Chapter 58 - Amputation (2/2)

The doctor who came was the divine physician from Tongren Medicine Hall, Doctor Sun. The moment he stepped off the donkey cart, he immediately took his medicine box and hurriedly walked through the courtyard door, asking, “Where is the wounded person? Quickly bring me to him!”

The fellow villagers led Doctor Sun to the west room. Originally, the lighting in the west room wasn’t very bright. Now, with so many people crowding at the entrance, the room looked even darker than usual.

“Everyone besides the next of kin will have to leave the room to avoid disturbing the patient!” Doctor Sun was very dissatisfied with how noisy it was inside the room. He was frowning as he drove the people out.

When Doctor You saw Yu Hai’s injury, he inhaled a cold breath of air. After practicing medicine for many years, it was rare to see such a serious injury. He hurriedly sat next to the kang bed and put his right hand on Yu Hai’s pulse.

After taking his pulse for a while, Doctor You let out a deep sigh. He turned to face Madam Liu and her daughters who had their eyes fixed on him. Doctor You said with a serious expression, “His pulse is very weak. His arteries are hollow like onion-shoots and the main cause of his condition is the loss of blood and the injury to his yin…”

“Doctor, can the children’s father be saved?” Madam Liu’s current state of mind was in a mess as she anxiously inquired about her husband’s condition.

Doctor Sun carefully reexamined Yu Hai’s injury. He wrinkled his eyebrows even more after the examination and replied, “The external medicine applied on his wounds to stop his bleeding is quite effective. If the medicine wasn’t applied on time, he wouldn’t have been able to wait till I arrive. However…”

When Madam Liu saw the heavy expression on Doctor You’s face, she felt her heart sink and nearly fell into the abyss, “Doctor Sun, you are a famous doctor from town. Please, you must save my children’s father! I beg you!”

“It’s not that I don’t want to save him. The problem is whether I can save him or not. The wound on his leg is too big. In addition, all the flesh and tendons are torn apart and are peeling off. Even if I want to save him, I don’t know even know where to start with all the wounds he has!” Many years ago, Doctor Sun had seen a patient with similar injuries. He did his best to save the patient. But in the end, the patient couldn’t survive the high fever he got after his wounds got infected, and died.

When Madam Liu heard what Doctor Sun had said, she couldn’t breathe and fainted next to the kang bed. The three children were crying as they helped their mother lie down on the kang bed.

Yu Xiaocao tried her best to suppress the sadness and anxiety rising inside her heart. She asked in a calm yet stubborn voice, “Doctor Sun, is there no hope in treating him?”

Doctor Sun looked at Yu Hai’s bloody, mangled right leg and sighed, “Right now, we have to amputate his injured leg for him to have the opportunity to even live. However, even when coupled with my medicine, he only has a 30% chance of surviving.”

“Is it possible for him to survive without amputating his injured leg?” To Yu Hai, who was omnipotent when going up the mountain and down the sea, losing one of his legs was no different than a bird with broken wings. He would suffer his entire life if he lost one of his legs.

Doctor Sun shook his head and said, “The surface of the wound is too big. With long term exposure to the air, the chance of the wound getting infected will significantly increase. If he gets a high fever because of the infection, even the Daluo Immortals [1] might not be able to save him. These are the only two options you have, you’ll have to choose one for him!”

Yu Xiaocao didn’t have a lot of mystic-stone liquid remaining in the bottle in her hands, but she still had a full jar of mystic-stone water. She was confident that she could keep the wound clean and uninfected. However, she still didn’t feel reassured, so she asked, “If his wounds don’t get infected, does that mean he won’t have to amputate his injured leg?”

“Yes. But if he amputates his injured leg, he still has a 30% of survival. However, if he doesn’t, then we can only wait for a miracle… I will prescribe him some medicine first. It’s better to take a little medicine than do nothing at all!”

For over twenty years, Doctor Sun had never felt as powerless as he did today. If Hua Tuo [2] was alive today, he might be able to save Yu Hai’s injured leg. But he was also hoping for a miracle as the one Yu Xiaocao experienced; Xiaocao had completely recovered from the illness she carried since she was a fetus.

Doctor Sun gave Old Yu the prescription. He reminded them once again, “Whether he is keeping this leg or not, you have to make a decision early!”

When Doctor Sun had just finished speaking, Madam Zhang immediately rushed into the main house. She pulled on Old Yu’s arm and shouted, “Old Man, you can’t amputate Dahai’s injured leg! Let’s first not talk about how low the 30% chance of survival is, even if he is lucky enough to survive, what’s the point of living if he doesn’t have one of his legs?”

Old Yu immediately became unhappy after hearing that. He yelled at his wife, “What do you mean there is no point in living? As the ancient saying goes: ‘It’s better to have a bad life than a good death!’ It’s obviously more important to save his life! You only care about your money!”

“What do you mean I only care about my money… I was just thinking about letting Yu Hai make the decision himself once he wakes up! I’m just worried that our kind intention will lead to hatred!” Madam Zhang was so frightened that she quickly explained. This was the first time in decades that Madam Zhang had seen Old Yu this angry.

However, Madam Zhang was the only one who knew her real thoughts. In the past, a large part of the family income came from selling the game that Yu Hai hunted. Now that he was seriously injured and couldn’t keep one of his legs, how would he go up the mountain or to the sea? He could only lie in bed like a useless person and live as a parasite. Moreover, there was a lot of children in his family. His wife was also weak. If his injured leg really got amputated, didn’t that mean that Yu Hai’s family would be depending on her to feed and raise them? Where would she get that much spare money to raise those good-for-nothings?

[1] Daluo immortals (大罗神仙) - refers to the Taoist immortals who lives in the Daluo Heavens, which is a realm where immortals with high cultivation dwells in

[2] Hua Tuo (华佗) - a famous doctor who lived during the end of the Han Dynasty