Chapter 24: The Second Surgery

Liu Yitiao arrived at the largest pharmacy in Sanyuan County and bought several common herbs he knew of, such as coptis, moneywort, and stargrass—these types of herbs were used to treat colds and reduce inflammation. He bought a generous amount, nearly ten jin in total, yet spent less than two hundred coins of silver. The medicine here was remarkably cheap, unlike certain hospitals in the twenty-first century, where prices were inflated and a single pill might be sold for the price of two, three, or even four.

He packed the herbs into a cotton sack, slung it over his shoulder, and was about to leave when a young man rushed in, crying and calling for help, with someone on his back. The scene was alarming; the young man was covered in blood, and wherever he passed, bystanders hurriedly made way for him. Liu Yitiao also stepped aside, recognizing that this man had come to the pharmacy seeking medical help.

“Master Wang! Master Wang! Save us, Master Wang!” The young man’s voice was nearly hoarse as he shouted for help in the main hall, but the Master Wang he called for seemed not to be present. Blood continued to flow from the person on his back.

Liu Yitiao frowned. What kind of pharmacy was this, that no one had come out to tend to them after so long? He also noticed that the old man who had been manning the front desk earlier was nowhere to be seen.

To turn a blind eye to the dying—what kind of doctor is that?

Liu Yitiao threw his sack to the ground and hurried over to the young man’s side. Although he had only studied veterinary medicine, humans were, after all, animals too, and many methods for treating wounds were the same.

As Liu Yitiao approached, the young man was still shouting desperately, so lost in panic he hadn’t noticed Liu Yitiao at all.

“Shut up!” Liu Yitiao barked, his voice thunderous. The young man was stunned, looking at Liu Yitiao in a daze, his lips and body trembling. He must have run a long way with someone on his back.

“If you want to save him, then be quiet,” Liu Yitiao repeated.

Only then did the young man recover his senses, gazing at Liu Yitiao and stammering, “Sir, can you save our young master? Please, you must save him. I’ll kowtow to you!”

Liu Yitiao shot him a glare. “Quiet! Do as I say, exactly as I say, and there may still be hope.”

“Lay him flat on the ground, stretch out his limbs, unfasten his clothes, expose the wound, and press cotton cloth on it to stop the bleeding.”

The young man nodded repeatedly, carefully lowering the injured man to the ground and unfastening his clothes. A wound, nearly ten centimeters long, appeared below the ribs, blood still gushing from it. The cold weather made the steaming blood even more striking.

Liu Yitiao glanced at the wound. It wasn’t large, a knife wound, but it looked deep, slanting upwards—he couldn’t tell whether the liver or lungs were injured. Around the wound were sticky powders, likely some kind of hemostatic medicine, but the bleeding was so severe that it had no real effect.

He squatted down and pressed his hand to an artery near the wound. When the bleeding eased, Liu Yitiao asked, “Do you have any money on you?”

“Money? Yes! Yes! As long as you can save him, you can have as much as you want—ten taels, a hundred, a thousand, whatever it takes! Just save him, please, sir—he’s lost so much blood!” The young man clearly misunderstood Liu Yitiao’s question. Liu Yitiao loved money, but he would not take advantage of someone’s plight.

Without a word, Liu Yitiao tossed him two taels of silver. “Go find me a clean room. Buy two flasks of strong liquor—the stronger, the better. Also, get some fine women’s sewing thread and a sharp knife, and prepare a pot of boiling water.”

The young man stood there, bewildered, money in hand, unsure what these things were for. Wasn’t saving the man the priority?

“Hurry! If you don’t want him to die, do as I say and get those things ready quickly! If you delay and he dies, I won’t be responsible,” Liu Yitiao urged when the young man hesitated.

“No need, sir. Saving a life is urgent. I already have all those things here—please, treat him in my pharmacy.” At that moment, the old master Wang reappeared and offered Liu Yitiao the space and items he needed.

Liu Yitiao glanced at him and nodded. Though the old man had fled earlier, which was shameful, his willingness to return now showed some measure of responsibility.

They carried the wounded man to the pharmacy’s west wing. Liu Yitiao instructed that all the utensils be sterilized in boiling water. Only master Wang, as a fellow physician, was allowed to stay and assist; everyone else, even the young man who had brought the patient, was sent out.

Liu Yitiao washed his hands with warm water, then retrieved the knife and sewing thread from the boiling water. He turned to master Wang, who was standing by. “This operation requires two people. I’ll need your help.”

“Of course,” master Wang replied. “In fact, I’m eager to see how you handle this kind of injury. The way you stopped the bleeding earlier was extraordinary—far beyond what common doctors can do.”

Liu Yitiao smiled. “Just some unorthodox methods—not as refined as your proper medical skills, master Wang.” He moved to the patient’s bedside. “Let’s begin.”

He unwrapped the cloth around the patient’s chest and poured a flask of strong liquor over the wound, washing away the blood. Then he took the needle and thread master Wang handed him.

Suturing wounds was a technique Liu Yitiao had often used on pigs, sheep, and cattle; now, for the first time, he was applying it to a human. For such a large wound, trying to stop the bleeding without stitches was a fantasy—no legendary acupressure technique could staunch arterial blood like this, and even the famed art of acupuncture could not halt the torrent from a major artery in mere moments.

Liu Yitiao’s hands were steady and precise, thanks to years of practice on animals. Stitch by stitch, he closed the bleeding wound. Master Wang, watching from the side, broke out in a cold sweat. In all his years of medicine, and after seeing countless patients, he had never witnessed such a daring and ingenious method—using needle and thread on human flesh required remarkable courage and composure. Observing Liu Yitiao’s calm, focused expression, master Wang could only marvel. Though effective, he doubted he could ever perform such a procedure himself. If the patient had been conscious, he might have thrashed from the pain, making the operation nearly impossible.

In just a quarter of an hour, Liu Yitiao finished closing the wound. He snipped the thread with the knife, poured another flask of strong liquor over the wound, and checked for breath at the patient’s nose. Fortunately, he was still alive—for now.

Master Wang placed two slices of ginseng in the patient’s mouth and checked his pulse, finally heaving a sigh of relief. “Sir, you are truly a miracle worker—he has survived.”

“His vitality is severely depleted. He’ll need long-term care to make a full recovery,” Liu Yitiao said, wiping his clean hands. “That will be your responsibility, master Wang. Regulating the blood and restoring the internal organs is not my specialty. Leave him here, and once the wound has fully healed in a few days, simply remove the stitches.”