Village Doctor's Women-Chapter 60 - 58 Wang Xiang

"Don’t!"

The knife rose, poised to fall and slice across Xu Qian’s back.

A cut like that would, at the very least, split skin and tear flesh. If the blade struck slightly off-center and hit her neck, she could die instantly.

Wang Xiang’s expression was pathologically twisted, an expression no sane person would wear. It was as if he believed attacking someone would be to his own benefit... What normal person would think that way?

Without eyes in the back of her head, Xu Qian only turned around when she heard Wang Jian’s shout. She froze, her eyes widening in terror at the cold glint of the blade.

"Ah!"

Xu Qian instinctively hugged her head and screamed, completely unaware of the figure that shot out from the side with incredible speed.

The cleaver stopped dead in the air, inches from Xu Qian. A look of terror spread across Wang Xiang’s face; he couldn’t move his arm. Two silver needles were suddenly lodged in his wrist and neck.

His confusion was short-lived. Wang Jian was already upon him. With a single flick of his wrist, Wang Jian sent the cleaver flying. The force behind the throw was so great that the cleaver shattered a windowpane and flew out into the yard.

Seeing a cleaver fly out of the house, the onlookers grew frantic.

"Why is there a knife involved?"

"It was just an argument, wasn’t it? Do they really need knives?"

"That was Xu Qian screaming just now, right? And someone yelled ’don’t.’ They must have seen something horrible."

"No, no, there was no blood on it. I didn’t see any blood on the knife."

"Damn it, someone call the police! No, an ambulance!"

"Is anyone going to go in and check?"

First a desperate shout, and now a flying knife—no one could remain calm.

The crowd erupted into a commotion. Someone immediately pulled out a phone to call the police, while Li Shuang, who had just arrived, charged straight inside.

"Wang Jian?"

Li Shuang called out Wang Jian’s name as he pushed open the door. The scene that greeted him was Wang Jian pinning Wang Xiang to the ground. A silver needle was embedded in Wang Xiang’s neck and another in his wrist.

"This is..."

Before Li Shuang could finish, he saw Wang Jian reach out and lightly press a spot on Wang Xiang’s neck. Wang Xiang’s head lolled to the side, and he passed out.

Li Shuang was dumbfounded. Can you really knock someone out that easily? On TV, they always use a karate chop to the neck.

Everything happening before him was beyond his comprehension. "What’s wrong with Brother Xiang?" Li Shuang asked.

Not far away, Xu Qian sat on the ground, her face a mask of terror. Her fear was clearly directed at Wang Xiang, who lay unconscious on the floor.

"Please call an ambulance. Li Liping is still unconscious in the other room, and they both need to go to the hospital," Wang Jian said. He patted his pockets, but his phone was gone. He had no idea where he’d lost it, so he had to ask Li Shuang to make the call. "Sorry to trouble you."

Although he had reset Xu Qian’s broken ribs, his clinic wasn’t equipped to fully treat a fracture. The hospital was the best place for her.

After speaking, Wang Jian released Wang Xiang and walked over to Xu Qian. She had been terrified, and this was when she needed someone by her side the most. He couldn’t leave.

"Uh, I was just outside. I saw someone already calling the police and an ambulance. They should be here soon..." When Li Shuang heard that Li Liping was also unconscious, he instantly realized that this was far more than a simple quarrel.

He watched Wang Jian lift Xu Qian into his arms. While he found their closeness a bit strange, he had nothing to say given the circumstances. "So what exactly happened? And the knife?"

Being held by Wang Jian, Xu Qian felt immensely safer. When the cleaver had been swinging toward her, she truly believed she was going to die. If Wang Jian hadn’t immobilized Wang Xiang’s arm with those silver needles, she would have been killed. As this thought crossed her mind, Xu Qian looked up from his embrace at the man holding her. He’s becoming more and more mysterious.

"Wang Xiang tried to kill me," Xu Qian whispered. "If it weren’t for Li Liping and Wang Jian, I might have died today."

"What?"

Li Shuang fell silent. Even though the knife was what made him rush in, he never imagined something so extreme. Threatening someone with a blade during a fight happened sometimes, but their small village had never seen a murder.

Sure, he was a punk, but murder was a whole other level. He never used knives in a fight—sticks and chains were his limit. And at his age, he hardly ever fought at all.

Li Shuang glanced at Wang Xiang, still lying on the floor, his expression complicated. "Maybe he was just acting on impulse?" he offered slowly.

