"That's not how you do acupuncture."
Lin Tang snatched the acupuncture case from her and began to administer the needles.
"What are you doing? Stop ssing around!" Chen Yuyan cried out, trying to intervene, but she was pushed aside.
She had studied dicine since childhood and was familiar with all sorts of common acupuncture techniques. She had never seen anyone like Lin Tang, whose thods were so chaotic and utterly devoid of any discernible pattern.
"Stop, you're only going to make her condition worse!"
"Ah, that's a fatal point! How can you possibly needle there!?"
"It's over... it's all over..." Chen Yuyan fell into utter despair. This old woman is definitely going to die, and Lin Tang is her murderer! I've beco his accomplice.
Lin Tang continued inserting the needles, snapping impatiently, "Shut up!"
"You've just killed soone, and you have the audacity to yell at ?" Chen Yuyan truly couldn't understand. Isn't this guy afraid of rotting in prison?
"Yuyan, how did you end up here? What's going on?" a man asked, hurrying over.
"Jiang Jie, you're just in ti! Hurry, call the police! Sigh, I need to turn myself in, too. Maybe I can get a lenient sentence," Chen Yuyan sighed deeply.
Once Jiang Jie got a handle on the situation, he remained quite calm and offered comfort. "Yuyan, don't be afraid. This has nothing to do with you. The responsibility falls entirely on this guy."
He then glared at Lin Tang and said coldly, "Hey, kid, you're looking at either the death penalty or life in prison. There's no escaping it. During the interrogation, you'd better be smart about it. Just say you were the only one who needled this dead woman. Don't say anything else, you hear ?"
If word got out that Chen Yuyan couldn't cure the patient and actually made her worse, it would undoubtedly harm her reputation and be detrintal to her future.
"But..." Chen Yuyan's conscience wouldn't allow it.
Just as she was about to object, Lin Tang swiped his palm over the old woman's body, and all the silver needles instantly retracted as if by magic.
He looked up and said, "This old lady isn't dead at all. You're calling her dead? Are you blind?"
"Hey, who the hell do you think you are, talking to like that?" Jiang Jie exclaid angrily, about to teach him a lesson.
The previously unresponsive old woman suddenly flipped over and sat up. She rubbed her eyes and asked in a daze, "What just happened to ?"
"Grandma!"
The little girl was stunned for a mont, then, overjoyed, she flew into the old woman's arms like a swallow returning to its nest.
"How is this possible?" Chen Yuyan was incredibly shocked. Lin Tang clearly needled several of the old woman's fatal acupoints. Logically, she should be dead even if she hadn't been sick in the first place. So how did she wake up, with all the signs of illness gone from her face? Can needling fatal acupoints actually cure soone?
Jiang Jie, who knew nothing of dicine, paused for a mont before asserting, "It must have been you, Yuyan. You'd already cured her, but the effects were just delayed. This has nothing to do with this scavenger. He just happened to poke her randomly right before she woke up."
Originally, the little girl had been ashad, wanting to offer both thanks and an apology. But after hearing Jiang Jie's words, she glared at Lin Tang again, shielding her grandmother behind her to protect her from further harm. The onlookers also felt that Jiang Jie's explanation made sense. After all, if Lin Tang were truly a skilled doctor, why would he be reduced to scavenging?
Lin Tang hadn't intended to charge the elderly scavenger a consultation fee; he had acted purely out of sympathy. He couldn't care less about who got the credit.
He rose to leave but was once again blocked by Jiang Jie.
"The old lady is completely fine now. Can I leave?" Lin Tang raised an eyebrow.
"Of course, you can go, but first, you have to apologize to . I don't like your tone," Jiang Jie said, tilting his nose up arrogantly.
"Heh—" Lin Tang scoffed, amused. Who does this guy think he is?
However, Chen Yuyan forcefully pulled Jiang Jie aside and said earnestly, "It wasn't who cured her! I can't take credit for sothing I didn't do!"
She looked at Lin Tang, her expression a mixture of embarrassnt and reverence. "I was blind just now, failing to recognize your acupuncture technique. I offended you, and I am truly sorry! My na is Chen Yuyan, granddaughter of Chen Shanchun, the head of the Xuanhu dical Pavilion in East Sea City. Sir, may I ask your na? With your profound dical skills, you must know my grandfather, right?"
"My na is Lin Tang. As for your grandfather? I don't know him," Lin Tang said, shaking his head. He found the woman's logic rather strange. Just because I'm good at dicine, I'm supposed to know her grandfather?
"Ah, this..." Chen Yuyan was so embarrassed she nearly choked.
"You're really that ignorant, kid? It's pathetic that you're in the dical field and don't even know the famous Elder Chen," Jiang Jie said with a disdainful look.
"Don't say that!" Chen Yuyan said, growing even more flustered as she waved her hands in dismissal.
Suddenly, she froze.
"Wait, your na is Lin Tang? Don't tell you're the master that Dr. Ge Shijian recently took?" she asked, her eyes widening.
She and her grandfather had just arrived in Jiangbei, where Jiang Jie had picked them up and settled them into a nearby hotel. Their next plan was to visit Ge Shijian and Lin Tang. She never imagined they would et here first.
