Chapter 361: Treatment

Park Deok-hwan opened the door and hurried into the courtyard. He saw a glow from the direction of the stables outside the city, which had already reddened the sky. Gunshots rang out one after another, mixed with the neighing of horses and the barking of dogs. His heart trembled, and his whole body couldn’t help but shake.

Jang Seong-seol quietly approached him from behind. She looked at his back. At this position, a single stab to his lower back would kill him without a sound…

She trembled with excitement, unable to resist the urge to reach for the dagger under her skirt. Fortunately, she managed to suppress her desire in time, thinking with some regret that she still needed to keep him alive for now.

“Master, it’s cold at night. Don’t stand in the courtyard,” she said in a gentle voice, draping a piece of clothing over him.

Park Deok-hwan stood there怔怔, not answering. Just then, a few gunshots also rang out in the city. Then, he saw whistles, footsteps, and commands coming from the street outside. Rows of torches passed by the wall from time to in. From the accent of the commands, he knew that not only the Fubo Army, but also the Japanese team and the White Horse team had been mobilized—something major had clearly happened in the city as well.

For a moment, arson, assassination, riots, and even the more terrifying counter-attack of the government army… all sorts of terrible thoughts flooded his mind.

For a moment, the trembling spread from his whole body to his teeth, which chattered. Jang Seong-seol saw it clearly. She knew that this person’s cowardly nature was fully exposed. If he stayed outside, it would probably cause more trouble. She went forward and comforted him with gentle words, helping him back into the room to rest.

The entire city was already under martial law under Xue Ziliang’s command. Originally, a curfew was imposed on the streets of Jeju City as soon as night fell. Now, a large number of armed personnel were sent out to patrol and check. For a time, the four gates were tightly closed, and every household on every street closed their doors and locked their gates.

The commotion in and out of the city lasted for less than a shichen (two hours). The number of righteous army members mobilized in and out of the city this time was not large, less than three hundred in total. Among them, a dozen or so had infiltrated the city to commit arson. According to the plan of Hwang Wun-u, Jo Myeong-gwi, and others, when the stables outside the city caught fire and the horses were startled, the “Wo-Kun” would definitely dispatch personnel from the city to reinforce them. Once the city was in chaos, they could take the opportunity to set fires and poison the wells. Unexpectedly, the team that went to burn the stables immediately dispersed. The righteous army members who had intended to take advantage of the chaos in the city to carry out sabotage activities were arrested one after another as soon as they moved out. Those who resisted were killed on the spot.

The gunshots had completely subsided. Xue Ziliang led a patrol team to inspect all the important locations in the city. He was particularly worried about internal riots such as a “camp riot” in the refugee camp. Although there were riot police, it would still cause unnecessary casualties.

Although he was not the military and political chief of Jeju Island, the fewer casualties the better. The forward committee were all in the same boat.

When he patrolled to the refugee camp, he met Zhu Mingxia. Zhu Mingxia was wearing a stab-proof vest, an M80 steel helmet, and was carrying an SKS rifle, looking as if he were facing a great enemy.

“Any losses in the city?” he asked hurriedly when he saw Xue Ziliang approaching with the patrol.

“No, all the bandits in the city have been captured—or killed. A city-wide search is now underway.”

“Then I’ll leave the city to you. I’m going to take some men out to check on the situation at the stables,” Zhu Mingxia said. Although the forces outside the city were strong, and four or five thousand of the local so-called “righteous army” were nothing more than scarecrows, Nick, a Yuanlao, was living in the stables. It was only right and proper to show “high concern.”

Zhu Mingxia led a patrol out of the city gate to the stables outside the city. When he arrived, the fire on the wooden sheds and grassland had already been extinguished. Nick was sitting in the courtyard outside his office, holding his Glock pistol, surrounded by his apprentices. Seeing Zhu Mingxia arrive, he was visibly relieved.

“Are the stables safe?” Zhu Mingxia asked.

“All safe. No losses except for a few wooden sheds. Some of the horses were spooked and are being calmed down,” Nick said.

He had not sent out personnel for further searches. Nick probably felt that driving the enemy away was enough. However, sending out small units to search in the dark was not something to be criticized.

“Unfortunately, there were casualties!” Nick sighed. “I was careless!”

When Zhu Mingxia entered the sluice house, the fire had already been put out. The trainees had rushed in to fight the fire as soon as they saw the flames. Not only was the sluice gate equipment that Kim O-sun had desperately protected undamaged, but only the doors and windows of the house were damaged.

Kim O-sun was unconscious, and Kim Yuk-sun was already dead. The people gathered around parted to let Zhu Mingxia through. Zhu Mingxia walked in and looked around. The ground was covered in blood, and the bodies of two “righteous army” members were lying on the floor. One had his brains bashed in, the other was covered in knife wounds. It was clear they had been dead for some time.

The handwheel and screw were stained with blood, and a half-burnt rag was still hanging on it. The rough bench was broken, covered in brains and blood.

