Chapter 555 - 555: Decision

At that moment, Zhao Yuan was inserting Golden Needles into the Ahshi Acupoints near the wound on the left side of the unconscious boy's neck. This would stimulate the muscles, causing them to tense up and constrict the blood vessels to stanch the bleeding.

Hearing the movement behind him, he ordered without turning his head, "Get a few people over here. Move these three victims with broken bones to a safe area to wait for the ambulance."

"Yes," Bone Woman replied. She immediately jumped out of the vehicle and shouted at the top of her lungs to the crowd watching from dozens of meters away, "We need a few people to help carry the injured!"

In the distance, the people who had just barely escaped to safety exchanged uncertain glances, hesitating when they heard Bone Woman's call.

The massive landslide had stopped, but loose rocks and dirt still tumbled down the slope from time to time. It was still very dangerous to be near the bus. These people had just struggled to reach a safe area and hadn't even caught their breath, yet now they were being asked to go back and risk their lives... It was an incredibly difficult choice to make.

The crowd couldn't help but murmur amongst themselves.

"Should we go help?"

"It's too dangerous. We shouldn't go."

"Yeah, exactly. We barely made it out. What if we go back, fail to save anyone, and end up losing our own lives? It's not worth it."

In that moment, fear triumphed over compassion, and cowardice overcame courage. Many chose to ignore Bone Woman's call, staying in the relatively safe zone, unwilling to risk their lives to save others.

But some people did step forward.

"I can't just stand by and do nothing!"

A lean, weathered-looking man in his forties placed his luggage on the side of the road and, without a second glance, strode into the landslide zone, heading for the bus.

"We'll help!"

Two middle-schoolers, about fifteen or sixteen years old, dropped their suitcases. Casting worried glances at the hillside, they ran toward the bus.

A father handed the packages he was carrying to his wife, instructing her, "Watch our child. Don't let him run off. I'm going to help. I'll be right back."

His wife was worried. "It's too dangerous over there," she said hesitantly. "You shouldn't go. Besides, some people have already gone."

The father shook his head. "The more people who go, the faster we can get the injured out! When we were trapped on the bus just now, we only escaped because others helped us. Now it's our turn to help them! Besides, I have to set a good example for our son. I don't want him to think his dad is a coward!"

The child looked up, his face serious. "Dad, you're a hero!"

Hearing this, a proud smile spread across the father's face. "Son," he said earnestly, "Dad will always be your hero!"

Then he turned and rushed toward the bus.

Watching these people rush to help, some of the remaining crowd looked ashamed, while others wore scornful expressions.

In the face of danger, people's true natures were exposed—some noble, others base.

Not many people came to help, but Zhao Yuan had expected as much. He wasn't too disappointed; instead, he thanked the few who did come forward.

They quickly waved his thanks away. "We're the ones who should be thanking you. If you hadn't shown up to help, we'd still be trapped on that bus."

Thinking back on the scene from just moments ago sent a chill down everyone's spines.

If Zhao Yuan hadn't rescued them in time and calmed them down, the panicking crowd, crammed into the narrow bus, would have surely caused a serious crush or stampede.

Even if they had managed to escape the bus eventually, many would have suffered additional injuries. It was highly likely that lives would have been lost!

"Just tell us what you need us to do!" the middle-aged man said.

The others chimed in:

"Just give the order!"

"We'll get the job done!"

Zhao Yuan didn't waste time with pleasantries. He pointed to the three patients with broken bones and said, "Carry them to the safe zone. When you move them, be extremely careful to protect their fractures to avoid causing any secondary injuries."

"No problem, leave it to us!"

"We don't know how to heal people, but we can definitely handle the heavy lifting."

As they spoke, they carefully lifted one of the fracture victims, carried him off the bus, and moved him toward the safe zone.

Meanwhile, Zhao Yuan finished inserting and manipulating the needles. The bleeding from the boy's carotid artery had been significantly stanched.

But this alone wasn't enough to get him out of danger.

There was no blood supply here to give the boy a transfusion. And from this location, getting someone to the county hospital down the mountain would take at least an hour or two. The hemostatic effect of the Acupuncture alone wasn't nearly enough to keep him alive that long.

He needed arterial suture surgery immediately!

But not here.

Every second was critical and had to be used.

Zhao Yuan made a snap decision and yelled to Bone Woman, "Bring the car over!"

Bone Woman immediately obeyed, sprinting over and driving the Mercedes-Benz G55 SUV back. Following Zhao Yuan's instructions, she folded down all the rear seats and opened the trunk.

Zhao Yuan carried the unconscious boy into the Mercedes-Benz G55, carefully laying him flat. He then returned to the bus and, with Bone Woman's help, carried the boy's mother onto the vehicle as well. Finally, they also moved the victim whose femoral artery had been damaged—the one Su Chi had helped by applying a pressure dressing to the wound.

'Thankfully, the Mercedes G55 is spacious enough, or we wouldn't have been able to fit this many injured people. It's a shame this is all it can hold, otherwise I could've taken the three fracture victims too.'

While they were busy, the group of heroic volunteers made three trips to carry the three fracture patients from the bus to the safe zone. The process was tense, but completed without any major incidents.

"Thank you, everyone!" Zhao Yuan called out his thanks to the volunteers. He then turned to Su Chi and said, "You stay here and look after the three fracture patients. I'm taking these three critical cases to the county hospital."

"Okay," Su Chi nodded. He then added, "When I was interning at the county hospital, I went with them to the clinic in Bahu Town for an exchange. As far as I know, the Bahu Town clinic has blood plasma substitutes and some other medical supplies. You'll pass through Bahu Town on your way down the mountain. You can stop there for support!"

"Got it. Thanks for the intel," Zhao Yuan said, overjoyed. All three critical patients needed transfusions. If there was no blood, a plasma substitute could at least tide them over.

He jumped into the vehicle, closed the door, and commanded Bone Woman, "Go!"