The moment the words left his mouth, he saw a flash of annoyance in Xu Qian’s eyes and immediately shut up.

However, Wang Jian suddenly spoke. "Help me get my brother onto the sofa. What you said isn’t entirely correct, but it’s close. I wouldn’t call it impulsive. I’d call it paranoid."

"Huh?"

Xu Qian looked up sharply, stunned that Wang Jian would defend Wang Xiang. "You saw what he was like with your own eyes! How can you still speak up for him?"

"No, let me explain."

Wang Jian gave a bitter smile. "The big brother I know would never do something like this, so..."

"People change, don’t you get it?" Xu Qian retorted. "The Wang Xiang I used to know wasn’t like this either, but this is who he’s become over the last two years. He’s changed, don’t you understand?"

"Put me down."

Wang Jian didn’t let go. He ignored her struggles and simply said to Li Shuang, "Could you please keep an eye on my brother? I need to go check on Li Liping first."

"Okay. Don’t worry."

The villagers who had been loitering in the yard were now creeping up to the front door. Not wanting them to see his family in this state, Wang Jian carried Xu Qian straight into her room and shut the door. Since Wang Xiang was unconscious in the living room, he wouldn’t cause any trouble for a while. It was fine to leave him with Li Shuang.

If Wang Jian remembered correctly, Li Shuang had always trailed after Wang Xiang when they were kids, like a little lackey. It was fair to say that Wang Xiang was partly responsible for Li Shuang becoming a delinquent. Leaving his brother in Li Shuang’s care was not a problem.

After placing Xu Qian in her room, Wang Jian also carried the unconscious Li Liping onto the bed. Only then did he sit down beside Xu Qian, ready to explain.

"Listen to me," Wang Jian said softly, reaching out to stroke her hair. The red palm print on her face made his heart ache. "When did my brother start acting like this?"

Xu Qian turned her head away, sulking. She enjoyed his gentle comfort, but right now, she was furious that he was defending a would-be murderer. Even if it was his own brother, how could he?

Then again, he is his brother. A little favoritism is understandable, isn’t it?

Her mind vacillated, one moment finding it reasonable, the next utterly unacceptable. In short, she just didn’t want any physical contact with Wang Jian right now. She was still too angry.

Xu Qian snorted, refusing to look at him. "Don’t touch me."

Wang Jian gave a bitter smile. He already had a theory. "About my brother, I’m not trying to defend him. I suspect he’s genuinely gone mad... and I don’t mean ’mad’ as in angry. Do you understand?"

Xu Qian froze, finally turning to look at him. She was taken aback by the grave expression on his face. "What do you mean?"

"I mean something’s wrong up here," Wang Jian said, pointing to his head. "A mental illness."

"The big brother I knew was bold, but he was never this unhinged," Wang Jian explained. "People change, but their fundamental personality and way of thinking don’t become so twisted. This level of paranoia and violence isn’t a normal psychological change that comes with growing up."

"That’s why I need to know. When, exactly, did he become like this?"

Hearing this, Xu Qian began to think back on Wang Xiang’s transformation. As for the timing... "Now that you put it that way, the change really was sudden..." she said slowly.

"It was probably a few years ago..."

Wang Jian frowned. "Do you remember a more specific time?"

He felt a surge of shame. He’d been away at school for years, hardly ever calling home and communicating with his big brother even less. He probably knew his brother less than someone who had just met him. If Xu Qian didn’t know, he would have to ask his father, but given his brother’s habits, he probably didn’t talk to their father much either.

"It must have been about three or four years ago..." Having calmed down, Xu Qian started to recall the events of the last few years. "We were able to renovate the house and live comfortably these past few years. Aside from the money you sent home after becoming a doctor, it was mostly thanks to your brother. He made a lot of money in business a few years back."

"My brother started a business?" 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Wang Jian was stunned. He had no idea. When he called home, he usually just sent money and asked about everyone’s health, rarely asking what they were actually doing. That was just like him, always so engrossed in changing his own circumstances. Looking back now, it seemed he had neglected the very people closest to him.

"Yes, it wasn’t huge. When he was working odd jobs, he saw someone open a logistics company and decided to start one himself. At the time, we had just paid off the family’s debts, and you were more or less on the right track, so Dad and I didn’t try to stop him."

"But that business failed abruptly about three years ago. He ended up in a lot of debt again. You had just started working and were still an intern, so we didn’t tell you."