Qi Xia's expression was a bit troubled. He had just tested it, and the barb on the harpoon was so finely crafted that it was impossible to remove from his body.
Looking at the blood flowing steadily, Qi Xia felt a moment of daze.
Had they really died?
Do the dead… still get hurt?
Qi Xia steadied his mind. Now was not the time to think about that; instead, he needed to cut the rope immediately.
At this moment, all the harpoons were slowly retracting. How could he use another harpoon to cut his rope?
The only thing he could be certain of was that when all the ropes retracted into the walls, the harpoons would disappear, and Han Yimo would die.
"We have to find a way to get one harpoon…" Qi Xia furrowed his brow and quickly scanned the surroundings.
He had no choice but to gamble again.
He grabbed two of the slowly retracting harpoons from the ground, quickly tied their ropes together, and made a tight knot.
"Hey! Stop circling Han Yimo!" Qi Xia shouted, "Do it like I did! We need to leave at least one harpoon behind."
Lin Qing instantly understood what he meant, grabbing two harpoons and skillfully tying them together.
However, the knot she tied was strange, one Qi Xia had never seen before.
At this moment, he had no time to think more; he could only focus on the two harpoons in front of him.
As the ropes continued to retract, the two ropes tightened together.
At the current rate, it wouldn't take long for one rope to snap, leaving only one remaining. Qi Xia slowly stepped back. The ropes made a terrifying sound as they were pulled. If his guess was right, the snapped rope could injure someone.
Sure enough, the next second, one of the ropes made a loud snap and broke.
The other rope, with the harpoon still attached, flailed around in the air uncontrollably for a moment before slamming into the ground, leaving a deep mark.
Qi Xia rushed forward, trying to untie the snapped rope before the harpoons retracted into the wall.
But at this moment, he realized that the two ropes he had tied together were so distorted from the intense pull that not only was it impossible to untie them, but even their shape was unrecognizable.
"I'm done!" Lin Qing called out from a short distance. "Anyone with strength, hurry up and help cut the writer's rope."
"Done?"
Qi Xia turned around to see that Lin Qing had tied the knot so cleverly that it automatically separated when the rope snapped.
Officer Li hadn't even completed the first knot, but upon hearing her, he quickly put down the harpoon in his hand and said, "I'll go cut it, give it to me!"
After grabbing the harpoon, Officer Li took quick steps and reached Han Yimo's back just as he was about to be pulled into the wall.
Fortunately, although the harpoon in his hand had a sharp tip, it also had small cuts on the tip, enough to serve as a knife.
Seeing this, Qiao Jiajin also stepped forward to help. Although Qi Xia had thought of a solution in the first instance, Han Yimo was now less than half a meter from the wall.
The excruciating pain made it hard for Han Yimo to resist; he had no choice but to slowly retreat, otherwise the barb in his chest would have caused unbearable pain.
Officer Li grabbed the rope behind him, briefly thought about it, and then aimed at the rope closest to Han Yimo's body, starting to cut it with the sharp harpoon.
His hand was steady, and every strike landed precisely on the rope.
But the rope was tougher than he had imagined, and after several cuts, only small notches were left. He quickly assessed the situation and realized it was trickier than expected.
Though the rope would eventually break, what they lacked now was time.
In less than a minute, Han Yimo's body would be pressed against the wall, and cutting the rope from behind would be impossible then.
"Damn, is it done yet?" Qiao Jiajin asked anxiously. "You're taking forever, you're going to kill this guy!"
"Shut up!" Officer Li shouted coldly and continued to exert more force.
As Han Yimo's body neared the wall, Officer Li's face was already drenched in sweat.
His mental resilience was remarkable. Despite the tense, oppressive atmosphere, he had not made a single mistake. Every strike had landed on the previous notch.
However, seeing that Han Yimo was less than thirty centimeters from the wall, Officer Li's arm was beginning to grow tired.
Qiao Jiajin reacted quickly, stepping in front of Han Yimo and using his own body to shield him. This way, although Han Yimo would be injured sooner, the distance between him and the wall would not change for the time being.
"Officer! Hurry!"
Officer Li took a deep breath and continued to cut. By now, the rope had been severed more than halfway, but it was still connected.
Han Yimo let out painful groans. The harpoon had pierced through his body and then stabbed back into his chest with the barb. His clothes were soaked in blood, making the scene look horrifying.
"Am I going to die…" Han Yimo gritted his teeth and said, "I'm really going to die, aren't I? Who is trying to kill us…"
"Man up!" Officer Li said sternly. "So many people are trying to save you, stop whining!"
Upon hearing this, Han Yimo immediately stopped complaining. He knew Officer Li was right. Now that everyone was running around, he couldn't be the one to hold them back.
The barb had deeply pierced Han Yimo's flesh, and he let out a muffled groan, biting his teeth.
Doctor Zhao immediately took a piece of cloth and stuffed it into his mouth.
After all, when people are in extreme pain, they might end up grinding their teeth.
Everyone gathered around Han Yimo.
What felt like just twenty seconds felt as long as several hours. Officer Li kept cutting the rope with precision.
Finally, with one last strike, the tough rope was severed.
At the same moment, both Han Yimo and Qiao Jiajin collapsed to the ground due to exhaustion.
The others immediately rushed forward to support them.
It seemed that Han Yimo had been saved.
Doctor Zhao quickly pulled Han Yimo aside and began inspecting his wounds. The situation of his injuries was as expected. The harpoon still needed to be removed from the front.
Now, the most difficult part was stopping the bleeding.
After thinking for a while, Doctor Zhao used several cloth strips to plug the wound near the harpoon.
"Hey, doctor, aren't you going to remove the harpoon?" Qiao Jiajin asked.
"It can't be removed. If we take it out, he will die." Doctor Zhao replied grimly.
"Die?" Qiao Jiajin was confused, walking over to shove Doctor Zhao. "What are you doing? After all that effort, you're not saving him?"
"I'm saving him!" Doctor Zhao impatiently brushed off Qiao Jiajin's hand. "To put it bluntly, the harpoon needs to stay in him for him to survive."
"Why?" Xiao Ran, who had been silent, asked as well.
"If the harpoon is removed, he will only have a continuous wound that will bleed out, and death is just a matter of time." Doctor Zhao answered calmly. "By keeping the harpoon in place, although it will be painful, it will prevent him from bleeding to death. Those small wounds will stop bleeding temporarily as the blood clots."