The old man's face was ashen, his heartbeat faint and irregular, breath hanging by a thread—death was closing in.
Xia Tian sprang into action, initiating cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
"One, two, three... nine!"On the ninth compression, he tilted the man's forehead back, lifted the chin, and gave a breath.Artificial respiration, followed by rhythmic chest compressions.Roughly 100 beats per minute.Again and again.
"One, two, three... nine.""One, two, three... nine.""One, two, three... nine."
He repeated the process for twenty relentless minutes. His shirt clung to his sweat-drenched skin. Still, there was no sign of life.
The bystanders began to murmur with hopeless eyes.
"He's gone.""Twenty minutes... if he was coming back, he would've woken up already."
Among the spectators, Li Tiantian looked on impatiently, her voice sharp."It's been twenty minutes. Let it go—he's gone."
No.No way.I just got the system. I have to save him!
Xia Tian's mind burned like a live wire. He couldn't give up—not now.But he knew the truth: if there's still no heartbeat after twenty minutes, there's a 99% chance the patient can't be saved.
What was the cause?
Suddenly, a waiter called out, "Before he collapsed, the old man was yelling about stomach pain and vomiting!"
Abdominal pain, nausea, low blood pressure, pale skin…Symptoms of internal bleeding.
Without hesitation, Xia Tian unbuttoned the man's shirt. A deep bruise darkened the chest, a sign of blunt trauma.The chest was swollen, and there was a sloshing sound inside.
It wasn't water.It was blood.
The lungs were filling with blood. If he didn't stop the bleeding now, the man was as good as dead.
What now?!What can I do?!
Then, inspiration struck.
Without another word, Xia Tian bolted into the McDonald's kitchen, grabbed a cleaver, and dashed back—his figure drenched in sweat, eyes bloodshot with a wild intensity, and a giant knife glinting under the fluorescent light.
The crowd shrieked and stumbled back.
"He's got a knife!""Oh my god, he's insane!""The guy's already dead, what is he doing?!"
Li Tiantian rushed forward, throwing her arm out in protest.
"Enough, Xia Tian! The old man is gone—let him rest. Don't make a scene! You're just a medical intern!"
"Fuck off!"
With a furious roar, Xia Tian slammed a foot into her stomach, sending her flying backward.
Song Pengfei caught her and pointed furiously at Xia Tian, about to curse—
"You backwater lunatic, you—"
Before he could finish, Xia Tian turned his burning gaze on him, the madness in his eyes stopping Song cold.The words died in his throat.
He's insane.Utterly insane.
Xia Tian threw himself beside the old man, yanked open his medical emergency kit—he'd carried it everywhere since starting his internship, though it was rarely needed. But every time he saw it, it reminded him of one thing:
He was a doctor.
Sterile gauze, bandages, iodine, alcohol wipes, antiseptic spray, gloves, a small surgical blade... even antibiotics.
He popped an antibiotic pill into the old man's mouth.Then, he wiped the chest clean and disinfected the area.
Everything was ready.
Xia Tian took the scalpel and sliced into the man's chest.
A collective gasp rippled through the onlookers.
"What is he doing?!""His hands look professional—but this isn't a surgical room! And no anesthesia?!""He's just an intern—has he even seen a real operation?!""This is insane.""Pure madness!!"
The voices became a blur.
Xia Tian heard nothing but his own heartbeat and the old man's silence.There was only one thought in his head:
Save him.
He made a ten-centimeter incision.
Step one: Cut through the skin.Step two: Separate the connective tissue—fat.Step three: The critical moment.
In his memory, courtesy of the world-class thoracic surgery training he had just received from the system, this was the test of a surgeon's nerve:
Crack open the sternum.
The sternum was hard. A scalpel couldn't cut it.He needed a sternal saw.
But Xia Tian had no saw.Only a cleaver.
He exhaled deeply, eyes scanning the ceiling.Gripped the handle with both hands.
Even though the crowd didn't understand what he was doing, dread coiled in their stomachs.
"What's he doing?""I don't know... but I feel like I'm watching a horror movie."
The next moment, Xia Tian raised the cleaver high and—
CRACK!
Screams erupted.
He straddled the old man, arms raised high, and brought the blade down with brutal force.Blood spurted.CRACK!Another strike. Bone snapped with a grotesque crunch. Bits of tissue and shattered bone flew into the air, showering the closest bystanders in crimson.
Chaos.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!""He's killing someone!!""Oh my god—so much blood!!""MURDER!!!"
Panic exploded in all directions.Customers, employees, bystanders—everyone scattered like headless chickens.Tables overturned. Food flew. Screams echoed through the restaurant.
Li Tiantian and Song Pengfei were paralyzed with fear.
Song Pengfei stumbled backward, shouting,"He's crazy! That bastard's gone completely insane!"
Li Tiantian clutched her stomach, tears in her eyes as she bolted after Song, afraid Xia Tian would turn that blade on her next.
But Xia Tian was already lost in his mission, blind to terror or judgment.
CRACK!
Another strike.
The sternum split apart.He tossed the cleaver aside, pried open the chest cavity with his bare hands until there was just enough space.Then plunged his entire hand inside.
His fingers clamped down on the rupture.
"Open chest surgery—by hand."
Phones captured the moment.
A madman saving a life.A lunatic's miracle.