

Damn! What the hell happened again!

As that noisy, sharp din rushed into his ears, Zheng Ren immediately reacted.

Blood pressure rose, heartbeat quickened.

Whenever there is an emergency rescue, this situation occurs. Therefore many doctors and nurses in the Emergency Department suffer to varying degrees from arrhythmia, relying on oral Betaloc to alleviate symptoms.

Zheng Ren felt a bit panicky, chest tight, short of breath, but there was no time for that. He stood up and strode downstairs.

Passing the nurse station, Zheng Ren briefly said he was going to the Emergency Department, would call if needed, and then jogged all the way down at top speed.

The onlookers gazed in the hallway and lobby; the lingering smell of disinfectant in the hallway mixed with the sour stench of vomit and the bloody odor of blood, forming an indescribable gas.

No one spoke; the tense atmosphere left everyone silent, except for a few clueless children whose hysterical cries echoed like a lament inside and outside the Emergency Department.

Zheng Ren pushed through the crowd and strode forward.

What exactly happened? Was it a patient's sudden death or cardiac arrest? Or was it poisoning by paraquat needing rescue, or……

Countless possibilities unfolded in an instant.

Outside the treatment room of the Emergency Department, where nurses prepare medicines, a few security guards stood back, hesitating.

Seeing Zheng Ren rush over, the shift-leading security guard came to his side with a grim face and whispered, 'Chief Zheng, someone is trying to steal the narcotic drugs.'

Zheng Ren's heart felt as if clenched by an invisible fist, its beating slowing a fraction.

This isn't an emergency rescue; this is a big deal!

Many years ago, when control of narcotic drugs was lax, such incidents happened frequently.

But as regulations became stricter, the storage of narcotic drugs resembled the classified files of the Military Statistics Bureau, requiring two or more people to hold the keys simultaneously. If a patient needs them, a doctor with narcotic prescription authority writes the order, and two nurses must confirm before administering.

Furthermore, every ampoule must be returned to obtain the next batch of medicine.

Since management tightened, coupled with relentless crackdowns and anti‑gangster special campaigns, evil forces have nowhere to flee and have gone into hiding.

Such a situation as today's hasn't occurred in a long time.

Zheng Ren pushed through the crowd at the front and saw inside the treatment room a nurse curled in the corner, her face deathly pale from fright, her hands and feet trembling incessantly. She struggled to cover her mouth with her hand, making no sound to provoke the assailant.

She pressed so hard that Zheng Ren could see the whiteness of her finger joints.

A young man about 1.7 meters tall, thin and gaunt, was probing each locked drawer and cabinet with a key.

On his arm was tattooed a pitch‑black dragon, the tattooing crude, a dark blob that could barely be made out as perhaps a dragon.

In his left hand he held a watermelon knife, which jerked irregularly with the spasms of his arm.

Zheng Ren knew, the more such a person, the more frightening.

He himself didn't know what he wanted to do next; perhaps the matter would subside, or perhaps it would lead to loss of life.

As for which direction the situation would develop, Zheng Ren didn't know either; no one could know.

"Why won't it open!" After many attempts, still unable to open the drawer, the young man flew into a rage! His voice hoarse and incoherent, so that neither Zheng Ren nor the nurse hiding in the corner could understand what he was saying, let alone communicate.

He grabbed an external saline bottle and hurled it hard at the nurse cowering in the corner.

But his limbs were uncoordinated, he had no aim; the bottle hit the cabinet, making a loud 'Bang!'

The sound of the glass bottle shattering was so piercing that the nurse curled in the corner covered her ears with both hands and let out a scream.

The scream seemed to stimulate the already‑irrational young man; his eyes red, he pointed the knife at the nurse, muttering incoherently, which Zheng Ren couldn't make out.

Seeing the situation about to get out of control, Zheng Ren didn't bother about the consequences, lifted a leg, and kicked the half‑closed door.

