In their understanding, opening the skull meant death, with brain matter splattering everywhere.
"Don't be nervous. When I say 'open the skull,' I don't mean to smash it open with a hammer. Instead, I will carefully cut open a large triangular flap, then reconnect the severed nerves inside the brain, and finally close the skull. The bone will naturally heal back together afterwards."
Lu Qianqian's scalp tingled.
"Kid, do you know how fragile a person's brain is? If you open my brain, I'll be completely defenseless. My life will be in your hands at that moment. If you scoop it out with a spoon, you'll even eat my brain matter, and I'll still live?" the Emperor roared.
Zhou Hong wasn't surprised. People here had never heard of such surgery and naturally couldn't accept it immediately. Zhou Hong was prepared to spend a lot of time persuading him.
"Your Majesty, then let's choose the second option: do nothing and take medicine for life. However, I can't guarantee how long the second option will last, as your lifespan is long and there might not be enough medicine for you. If you're willing to trust me, let me open your skull. Rest assured, if I harm you, I won't escape either."
"But... are you sure I can still live?"
"Heh, you will definitely live. To be honest, I just performed brain surgery on an elderly person not long ago, and her case was more complex than yours."
"Alright, living like this is already suffering anyway. Come on." The Emperor suddenly made up his mind, perhaps thinking about how little quality of life he had now, and decided to go for it.
"Thank you for your trust."
Zhou Hong stopped wasting words and immediately took out his surgical tools.
"How do I need to cooperate?" the Emperor asked.
"The surgery will be very painful. I'm not sure if you can endure it."
"It's fine. Pain is nothing. I promise I won't even groan," the Emperor vowed.
Zhou Hong nodded. He hadn't prepared any anesthetic, and Earth's anesthetics had no effect on him anyway.
"Then choose a semi-reclined position. And no matter how painful it is, you cannot move. If you suddenly move and I accidentally injure other parts of your brain, your life truly cannot be guaranteed," Zhou Hong instructed.
"I understand that naturally," the Emperor gritted his teeth and cooperated fully.
Lu Qianqian stood by, her scalp numb.
"Then let's begin."
The Emperor reclined on the chair. Zhou Hong sat behind him, took out his tools, and first cut open his scalp.
"Ah." The Emperor didn't make a sound, but Lu Qianqian felt dizzy. Seeing her father's scalp cut open, revealing the bloody skull beneath, filled her with horror.
"Your Majesty, that was just an appetizer. The most crucial part is yet to come. You must hold on. No matter how painful it is, you cannot move."
"Proceed. Whatever the pain, it will be less than the torment I've endured over the years."
"Very well." Zhou Hong immediately picked up a chainsaw, a battery-powered one.
"Zzzz..." Zhou Hong carefully cut into the Emperor's head.
As expected, the Emperor grimaced in pain, but he managed not to groan and didn't move an inch. Truly a cultivator. If it were an ordinary person from Earth, they would have died from the pain.
After about fifteen minutes, Zhou Hong finally sawed a large triangular opening, about ten centimeters wide, on the Emperor's head and set the bone flap aside.
On Earth, such a direct placement would surely lead to bacterial infection. However, here, infection was impossible. They could even rinse the removed skull in water and put it back without issue.
"Can you hear me now?" Zhou Hong asked.
"Yes," the Emperor replied through gritted teeth, the clenching due to enduring intense pain.
"Then I'm starting now. You absolutely cannot move from this point on."
"Un...derstood."
Zhou Hong immediately located the abnormality in the sella turcica region of his brain. Indeed, the pituitary gland was severed.
For problems like this, even cultivators were helpless. No matter how powerful, they couldn't make severed parts in the brain reconnect on their own.
In this world, powerful individuals fought and killed each other daily. Many strong individuals suffered severed heads but didn't die immediately because their bodies had strong resistance. However, if their brains were injured, while they might not die instantly, they would slowly succumb after a few hours or days. For cultivators in such situations, if surgery could be performed promptly for rescue, they might have a chance to live on.
It was a pity that there were no surgical experts in this world, otherwise, many powerful individuals wouldn't have perished.
Zhou Hong began to suture the Emperor's severed pituitary gland.
This was a very delicate operation. Although Zhou Hong was confident, he still had to proceed with utmost caution.
Finally, after half an hour of meticulous work, Zhou Hong succeeded.
"How do you feel now?" Zhou Hong asked the Emperor.
"Still okay. I can endure."
"Heh, the surgery was very successful. Now we just need to put the skull flap back on and stitch up the scalp," Zhou Hong said with a smile.
"It's really done? Then from now on, will I...?"
"Don't worry, if things go as expected, you'll be like a normal person from now on."
Zhou Hong quickly completed the remaining tasks.
"Do you have any spiritual medicine here that can quickly heal wounds after taking it?" Zhou Hong asked.
"Of course."
"Then take it out and consume it immediately."
The Emperor immediately had a eunuch bring out a box of spiritual medicine. This medicine, when taken after an injury, could heal wounds within fifteen minutes.
Indeed, after fifteen minutes, the Emperor's wounds had completely healed. If Zhou Hong's predictions were correct, the nerves connected in his brain had also healed, and even his skull cap had begun to fuse.
Zhou Hong couldn't help but marvel at the magic. On Earth, how many people could be saved with this?
"You are now completely healed," Zhou Hong said with a smile.
The Emperor immediately drank a large mouthful of water. In the past, he would have felt the urge to urinate shortly after.
However, he didn't feel that sensation now.
"I'm really healed. I'm truly cured," the Emperor said, tears streaming down his face in excitement.
"Father, you're finally well," Lu Qianqian also cried and rushed forward.
Zhou Hong chuckled, feeling very happy. Of course, his happiness wasn't for any particular reason, but the sense of accomplishment that naturally arose from curing a patient.
"Instructor Lu, your father is now well, so let's go back," Zhou Hong said to Lu Qianqian.
"Wait." The Emperor immediately stepped forward and clasped Zhou Hong's hand, saying, "What is your name?"
"Replying to Your Majesty, my name is Zhou Hong. I am your daughter's student."