Chapter 875: The Right Way to Use a Swiss Army Knife
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The warm sunlight was pleasant to the men, but the rising temperature caused by the sunlight was now killing the minke whale, and the high temperature was also speeding up the wound’s inflammation process. If the broken harpoon that was lodged in the wound was not taken out, even if the whale were to return to the sea, it was not going to live more than a few days.
In the course of the inspection, Zhang Zian faintly smelled a rancid smell coming from the wound. He also noticed that the edges of the wound were covered with a yellowish abscess. After rubbing against the beach, some sand had also made its way into the wound, so the situation was not good.
“How do we get it out?” Looking at the minke whale’s gruesome wound, Huang was shaken.
“I’ll go look for tools in my car. The two of you can continue to shower it with water, especially to wash off the sand in its wound,” Zhang Zian instructed.
Huang and Xiao Zhi did as they were told. They splashed boxes of cold seawater onto the minke whale’s wound, was.h.i.+ng off the sand and mud in the wound.
The minke whale seemed to enjoy having its wound rinsed with seawater. It swayed its caudal fin from side to side.
Zhang Zian went through the spare tools in his Wuling Shenguang, but he did not find anything that could be of use. He grabbed a pair of pliers and a pair of rubbers gloves then returned back to the minke whale.
“Huang, do you have a lighter on you?” Zian asked. Zian didn’t smoke, so he wouldn’t carry a lighter around.
“I do.” Huang took out a delicate-looking lighter, but before handing it to Zhang Zian, he lit a cigarette and took a puff. “Brother, do you want a stick? It helps to relieve some exhaustion.”
“Dad! You’re secretly smoking again! I’ll tell mom when I get back!” Xiao Zhi looked at him with his hands on his waist.
“Don’t! Xiao Zhi, dad’s just smoking a stick! One stick!” Huang smiled and said. “I’ll buy you a toy gun when we get back!”
Zhang Zian took the lighter and tried to light it. He realized that it was windproof, so no matter how strong the sea breeze was, the fire would not go out. Zian took out a key from his pocket.
A multi-function swiss army knife was hung together with his keys. It was meant to make it convenient for him to open mailboxes, but now it was able to be of use, too.
“Xiao Zhi, Huang, step back a little.” Zhang Zian gestured.
Huang looked at him while smoking. “Brother, you plan to…?”
Zhang Zian put on the rubber gloves. The gloves were meant for his wild harvest by the seaside because there were a number of creatures that could be poisonous, so as much as possible, he had to avoid using his own hands to pick them up.
He lit the lighter again, and heated the small swiss army knife on the yellow flame. He explained, “The harpoon is barbed and is hooked to its meat inside. We need to cut the wound open a little more to remove the harpoon… But the process will definitely be very painful, and I’m afraid that it would hurt the two of you during the struggle, so I want you to move back a little.”
Hearing that, Huang quickly pulled Xiao Zhi back to the reef rocks. “Brother, you be careful, too!”
Zhang Zian nodded. “I will.”
Honestly speaking, Zhang Zian wasn’t confident. He was okay with treating the wounds of cats and dogs since there would only be a few scratches here and there if they struggled. But when facing a whale that weighed about three tons, he was really worried. If it turned around and squashed him, the whale would definitely squeeze the sh*t out of him…
To start the operation for the whale, Zian had to be extra careful. He always had to be ready to retreat.
Zhang Zian disinfected both sides of the knife with the flame, then squatted down next to the minke whale’s head and said to it, “You’re injured, so now I’m going to remove the thing that’s hurting you. The process is going to be very painful, but this is all to help you. Can you bear with it?”
As Zian spoke to the minke whale, he stared right into its eyes and had his hands on its skin. Zian looked very serious. Huang and Xiao Zhi could not help but feel that Zian was playing the lute in front of a cow.
Zhang Zian was able to feel that the minke whale was a creature of intelligence. Although its intelligence was equivalent to infants when compared to humans, even infants were able to feel the goodwill of others.
Whales were not cold-blooded creatures; they are mammals like humans, and they also had a very large brain. That gave their intelligence the capital of surpa.s.sing the other animals.
The minke whale’s eyes were also staring at him.
Whales had very poor eyesight, but they were still able to see clearly in a short distance.
Zhang Zian repeated his words a few times. The knife was already dark red from being heated up. The heat could also be felt on the handle, so much so that Zian almost couldn’t hold on to it anymore.
There was no reaction from the minke whale, so Zian wasn’t sure if it could understand him, but he could no longer delay the operation.
Zian extinguished the flame of the lighter and threw it back to Huang. Using his left hand to support the edge of the wound, Zian observed where the harpoon had entered. After estimating where the harpoon was lodged, Zian waved the knife toward the spot.
The harpoon injury wasn’t recent, as part of the whale’s muscles were already growing back together, which caused the barbed harpoon to be buried inside its flesh. If Zian didn’t cut open its flesh and pull out the harpoon directly, the whale would not be able to bear it even with a will of steel.
One must be able to steel his heart to be a doctor––the more one delayed, the more pain they were giving the patient.
With one slash from Zhang Zian, its meat was cut open and blood immediately gushed out. Simultaneously, Zhang Zian also quickly retreated backward to prevent getting hurt from its struggling.
