outside the hastily erected "refuge hut," the tribal elders examined the exterior walls of the hut, discussing animatedly.


    "why didn’t he just use a healing spell?"


    "maybe healing spells aren’t always effective? i’ve treated one with a healing spell, and it eased for half a day, but he still died eventually..."


    "actually, receiving a blessing from the bear god might be better. a warrior blessed by the bear god recovers stronger and can endure more severe injuries. with one blessing, someone who has overeaten can digest it all by themselves."


    "could a blessing from the deer spirit work too?"


    "would the enlargement spell work? if the whole person gets bigger, the stomach that was stretched tight and couldn’t vomit before might be able to after enlarging, right?"


    "do we need to cut open the stomach for any of these methods?"


    "who knows?... but that healer is so slow!"


    amidst the sounds of discussions and complaints, the walls of the "refuge hut" suddenly rippled like water waves. seraina maneuvered a floating disc filled with a large basin of stomach contents back to the hall and looked around:


    "where do i dump this?"


    immediately, three or five elders jumped up to direct her, and two elders ran out to fetch more buckets. another two used their magic to gather the flames on the hearth, pointing out the glowing hot charcoal beneath.


    as if the previous discussions and complaints had never existed, seraina moved the floating disc over to the charcoal pit and casually dispelled it. a "swoosh" sound was followed by an overpowering smell of sour rot, mingling with the scent of burnt odors.


    the hall was instantly a scene of chaos. people backed away, covered their noses, and summoned winds—


    "what is this smell? it’s ten times stronger and a hundred times worse than the smell of someone drunk throwing up!"


    only seraina remained unfazed. before beginning the procedure, she had cast a bubble spell and hadn’t smelled anything. after dumping the contents, she turned and left without stopping:


    "the surgery is only halfway done; garrett is still waiting for my help!"


    inside the "refuge hut," garrett was extremely busy. he took out sterilized saline solution, one bottle after another, carefully heating them. seeing seraina return, he immediately called out:


    "seraina, heat these up, then cool them down with a frost ray! adjust the temperature to 37 degrees celsius, 37 degrees, not hot, not cold!"


    "all of these?"


    "yes, all of them!"


    an entire abdominal cavity!


    such a hugely bloated stomach!


    even with a cleansing spell, garrett was uneasy about not rinsing with saline solution back and forth.


    he knew well that this batch of saline rinses wouldn’t be complete without using up 10 bottles. thankfully, the floating disc was there—summoned when needed, dismissed when done, sufficiently large and easy to move—


    as seraina prepared the saline, garrett concentrated intensely and flew two mage hands. the translucent force palms delved into the abdomen, supporting the stomach and intestines, exploring carefully everywhere.


    an elder with a feathered crown had been standing behind. seeing garrett’s grave expression, he was somewhat puzzled:


    "isn’t everything drawn out already? what else could be troublesome?"


    and indeed, it looked like there were big troubles still!


    "troubles abound..." garrett sighed:


    liver, gallbladder, pancreas, although he had already briefly checked earlier, before closing the abdomen, he still needed to take a careful look...


    hmm, about 200 milliliters of ascites, murky with gastric contents... first, cast a cleaning spell, then rinse, suction, cast a healing spell, and rinse again!


    check for no active bleeding... check that all organs are normal, mesenteric blood vessels are normal...


    for safety, garrett cast healing spells specifically for the gallbladder and pancreas, the organs most prone to problems after acute gastric dilation. very good, normal color, normal shape, all normal.


    hmm, if it were in a past life, here he should leave a gastric tube and a jejunum nutrition tube, sew the stomach wall incision, place an abdominal drainage tube between the stomach and pancreas, then close the abdomen and transfer to sicu. but now...


    intestines, mesentery, sweep a healing spell! the mesentery around the stomach, healing spell, let it grow back! then layer by layer, close the abdomen, healing spell, healing spell, healing spell!


    faint white lights flickered in sequence. when the incision on bonk’s stomach finally contracted and returned to smoothness, ser


    aina waved her hand to release the constraining spell, and the next moment, the reckless warrior jumped up:


    "am i okay? am i really okay?"


    he frantically felt his stomach from top to bottom, touching only smooth flat skin. the young warrior jumped a few times to confirm he felt no pain at all, and his face burst into joy:


    "i’m okay! hahaha, haha! respected healer, thank you!"


    he spread his arms, rushing forward to embrace garrett. just in the nick of time, garrett flicked his fingers, hanging a series of spells on himself:


    shield spell, mage armor, bull’s strength, bear’s endurance...


    oof... "pop!"


    a crisp cracking sound. garrett’s cheek twitched, nearly fainting.


    his bubble spell had been popped!


    it stank to high heaven!


    bonk hugged garrett tightly, then bowed to the elder and the beautiful elf lady, and like a whirlwind, he rushed out of the surgery room. outside the refuge hut, spirited shouts soon rang out:


    "who was it just now? who said i couldn’t do it? step forward! let’s go another round!"


    this... can a dog ever change from eating *? garrett’s face darkened in an instant. he glared angrily outside, then turned to find the feather-crowned elder:


    hey, take care of your people! i worked hard to save him, not so he could go and stuff his stomach till it bursts again!


    "lord nordmark." facing garrett’s complaining gaze, the old man stepped forward with a smile and a bow:


    "your healing methods are truly impressive. —if you were to contract a totem spirit, could your miraculous medical skills advance even further?"


    is he sizing me up? preparing to make an offer? or does he have some complex case he can’t handle and wants help?


    garrett’s mind raced. he smiled and said:


    "of course! my healing methods rely heavily on sensing the patient’s internal condition. like tow—oh, whitfen, the lump on his shoulder, if i had contracted with an ethereal, and could see the condition, perhaps i could have treated it!"


    ---------------


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