Chapter 123 - 103: Thunderstrike

Xu Daqing paused for a moment, stopping in his tracks. The reason he came out to inspect was because he noticed the pixiu charm on his phone was missing. He was a bit distressed about the money and worried it might be discovered by someone. Initially, he was concerned that Tang Mingmei would make a big fuss about it, but hearing no commotion, he decided to come out under the guise of a night inspection to search for it, not expecting to encounter Xu Chunliang.Xu Daqing’s heart was pounding, he turned around and saw Xu Chunliang holding a pen.

Xu Daqing breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it was his pixiu charm.

"It’s not mine."

Xu Chunliang said, "Then I’ll keep it for use."

Xu Daqing said, "Go to bed early, don’t wander around. Be careful, or you’ll be mistaken for a bad guy and get caught."

"I haven’t done anything wrong, why would they catch me?"

Xu Daqing felt there was a hidden meaning in his words, he didn’t dare to linger any longer. After all, the one with a guilty conscience was himself. He turned and walked towards the duty room, looked back halfway, but Xu Chunliang was no longer in sight. Feeling a bit at ease, he thought the charm was small and unlikely to be noticed. It was already late, and searching again might arouse suspicion from others. Better wait until daylight.

There was a knock on the door.

The shaking of the iron-framed bed halted abruptly, Xu Daqing, feeling suddenly interrupted, was irritated: "Who is it?"

There was no reply from outside.

Xu Daqing got up, put on his slippers, hunched over and opened the door, only to find no one outside. He couldn’t believe he heard wrong.

"Who is it?" He looked around, still no answer, he couldn’t help but curse.

The night wind blew, instantly sobering him up. Whatever mood he had was gone. Xu Daqing, cursing, shut the door and crawled back into bed.

He picked up his phone and looked at the photos again, but was no longer in the mood. Cursing again, he turned off the screen and tried to sleep. He had a habit of sleeping nude, sleeping more comfortably that way, but hadn’t slept long before he felt a numbing sensation between his legs. Reaching down to touch, his body suddenly froze.

He quickly turned on the light, lifted the covers, and the scene before him made his soul scatter. On his legs crawled more than a dozen scorpions, with two nestled around his groin.

Scared, Xu Daqing jumped off the bed, desperately swatting the scorpions on his body. The scorpions simultaneously launched an attack, tail stingers piercing his skin. Xu Daqing felt an odd sensation on his back where he couldn’t see, more than ten scorpions were there as well.

Naked, Xu Daqing charged out of the duty room, shouting for help. Several dozen scorpions had already injected toxins into his body.

Seeing a figure ahead, he hurriedly ran over for help, only to discover it was Xu Chunliang.

Feigning surprise, Xu Chunliang said, "Section Chief Xu, you sure are in high spirits, running around naked in the middle of the night?"

Fear made Xu Daqing stammer, "Scorpions, scorpions..."

Xu Chunliang seemed to only then notice the scorpions on him, telling him not to be afraid and turned around to get rid of them.

Following his instructions, Xu Daqing turned around, and suddenly his legs went weak, collapsing to the ground. It was Xu Chunliang who, taking advantage of his distraction, had struck his pressure points.

Xu Chunliang, smiling, watched the scene unfold, not immediately calling for help but first took out his phone and snapped shots of the naked Xu Daqing.

Horrified, Xu Daqing thought, what’s with this guy, why take pictures of a man. Just as he wanted to shout for him to stop,

Xu Chunliang was already shouting, "Help! Someone, help!"

"Don’t shout, don’t..."

Embarrassed and angry, Xu Daqing realized he was stark naked. That’s it, so much shame this time.

Almost everyone on duty at the sub-hospital that night was brought over by Xu Chunliang’s yelling. Xu Daqing lay spread-eagle on the ground, feeling both humiliated and furious as people watched.

Eventually, Jin Yonghao considered it unsightly and covered him with a sheet, arranging for staff to carry him on a stretcher to the emergency room.

Weishan Island Hospital’s departments weren’t as finely divided as at Changxing Headquarters. That night, the on-call surgeon was orthopedic doctor Wang Xiaofeng. Hearing Xu Daqing was stung by scorpions, he came to check on him. Lifting the sheet, he discovered several scorpions had indeed assisted in achieving the outcome, greatly exceeding expectations.

Xu Daqing kept screaming miserably, itching and in pain all over, yet unable to move due to paralysis, he could only plead with Wang Xiaofeng to hurry up and treat him.

