"The eleventh needle, Ghost Minister, which is Qu Chi, fire needle!"
Then Wan Yunting produced another seven-inch silver needle. He lifted Xu Huiping's right arm and, at the outer end of the elbow crease, with the elbow bent, which is the midpoint of the line connecting the lateral epicondyle of the humerus, this is the Qu Chi acupoint.
This acupoint has many functions, including clearing heat and relieving exterior conditions, dredging meridians and clearing collaterals, treating arm pain, upper limb paralysis, red and swollen eyes, and pruritus. It is to be punctured with a fire needle to a depth of five fen.
Therefore, Wan Yunting circulated the qi from his dantian to the silver needle in his fingers. Gu Yuanbai, who was standing nearby, could clearly see that the silver needle in his hand was enveloped by qi, as if by a ball of flame. With extreme speed, Wan Yunting inserted it into Xu Huiping's Qu Chi acupoint.
"En..."
Xu Huiping, who immediately felt pain, began to tremble. Her entire right arm shook violently. Her veins protruded, and the bones in her gaunt face were exposed in an expression of discomfort. Sweat beaded on her forehead…
"Come, help me hold her."
Wan Yunting asked Deng Hongsheng to help hold her right arm. He then produced another seven-inch silver needle, moved to the other side of the bed, and picked up Xu Huiping's left arm. He inserted a fire needle into her Qu Chi acupoint as well. Immediately, she let out a few more painful moans, and her entire left arm trembled, but it was firmly held by Wan Yunting…
Gu Luotang and Qi Miaomiao, who were holding the tray, watched Xu Huiping's gaunt body twist in discomfort, causing them to feel nervous and worried.
Xu Yongbo, who was standing nearby watching, couldn't help but sneer sarcastically, "Playing tricks. If one didn't know better, they'd be fooled by you."
However, Joe Wilbur and his assistant, Caterina, who were standing beside him, were quite interested in Wan Yunting's acupuncture treatment for Xu Huiping. Although they didn't understand anything, they found it very mysterious and remarked, "Your Chinese medicine, Hua Xia TCM, gives people a sense of magic, like witchcraft."
Xu Yongbo turned to him and deliberately raised his voice to mock, "Mr. Joe Wilbur, this backward method of treatment is like our ancient, uncivilized shamans praying to heaven to cure diseases, so it's very ridiculous."
Joe Wilbur and his assistant listened and nodded with smiles.
"Senior sister, what are they saying?"
Qi Miaomiao, who didn't understand English, glared at Xu Yongbo and whispered to Gu Luotang.
"Don't talk, so as not to disturb Brother Yunting while he's treating Sister Xu."
Gu Luotang also cast a cold glance at Xu Yongbo. She naturally understood his conversation with Joe Wilbur and the others, but she didn't want to deal with them now.
"I told you not to talk, understand?"
Qi Miaomiao then glared fiercely at Xu Yongbo, who scoffed dismissively.
"The twelfth needle, Ghost Hidden. For men, it's Huiyin; for women, it's Yumentou!"
At this time, Wan Yunting held a seven-inch silver needle between his right thumb and two fingers. He stood at the foot of the bed and looked at Xu Huiping's legs spread apart on the bed. He didn't hesitate to move forward, inserting the needle straight upwards, aiming to draw blood…
Seeing this, Xu Yongbo couldn't help but whisper sarcastic remarks to Joe Wilbur and the others again…
However, Gu Yuanbai, Deng Hongsheng, Gu Luotang, and Qi Miaomiao didn't feel uncomfortable. After all, they were all doctors, and in their eyes, patients were just patients, with no distinction between male and female.
Five minutes later, Wan Yunting stood up and exhaled a breath. Gu Luotang, seeing that his forehead was covered in fine sweat, quickly took out a handkerchief and gently wiped his forehead. Wan Yunting then reacted, smiling and waving his hand at her.
Then, without another word, he took a four-inch silver needle from the tray and came to the head of the bed. Wan Yunting looked at Xu Huiping, who was thin with her cheekbones protruding, her eye sockets sunken and dark, like skin stretched over bones, which was heartbreaking to see.
"Xiao Wan, do you need to rest?"
Gu Yuanbai saw that Wan Yunting's face was pale and knew he was weak and tired from expending too much internal energy.
"No, the treatment cannot be interrupted. We are only one needle away from completion!" Wan Yunting turned to Gu Yuanbai and smiled.
"Alright, then you hold on a bit longer."
Gu Yuanbai nodded encouragingly. He was excited, never expecting to witness the complete Thirteen Ghost Needles in his lifetime.
Wan Yunting nodded and stopped wasting time. He squatted down and saw Deng Hongsheng holding Xu Huiping's back of the head, suspended above the headboard. Because there was still a silver needle in her Fengfu acupoint on the back of her neck, she couldn't lie completely flat on the bed.
Deng Hongsheng's gaze was firm, and he gritted his teeth slightly, nodding at Wan Yunting.
Thus, Wan Yunting's eyes narrowed slightly. He concentrated his mind, and the internal energy in his dantian instantly circulated to the four-inch silver needle in his right hand. Then, he opened Xu Huiping's mouth with his left hand and asked Deng Hongsheng to help push her tongue to the roof of her mouth with a spoon, exposing the Haiquan acupoint beneath her tongue!
The thirteenth needle, Ghost Seal!
This is the Zhongfeng Haiquan acupoint under the tongue, punctured with a silver needle to a depth of three fen, and bleeding is forbidden.
Wan Yunting continued to hold the silver needle between his fingers without loosening his grip. He concentrated fully, circulating the internal energy from his dantian into Xu Huiping's body with the needle. Instantly, a surge of qi connected through thirteen acupoints in her body…
"Ugh..."
