Chapter 59 Take Me

Liu Xianming returned to his residence in a military-green sedan.

In accordance with the police directives, he was currently placed under pending trial surveillance, meaning he was barred from leaving the urban district for the next few days and required to report to the neighborhood office daily.

Upon entering his home, he immediately dialed a specific number.

Given his rank, a telephone was installed in his residence.

The recipient answered without delay.

"I need a car to leave Taihe City tonight.

Arrange a vessel for me as well, so I can head straight to the dock and set sail for Mingzhu City, and onward to the Eagle Country.

There are several private hospitals there that have extended invitations to me repeatedly."

The person on the other end fell silent for a moment.

"What about our arrangements for the future?"

"Flying from the Eagle Country to Mingzhu City is quite simple. As long as you provide sufficient funds, I can perform the surgeries in Mingzhu City.

As for matters within the country, that will depend entirely on your capabilities.

Resolve this case as quickly as possible, and I can return directly to perform the operations for you."

"Very well. At nine o'clock tonight, the car will be waiting at the intersection where you are usually picked up."

"It's a deal."

Hanging up the receiver, Liu Xianming let out a long breath.

Fortunately, he had planned ahead. Over the years, he had gradually transferred funds through various channels to the Eagle Country in advance, even sending his child there for schooling earlier in the year, while his wife had also departed under the pretext of accompanying the student.

As for the junior nurses in the hospital with whom he maintained illicit relationships.

What a joke. As long as one had money, would there ever be a scarcity of women?

A woman might not remain eighteen forever, but there were eighteen-year-old women every single year.

As long as he possessed his medical skill and this steady pair of hands, he would never lack money or women wherever he went.

Relaxing, Liu Xianming simply packed his luggage and secured his passport.

With the gradual opening up over the years, he had enjoyed numerous opportunities for overseas inspections and exchanges, so his passport had always remained close at hand.

Moreover, he held permanent residency in the Eagle Country, and his future appeared brilliantly bright.

That evening, accompanied by music, he pan-seared a steak for himself.

As he sliced through the meat with his knife, his face was wreathed in smiles.

Over the years, he had cut open countless abdominal cavities, extracting and stitching up organs whose numbers he had long lost count of.

When he picked up the scalpel, his hands were as steady as a precision machine, as if guided by divine providence—a natural gift bestowed upon him by the heavens.

Now, he was going to take his divine gift, leave this country, and head to the place of his dreams to continue his wonderful life.

That place was suffused with the breath of freedom, where even the wind tasted sweet.

Unlike Taihe City, where venturing even slightly outside the urban area revealed only low, flat-roofed houses and dry latrines everywhere, filling the spring air with the foul stench of feces.

It was said that to this day, people still came to blows over fighting for the excrement in public toilets to use as fertilizer.

What a backward place, utterly devoid of any nostalgia.

O vicious yet wonderful capitalist country, here I come!

At eight-fifty, he stepped out of his house carrying a light piece of luggage, even exchanging a greeting with the guard at the intersection.

The black sedan waiting to pick him up was visible in the distance, just past a partition wall.

Liu Xianming walked forward with a steady stride, a wonderful life beckoning to him just ahead.

Suddenly, a dark figure flew down from the partition wall, descending from the sky like a lean, tall figure wrapped in black cloth.

Liu Xianming froze. Before he could react, a wooden club materialized in the assailant's hand, crashing directly onto his right arm.

A sharp snap echoed through the air.

Fractured.

Disregarding the pain, Liu Xianming was gripped by a terror so intense his brain felt as though it were seizing up.

With a broken arm, his future surgical operations would undoubtedly be compromised!

He wanted to scream, but the assailant clamped a hand over his mouth and brought a foot down with a vicious stomp.

A sharp crunch rang out as Liu Xianming's right hand suffered a comminuted fracture.

In an instant, his heart turned to ash; he knew he was finished.

His entire life was over.

Even if his hands healed, performing surgeries was entirely out of the question. Who on earth was trying to ruin him to this extent?

The dark figure pinned Liu Xianming to the ground, lifted a foot once more to crush his left wrist, and then, thoroughly satisfied, grabbed the club and scaled the partition wall like an ape, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Beyond the partition wall lay the municipal park, dense with flora and trees.

Amidst the dead of winter, the park was virtually deserted, and the shadow disappeared after a few bounds, never to be seen again.

Only then did Liu Xianming emit a cry of agonizing grief. The piercing pain caused him to wriggle ceaselessly on the ground like a maggot.

Snot and tears streamed down his face together.

"Help me, save me."

The door of the black sedan parked at the street corner swung open, and two men sprinted over.

"Director Liu, what happened to you?"

"My hand, my hand."

"Good god, the right hand is completely shattered, and the left is broken too."

The other man appeared to possess some rudimentary medical knowledge, accurately assessing the situation.

"Shall we take you to the hospital?"

"No! Once you enter the hospital, you never get out. Hurry and take me to the dock."

