875 The Right Way to Use a Swiss Army Knife (1/2)
The warm sunlight was pleasant to the men, but the rising temperature caused by the sunlight was now killing the minke whale, and the high temperature was also speeding up the wound's inflammation process. If the broken harpoon that was lodged in the wound was not taken out, even if the whale were to return to the sea, it was not going to live more than a few days.
In the course of the inspection, Zhang Zian faintly smelled a rancid smell coming from the wound. He also noticed that the edges of the wound were covered with a yellowish abscess. After rubbing against the beach, some sand had also made its way into the wound, so the situation was not good.
”How do we get it out?” Looking at the minke whale's gruesome wound, Huang was shaken.
”I'll go look for tools in my car. The two of you can continue to shower it with water, especially to wash off the sand in its wound,” Zhang Zian instructed.
Huang and Xiao Zhi did as they were told. They splashed boxes of cold seawater onto the minke whale's wound, washing off the sand and mud in the wound.
The minke whale seemed to enjoy having its wound rinsed with seawater. It swayed its caudal fin from side to side.
Zhang Zian went through the spare tools in his Wuling Shenguang, but he did not find anything that could be of use. He grabbed a pair of pliers and a pair of rubbers gloves then returned back to the minke whale.
”Huang, do you have a lighter on you?” Zian asked. Zian didn't smoke, so he wouldn't carry a lighter around.
”I do.” Huang took out a delicate-looking lighter, but before handing it to Zhang Zian, he lit a cigarette and took a puff. ”Brother, do you want a stick? It helps to relieve some exhaustion.”
”Dad! You're secretly smoking again! I'll tell mom when I get back!” Xiao Zhi looked at him with his hands on his waist.
”Don't! Xiao Zhi, dad's just smoking a stick! One stick!” Huang smiled and said. ”I'll buy you a toy gun when we get back!”
Zhang Zian took the lighter and tried to light it. He realized that it was windproof, so no matter how strong the sea breeze was, the fire would not go out. Zian took out a key from his pocket.
A multi-function swiss army knife was hung together with his keys. It was meant to make it convenient for him to open mailboxes, but now it was able to be of use, too.
”Xiao Zhi, Huang, step back a little.” Zhang Zian gestured.
Huang looked at him while smoking. ”Brother, you plan to…?”
Zhang Zian put on the rubber gloves. The gloves were meant for his wild harvest by the seaside because there were a number of creatures that could be poisonous, so as much as possible, he had to avoid using his own hands to pick them up.
He lit the lighter again, and heated the small swiss army knife on the yellow flame. He explained, ”The harpoon is barbed and is hooked to its meat inside. We need to cut the wound open a little more to remove the harpoon… But the process will definitely be very painful, and I'm afraid that it would hurt the two of you during the struggle, so I want you to move back a little.”
Hearing that, Huang quickly pulled Xiao Zhi back to the reef rocks. ”Brother, you be careful, too!”
Zhang Zian nodded. ”I will.”
Honestly speaking, Zhang Zian wasn't confident. He was okay with treating the wounds of cats and dogs since there would only be a few scratches here and there if they struggled. But when facing a whale that weighed about three tons, he was really worried. If it turned around and squashed him, the whale would definitely squeeze the sh*t out of him…
To start the operation for the whale, Zian had to be extra careful. He always had to be ready to retreat.
Zhang Zian disinfected both sides of the knife with the flame, then squatted down next to the minke whale's head and said to it, ”You're injured, so now I'm going to remove the thing that's hurting you. The process is going to be very painful, but this is all to help you. Can you bear with it?”
As Zian spoke to the minke whale, he stared right into its eyes and had his hands on its skin. Zian looked very serious. Huang and Xiao Zhi could not help but feel that Zian was playing the lute in front of a cow.
Zhang Zian was able to feel that the minke whale was a creature of intelligence. Although its intelligence was equivalent to infants when compared to humans, even infants were able to feel the goodwill of others.
Whales were not cold-blooded creatures; they are mammals like humans, and they also had a very large brain. That gave their intelligence the capital of surpassing the other animals.
The minke whale's eyes were also staring at him.
Whales had very poor eyesight, but they were still able to see clearly in a short distance.
Zhang Zian repeated his words a few times. The knife was already dark red from being heated up. The heat could also be felt on the handle, so much so that Zian almost couldn't hold on to it anymore.
There was no reaction from the minke whale, so Zian wasn't sure if it could understand him, but he could no longer delay the operation.
Zian extinguished the flame of the lighter and threw it back to Huang. Using his left hand to support the edge of the wound, Zian observed where the harpoon had entered. After estimating where the harpoon was lodged, Zian waved the knife toward the spot.
The harpoon injury wasn't recent, as part of the whale's muscles were already growing back together, which caused the barbed harpoon to be buried inside its flesh. If Zian didn't cut open its flesh and pull out the harpoon directly, the whale would not be able to bear it even with a will of steel.
One must be able to steel his heart to be a doctor––the more one delayed, the more pain they were giving the patient.
With one slash from Zhang Zian, its meat was cut open and blood immediately gushed out. Simultaneously, Zhang Zian also quickly retreated backward to prevent getting hurt from its struggling.
Out of pain, the minke whale slammed its caudal fin on the water, splashing up a tower of water that was as tall as a man. It also rubbed its head to the left and right on the beach, leaving a fan-shaped mark on the beach. The whale was clearly in a lot of pain.
But, even under such pain, it did not make any large movements. Its pectoral and dorsal fins only moved a little then stopped and trembled.