The incomparably sharp saw mercilessly cut through the ice-like hard frozen slush, producing a hair-raising "creak" sound with every stroke. Each cut felt as if it were tearing the entire world apart—sharp and ear-piercing. At the same time, accompanying the saw's movement, another strange sound kept coming through—that was the sound of flesh being torn open and bones being snapped! This extremely terrifying sound seemed to possess a certain penetrating power, easily spreading throughout the originally small house.
Sirin curled up in the corner of the room, her hands tightly covering her ears, but those dreadful sounds still drilled into her mind like the whispers of demons. Her body trembled uncontrollably, her face as pale as a sheet of paper, and large beads of sweat rolled down her forehead. The bloody and cruel scene before her eyes, combined with the endless terrifying sounds, turned into the most horrifying symphony, repeatedly battering her last psychological defenses.
Was this what amputation was like? It was actually this terrifying! But why was Little Shun… she? Sirin poked her head out and glanced at Shun, who still seemed in the mood to chat idly with the doctor. There was no trace of fear on his face.
He clearly looked even smaller than her, yet he could calmly accept something that she herself found incredibly terrifying just from listening to it.
"You really are strange. I've performed quite a few amputation surgeries—on adults and children the same age as you—but no one has been like you."
This doctor also knew some German. In Russia, many people knew a bit of German and French.
"Maybe I'm naturally indifferent to emotions. Plus, my face got frostbitten, so I might not have any expression. How much longer do I have to wait for this thing to be sawed? I'm getting a bit bored."
"Eh, you kid…" The middle-aged man had already lost count of how many times he had been shocked today. In the past, amputation surgeries always required someone to hold the patient down or use anesthesia, yet today's patient actually had the leisure to chat with him?
The key point was that this wasn't an elderly person in their seventies or eighties who had long since accepted life and death, but a child who looked only seven or eight years old.
After all, there weren't any good medical conditions here. The saw he was using to amputate the legs was even borrowed from the lumberjack next door, so it took quite a while to finish the job.
The middle-aged man placed a pair of lower limbs of slightly different lengths in front of Shun. Both legs had only been sawed off below the knees—considered fortunate amid misfortune.
"My skills are still pretty good. Practice makes perfect. Do you still want these two legs?" Generally speaking, he wouldn't leave the amputated parts with the patients.
Because amputation patients usually suffered from anxiety and depression. But this child was different, which reminded him of an ancient book from Shenzhou he had seen a long time ago.
Троецарствие (Romance of the Three Kingdoms). There was a story inside called "Scraping the Bone to Treat Poison." As a doctor, he understood the limits of human endurance, so he had always doubted its authenticity. But now that he had truly met someone different, how could he not sigh in amazement?
"No need. If you're craving it, you can throw them into a pot to make soup. At least it's still meat." Shun felt nothing about the amputation. The only trouble was the inconvenience of movement afterward and phantom limb pain.
But this was a normal physiological phenomenon that Shun couldn't avoid, so it was indeed troublesome.
Moreover, this probably wasn't his real body. His real body should still be hanging on the Tree and didn't belong to any spacetime, which was precisely the prerequisite for traveling through time.
And because the version of himself on the Tree was still missing limbs, Consciousness Mapping had to recreate a childhood-sized body using his current specifications in order to project himself successfully.
Hmm, it weighed the same as the current Shun hanging on the Tree. But now he was probably even lighter. One could only say that it truly lived up to Honkai Impact 3rd—weight reduction was abundant.
"Then you should keep them for the winter yourself." The middle-aged man shook his head with a smile and prepared to leave.
He didn't charge any money. In this small village, everyone had to help each other to survive better. Sirin's mother was the best tailor in the village, and his old clothes were usually sent here for mending.
The middle-aged man left, also leaving behind a homemade simple wooden wheelchair. However, Shun didn't rush to sit on it. He looked at his own sawed-off legs.
He thought of a certain "Black Dao young lady" who liked buying and selling limbs. Hmm, if this were in his original world and he took a photo and posted it in the comment section, it would definitely be entertaining.
Then, he turned his gaze toward Sirin, who was hiding to the side with only the top of her purple hair visible. Although the language was different, at least some things were universal, right?
"Sirin." After saying that, he waved at Sirin, whose large eyes were already misty with tears.
As long as it was a human, they should understand what this meant. Shun was inviting her over, and Sirin naturally understood this as well.
She slowly approached Shun. When she was still quite far away, she suddenly quickened her steps and hugged Shun tightly, just like when she had hugged him right after he woke up earlier.
"You… were very scared just now, right?" Although Shun still didn't understand what Sirin was saying, the goodwill and concern coming from her body was something that could cross language barriers and reach straight into the heart.
This was the genuine little angel Sirin… Shun couldn't help but sigh inwardly. The current Sirin was not yet that pufferfish who would inflate at the slightest sign of power.
This little angel, who only existed in the mouths of old Honkai Impact 2 veterans, still felt somewhat unfamiliar to Shun, a pure Honkai Impact 3rd veteran Captain.
However, since it was someone else's concern, he should respond to it. Shun looked at Sirin and revealed a comforting smile.
Although there was no verbal communication, Sirin undoubtedly sensed his emotions from Shun's actions.
But she didn't understand why something that even she found terrifying to listen to seemed completely unimportant to Shun.
Perhaps only after Little Shun learned Russian or she learned German would she be able to get the answer.
"Little Shun, can you stay here by yourself for a while? I have to make clothes with Mom and might not be able to take care of you all the time." Although Shun might not understand, Sirin still said this to him.
What the hell are you babbling about… Shun expressed that he truly didn't understand, but he still knew that Sirin meant she was leaving.
He let go of Sirin, then patted the wheelchair beside him, indicating: I'll go with you. Then he shifted his body and sat down on the wheelchair.
"Little Shun, do you want to come with me? Oh right, your hands can move. I can teach you how to sew…"
Sirin quickly got into the mood and pushed Shun toward the workspace she and her mother used.