Out of pain, the minke whale slammed its caudal fin on the water, splas.h.i.+ng up a tower of water that was as tall as a man. It also rubbed its head to the left and right on the beach, leaving a fan-shaped mark on the beach. The whale was clearly in a lot of pain.
But, even under such pain, it did not make any large movements. Its pectoral and dorsal fins only moved a little then stopped and trembled.
Blood could not stop gus.h.i.+ng out from the would; it flowed down its skin and dyed the beach red.
Zhang Zian waited for a few seconds. After seeing that it didn’t make any fierce struggle or put up any resistance, Zian carefully went back beside it.
As the blood was not stopping, Zian couldn’t see what it was like inside the wound. It would have been great if there was someone to help wash away the blood with water, but both Huang and Xiao Zhi were too terrified to move.
Zian had felt the tip of his knife touch something hard when he had slashed it. It stopped his knife from going further and it didn’t seem to be the minke whale’s bone.
Zian used to pliers to clamp on to the broken handle of the harpoon and he tried to pull it out. He could feel that the harpoon was loosened.
The minke whale started struggling more intensely; its whole body could not stop shaking.
Zhang Zian could only give it a try. He used all his strength and pulled the broken handle!
Pu!
Together with its handle and barbs, the harpoon was pulled out from its wound, and a string of blood beads formed an arc under the sunlight.
Zhang Zian had used too much strength. He lost his balance and fell on his b.u.t.t after stumbling a few steps. With blood on it, the harpoon was stuck in the sand.
Out of pain, the minke whale started to hit its head and tail fins against the beach and water. It seemed to be in a spasm. A powerful breath of air was blown out from its nostrils, blowing up the sand towards Zhang Zian’s eyes.
For an instant, Zhang Zian really felt that it might die from the pain, but after a few seconds, the whale stopped struggling and became quiet. The blood did not seem to gush out as much as earlier, but it still didn’t stop.
Zhang Zian stood up again and took a look at the wound.
Although the harpoon had been removed, the blood gus.h.i.+ng out from the wound had be stopped. Otherwise, if it continued to bleed, the minke whale would not last long.
But how was he supposed to stop the bleeding?
Use a knife that had been heated red to burn the wound like in the movies?The wound was too big… Zian would have to use a forty-meter long knife to make it work.
Zian looked around and his gaze fell on the kite that Xiao Zhi and Huang had thrown aside. The long and strong kite line was coiled around the H-shaped handle.
“Xiao Zhi, can I borrow your kite for a moment?” Zhang Zian asked loudly.
The father and son were pale with fright from the earlier scene. They could not speak for a moment.
“The… the kite?” Xiao Zhi’s lips trembled. “Uncle, what do you need to kite for?”
Zhang Zian had no time to correct him that it was “big brother” and not “uncle.” He explained, “I just need the kite line. I need it to st.i.tch its wound.”
Huang and Xiao Zhi looked at each other, clearly saying to each other, “You can do that, too?”
Xiao Zhi wanted to bring the kite over, but he was held back by Huang. Huang was afraid of Xiao Zhi getting hurt, so he ran over and placed both the kite and kite handle beside Zhang Zian, then he quickly stepped back again.
“Even if you have a string now, what can you do without a needle?” Huang asked.
Zhang Zian used the swiss army knife to cut the kite line. He then placed the goldfish kite at the side and rubbed his hands together. He knew that the kite line was a cotton thread, and it didn’t matter if the cotton thread was left in its flesh.
Zian removed his key ring. Clamping onto one side with his big pliers and the other with the small plier that came with his swiss army knife, he used the force on both his arms. He pulled the key ring into an arc, then said, “Don’t we have a needle now?”
Huang shouted in his heart, then offered to help, “I’ll help you pull it straight.”
“There’s no need to pull it straight. Needles used during operations are all curved––it makes it more convenient to st.i.tch.” Zhang Zian looked at both ends of the key ring and chose the side that was sharper. He then filed it on the swiss army knife filer, making it sharper, before he tied the kite line to the other end.
Huang stood there awkwardly. He wanted to help but he didn’t know what he could help out with.
Zhang Zian turned and saw Huang’s awkwardness. It was nice that he wanted to help, so he gestured and said, “Huang, help me hold onto the kite handle. I need to st.i.tch the wound for the minke whale, so I’ll need you to release the strings and be careful not to get any sand on it.”
“Okay.” Huang picked up the handle as instructed and stood a few steps away. He waited at a safe distance for further instructions.
Xiao Zhi ran over and stood beside his father, using his fingers to remove every piece of sand from the kite line.
Zhang Zian used the lighter and lightly burned the key ring to disinfect it. He also did the same for the small pliers on the swiss army knife because the whale’s skin was very thick and tough. Using his fingers to pinch the needles and to st.i.tch was unhygienic and his fingers did not have enough strength to penetrate the whale’s skin. He was going to use the small pliers to do the st.i.tching of the wound.
Before he started, Zian once again squatted beside the minke whale, and just like before, he stared into its eyes and said seriously, “I know you can understand me. You did very well earlier. So now, please bear with it for a little longer, okay?”