Chapter 191 Golden Needle
Liu Jintang said that the mute had a miserable life, his children, wife and parents were all dead, and now he was left alone. He was often tortured by headaches, so he asked the master to treat him.
The master immediately agreed and used the Ziwu Liuzhu acupuncture method and the Linggui Bafa acupuncture method, applying acupuncture every three days. After three months, the mute was cured.
After the mute was cured, he was very grateful to the master. After leaving excitedly, he wrote a thank-you letter to the master, saying that he had found a new job and would often ask Liu Jintang to send some snacks to the master. The master was worried that he would spend too much money, so he accepted it the first time and refused it afterwards. However, the snacks were still sent frequently.
He was only sixteen years old at the time, full of passion and yearning to join the army. His master said he wanted to teach him acupuncture, but he didn't want to learn.
He disliked the weak acupuncture and yearned for gunpowder and guns, and wanted to join the army to kill the enemy, but his master said that Chinese medicine "requires benevolence and medical skills" and must not kill people, so he did not allow him to join the army.
But he went anyway.
With the help of his eldest brother and the tacit approval of his master, he left Huichun Hall on a quiet moonlit night and resolutely joined the army.
For the next three years, Liu Yutang followed the army to fight enemies in battles across the country, and he could only communicate with his master and brothers through letters.
In the second year after he joined the army, his senior brother wrote to him saying that Liu Jintang was expelled from the sect, saying that he had stolen his master's prescription and presented it to the R country in exchange for gold and silver.
Liu Yutang had been fighting for two years, and his comrades died one after another. His hatred towards the R people reached its peak. Naturally, he disliked Liu Jintang and supported his master's decision.
He was nineteen years old in his third year of military service.
At that time, the war had subsided a little and the army was about to pass through Jinling. He was carrying the wine he bought for his master, and was thinking about going back to see his master and senior brother.
That night, their army encountered the largest enemy force. There were bombings from planes and machine guns, and the battle lasted until dawn. When he saw the senior general holding a bayonet, his blood, which had been fighting all night, suddenly ran cold.
Just when he was distracted, he was shot and fainted on the spot.
When he woke up, his clothes on his chest were soaked with wine and a bullet was embedded in the porcelain.
The bullet shattered the wine he brought to his master, saving his life.
But he woke up too late. The ground was littered with corpses of his comrades, all dead. He was the only one who survived.
He was covered in blood and had not slept for two days. He ran back to Jinling and Huichun Hall with all his might.
The clinic was open, his master was still taking people's pulses, and his senior brother was still packing medicinal materials. Everything was the same as when he left.
But his mood changed. The fighting on the battlefield, the corpses of his comrades, and the extremely tragic scenes finally converged into the officer's face.
He walked in and shouted hysterically: "The mute is from R country! He is a senior military officer of R country."
As soon as he finished speaking, Huichun Hall fell into deathly silence.
He was completely exhausted, closed his eyes and fainted.
It was three days later when he opened his eyes again.
Huichun Hall was closed, and his senior brother carried him on his back along the path leading to the mountain city.
He asked vaguely, "Brother, where is Master?"
The senior brother choked up and told what had happened in the past three days.
Seeing his junior fellow apprentice fainted, Liu Chuntang immediately helped him up.
When Liu Chuntang looked up at his master, he was standing in front of the Chinese medicine cabinet, his face pale and his eyes dazed.
Liu Chuntang didn't know how to persuade him, so he had to help his junior brother back to the backyard.
When he came out again, the master had closed Huichun Hall.
That night was exceptionally quiet. Liu Chuntang tried to persuade his master several times, but he didn't know how to say it. He hated Liu Jintang more and more.
He already understood that Liu Jintang was greedy for money and knew that his master would not save the R countryman, so he disguised the R countryman as a mute and made up a miserable life story to trick his master into saving him.
The next day, the master went out early. He was afraid that the master would do something stupid, so he waited anxiously for a whole day. In the evening, the master came back with a medicine basket on his back.
He breathed a sigh of relief and hurried forward to take the medicine basket from his master, but his master dodged his outstretched hand and prevented him from touching the basket.
In the evening, the master cooked a delicious meal for the first time. He had no appetite at all, but the master comforted him and said that they would leave Jinling tomorrow and go to the mountain city, where the scenery was beautiful and there were plenty of medicinal herbs, and they could open another Huichuntang.
He listened with joy, and followed the master's imagination and talked happily. He drank a lot of wine, and when he was drowsy, he saw the master filling the medicine box. He asked vaguely, "Master, are you going to see a doctor?"
The master paused and said, "Hmm."
His eyelids were very heavy, and he was staring at the acupuncture bag on the table, where a row of gold needles were shining with golden light.
The master packed up the medicine box and walked out carrying it on his back.
Seeing that his master did not take the acupuncture bag, he stumbled out and shouted for his master while holding the door of Huichun Hall.
"Master, I didn't bring my acupuncture kit!"
The morning mist was thick. The master paused and said in a very light voice, "It's no longer needed."
With these four very low words, the drunkenness was half gone, and he wanted to chase his master with the acupuncture bag in his hand, but his master disappeared in the mist.
Then there was an explosion that shook the heavens and the earth. With a bang, half the sky was dyed red, and the boiling crowd dispersed the mist.
The senior brother's voice choked to the point of almost breathing as he spoke, "Master strapped explosives to his body. He stopped the R country officer's car..."
His master used acupuncture to save people throughout his life, and before his death he left behind the needle and brought explosives.
Liu Yutang held his master's acupuncture bag and cried on his senior brother's back until he almost fainted. His senior brother carried him on his back and left Jinling and went to the mountain city.
Liu Yutang wanted to tell Ye Rou about his master's heroic deeds, but when the words were on the tip of his tongue, he looked at Ye Rou's bright face, at his old friend beside him, and at the two children chasing frogs with a small net. After a pause, he changed the ending.
"Master finally took us away from Jinling and went to Shancheng, where he opened Huichuntang. However, Master never used acupuncture to save anyone again."
Wang Guoping sensed something was wrong, "Old Liu, didn't you just say your master committed suicide?"
"Did I say that?" Liu Yutang slapped his head, lay back in his chair, and said with a smile: "I'm old, and my mind is confused."
He held the medical book in his hand, closed his eyes, and said in a relaxed tone, "My master is not dead. He has lived a long life. He saw the R people being driven away and saw the good days of today..."
Ye Rou tilted her head slightly. She looked at her master and felt that there was something her master hadn't said.
She asked softly, "Master, is the golden needle you gave me the one from our great master?"
"Yes." The master tilted his head to look at her and said with a smile, "You must cherish it."
"Master, I will." Ye Rou nodded seriously.
Liu Yutang nodded, "That's good."
The sky gradually darkened, the bright moon hung on the treetops, the stars in the sky shone, and a star just above the courtyard was particularly bright.
Liu Yutang closed his eyes, hearing the melodious sound of the flute, the laughter of children, and the quarrel of old friends. He held the medical book in his hand and gradually felt sleepy. He fell into a dream and returned to Huichun Hall, where he saw his master standing in front of the medicine cabinet.
He said loudly, "Master, I have also accepted an apprentice, a little girl, very smart, and a promising student of Chinese medicine. I have passed on your golden needles to her."
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