Qi Xia wore a troubled expression. He had just tried to pull out the harpoon, but its barbs were so intricately designed that it was nearly impossible to extract from the body.
Looking at the blood gushing out, Qi Xia felt a moment of daze.
Are they really dead?
Do the dead… still get hurt?
Qi Xia steadied his mind; now was not the time to ponder such questions, but to cut the ropes immediately.
All the harpoons were slowly retracting; how could he use another harpoon to cut his ropes?
The only certainty was that when all the ropes were pulled back into the wall, the harpoons would disappear, and Han Yimo would die.
"I need to find a way to get a harpoon… but what should I do…" Qi Xia frowned and quickly scanned his surroundings.
He had to take another gamble.
He picked up two slowly retreating harpoons from the ground and quickly tied their ropes together in a tight knot.
"Hey! Stop surrounding Han Yimo!" Qi Xia shouted, "Do it like I did! We need to at least leave one harpoon behind."
Lin Qing instantly understood his intention and quickly found two harpoons, tying them together neatly with a knot.
However, the shape of the knot she tied was quite peculiar, something Qi Xia had never seen before.
At that moment, he didn't have time to think too much and could only focus on the two harpoons in front of him.
As the ropes continued to retract, the two ropes were now tightly pulling against each other.
At this rate, it wouldn't be long before one of the ropes snapped, leaving one behind.
Qi Xia slowly stepped back, and the two ropes emitted a terrifying sound. If his guess was correct, the snapped rope under such immense tension could potentially injure someone.
Sure enough, the next moment, one of the ropes let out a loud crack and broke.
The other rope, along with the harpoon, flailed wildly in the air for a moment before crashing down hard onto the ground, leaving a deep imprint.
Qi Xia rushed forward, wanting to untie the broken rope before the harpoon retracted back into the wall.
But at that moment, he discovered that the two ropes that had been tied together had completely deformed due to the immense tension. It was impossible to untie them, and even the shape of the ropes was hard to discern.
"I'm done!" Lin Qing shouted from not far away. "Whoever has the strength, hurry up and help cut the writer's ropes!"
"Done?"
Qi Xia turned around and saw that the knot Lin Qing had tied was incredibly clever; it had automatically separated when the rope snapped.
Officer Li, who hadn't even finished tying his knot at the beginning, quickly put down the harpoon in his hand upon hearing this and said, "I'll cut it, give it to me!"
After taking the harpoon, Officer Li hurriedly made his way to Han Yimo's side just as he was about to be pulled against the wall.
Fortunately, although the harpoon had a sharp tip, the pointed end also had small edges that were sharp enough to be used like a knife.
Seeing this, Qiao Jiajin also stepped forward to help. Although Qi Xia had already thought of a solution at the first moment, Han Yimo was now less than half a meter from the wall.
The tearing pain made it impossible for Han Yimo to resist; he could only slowly retreat with the rope, or the barbs in front of his chest would cause him unbearable agony.
Officer Li grabbed the rope behind him and, after a brief moment of thought, aimed for the rope closest to Han Yimo's body and began to cut it with the sharp harpoon.
His hands were steady, and each cut accurately struck the rope.
However, the rope was tougher than expected, and after several cuts, it only left behind small notches.
He quickly assessed the situation and realized it was a bit tricky.
Although the rope would eventually be cut, what they lacked most right now was time.
In less than a minute, Han Yimo's body would make contact with the wall, and at that point, it would be impossible to cut the rope from behind.
"I'm throwing it! Are you done yet?" Qiao Jiajin asked anxiously. "You're moving so slowly that you're going to kill this guy!"
"Stop blabbering!" Officer Li snapped back, then continued to apply more force.
As Han Yimo's body got closer to the wall, Officer Li's face was already covered in fine sweat.
It must be said that his mental fortitude was incredibly strong; despite the tense and oppressive atmosphere in the air, he made no mistakes with the small harpoon, hitting the notches perfectly with each cut.
However, with Han Yimo now less than thirty centimeters from the wall, Officer Li's arm was starting to struggle.
Qiao Jiajin, quick on his feet, stepped in front of Han Yimo, using his body to shield him. This way, although Han Yimo would suffer injury sooner, the distance between him and the wall would not change for the time being.
"Officer! Hurry!"
Officer Li held his breath and continued cutting; at this point, the rope had already been severed by more than half, but it was still connected.
Han Yimo kept letting out painful cries, as the harpoon pierced through his body and then viciously stabbed back into his chest with its barbs. His blood had already soaked through his clothes, making the scene look quite horrific.
"Am I going to die...?" Han Yimo gritted his teeth and said, "Am I really going to die... Who wants our lives...?"
"Be a man!" Officer Li said sternly. "So many people are trying to save you; don't start crying!"
Upon hearing this, Han Yimo immediately quieted down. He knew Officer Li was right; everyone was running around trying to help, and he couldn't be a burden to them.
The barbs were deeply embedded in Han Yimo's flesh, and he let out a muffled groan, continually gritting his teeth.
Seeing this, Doctor Zhao quickly grabbed a piece of cloth and stuffed it into his mouth.
After all, a person in extreme pain might end up biting their own teeth off.
Everyone surrounded Han Yimo.
Those short twenty seconds felt like several hours as Officer Li calmly continued cutting the rope.
Finally, with one last decisive cut, the resilient rope was severed.
At the same moment, both Han Yimo and Qiao Jiajin collapsed to the ground from exhaustion.
The people around them immediately rushed to support the two.
It seemed that Han Yimo had survived.
Doctor Zhao quickly pulled Han Yimo aside to examine his wounds. The condition of his injuries was as expected; the harpoon still needed to be removed from the front.
The most challenging issue now was stopping the bleeding.
After thinking for a while, Doctor Zhao ultimately used several cloth strips to plug the wound near the harpoon.
"Hey, doctor, aren't you going to take the harpoon out?" Qiao Jiajin asked.
"We can't take it out; if we do, he'll die," Doctor Zhao said with a serious expression.
"Die?" Qiao Jiajin was confused and stepped forward to push Doctor Zhao. "What are you talking about? We went through so much effort, and now you're not going to save him?"
"I'm trying to save him!" Doctor Zhao impatiently shook off Qiao Jiajin's hand. "To put it bluntly, the harpoon has to stay in him for him to survive."
"Why?" Xiao Ran couldn't help but ask from the side.
"If the harpoon is removed, he'll be left with a wound that keeps bleeding, and death is just a matter of time," Doctor Zhao replied calmly. "By leaving the harpoon in, although he will be in excruciating pain, at least he won't die from excessive blood loss. Those minor wounds will stop bleeding temporarily as the blood coagulates."