"I know Ge Shijian, but I'm not his master. You're mistaken," Lin Tang denied.
"Then what about the Primordial Qi-Boosting Decoction? Were you the one who released the recipe? I wonder which ancient text you found it in. Are there any other ancient formulas in that book?" Chen Yuyan asked, her face alight with excitent and her eyes sparkling.
She grabbed Lin Tang's sleeve, looking up at him with a fervent hunger. She was desperate to read the ancient text in its entirety, to imrse herself in an ocean of dical knowledge.
Seeing her chatting so fervently with Lin Tang, her actions growing more intimate as if no one else was around, Jiang Jie was overco with jealousy, and his expression soured.
The surrounding crowd was simply astonished. This scavenger... is he really a doctor?
Lin Tang was about to dismiss Chen Yuyan with a few brief words when a thunderous shout tore through the air.
"Fierce Tiger Hall business! All irrelevant personnel, scram!"
A group of n forcefully shoved the crowd aside. Just as people were about to complain, their faces paled upon hearing the na.
"Why are the Fierce Tiger Hall here? Go, go! We'll be in deep trouble if we run into them!"
"What's the Fierce Tiger Hall? Are they that scary? Why are they so arrogant?"
"Shh! Keep your voice down, do you have a death wish?"
"The boss of the Fierce Tiger Hall, Song Chaohu, is the son-in-law of the Zhou Family, one of the Four Great Families. A man like that could crush us under his heel."
"Can't afford to ss with them, can't afford to..."
Chen Yuyan, being from out of town, had no idea what the Fierce Tiger Hall was and was still a bit dazed.
Jiang Jie, however, was a local from a family with so influence. But when faced with the Zhou Family, they were no better than ants. He knew better than most how terrifying the Fierce Tiger Hall was—they were true butchers who had seen blood and taken lives. Absolutely horrifying.
Thus, Jiang Jie trembled like a mouse that had seen a cat. He quickly grabbed Chen Yuyan and whispered, "We need to get far away, now! We can't get in their way!"
However, the n from the Fierce Tiger Hall moved to surround him, Chen Yuyan, and Lin Tang. They didn't even spare the elderly scavenger and the little girl.
This terrified Jiang Jie even more. "Sorry, so sorry, we didn't an to be in your way! We'll move right now! Please, sirs, forgive us."
"Fuck off!" The leader, Wang Erbao, slapped him directly across the face. "Did I say you could speak?"
Jiang Jie's cheek burned as if it had been doused in pepper spray. The pain was imnse, but he didn't dare show a hint of anger, hunching his shoulders and bowing his head.
"Oh, and there's a pretty little thing here, too? Not bad, not bad!" Wang Erbao's lecherous gaze landed on Chen Yuyan. He thought to himself that this trip wasn't a waste; he'd picked up a nice bonus. Not bad at all.
Chen Yuyan was already timid, and now she was trembling with fear, instinctively covering her face. Her frail, rabbit-like appearance only fueled Wang Erbao's brutish desires, making him want to snatch her up and ravage her on the spot.
Jiang Jie, who had still been clutching Chen Yuyan's sleeve, let go as if he'd been electrocuted, his posture screaming that he had nothing to do with her.
"You..." Chen Yuyan stamred in disbelief. Was this the sa kind, attentive man who had greeted her so warmly at the airport?
"HAHA!" Wang Erbao roared with laughter at Jiang Jie's quick thinking. But he hadn't forgotten the main reason he was there. He turned his mocking gaze to Lin Tang and the rusty sword he carried.
"So this piece of junk is really worth millions? There's really no logic when it cos to antiques," Wang Erbao mused, then crooked a finger at Lin Tang. "Kneel. Crawl over here and give the sword. Understand?"
The people who had fled in a panic hadn't gone far. When they heard this, they were astonished once again. They never would have guessed that the scavenger not only knew dicine but was also carrying such a priceless antique. You really can't judge a book by its cover! Unfortunately for him, his luck had run out. The Fierce Tiger Hall had discovered the sword's true value. This was a classic case of a treasure bringing ruin upon its owner.
"So it was this bastard who dragged us into this!" Jiang Jie realized with a jolt. He quickly tried to clarify, "Brother, this is a misunderstanding! A complete misunderstanding! We don't know him..."
SLAP!
Wang Erbao struck him hard again. "Did I say you could speak?! Huh?!"
"I..." Jiang Jie's cheek was now grotesquely swollen, tears and snot streaming down his face.
He didn't dare feel the slightest resentnt toward Wang Erbao. All his hatred was directed at Lin Tang. This son of a bitch is a walking jinx! And a complete moron! What was he thinking, flaunting a valuable antique around like that? I bet he's real pleased with himself now that the Fierce Tiger Hall is on his ass. Let's see how he gets out of this one! He even found himself hoping that Lin Tang would defiantly refuse Wang Erbao and be beaten to death on the spot.
Then, just as he'd hoped, Lin Tang spoke calmly.
"This is mine. Why should I give it to you?"
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