172: Chapter 172 Jang Geun-suk, the Useless Man

Cold instruments touched the eyeballs.

There was no pain, but there was sensation.

That feeling was indescribable.

It was as if the eyeballs were being sucked by something and then gently pulled.

His vision began to blur.

First the right eye—total darkness.

Then the left eye—also total darkness.

Zhang Genshuo's world went completely black.

“Corneas, one pair, intact.” The voice of the white lab coat seemed to come from far away.

Then came the stitching and bandaging.

Zhang Genshuo lay on the operating table, his body ice-cold, facing endless darkness.

He didn't know where he was or what would happen next.

Only the faint pain coming from his abdomen reminded him of what had just occurred.

“Water... give me water...” he murmured.

No one paid him any attention.

The sound of footsteps gradually faded away.

The iron door closed, and the world fell into a dead silence.

...

Three hours later.

At three in the morning, at the entrance of a remote alley in the East District of Zhongzhou City.

A black van stopped, the rear door opened, and a heavy object was pushed out, rolling to the side of the road.

The van sped away.

Zhang Genshuo curled up on the ground, his whole body trembling.

Thick bandages wrapped around his abdomen were already soaked with blood and body fluids, emitting a mixture of medicinal and bloody odors.

Gauze covered his eyes, similarly drenched in fluid.

He was wearing the clothes he arrived in, but they were covered in mud and bloodstains, wrinkled and looking like they had been picked out of a trash heap.

The night wind was very cold, making him shiver uncontrollably.

“Help... help...” he called out weakly, his voice as raspy as sandpaper.

No one responded.

This alley was very secluded, and it was even more unlikely for anyone to pass by at three in the morning.

He struggled to crawl up, but with one movement, a sharp pain shot through his abdomen.

That pain wasn't a sharp sting, but a hollow, dull ache—the kind of empty pain that comes when something is missing from your body.

“My kidneys... my eyes...” he murmured, tears seeping out from under the gauze.

He never imagined that while he was dreaming yesterday of leaving gracefully after getting the money, he would end up like this today.

Those women... that man... that warehouse...

Everything felt like a nightmare, but the intense pain in his waist reminded him that it was real.

After an unknown amount of time, footsteps were heard in the distance.

As if grabbing a life-saving straw, Zhang Genshuo shouted desperately, “Help! Help! Help me!”

The footsteps stopped for a moment, then quickened into a jog.

“Holy crap, what's the situation?” a young man's voice came over.

Zhang Genshuo felt someone approach and squat down to look at him.

“Buddy, what happened to you? Were you jumped?”

“Save... save me...” Zhang Genshuo reached out, grasping blindly in the air.

The person hesitated for a moment, then took out a phone to make a call.

“Hello, 110? There's an injured person here, over by the Old Street in the East District, in an alley... Yes, looks like he was beaten up, there's a lot of blood...”

When Zhang Genshuo heard the numbers “110,” his heart tightened.

The police.

If the police investigated and found out about those things...

But soon, he gave a bitter smile.

In his current state, what did he have to fear from the police?

The ambulance and the police car arrived almost simultaneously.

As Zhang Genshuo was lifted onto a stretcher, he heard people discussing.

“What happened to this guy? There's so much blood on him.”

“Don't know, maybe a robbery.”

“His eyes are covered too, was he beaten?”

“Just get him to the hospital quickly.”

The stretcher was lifted into the ambulance, the door closed, and the siren wailed.

Zhang Genshuo lay on the stretcher in total darkness, only feeling the vehicle swaying.

He didn't know where he was being taken or what would happen next.

He only knew that his life was over.

...

Inside the hospital.

In the emergency room.

When Zhang Genshuo was wheeled in, the Nurse on duty froze for a moment.

Does this person look a bit familiar?

But she couldn't remember who it was for a moment.

The doctor cut open his clothes, and seeing the bandages wrapped around his abdomen, his brow furrowed.

“Is this... a surgical incision?” He examined it carefully, his expression growing increasingly grave. “Quick, call a surgeon for a consultation!”

Half an hour later, the test results came back.

Bilateral kidneys missing.

Both corneas missing.

Although the surgical incision was rough, the suturing technique was professional, and the bleeding was well-controlled; there was no immediate danger to his life.

“This is organ trafficking,” the surgeon said in a low voice. “Has it been reported to the police?”

“It's already been reported.”

The police arrived quickly and began questioning Zhang Genshuo.

But he said nothing.

He just lay on the bed with gauze over his eyes, not uttering a word.