"Boom!" a loud bang.

The young man, like a beast bereft of reason, was stimulated by that sound.

He turned around, staring fixedly at Zheng Ren.

The muscles on his face

twisted,

spasming,

hideous and terrifying.

saliva at the corner of his mouth,

he uttered meaningless 'heh heh' sounds from his mouth.

Having unconsciously drawn the young man's attention, Zheng Ren felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

In the Emergency Department, he had encountered street thugs, unreasonable patient relatives, and medical disturbances.

But none of those compared to the danger he now faced confronting this irrational young man.

"Scatter, scatter!" Zheng Ren shouted, waving his arms hard to make the surrounding onlookers disperse.

Several security guards, after all having some professional awareness, knew that if that person went berserk, the Emergency Department could become a river of blood.

Hoping those onlookers would muster the advantage of numbers and strength… basically impossible.

"Scatter! Scatter!" Several security guards began helping Zheng Ren disperse the surrounding crowd.

Those who sensed danger early immediately retreated.

But the gaps they left were immediately filled by more people.

Facing the already irrational young man and layers of onlookers, Zheng Ren felt bitter beyond measure.

The presence of the onlookers turned Zheng Ren's last hope of escape into a vain wish. If he wanted to flee, whether he could part the crowd was debatable; meanwhile the assailant faced more sick patients and, like Zheng Ren, ordinary patients' families……

The consequences are unimaginable!

Zheng Ren stepped back two paces, his back already against the wall.

The young man grinned hideously, raised the knife in his hand, pointed it at Zheng Ren, and tried to say something, but at this moment he was utterly unable to express his meaning.

He wore an isolation gown and a white coat; if he had a cotton outfit, would it be better? In the crisis, Zheng Ren zoned out like an ordinary person, thinking about irrelevant things.

He lacked martial prowess and could not possibly subdue the assailant alone.

The reason he attracted the assailant's attention and abandoned the thought of fleeing at all costs was simply his lifelong principle of conduct.

The ferocious thug brandished a knife and walked out of the treatment room; only then did the front-row onlookers finally understand what had happened.

Countless cries rang out, and the crowd instantly scattered like birds and beasts.

The children's hoarse, exhausted cries mingled with the chaotic atmosphere, feathers littered the ground.

Zheng Ren tried to find something to defend himself, but the red hard-plastic chairs in the Emergency Department were welded to the floor, precisely so they couldn't be used as weapons in a Conflict.

The doctor's office? Too far—Zheng Ren knew he couldn't possibly make it there.

The young thug seemed to have completely lost his reason, even forgetting why he had come to the Emergency Department.

This damned doctor seemed to be obstructing whatever he was trying to do—beat him to death!

Such a thought kept turning over and over in the young thug's mind.

He raised the watermelon knife in his hand, his face ferocious as he lunged at Zheng Ren; after just two steps, his footing gave way and he stumbled.

+++++++++

Let me explain: this sort of thing was common from the end of the last century through the early twenty-first century up to about ten years ago. Now it has basically been eradicated. Still, as a memory of youth, I'll mention it. Thanks to the crackdown on organized crime and evil, we can live in a world where we can go out for skewers at two in the morning. Honestly, why do I keep bringing up going out for skewers at two a. m.? Because in 2005 I went to Huaxi for further study, and at two a. m. I walked with friends down Lin Yin Jie, out for skewers, and saw a girl walking alone—I was shocked, Chengdu's public safety was truly excellent. Now basically the whole country is like this; it's great, really great.

Only after experiencing it does one truly learn to cherish it. After joining Three Jiang, although the increase in collections wasn't as huge as expected, the recommendation votes and member clicks rose into the site's top hundred, and I'm already quite satisfied. Since I used to play only single‑player games, I treasure this deeply—it's great, really great. Therefore, the upcoming plot needs careful consideration; I hope the story can be even more exciting and live up to everyone's support.