CHAPTER 198: CHAPTER 198: TAKE ACTION

An Yan spoke bluntly, "You still need more practice before you can take on such surgeries. Don’t worry, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future."

In the meeting room, Tian Zhongren couldn’t help but speak again. "Is she treating surgery as a teaching exercise? This is a real patient, not some medical simulation training dummy. How can she let someone just practice on them?"

His student, eager not to let the conversation drop, quickly chimed in, "Exactly! How can such a major surgery be handled so casually?"

Just as they were getting into it, a chuckle came from the side.

Li Tianyao’s fingers were still fiddling with the Buddha Beads, his voice neutral. "What? Does seeing a young person more skilled in medicine than you make you so uncomfortable that you have to nitpick about other things? Or do you actually have ulterior motives?"

Tian Zhongren’s heart lurched with panic, and he quickly shut his mouth.

He had actually wanted to test just how far this Li Tianyao could be pushed! Now he understood—the less said, the better; this man was simply too sharp. For now, he could only pray that events would unfold as he had predicted! Though his gaze remained fixed on the screen, his mind was already racing. If An Yan really managed to neutralize the poison, how could he ensure Xiao Xiaojun would be killed?

So engrossed in thought, he completely failed to notice one of Li Tianyao’s men bringing in an explosion-proof barrel.

「**」

Ya Zhuo, after all, had been honed on the operating table; both his technique and speed were clearly superior to Liang Chen’s.

Seeing that she no longer needed to constantly supervise, An Yan turned and moved to stand by the door.

Lin Ling pulled a chair over for her. "Miss, please have a seat!"

As soon as An Yan sat down, Lin Ling whispered, "Do you know who poisoned them? It looked like those few were about to come to blows!"

Only then did An Yan notice that Ya Zhuo’s team members were all keeping at least a meter’s distance from one another. Although not overtly displayed, they were clearly wary of each other.

"There’s no need to be nervous," An Yan stated. "The poisoner is not in our operating room."

She said this because she had actually encountered this poison before. Three years ago, in the Hengduan Mountains, there was a backpacker. Everything had seemed normal, but once the surgery was over and he had returned to a regular environment, the man suddenly exhibited symptoms of poisoning and died right before her eyes. Utterly baffled, An Yan began to study the circumstances of that time and subsequently discovered this poison. It came from the fruit of a plant and was harmless upon initial contact with the skin. However, in a sterile environment, certain microbes within it would be activated. Once activated, it still posed no danger as long as one remained in a sterile environment. But upon returning to a normal environment, the activated toxicity would erupt instantly. Whether human or animal, contact meant certain death. And at this moment, everyone in the operating room must have been contaminated with it. She was confident the poisoner was not in the operating room based on a deduction about human nature. Generally, if someone intended to poison others, their first consideration would be how to extricate themselves from the situation, not to accompany their victims to the Yellow Springs.

To be safe, An Yan used the Divination Technique to cast a fortune for each person.

After confirming that none of them was the poisoner, she looked up at the camera. "Director Zhang, can you lock down the hospital? I suspect the poisoner is inside the hospital, possibly even in this meeting room!"

Zhang Xuebin immediately ordered his subordinates to carry out the command.

Tian Zhongren sat in his seat, trying his best to minimize his presence. He didn’t even dare to let his eyes dart around, fearing he would draw suspicion. Just as he was striving to remain relaxed, pretending to have no connection to the incident, Lu Feng suddenly moved, pinning him against the table.

RIP!

Tian Zhongren’s clothes were torn open.

Before anyone could react, Lu Feng’s knife flashed. He sliced off the patch of Tian Zhongren’s skin tattooed with tiny yellow flowers, along with the underlying trapezius muscle, and threw it directly into the explosion-proof container.

BANG!

AH!

In the blink of an eye, the sound of the explosion and Tian Zhongren’s screams filled the conference room. Everyone shrieked in shock. Some dove for the corners, while others tried to flee out the door, only to be blocked by bodyguards in black. A few quick-witted individuals ran straight behind the police officers—they had guns! Even shrewder ones hid behind Chief Xiao and Zhang Xuebin. These two were high-ranking police officials; staying near them meant a higher degree of safety.

But then they saw Chief Xiao, in his police uniform, pull out his gun and raise it in the air. "Quiet!"

Everyone instantly froze. Even Tian Zhongren dared not cry out anymore. He was terrified Chief Xiao would simply shoot him.

Lu Feng seized the opportunity, pried open Tian Zhongren’s mouth, yanked out several of his molars, and tossed them onto a tray.

Seeing the situation, Tian Zhongren charged head-first towards Officer Xiaohe, who was closest to him. He was picking an easy target, thinking that as a woman, she would be easier to control. He had no idea he had encountered a tough nut to crack.

Before he could reach her, Officer Xiaohe kicked him to the ground and, without breaking stride, rushed forward and handcuffed him.

The entire sequence, from start to finish, took less than two minutes.

By the time Professor Song regained her composure, hospital staff were already on site, inspecting Tian Zhongren’s teeth. Poison was found in two of his molars!

"Poison?" Professor Song was shocked. "Why would you hide poison in your teeth? What on earth is going on here?"

She didn’t understand why Tian Zhongren would hide poison in his teeth, nor why Li Tianyao had ordered someone to hack off Tian Zhongren’s shoulder.

It wasn’t just her; even Chief Xiao and Zhang Xuebin were clueless about what was happening.

Li Tianyao clearly had no intention of explaining. He simply waved his hand, and Lu Feng took over from Officer Xiaohe, pulling the blood-covered Tian Zhongren to his feet.

"Chief Li, should we have a doctor bandage him up?" Chief Xiao asked.

"No need," Li Tianyao replied. "This man is a spy from Country R. His objective today was most likely to silence that drug dealer."

"So, you’re saying he planted the poison in the operating room?"

"Yes."

Li Tianyao turned his head towards Tian Zhongren. "Will you confess on your own, or shall we hand you over to Military Intelligence Nine and let them extract the truth from you?"

Tian Zhongren kept his mouth tightly shut, uttering not a word.

Lu Feng stepped on his calf. "Speak! How can this poison be cured?"

Tian Zhongren, nearly fainting from the pain and desperate to avoid further beating, confessed, "It can’t be cured! Once contaminated, it’s a dead end.

"Whether it’s Xiao Xiaojun or the doctors in the operating room, anyone who dares to step outside that operating room is doomed!

"I suggest you never let them out. Because if they do come out, the poison will spread everywhere, and many more people will die."

Tian Zhongren then looked towards the hospital director. "And your hospital will be the first to suffer!"

The color drained from everyone’s faces.