Wang Xiaofeng began to inquire about the incident history, specifically who was the first to find Xu Daqing. Xu Daqing told him it was Xu Chunliang, realizing then that Xu Chunliang hadn’t followed them here.

Almost everyone was alarmed by this sudden incident. By the time Tang Mingmei came out to see what was happening, Xu Daqing had already been taken to emergency.

Xu Chunliang waved to her and handed over Xu Daqing’s phone, taking advantage of the time when Xu Daqing was being sent to the emergency room to slip into the duty room and take his phone.

Tang Mingmei thought, why would I need his phone? Besides, without his face, I can’t unlock it.

Xu Chunliang told her Xu Daqing was lying in the emergency room, asking her to bring the phone to him.

Tang Mingmei immediately understood, realizing Xu Chunliang was hinting that the "key" was right there, and if she wished to unlock it, she just needed to find Xu Daqing in the emergency room.

Xu Chunliang accompanied Tang Mingmei to the emergency room.

Xu Daqing laid there, dead to the world. Wang Xiaofeng had some training in this area.

Standard procedures for dealing with scorpion stings:

1. Extract venom using tools — he used cupping to create negative pressure to suction out the venom.

2. Prevent venom spread by using tourniquets on stung limbs, and cool with ethylene chloride to constrict blood vessels, preventing venomous spread.

3. Enlarge the wound on the stung skin, thoroughly wash with soapy water, dilute ammonia, or potassium permanganate solution, followed by alkaline solution wet compress.

4. Apply ground realgar and calamine to the wound site.

The stung areas on the body were manageable, but the groin was too awkward. Even if it swelled over double, it wasn’t enough to find a suitable cup, so a large syringe was used to draw the venom out.

Xu Daqing felt like dying, paralyzed all over, even unable to move a finger. He had no idea it was Xu Chunliang striking his pressure points, thinking it a toxin reaction. However, he could still speak, continuously urging Wang Xiaofeng to detoxify him as he couldn’t move at all.

Wang Xiaofeng felt something was off. Even a scorpion sting shouldn’t cause full-body paralysis. He asked for Miao Xiujun to consult.

Before Miao Xiujun could arrive, Xu Chunliang and Tang Mingmei were already there.

Furious about Xu Chunliang secretly snapping photos earlier, Xu Daqing angrily rebuked, "Xu Chunliang, what do you mean by that? Why sneak photos of me?"

Xu Chunliang replied, "How else could I help the doctors understand your condition without some photos? It’s not sneaking, it was done openly. You’re like a dog biting Lv Dongbin, not recognizing a good man."

Tang Mingmei picked up Xu Daqing’s phone and waved it in front of his face. Xu Daqing realized it was over, cursing whoever invented face unlock.

Tang Mingmei easily unlocked Xu Daqing’s phone and opened the photo album.

Xu Daqing realized what she was about to do, horrified, "My phone, don’t mess with it..."

Tang Mingmei already found the photos he secretly took of her. Both embarrassed and angry, she raised her hand and gave Xu Daqing a loud slap, echoing crisply.

Pretending to be oblivious, Xu Chunliang asked, "Sister Tang, why hit people? He’s already like this, you shouldn’t hit someone who can’t fight back."

Tang Mingmei slapped him again, pointing at Xu Daqing’s nose and cursed, "You old pervert, just wait to go to jail!" She decided to call the police.

By the time Deputy Director Zhang Haibin arrived, the on-duty police officers from the station were already there, taking Xu Daqing’s statement. The evidence was irrefutable, leaving him unable to deny. His phone contained secretly taken photos, not only of Tang Mingmei but other female employees from the same hospital. After all, the bathhouse was communal, and many showered there. What finally made Tang Mingmei determined to call the police was that this wasn’t his first offense. Though her photos weren’t clear, others were captured quite vividly.

It’s an explosion from silence, or perish in silence, Tang Mingmei decided to be the first to stand up.

With Xu Chunliang’s friend assistance, they provided the pixiu charm and cigarette butt, these pieces of evidence were enough to bring Xu Daqing down.

Hearing about the incident, Yan Huaiyi was so enraged his face turned pale, almost ordering the medical staff to cease their measures, considering letting the voyeur perish on his own, not wanting valuable medical resources wasted on such a piece of trash.

Zhang Haibin originally came out of concern to check on an old classmate’s situation, only to realize it was far more severe than he imagined.

Yan Huaiyi pointed at his nose and began to accuse, "Zhang Haibin, what... what... what kind of garbage things are you using?" He stammered when agitated.