Su Muqing was diligently sifting through usable limbs. Even without hearing the retching sounds behind her, the scene before her was enough to churn her stomach. However, the continuous sounds of vomiting from those behind her only intensified her own nausea.
Every so often, she would stand up, take deep breaths of air, and then squat down to continue her search. It wasn't that Su Muqing was a morbid person who enjoyed playing with body parts; she was looking for dismembered limbs that could be reused.
Honestly, if she could, she wouldn't want to personally handle such a gruesome task. But because her spatial detector had alerted her to what was usable and what wasn't, she couldn't delegate this job. She had to do it herself.
After searching for a while, Su Muqing quickly picked out several severed arms and legs and set them aside. Suddenly! The beam of her flashlight, which had been slightly unsteady, began to flicker with a distinct rhythm.
The intermittent bright white lights flashed across the pile of bloody corpse parts, creating a visual effect that was incredibly gruesome and sent shivers down one's spine!
"Are you trying to start a disco?"
Su Muqing abruptly stood up and turned, frowning at the soldier holding the flashlight. She noticed that it wasn't just his arm that was shaking; his entire body was trembling so violently that he could barely stand.
"Ah!" Finally! The soldier let out a terrified, piercing scream, and then, in a most dramatic fashion, fainted dead away from sheer fright.
Su Muqing was speechless. The urge to vomit she had been suppressing was momentarily banished by the man's shriek.
"Drag him over and put some medicinal oil on him!" Su Muqing knew they had peppermint oil, as the weather was too hot, and to prevent heatstroke, every soldier in Huaxia was issued a bottle.
"Yes… yes…" The other soldiers behind her, trembling, turned and dragged the unconscious soldier several meters away from Su Muqing before taking out their peppermint oil and applying it to him.
Just as Su Muqing was about to pick up the flashlight and resume her work, she suddenly heard Huo Qiyuan's slightly trembling voice.
"Muqing, what are you doing?"
Huo Qiyuan had been in the medical tent supervising the robot's surgery when Zhou Shi, looking pale, had run to find him, too scared to speak for a long time.
Once she had recovered her breath, she stammered that Su Muqing, for some unknown reason, was rummaging through the pile of dismembered bodies, looking utterly ghastly. She urged Huo Qiyuan to come quickly and check, fearing Su Muqing might be possessed.
Upon hearing this, Huo Qiyuan rushed over like a madman. The first sight that greeted him made his heart skip a beat.
Su Muqing, clad in a full set of protective gear, wearing a mask and long gloves, stood there fully geared up.
Her gloves were covered in bloodstains, and by her feet lay a small pile of bloody arms and legs. Behind her was the disheveled pile of corpse parts she had been sifting through, with various human tissues that had been blown apart, enough to make one's scalp tingle…
Su Muqing's appearance was indeed chilling. It was no wonder that the soldiers she had called to move the body parts, except for the one who was too scared to move and had fainted while holding the flashlight, were all facing away from her.
Seeing the scene, Huo Qiyuan felt a slight discomfort in his stomach. He quickly took out his mask and put it on. Then, he strode quickly to Su Muqing's side, pulled her into his embrace, and then quickly pulled away after a moment, anxiously cupping her face and examining it closely.
"Brother Huo, what's wrong?" Su Muqing was a little dazed by the sudden embrace! Worried about soiling Huo Qiyuan's clothes, she hid her hands behind her back.
Huo Qiyuan looked at her face, his eyes turning red with worry. "Aunt Zhou said… she said you weren't acting quite right. I thought you… it's good you're okay, you scared me to death…"
As Huo Qiyuan spoke, he hugged her again. Huo Qiyuan had clearly seen the shock and sadness on Su Muqing's face when she first entered Chehe City.
He had had the same expression when he first saw it. Therefore, when Huo Qiyuan heard Zhou Shi say that Su Muqing's emotions were not right, he wondered if she had been driven to this state by the scene.
In his mind, no matter how strong Su Muqing was, she was still a young woman not yet twenty. Unless something had severely traumatized her, why would she be doing something so inexplicable?
Feeling the worry in the man's voice, Su Muqing pressed her face against Huo Qiyuan's cold cheek and whispered in his ear, "Brother Huo, I'm really fine! 217 just alerted me that some of the severed limbs here can still be used after they're sorted, so I came to look. You know I have a detector, and this is a job I have to do myself."
Huo Qiyuan held her for a long time, and only when his emotions had stabilized did he nod and say, "Okay! I'll stay with you and hold the light for you!"
Su Muqing glanced at the soldier who had been carried away and at those bowing their heads, clearly afraid of being called upon to hold the light, and decisively chose to let Huo Qiyuan help her.
It couldn't be helped! Those men were truly too timid. Although the scene was indeed a bit terrifying, she, a woman, was personally sifting through corpses without being this scared! These men… only Brother Huo had enough courage.
Su Muqing turned and continued her search, while Huo Qiyuan held the flashlight steady, pointing it at the pile… but he kept his gaze fixed on the dark night sky.
It wasn't that he was afraid to look, but rather that he preferred not to if he could avoid it…
The two of them thus cooperated with a "tacit understanding," searching the large area for over four hours before they had picked out all the usable severed limbs.
After having them carried by stretcher to an empty room that had been cleared, Huo Qiyuan stood guard at the entrance while Su Muqing took all the severed limbs into her space to disinfect them before sealing and preserving them.
These severed limbs were only useful within a certain timeframe, so they had to be handled with care during preservation. Otherwise, even if attached to injured patients, if they couldn't be properly fitted, further amputations would be required.