Inside the woodshed.

The machete struck the iron chain with a crisp sound.

bite!

The iron chain snapped, and Ye Liang was instantly free.

Ye Liang immediately jumped up excitedly.

I ran around the room freely for three laps.

She didn't dare to shout, afraid of attracting attention, but she still excitedly ran around the house three times.

first!

This is my first time!

For the first time in his life, he relied entirely on his own wisdom and hands. Without relying on anyone else, he strengthened his machete, cut the iron chains, and gained his freedom.

Ye Liang was so excited and happy.

How could Ye Liang not be excited that he, a useless person who couldn't even take care of himself to eat or dress, was finally able to accomplish something decent on his own?

——

"Senior sister, how are you feeling?"

After the treatment, some of the younger female students, who were exhausted, eagerly asked their senior sister how she was feeling.

Second Senior Sister Su Qing was equally concerned, supporting her junior sister while also showing concern for her senior sister: "Senior Sister, how are you feeling? Are you dizzy?"

Senior Sister Qi Xue had been staring blankly at her raised wrist, where there was a tiny red dot—the spot where Yang Ting had inserted the last needle.

With that last needle, the Xuanbing Qi was expelled from her body, and she immediately felt a surge of relief as her meridians opened up.

"With the Xuanbing Body, cold air can clog the meridians. Second Junior Sister, Junior Sister, I feel great now. My meridians have never been so clear."

Not only that, but it seemed like the first time Senior Sister Qi Xue had ever spoken in such a long sentence.

"Senior Sister!"

When the junior sister saw that her senior sister was feeling better, she immediately became excited and tearful, wanting to hug her and have a good cry with this older sister.

"Needles, hey, Senior Sister has needles in her needles!" Second Senior Sister Su Qing hurriedly reminded her.

"Oh, right, the needles...the needles haven't been removed yet!" Hearing her second senior sister's reminder, the junior sister quickly wiped away her tears and carefully removed each of the needles that had been stuck in her senior sister's body.

The eldest sister silently took out a needle that her junior sister had just removed from her hand, examined it carefully, and then returned it to her junior sister without leaving a trace, so that she could keep it safe.

"Junior Sister, am I fully recovered now?" Senior Sister asked softly.

"Senior sister, he said—no, the book says—that one acupuncture session won't cure it. One session can only help Senior Sister expel some of the stagnant Xuanbing Qi in her body, temporarily relieving her symptoms of the Cold Body. What does that mean again? Right, it treats the symptoms, not the root cause. In other words, to completely cure Senior Sister's illness, we need more advanced acupuncture techniques. I haven't learned those techniques yet. Once I learn them as soon as possible, I'll give Senior Sister the acupuncture so she can get completely better quickly." Junior Sister Yang Ting was overjoyed. As soon as the acupuncture was finished, she happily hugged both her senior and second senior sisters together.

She was as happy as a child.

Faced with such a kind junior sister, the senior sister felt a pang of sadness and said, "It's okay if it can't be cured. I'm already very happy that junior sister can help alleviate my symptoms with acupuncture every month. It's okay if it can't be cured. Don't push yourself too hard."

"No, no. Don't worry, Senior Sister, I'm fine. Let's eat, yes, let's eat, I'm hungry. Senior Sister, Second Senior Sister, let's have breakfast!"

The junior sister, feeling a little guilty, kept saying she wanted to eat breakfast because she was hungry.

——

Having just finished breakfast, the junior sister made an excuse that she was tired from acupuncture and wanted to go back to her room to rest, and immediately ran away as if fleeing.

Seeing her run away as if fleeing, neither the eldest nor the second eldest sister called out to her.

However, both of them already knew in their hearts that their junior sister was hiding something from them.

"Is it that thief?" Senior Sister Qi Xue suddenly said calmly.

Second Senior Sister Su Qing was taken aback, then smiled and said, "Senior Sister noticed too? Our junior sister is hiding something from us?"

Senior Sister Qi Xue nodded slightly and continued, "She's been secretly studying that medical book on the initial understanding of Qi and Meridians for a long time, but hasn't figured it out yet. Now, suddenly she has such a miraculous and useful medical technique, that's impossible. Also, did you see the needles she used to give me acupuncture?"

"Yes, they're all gold and silver needles! Very expensive. We simply can't afford them. Even if we had the money, there's nowhere to buy them. Those needles are so delicate, and the designs are so intricate. They can't be made by ordinary goldsmiths and silversmiths. All this time, because we didn't have suitable needles, my junior sister had been using the pointed awl I used for sewing shoe soles to practice inserting needles. It breaks my heart to see her like that, I feel so sorry for her." Second Senior Sister Su Qing spoke of this with great emotion.

"It's not her fault that she kept this from us; it's our fault. We made her feel that there are some things she's afraid to tell us." Senior Sister Qi Xue suddenly reflected and felt that it wasn't Junior Sister's fault for keeping this from them, nor was it because Junior Sister didn't trust them.

Rather, it was because of certain aspects of them that the junior sister felt they were too stubborn, and there were certain things she dared not tell them.

"So, what should we do about this? There's a thief hiding in the mountain, and I reckon it's a male thief. We don't even know what his intentions are. He's using the guise of teaching medicine to get close to our junior sister. She's so naive and inexperienced; I'm really worried she'll be deceived by a man from outside the mountain." Second Senior Sister Su Qing was troubled by this problem.

Senior Sister Qi Xue suddenly stood up calmly and said, "Junior Sister, you've always been close to Junior Sister. You're more suited to talk to her about this. I feel my meridians are very clear now, I haven't felt this way in a long time. I'm going to practice my skills. I hope to make some progress and revitalize our sect in the future."

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