Prison to Pinnacle: Ex-wife's Eternal Lament

Then, he watched intently as Edward performed an incredible surgery.

Ray was so focused that he turned his head when noticing Nicholas and his other brothers standing right behind him.

It was funny that they all had on their naked bodies furs of different colours, shapes and sizes. Ray even had the fleeting illusion that they had all become animals in a zoo.

Their eyes were filled with excitement and exhilaration.

Palpably, everyone was grateful to be alive.

It was nothing short of a miracle.

Edward suddenly looked up from his work. He gave them a hard glare.

Nicholas quickly realized the young man asked for silence. If he was not wrong, this must be the right person he was looking for.

He looked so young! He had no idea if he could solve his very problem.

But he did know the young man before him was not someone to be messed with.

He instantly put his finger to his lips, signalling his men to be quiet.

Then, he knelt like a servant or in worship. And his bodyguards followed suit.

A tiger without a head lay on the operating table.

Edward was sewing something onto the tiger's body, something like the skin of a snake.

Yeah, it was the python's.

A minute later, he got this job done.

Then Edward grabbed the tiger's head from the side of the operating table and fixed it onto the neck.

Clad in clear rubber gloves, he went to work with a thin thread, a flesh-toned stitch that was barely there.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on Edward's hands, a blur of motion.

In the blink of an eye, he'd completed the surgery. Nicholas, Ray, and the rest were agog, baffled by the proceedings.

Was this some sort of post-mortem makeover for the tiger?

Suddenly, Edward gave a pat to a creature with a lion's head and a serpent's body, crouching nearby.

At that instant, the tiger's head twitched.

Holy smokes, everyone realized the tiger was about to wake up.

Sure enough, the tiger rose from the operating table with a jolt.

Nicholas and his bodyguards were astounded, their jaws dropping.

"Rory, you've just had surgery, take it easy," Edward said. "How do you like your new snake-skin coat I've sewn for you?"

The tiger lifted its head and let out a deafening roar, then vigorously nodded at Edward. "You're too loud, Rory the Roarer!" Edward chided, stroking the tiger gently. "your roars are deafening my ears, you know? You'd better stay quiet next time, you beast!

Alright, go play outside with Leo Serpent for a bit."

Roy the Roarer understood him immediately and went out with the lion-faced serpent happily.

Nicholas now was scared so much as excited.

Now he was sure the young man before him could cure him.

"You must be the fabled Dr. Edward Wood. Having witnessed your surgery, you're the medical god of this world. I bow to you," Nicholas gushed.

"Cut the crap and get to the point! what are you guys for here in the Forest of Death?" Edward demanded.

"I... I..." Nicholas stammered.

"You came for me to save you, right?" Edward pressed.

"Yes, yes, yes! How do you know that? Wow, you're like a god to me!" Nicholas fawned, knowing Edward's peculiar temperament and fearing to offend.

"Enough with that crap! Even a fool can see you're dying." Edward stated bluntly.

Ray and his brothers felt like fools,

They hadn't noticed anything amiss with their boss.

"Please, have mercy and save me," Nicholas pleaded, kowtowing desperately.

"What's this? Do you think I'm an ancient emperor of the East? This isn't the time for kowtowing," Edward scoffed.

"Whatever it takes, I'm willing to do anything you say if you can save me," Nicholas vowed, kowtowing again.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Ray and the other bodyguards immediately followed suit and kowtowed, too.

"Bang! Bang!"

After that, they pleaded,

"Please save our boss! We know you saved our lives just now. We're willing to do anything you want now even if you ask us to go through fire and water. Please show mercy on our boss again! He's a good man!"

"Humph," Edward snorted. "He's a good man? This is the funniest joke I've ever heard.

If he were a good man, how could he have such a tragic retribution?"

Everyone was puzzled, not grasping what Edward was getting at.

"He has cancer in many parts of his body. There's a big tumor in his head, another in his stomach, and his lungs and liver are riddled with cancer cells, too. I'd say he won't last thirty days," Edward said nonchalantly.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Nicholas kowtowed again. "You are indeed the god of medicine. Without any instruments, your diagnosis matches the hospital's results exactly. Please help me!"

"Let me tell you a story. Once there was a milk merchant who made formula. To make more money, he added melamine to the formula. This caused many babies who drank the formula to develop big head syndrome.

Would you say such a person's good?"

"Such a guy's evil and should be condemned to hell. He's a demon," Nicholas said angrily.

"Couldn't agree more! Such a man's a disgrace to humanity, someone deserving to be forever branded with shame," the others chimed in, their voices filled with indignation.

"Exactly," Edward sneered, his gaze piercing. "Let me tell you, the person I'm talking about is you..."

He pointed an accusing finger at Nicholas.

"No, that's impossible. I've never been a milk merchant," Nicholas stammered, his face a mask of shock.