After Jada Tang left, Serena Feng closed the door of the operating room, lit all the lamps, pulled out the cabinets embedded in the walls, and took out every necessary medicine and instrument.
Don’t be fooled by Zuo An’s coldness, arrogance, greed, and sharp tongue—beneath it all, he’s surprisingly considerate. While Serena Feng was busy preparing for tomorrow’s challenges, Zuo An had already taken care of Simon Sun.
Zuo An understood that, as a young woman, Serena would find it inconvenient to care for a male patient. He not only checked Simon Sun’s injuries early on, but also removed Simon’s rough prison clothes and put him in clean silk garments—making it easier for Serena to treat him and letting Simon rest a bit more comfortably…
Soft silk wouldn’t stick to the wounds, minimizing the pain from fabric rubbing against Simon Sun’s injuries. Just for this, Serena decided that as long as Zuo An could keep a secret, she’d teach him how to make thunder-blast grenades.
What Zuo An did for Simon Sun might seem trivial, but every detail showed his thoughtfulness. If she hadn’t seen it herself, Serena wouldn’t have believed Zuo An could be so meticulous.
Lifting Simon Sun’s clothes, Serena saw that all his wounds had been cleaned and dressed. Judging by the treatment technique, she knew these weren’t done by Jada Tang—Jada could assist, but she wasn’t this fast or precise.
Zuo An didn’t just sprinkle medicine randomly; every wound on Simon Sun’s body had been carefully cleaned, the necrotic tissue removed with skill. The cuts showed the handler’s speed and steadiness—Serena thought, aside from Zuo An, no one else could be this quick.
Even the pooled blood and fluid at the wound sites had been meticulously drained—the pile of medical cotton on the floor was proof. Only Zuo An would think of this step; Jada Tang was too overwhelmed right now to consider it.
Seeing the expertly treated external injuries, even Serena had to admit: Zuo An wasn’t just the best assassin—he was the best at handling trauma, too. Even she couldn’t find fault.
“You really are a lucky child—even Zuo An, that ruthless assassin, is looking out for you.” Serena gently stroked Simon Sun’s head, her eyes showing a tenderness and pain far beyond her years.
A sixteen-year-old’s body couldn’t hide a twenty-seven-year-old’s mature soul. In her eyes, Simon Sun was just a little brother—a brother worth every effort to protect.
With the external wounds treated, Serena trusted Zuo An’s judgment—Simon hadn’t been violated, so she didn’t check further.
Simon Sun started to run a fever. Serena didn’t know if it was from the trauma or the head injury, but she was worried. His condition was bad—his brain injury was already affecting other parts of his body.
Simon Sun’s pupils shrank, his reaction to light was sluggish, his blood pressure rose, and his heart rate slowed—classic signs of epidural hematoma. Of course, you couldn’t diagnose him on symptoms alone, but these clinical signs were enough to show his brain injury was severe.
Serena decided to treat Simon Sun’s head injury first. As for the soft tissue and lung damage—she didn’t have time, and she wasn’t an internal medicine expert. If possible, she’d want to call in the Master of the Mystic Healer Valley to help; she wanted to give Simon the best care.
Simon Sun’s head injury was the worst—intracranial hematoma. Serena glanced at the Smart Med-Pack’s clock: it was midnight, less than seven hours till dawn. She had to run a CT scan fast to locate the hematoma and prep for surgery.
Seven hours, one person, and pre-op checks to do—there was barely enough time. But Simon’s condition couldn’t wait; any delay could cost his life.
Simon’s life mattered more than anything. Tomorrow’s lawsuit at the High Court of Justice would be left to Mira Tang and the Wang clan’s litigation master.
Serena shaved all of Simon Sun’s hair, activated the Smart Med-Pack, and ran a brain scan to pinpoint the hematoma. While waiting for results, she started prepping him for surgery. Throughout, Simon never woke, and his vital signs kept showing dangerous abnormalities.
“Simon, you must hold on. If you leave your master alone, she’ll be scared and lonely.” Serena whispered in Simon Sun’s ear before injecting the anesthetic.
She was a doctor—she had to be rational and calm. But the person lying on the operating table was family; until she picked up the scalpel, she worried just like any other patient’s relative.
“Simon, your master will fight to save you. You must hold on—whatever happened in the Bloodcloak Guard, you don’t have to be afraid now. Your master is back, your master is here. Don’t worry, don’t be scared. When you wake up, watch how I get justice for you.” Serena knew Simon couldn’t hear her under anesthesia, but she still whispered in his ear.
At this moment, she was grateful to be the lead surgeon—she’d be the first to know if Simon was safe. But she was also afraid: why did she have to be the one holding the scalpel?