The next second, Xu Huiping's face contorted in pain, and her body began to convulse violently. Her mouth also tried to close, but Wan Yunting immediately shouted, "Quick, hold her down! Don't let her mouth close..."
"Okay..."
Deng Hongsheng said, directly clasping Xu Huiping's head with both hands, his fingers gripping her mouth to prevent her tongue from moving erratically. At the same time, Gu Luotang, Qi Miaomiao, and Gu Yuanbai also helped to hold down Xu Huiping's struggling limbs, preventing her from moving wildly.
"What's going on?"
Joe Wilbur and his assistant, who were watching, asked curiously at this scene.
Xu Yongbo shrugged, spread his hands, and said with a smile, "Perhaps they've stimulated the patient, and she's gone mad..."
"Luotang, quickly give me a four-inch silver needle, quickly..." Wan Yunting said anxiously.
"Okay..."
Gu Luotang quickly took out a four-inch silver needle from the tray and handed it to him. Wan Yunting took it, then asked Deng Hongsheng to control Xu Huiping and prevent her mouth from moving wildly. With his left hand, he pinched the center of Xu Huiping's brow, the Yin Tang acupoint, and inserted the needle with a lifting and thrusting technique.
As if stimulating a nerve in Xu Huiping, her whole body suddenly twitched. Her eyelids instantly flew open, and she took a deep breath. Her gaunt body tensed for a moment, remaining so on the bed for about thirteen seconds before she exhaled a breath, and her body relaxed…
"It's done."
Then, Wan Yunting finally exhaled a breath of turbid air, his body went limp, and he collapsed onto the ground…
"Brother Yunting..."
This made Gu Luotang so nervous that she quickly went up to help him up. Wan Yunting waved his hand and smiled, "I'm fine, just tired."
"Huiping, Huiping, how do you feel?"
Deng Hongsheng, who was holding his wife's head, saw her dazed and expressionless look, and couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. Could even Wan Yunting's Thirteen Ghost Needles not improve his wife's condition?
"Brilliant, what a brilliant performance."
Seeing that Xu Huiping's expression was still as vacant and listless as before, Xu Yongbo couldn't help but clap his hands and mock Wan Yunting and the others, "You have fully demonstrated the essence of our Chinese medicine, allowing our foreign friends to truly witness what Hua Xia Chinese medicine witchcraft is!"
However, Wan Yunting, Gu Yuanbai, and Gu Luotang ignored Xu Yongbo. They were observing Xu Huiping's condition…
"Hey, what are you saying?"
But Qi Miaomiao was indignant and glared angrily at Xu Yongbo. However, she also felt a little guilty and huffed, "This is treating an illness. Do you really think one acupuncture session can cure an illness? It requires a course of treatment, do you understand?"
"Heh heh."
Xu Yongbo scoffed ruthlessly and said, "Alright, you guys, stop embarrassing yourselves in front of Mr. Joe Wilbur. For treating mental illness, you still need the authority of Western medicine. As for your Chinese medicine, you should go back to deceiving old men and women."
"You..."
These words made Qi Miaomiao's eyes widen in anger, and she gritted her teeth.
"Huiping..."
Deng Hongsheng, who was holding the back of Xu Huiping's head, suddenly saw tears welling up in his wife's vacant eyes. He also turned his head slightly, his reactive gaze fixed on Deng Hongsheng, his mouth open, as if wanting to say something.
"Don't rush, I'll take the needles out first…"
Immediately, Wan Yunting stepped forward and carefully pulled out the silver needle from under Xu Huiping's tongue in the Haiquan acupoint. Deng Hongsheng held her chin, saw a hint of a normal expression appear on her face, which made his eyes redden, and he trembled as he said, "Huiping, are you feeling any better?"
Tears also rolled down the corners of Xu Huiping's eyes. She stared intently at Deng Hongsheng, swallowed, and her lips trembled as she weakly uttered, "Hong… Sheng…!"
Seeing this, Qi Miaomiao exclaimed excitedly, "Oh my goodness, Sister Huiping recognizes Vice Principal Deng!"
"That's great…"
Gu Luotang was also so excited that she couldn't help but tug on Wan Yunting's arm, not expecting that a man could really cure Xu Huiping's mental illness.
"Good."
Gu Yuanbai patted Wan Yunting's shoulder happily, seeing that Xu Huiping's mental state had improved.
This made him sigh with emotion. The Thirteen Ghost Needles truly lived up to their reputation as a needle technique specifically for treating epilepsy and mental illnesses. In just one course of treatment, it could bring about an improvement in the mental state of the severely ill Xu Huiping, earning Gu Yuanbai's admiration for the Ghost Hand Medical Sage.
"This, this is impossible?"
Xu Yongbo's eyes widened. He watched Deng Hongsheng embrace his wife and cry with excitement, and Joe Wilbur and the others looked incredulous.
It should be known that Xu Huiping's mental illness was considered one of the most severe among all the patients in the psychiatric hospital. She was usually completely mad and didn't recognize anyone. When Xu Huiping saw people, she would scream and go mad as if she had seen the killer of her son.
Yet, such a severely ill patient was able to recognize her husband, Deng Hongsheng, after being needled a few times by that young man. How could Xu Yongbo not be shocked and find it unbelievable?
Joe Wilbur and his assistant, Caterina, were also filled with astonishment and a look of disbelief.
After all, they had always used Xu Huiping as an experimental subject and were most aware of her daily actions. Even after taking the new medicine for two days, her mental state had not improved; it had only helped to calm her symptoms.
However, now Xu Huiping could recognize her husband, and her mental state had clearly improved. Such a scene made Joe Wilbur exclaim, "Truly miraculous witchcraft…"