The warm sunlight made humans feel comfortable, but the rising temperature caused by the sunlight was killing the minke whale. The high temperature would accelerate the inflammation process of the wound. If the broken harpoon in the wound was not taken out, even if it returned to the sea, it would not live for more than a few days.
During the inspection, Zhang Zian could already smell a rancid odor from the wound. The edge of the wound was yellow and abscess, and a lot of sand had mixed in with the sand. The situation was not optimistic.
"How do we take it out?" Huang looked at the hideous wound on the minke whale and was frightened.
"I'll go back to the car to find some tools. You guys continue to water it, especially the sand in the wound," Zhang Zian ordered.
Huang and Xiao Zhi did as they were told. They poured boxes of cold seawater on the minke whale's wound, washing the sand and mud in its flesh.
The minke whale seemed to enjoy the feeling of seawater rushing on the wound. It gently shook its tail fin left and right.
Zhang Zian rummaged through the spare tools in the Wuling Hong Guang MPV, but he did not find anything useful. In the end, he only took a pair of pliers and a pair of rubber gloves and returned to the minke whale.
"Huang, do you have a lighter?" he asked. He did not smoke, nor would he carry a lighter with him.
"Yes." Huang took out a very delicate lighter. Before passing it to Zhang Zian, he lit a cigarette and took a drag. "Brother, do you want a cigarette? It's quite refreshing. "
"Dad! You're smoking secretly again! I'm going to tell my mom when I get home! "Xiao Zhi put his hands on his waist and looked angry.
"Don't! Xiao Zhi, I'll just smoke one! One! "Huang smiled cheekily." I'll buy you a toy gun later! "
Zhang Zian took the lighter and tried to light it. He found that it was wind-proof. Even the strong sea breeze could not blow it out, so he took out the key from his pocket.
There was a multi-purpose Swiss army knife hanging on his key string. It was convenient to open express boxes, but it came in handy now.
"Xiao Zhi, Huang, step back a little." He waved his hand.
Huang looked at him confusedly as he smoked. "Brother, you want to …"
Zhang Zian put on rubber gloves. These gloves were prepared for wild harvesting at the seaside. Because many creatures could be poisonous, he tried to avoid picking them up directly with his hands.
He lit the lighter again and placed the knife in the Swiss Army knife horizontally over the orange flame. He explained, "The harpoon is barbed, and it is hooked into its flesh from the inside. We have to cut open the wound a little more before we can remove the harpoon … But the process must be very painful. I was afraid that it would hurt you guys while it was struggling, so I asked you guys to step back."
When Huang heard this, he quickly pulled Xiao Zhi to the side of the reef. "Brother, you have to be careful too!"
Zhang Zian nodded. "I will."
To be honest, he did not have much confidence. It would be fine if he was treating the wounds of kittens and puppies. Even if they struggled, they would only scratch him a few times. However, he was equally uneasy when facing this half-grown whale that weighed almost three tons. If it turned over and pinned him down, it would definitely squeeze his sh * t out …
When operating on it, he had to be 120% vigilant and be ready to retreat at any time.
Zhang Zian repeatedly disinfected the front and back of the knife with the flame. He squatted next to the minke whale's head and said to it, "You're injured. I'm going to take out the thing that hurt you. The process will be very painful, but I'm doing this to help you. Can you hold on for a while?"
As he spoke, he stared intently into the minke whale's eyes and pressed his palms on its skin. He looked very serious. Huang and Xiao Zhi, who were watching from the side, felt that he was playing the lute to a cow.
But Zhang Zian could feel that this minke whale was an intelligent animal. Although its intelligence was only equivalent to that of a baby's compared to a human's, even a baby could feel the kindness of others.
Whales were not cold-blooded animals. They were mammals like humans, and they also had a very large brain. This gave their intelligence the capital to surpass that of other animals.
The minke whale's eyes were also staring at him.
Whales had poor eyesight, but they could still see clearly at such a close distance.
Zhang Zian repeated the same words a few times. The knife had already been roasted to a dark red color. The heat was transmitted to the handle, and he almost couldn't hold it anymore.
The minke whale didn't respond. He wasn't sure if it understood him, but he couldn't delay it any longer.
So he extinguished the lighter and threw it back to Huang. He held the edge of the minke whale's wound with his left hand and observed the direction of the harpoon. He made up his mind, and with the knife in his right hand, he cut the place where he thought the barb was buried.
The harpoon shouldn't have pierced the whale recently. Some of its muscles had already grown back, and the barbed tip of the harpoon was buried in the flesh. If he didn't cut the flesh first, but pulled the harpoon out by force, even if it had an iron will, it wouldn't be able to bear it.
A doctor had to be cruel and merciless. The more hesitant he was, the more pain he would bring to the patient.
Zhang Zian cut the flesh with the knife, and blood immediately gushed out. At the same time, he quickly stepped back to prevent it from struggling.