Once she gripped the scalpel, she became an emotionless machine, performing the craniotomy with perfect precision. But before that, she was anxious and afraid.
Feng Manor had only the two of them, master and disciple. Not one less.
With anesthesia taking effect, the nutrient fluids finished, and Simon Sun’s test results out, Serena knew her battle was about to begin. She’d thought her first craniotomy in the Nine Provinces Realm would be for Victor Yun—but it turned out Simon was the first.
Serena took a deep breath and whispered one last time in Simon Sun’s ear: “Simon, let’s finish this surgery together. When it’s done, I’ll teach you how to remove a brain tumor. Then, the two of us will perform brain surgery for Victor Yun.”
(This chapter isn’t finished yet~.~, please click next page to continue reading!)
After saying this, Serena stood up and stopped looking at Simon Sun. She checked the CT images from the Smart Med-Pack, confirmed the location of his intracranial hematoma, and finalized the surgical site.
After hundreds of surgeries, craniotomy was the procedure Serena knew best—she could do it with her eyes closed. So…
Simon Sun will be fine.
Serena closed her eyes and hid every trace of emotion. When she opened them again, her gaze was clear and utterly calm—cold as Zuo An during a kill, focused only on the task.
Serena adjusted the operating table, angled the lights where she needed, washed her hands, disinfected, changed into a fresh surgical gown, disinfected again, and returned to the table.
Every movement was meticulous, and her presence was so intense that no one dared meet her eyes. At this moment, Serena was fully immersed in her work—whatever happened outside no longer mattered.
She checked the patient, lifted the scalp, used a medical drill to mark the site, bored four holes, set the drill aside, picked up the bone saw, cut open the skull, and set the bone flap aside—now the dura mater was exposed.
The dura was sticky with blood, trembling faintly—an alarming sight, but Serena felt no fear. She’d seen scenes like this countless times before.
Without blinking, Serena carefully separated the dura, searched for the hematoma, and once she found it, took out the suction instrument and drew out the intracranial clot.
The surgery was bloody and brutal. Serena’s movements were clean and decisive, but opening a skull—no matter how you looked at it, it seemed monstrous, like a demoness devouring a man.
Serena was deeply relieved that there was nowhere for anyone to hide in the operating room. If the dark-guards saw this, they’d probably vomit and lose the ability to protect her. If outsiders saw what she did today, even though she was saving a life, it would end badly.
Cutting open a person’s skull—in the eyes of the world, that person was already dead. Whether it was Serena performing the surgery or Simon Sun surviving it, neither would be accepted by society.
Serena had no intention of sharing the details of the surgery. After removing the intracranial hematoma, she didn’t relax—she replaced the skull, stitched up the wound, and also sewed up the bloody hole at the back of Simon’s head. She fitted Simon Sun with protective gear and cleaned up after the operation.
By the time Serena finished the craniotomy, dawn had already broken. Following her instructions, Mira Tang and the Wang family’s litigation master arrived at the High Court of Justice early to file charges against the Bloodcloak Guard and Shunning Marquis Manor.
But Zuo An was even earlier. As Serena was putting Simon Sun’s skull back, Zuo An was already wandering through the busiest parts of the imperial city with two stacks of papers.
Teahouses, inns, the Imperial Academy, the main streets, the residences of censors, the homes of nobles and marquises, the gates of powerful families—everywhere Zuo An could think of, he left no place untouched.
Fortunately, though Zuo An was bold and skilled, he wasn’t reckless enough to scatter those papers—filled with evidence of Bloodcloak Guard and Shunning Marquis Manor’s crimes—at the palace gates.
The sheets covered in accusations fluttered like snow, landing in every corner of the imperial city. By morning, whether scholar, official, commoner, or young master, everyone saw those two pages detailing Shunning Marquis Manor and Bloodcloak Guard’s crimes.
“So the lords of the marquis manor are so depraved—who would want their daughters now?”
“That Shunning Marquis Manor is vile. Their own daughter misbehaves, then they blame someone else. Serves them right! Poor Little Divine Doctor Sun, made a scapegoat.”
“Which Little Divine Doctor Sun? Is it the one who gave out porridge and medicine lately?” An illiterate commoner overheard the gossip and hurried over to ask.
“That’s right, Little Divine Doctor Sun. Who else would dare use that title? Shunning Marquis Manor is wicked—framing even Little Divine Doctor Sun. I curse their whole family: may they never die well, may their sons be born without an anus!”
Rumors spread instantly through the imperial city, and the curses against Shunning Marquis Manor multiplied…