When asked his name, he didn't say.

When asked where he lived, he didn't say.

When asked who did it, he didn't say.

Actually, Zhang Genshuo wanted to say it was that man, the man wearing a mask, who kidnapped him.

But he didn't know the man's name, didn't know where the warehouse was, and didn't know any useful information.

Even if he said it, what then?

Moreover, if he spoke and the police investigated, what if they found out about how he had swindled those women...

He didn't dare think about it.

“Forget it,” he spoke with a raspy voice.

The police were taken aback. “What?”

“No need to investigate,” Zhang Genshuo said. “It's just my own bad luck.”

The police frowned. “Do you know who did it?”

Zhang Genshuo was silent for a few seconds. “I don't know.”

The police stared at him for a long time, finally shook their heads, and left.

With this kind of person who doesn't want to cooperate, asking was pointless.

...

Zhang Genshuo stayed in the hospital for three days.

These three days were the longest three days of his life.

During the day, he lay on the bed, unable to see anything.

He could only listen to sounds.

The sound of Nurses making rounds, the voices of patients in the next bed, the footsteps coming and going in the hallway.

At night, the darkness was even heavier.

He couldn't sleep; his mind was filled with those images.

Scalpels, bloody kidneys, ice boxes, a black field of vision...

He woke up from nightmares countless times, drenched in cold sweat, only to realize it wasn't a nightmare—it was real.

On the third day, the police came once more.

“Someone's here to see you,” the police officer said.

Zhang Genshuo was startled. “Who?”

No one answered, but footsteps were heard—three people.

“Zhang Genshuo.” A woman's voice rang out.

Zhang Genshuo's whole body stiffened.

It was Tian Ningning.

“You... why are you here?” His voice trembled.

“To see you.” Tian Ningning's voice was very calm—so calm it terrified him.

There were the breathing sounds of two other women nearby.

“White Lotus Flower and Tina are here too,” Tian Ningning said. “The three of us came together.”

Zhang Genshuo's lips trembled, unable to speak.

“We've heard about what happened to you,” White Lotus Flower spoke, her voice equally calm. “Kidneys gone, and blind too.”

Zhang Genshuo swallowed hard. “Was it... was it you?”

“Was it us what?” Tian Ningning asked.

“Was it you who... found someone...”

Tian Ningning was silent for a few seconds, then laughed.

Zhang Genshuo had never heard that laugh before.

It wasn't a happy laugh, but a relieved, ironic laugh.

“Zhang Genshuo,” she said, “do you know why we came to see you?”

Zhang Genshuo didn't speak.

“Because we want to tell you that our money has been recovered,” Tian Ningning said. “Four hundred and twenty thousand. The three of us split it, and it can be considered compensation for the losses you caused by scamming us.”

Zhang Genshuo's pupils contracted.

Four hundred and twenty thousand?

Wasn't that...

“Yes, it's the money from your two kidneys and your pair of corneas.”

White Lotus Flower took over, “Zhang Genshuo, you surely never expected that the money you scammed from us would be paid back this way, did you?”

“You... you guys...” Zhang Genshuo's whole body shook, whether from anger or fear.

“We what? We're saying thank you.” Tian Ningning's voice carried a hint of a smile.

“Recover well. We're leaving now.”

The sound of footsteps receded.

Zhang Genshuo lay on the hospital bed, his body ice-cold.

They knew.

Everything was arranged by them.

That man was found by them.

His kidneys and his corneas were exchanged for four hundred and twenty thousand and given to them.

And he had become a cripple.

“Aaaargh—!”

He suddenly let out a roar, struggling desperately to sit up, but the intense pain in his waist made him fall back onto the bed.

A Nurse rushed in: “Don't move! The wound will rip open!”

Zhang Genshuo clawed around like a madman: “Them! It was them! Call the police! Arrest them!”

“Who? Who are you talking about?”

Zhang Genshuo opened his mouth, but couldn't say it.

Report to the police that they had someone harvest his organs?

Where was the evidence?

Who was that man? Where was the warehouse? What evidence was there to prove they did it?

None.

Nothing at all.

He only had his mouth, and that mouth had lied to too many people; no one believed him anymore.

The Nurse looked at him with a complex expression and shook her head.

“Don't get agitated, just focus on recovering,” she said.

Then she left.

The hospital ward fell into a dead silence once again.

Zhang Genshuo lay on the bed, endless darkness before his eyes and a hollow pain in his abdomen.

He knew that for the rest of his life, this was it.

...