Plague Doctor

Chapter 315: Face in the Mirror

Translator: Lonelytree

The first, second and third session, Xie Yiman suffered through all of them without the use of anaesthesia. After the surgery was over, her mind was too weak to even answer the doctor’s questions. The electrode was removed from her body and she was given antibiotics to prevent intracranial infection. Gu Jun personally applied the ice pack on her face. He asked, “Yiman, do you still feel the itchiness on your face?”

“Itchiness?” Xie Yiman’s swollen face could no longer make any expression. She could not frown or pout. Her mumbling voice was no longer incoherent, instead it was filled with a sense of loss and acceptance. The lack of joy was striking. “I... I don’t think so, I don’t think I can feel anything on my face anymore...” Without skin and working facial muscle, did she still even have a face left?

When the doctors heard this answer, they sighed in mixed relief. The result was optimum. After the surgery, Xie Yiman never once complained about the itchiness. Before the surgery, she could barely resist the urge to scratch her face but now she just laid there quietly. The spreading of the erythema had stopped. After taking a breath, Gu Jun announced to everyone, including himself, “The operation is successful.”

Wu Siyu, who previously leaned against the wall, slid to the ground. She did not wish to move even an inch of her muscle anymore.

The surgery was a success! This should be a happy result but it came with such a heavy price. Destroying most of the function of the patient’s nervi facialis and trigeminus appeared to sever the patient’s connection to the unknown pathological source and silenced those psychological worms. Just like Zhang Donghai claimed, once the trigger was switched off, the itchiness disappeared.

The surgical result was a source of inspiration for the people back at the headquarters, they immediately communicated the result with the rest of the world through the name of GOA. This was not an easily-acceptable treatment method but it could save lives. The experimental groups would continue as usual as medical science always required more clinical samples.

“Yiman, the itchiness is gone and the spreading has stopped, your dermatological illness has been brought under control.” By the surgical table, Gu Jun studied the young girl with a swollen face and crooked lips. A cold breeze blew through his heart. ‘What kind of ‘blessing’ is this...’ He said seriously, “We’ll see how your infected skin progresses before we decide what to do next.”

“Oh, okay...” Xie Yiman answered. “Doctor Gu, do you mind bringing me a mirror?”

Uncle Dan advised against it, it would cause too much trauma on the patient.

“Get her a mirror.” Gu Jun told the nurse. Xie Yiman’s trust in him was built upon his respect towards her, she had the right to look at herself. The nurse grabbed a normal mirror over for Xie Yiman. The patient looked at her reflection and was silent for a while before she emitted a cry that sounded like both laughter and cry. Her voice was distorted even further from the motor damage to her oral cavity and tongue.

“Yiman, just rest for now.” Gu Jun consoled, “You need to rest so that you can recover.” The other doctors offered consolations as well to help build the patient’s confidence. However, the words fell on deaf ears. Before the operation, Gu Jun had negotiated with the command central to have Xie Yiman’s parents come look after her. The girl had a close relationship with her family, hopefully her parent’s encouragement could give her strength. Soon Xie Yiman was moved onto a gurney and pushed out of the surgical room. She would take some X-rays before returning to the sickroom.

Even after the patient left, Gu Jun still stood beside the surgical table. It was not until Wu Siyu came to pat him on his shoulders that he left with the rest.

Gu Jun removed the scrubs, went through decontamination and returned to the conference room for post-op discussion. They followed up on Xie Yiman’s post-op situation. The nurse responsible for Xie Yiman’s recovery came with the report. The patient reported discomfiture in her mouth, nose and ears but there was no problem with her sight, the last was a very good news. Since there was no report of blindness, it meant that the surgery did not affect the first branch of the trigeminal nerve.

After a dinner break, the conference continued. They looked at the surgical result of the experimental groups through the monitor nervously. The victims who were still in prodromal stage showed a better receptibility to the surgery. However, performing RFL on only the trigeminus or nervi facialis did not bring optimum results; only by destroying both sets of nerve endings that the itchiness could disappear. That was similar to Xie Yiman’s condition.

After the meeting ended, Gu Jun finally could rest. It was by then 11 pm. He had made People’s Hospital his temporary home and the admin gave him an office to act as his room. He laid down on the sofa and gave out a long breath. He closed his eyes to arrange his thoughts. Earlier, he accosted Deng Ximei. According to the girl, Lydia supposedly did not know Landon.

“This is such a long day...” Gu Jun grumbled as he massaged his pounding temples. Performing induced coma, pre-op intervention and RFL surgery took up most of his day but it was all worth it, for a life was saved. Honestly, he was not that physically tired but what he experienced that day... Like Deng Ximei would say, was more than superficial. The mental pressure was enormous. He might need to visit Sister Liang for a therapy session.

Gu Jun shook his head and then clicked open the new system notifications.

“RFL surgery, 2 star, success. Personal contribution 15 percent, ranked third.” The biggest contribution was done by Si Kouxian, followed by Zhang Jingsong.

“Strong Heart mastery increased by 10000 points. Current level 2 (120000/300000 Mastery)”

‘This mysterious system...’ Gu Jun wondered, ‘What kind of forces does it originate from?’

“Is it a power I’ve obtained at Long Kan Seabelt? Or this power has always been within me and the accident has merely triggered it?” Gu Jun leaned towards the latter. “Could it be related to Landon and the Son of Misfortune?” He thought for a while and came to no conclusion so he turned his mind to rest. It had been a long day. Visions swam in his mind, flickering in and out...

It disturbed Gu Jun’s rest. He slept but did not feel rested. When he opened his eyes, it was already midnight. Seeing as he woke on his own, there should be no emergency, and that was a good thing.

“The mission list should have been refreshed already.” Gu Jun opened the system to check. He jumped up immediately and raced out of his room. ‘It’s finally here!’

Abyssal Mission: Complete the autopsy on a Deep One within a week. Reward: Unknown.

...

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