Liu Xianming knew that remaining in Taihe City was far too perilous. If the authorities checked the Ministry of Health's records, they would inevitably uncover those surgeries of dubious origin.

By then, he would likely spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Yet the two men who had alighted from the car hesitated.

One of them said in a deep voice, "Old Liu, we arranged the car, the boat, and even bribed the border checkpoint to get you out, all because of your exceptional skills.

Now your hands are completely gone.

I doubt the old leader will take such a massive risk for your sake."

"What do you mean?

Are you trying to discard the millstone once the milling is done?

Let me tell you, over the years I've performed countless surgeries, many of which you coerced me into doing.

If I'm dragged down into this, none of you will have an easy time either.

Hurry and take me to Mingzhu City; once I reach the Eagle Country, I swear I won't say a word!"

Hearing this, the man chuckled softly.

"You still dare to threaten us? We allowed you to live, and we can make you die just as easily at any moment.

Do you really think that with your wife and child in England, they can escape our grasp?"

With those words, he waved a hand, hurried back into the car with his companion, and sped away into the distance.

Watching the sedan—which should have been his vehicle to freedom—drive further and further away, Liu Xianming felt a hatred burning like fire in his chest.

Waves of excruciating pain radiated from both hands, forcing him to turn, struggle to his feet, and shamble in a staggering run toward the guard booth.

"Comrade, quickly help me call the police and send me to the hospital!"

Forty minutes later, at Hospital 203, Liu Xianming had been wheeled into the operating room, only for the doctor on duty to declare that his hands possessed zero possibility of recovery.

The recommendation here was amputation...

Zhou Guodong and Huang Guohua stood outside the operating room doors.

Huang Guohua reported cautiously, "We've pulled the telephone records from Liu Xianming's residence. During the day, he made a call to Shengjing, the provincial capital, reaching the Foreign Trade Bureau.

His luggage and passport were found at the scene of the attack, confirming suspicions of an impending defection.

Yet for reasons unknown, the assailants did not take him with them."

Zhou Guodong glanced at Huang Guohua.

"Liu Xianming's value lay entirely in his hands. As long as he could perform surgery, he was a prized asset.

Now that his hands have been crushed into pulp, he's nothing more than a colossal liability. Who would want him now?

Are there security cameras at the crime scene?"

"For security purposes, the military sub-district has a closed-circuit television..."

At this point, Huang Guohua abruptly halted, throwing a glance at Zhou Guodong.

Tian Miao had informed them about Li Qi slipping out, allowing him and Zhou Guodong to deduce the exact probability of events.

Pondering for a moment, Zhou Guodong asked, "Wasn't that closed-circuit television broken?"

Huang Guohua instantly caught the drift.

"It was broken. It broke just this morning, and we haven't had time to fix it."

"Attend to this matter promptly. The individuals residing in the military sub-district are of significant stature; how could a closed-circuit television be out of order?

Arrange for someone to fix it immediately."

"Right away, sir!"

Huang Guohua nodded eagerly like a chicken pecking at rice, then broke into a wicked grin as he jogged away from the hospital to wrap up the loose ends for Li Qi.

Inwardly, he muttered to himself, "Good lad, well played!"

Zhou Guodong walked over to the window, lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and gazed up at the boundless starry sky.

"Such an unorthodox operator, completely lawless.

How on earth did you come up with the method of crippling Liu Xianming's hands?

A direct strike to the vitals.

This is far more cruel than killing him; the rest of his life will be spent enduring endless darkness, torment, and wailing cries.

This move can truly be called a stroke of divine genius.

A Buddha's heart combined with a Vajra's methods, indeed."

*Achoo!*

Li Qi sneezed violently.

"Who's talking behind my back?"

First, he tossed the club he had picked up in the park high into a tree, then buried the black cloth mask after burning it in a secluded spot, before carefully rubbing the soles of his shoes in the snow to ensure no traces were left behind.

Following his rebirth, his physical capabilities had grown to a terrifying degree. Breaking Liu Xianming's arms, crushing his hands, and scaling the wall to escape—the entire sequence had taken barely ten seconds.

Even he felt he was becoming less and less human.

Yet, deep down, he felt an immense sense of relief.

For scum like this, since the law failed to punish him, he had no choice but to mete out justice on behalf of heaven.

Just how many souls had died unjustly at his hands?

How many vibrant lives had he declared brain-dead merely to harvest their healthy parts?

Punishing such a wretch brought not a shred of burden to Li Qi's conscience; instead, it left his mind and spirit crystal clear.

For Liu Xianming, ruining his hands was infinitely more cruel than death.

His remaining years would be consumed by agonizing torment and unending remorse.

If he managed to drag other higher-ups down with him during the fallout, it would be all the more magnificent, sparing countless lives from future misery.

He walked all the way back to the Public Security Bureau guesthouse, spotting Tian Miao waiting for him in the distance by the entrance.

Upon seeing Li Qi return, Tian Miao—who had already learned of Liu Xianming's fate—threw herself straight into his arms, embracing him fiercely.

"Li Qi, my hero, my dear, darling little brother, make me yours!"