The minke whale was in so much pain that it slapped the surface of the water with its tail fin, creating a splash that was taller than a person. Its sharp and flat head rubbed left and right on the beach, forming a fan-shaped arc. It was obvious how much pain it was in.
But even in such pain, its body didn't move much. Its pectoral and dorsal fins only flashed twice, and then it kept trembling.
Blood kept gushing out of the wound, flowing down its skin, and soon dyed a small part of the beach red.
Zhang Zian waited for a few seconds. Seeing that it didn't struggle or resist violently, he carefully walked back to the side.
Since the blood was still flowing, he couldn't see what was deep inside the wound. It would be best if someone could help wash away the dirty blood with clean water, but Huang and Xiao Zhi were too scared to go near it.
Just then, he felt that the tip of the knife had touched something hard and was hindered from moving forward. It probably wasn't the minke whale's bone.
He used a pair of pliers to clamp the broken handle of the harpoon and tried to pull it out. He could feel that the harpoon had loosened.
The minke whale struggled even more violently, and its whole body was trembling.
Zhang Zian had no choice but to try his best. He used all his strength to pull the broken handle out!
Poof!
The harpoon was pulled out of the wound with its handle and tip. A string of crystal-clear, round beads of blood formed an arc under the sunlight.
Zhang Zian had used too much strength and lost his balance. He staggered a few steps and fell on his butt on the beach. The bloody harpoon was stuck into the sand.
The minke whale was in so much pain that it kept hitting the beach and the water with its head and tail fins. Its body was also twitching like it was spasming. A strong airflow came out of its nostrils on top of its head, blowing up sand and almost blinding Zhang Zian's eyes.
For a moment, Zhang Zian really thought that it might die from the pain. But after a few seconds, it gradually stopped struggling and calmed down. The bleeding wasn't as strong as before, but it still hadn't stopped.
Zhang Zian stood up again and observed the wound.
Although the harpoon had been pulled out, the wound had to be stopped immediately. If it kept bleeding, the minke whale would be very weak and wouldn't be able to hold on for long.
But how could he stop the bleeding?
Should he use a red-hot knife to burn it like in the movies? But the wound was so big that he would probably need a forty-meter-long knife …
His eyes looked around and finally fell on the kite that Xiao Zhi and Huang had thrown aside. The long and strong kite string was coiled around the H-shaped handle.
"Xiao Zhi, let me borrow your kite for a while," he said loudly.
The father and son were so scared by the soul-stirring scene that they couldn't speak for a while.
"Wind … kite?" Xiao Zhi's lips were trembling. "Uncle, what do you need a kite for?"
Zhang Zian didn't have time to correct him that it was "brother" and not "uncle," so he explained, "I just need the kite string. I'll use the kite string to stitch up the wound."
Huang and Xiao Zhi looked at each other, clearly saying in their hearts: Is that even possible?
Xiao Zhi wanted to give the kite to Zhang Zian, but Huang stopped him. Huang was afraid that Zhang Zian would be in danger, so he ran to put the kite and the kite handle next to Zhang Zian, then quickly stepped back.
"Even if there's a string, what if there's no needle?" Huang asked.
Zhang Zian cut the kite string with his Swiss Army knife, put the goldfish kite aside, and rubbed it with his hands. He knew that the kite string was cotton thread, so it didn't matter if the cotton thread grew in the flesh to stitch up the wound with cotton thread.
He took off the key ring, clamped one end with a pair of pliers, and used the small pliers that came with the Swiss Army knife to clamp the other end. He pulled the round key ring into an arc with both arms, and said, "Isn't there a needle now?"
Huang cursed in his heart and volunteered, "Let me help you straighten it."
"There's no need to straighten it. The needles used in surgery are all curved, so it's easier to stitch up." Zhang Zian gestured at the two ends of the key ring, chose the sharper end, and sharpened it a few times on the nail clipper of the Swiss Army knife. Then, he tied the kite string to the other end.
Huang was embarrassed to just stand there. He wanted to help, but he really couldn't find a way to help.
Zhang Zian glanced at him and saw his embarrassment. He really did need help, so he gestured, "Huang, hold the kite crutches. I'll stitch up the needle for the minke whale. You help me release the string, and be careful not to get any sand on the string."
"Okay." Huang picked up the crutches and stood a few steps away, waiting for orders.
Xiao Zhi also ran over and stood with his dad, using his fingers to remove every grain of sand on the kite string.
Zhang Zian used a lighter to sterilize the key ring, and he also sterilized the small pliers of the Swiss Army knife. Since the whale's skin was very thick and strong, it would be unhygienic to use one's fingers to stitch up the string. Secondly, it would be difficult for one's fingers to penetrate the whale's skin, so he had to use the small pliers to hold the needle and stitch up the wound.
Before he started, he squatted next to the minke whale's head again, and stared into its eyes as intently as before. He said seriously, "I know you can understand. You did a good job just now. Now, can you hold on a little longer?"
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