Seeing a half-torn piece of cloth still clutched in Kim O-sun’s blackened hand, Zhu Mingxia took a deep breath, feeling a little moved. He had always treated the people of this time with a pragmatic attitude. He was concerned about their loyalty only because they could be driven by the Senate. The various political work methods and theories he used were just a kind of “art” on the road to global domination.

However, this brother and sister had fought to the death for a simple sluice house. Such simple and great loyalty could not help but touch his heart.

A medic was bandaging Kim O-sun. He asked in a low voice, “How are her injuries? Is it dangerous?”

The medic said, “She was slashed three or four times, none of them deep. There’s a stab wound on her forearm, also not serious. But she has lost a lot of blood, and has second-degree burns on both hands. We’ll have to wait for Chief Feng to examine her to know the details.”

“Go and tell Chief Feng that I said to save her at all costs. Understand?”

“Yes, I’ll be sure to tell him!”

Zhu Mingxia returned to the city and saw that some prisoners had already been brought in. The interrogation of the prisoners would be handled by the Political Security Bureau. He went to the troop barracks to check on them again. After all the commotion, it was already dawn. But Zhu Mingxia was not sleepy at all. He wiped his face and went to the clinic to see Kim O-sun.

He had not paid much attention to this rather plain-looking woman before—he only knew that she was the daughter of the White Horse Battalion’s captain, was very capable, and was a good candidate for a naturalized citizen cadre. But last night’s events had made him very interested in her. He hoped she would survive. Such a determined and loyal naturalized citizen was a rare talent…

A clear bugle call sounded from the city gate, followed by the “morning cannon” to open the city gates. Crowds of commoners and members of the labor service corps walked to the various construction sites and workshops in and out of the city. Fubo Army soldiers sang as they marched in neat ranks through the streets. The entire city began a new day as if no battle had ever taken place.

The losses from the night’s骚乱 were almost negligible, and of course, the gains were not great either. More than fifty “righteous army” members were killed or wounded, fifteen were captured, and a few bags of poison intended for the wells were seized. Through the interrogation of the prisoners, all the “hostile elements” in the city could undoubtedly be rooted out.

Zhu Mingxia estimated that the nests of these people were most likely the local shops. But the specifics would be judged by the Political Security General Bureau. In any case, they couldn’t run away. The checks at the city gates had been strengthened. Only local commoners and members of the labor service corps who served the Senate and held passes could freely enter and exit Jeju City. Ordinary commoners were allowed in but not out.

In this way, the pacification campaign on Jeju Island would probably have to start ahead of schedule. Zhu Mingxia had originally planned to formulate a plan based on the situation of the Political Consultative Conference after it was held, but now it seemed unnecessary.

He walked into the clinic and saw Feng Zongze and several nurses and medics busy at work. A nurse was cleaning and suturing Kim O-sun’s wounds. Kim O-sun’s face was pale, her brows were tightly furrowed, and she would occasionally groan softly from the sting of the disinfectant.

“How is she?”

“The wounds are not serious…” Feng Zongze, wearing a white coat with his sleeves rolled up high, smelled of disinfectant. “But it’s quite severe. Seven slashes, one stab wound. The wounds are not deep, and she’ll be fine after they’re stitched up. But she’s lost a lot of blood…” He pointed to the IV drip. “I don’t have any plasma here, so I have to use glucose saline solution. I don’t know if she can make it.”

“It won’t be life-threatening, will it?”

“It’s hard to say. Without a blood transfusion, it’s fifty-fifty,” Feng Zongze said. “I’ve given her tetanus and antibiotics. Infection shouldn’t be a big problem, but…” he said, pointing to her hands, which were being debrided.

“Second-degree burns on both hands—I don’t have the skill to treat that,” Feng Zongze said. “It might even involve skin grafting. All of that has to be done at the General Hospital in Lingao…”

“Then let’s transfer her as soon as possible. As for the blood transfusion, can we do a live donation?”

Feng Zongze hesitated. “To be honest, I’m not a doctor. I’m just a pharmacist. I can’t handle surgical matters. Besides, there’s the issue of blood type. We don’t know what her blood type is.”

“Can the nurses test it? It should be very simple, right?”

“Indeed, but the nurses don’t seem to have much confidence in blood typing…”

Zhu Mingxia knew that these nurses were all trainees on rotation. It was natural for them to hesitate at a critical juncture like this, where a person might die. But the current situation probably couldn’t wait for experienced nurses to be sent over. He said, “First, send a telegram to Shandong and have a special boat bring Dr. Xie over. If we can’t wait, let them try first—we must save her life.”

Feng Zongze nodded grimly. “I’ll do my best. As soon as she’s stable, I’ll send a boat to take her to Lingao.”

Zhu Mingxia was about to leave the ward when he suddenly heard suppressed sobs. He turned around and saw the figure of a man squatting in the corner of the courtyard, his shoulders shaking. He knew it was Kim Yong-ju. His heart couldn’t help but ache. He wanted to say something but didn’t know what to say, so he quietly walked away.