Shopkeeper Zhou watched on from the side with a curious and deeply worried expression, and in the glow of the candlelight, he could see the sparkling and translucent beads of sweat on the youth's snow white skin. His heart couldn't help but jump, so he grabbed a clean piece of cloth and tried to pass it over, "Wipe your sweat first, then rest for a while."
Who would have thought that Hexi didn't hear his voice, and when she felt the sweat slide down and block her line of sight, she simply lifted her hand and wiped the sweat away, then continued on with her movements.
Shopkeeper Zhou hesitated a moment before withdrawing his hand, his gaze focused on the youth's serious face as he carried out the treatment, his attention not diverting for a moment.
However, from the crowd that was watching, the absent minded shopkeeper Zhou, and the busy Hexi, not one of them realised that they were being watched. Diagonally across from Sheng De hall's position, out on the street, there was a pair of shining eyes watching Hexi through the half opened window, eyes full of burning scrutiny.
****
In the time it took to burn a stick of incense, the unconscious youth's entire body had been pricked by hundreds of needles, causing him to look like a translucent hedgehog under the light of the setting sun.
At the beginning, the youth was still unconscious, his breath and heartbeat weak. But half an hour later, after many more needles had been inserted into his body, painful groans were heard coming from the youth's mouth. His entire body incessantly emitted sweat, so in the time it took to release a short breath, he had completely soaked the plain white cloth mat under his body.
Everyone's faces that had originally showed disdain and ridicule, slowly changed into expressions of incredible disbelief.
This youth that was originally as silent as a dead person actually began to issue sound, and when those Silver Needles pricked his blood vessels, his face also showed a pained expression!
How...how could that be? Hadn't his meridians been severed? How can he still feel the stimulus from his network of blood vessels?
Could...could it be that this beautiful youth was not just talking big? He really knew methods to cure sick people?
Doctor Xie and shopkeeper Qin's complexions worsened as the youth's groans intensified, bit by bit becoming more ashen. Shopkeeper Qin sensed a cold aura being emitted from doctor Xie's body, and he tightly clenched his hands as they trembled with dread and anxiousness.
What if news about the beautiful youth being able to cure sick people spread out? How can doctor Xie not end up kneeling and kowtowing in front of everyone?
Then afterwards, doctor Xie's face as the grand third rank doctor could be placed where? Doctor Xie would fly into a rage out of humiliation, so how could he be let off when it involved himself too?
At this time, Hexi had already begun to pull the Silver Needles from the youth's body, one by one.
With the one hundred and eight Silver Needles, the strength and order to remove each needle was different. This long process was as time consuming as placing the needles to begin with, everyone watching began to hold their breath, no one even daring to open their mouth to speak.
Finally, all the Silver Needles had been removed.
The youth that was lying down on the long table uttered a long groan, soon after he slowly opened his eyes.
The light stung his eyes, making warm tears flow down his cheeks. With blurred sight, he could only see a handsome face with a pair of cold and deep eyes, like a cold lake.
It was like a traveler who had crawled through the desert for seven days and nights suddenly finding water, those drops of sweet spring water became filled with his faith and hope.
He opened his mouth, wanting to speak yet feeling powerless to do so, so instead he closed his eyes, Hexi's face and smell firmly engraved in his mind.
After Hexi had put away all of her Silver Needles, she took the youth's pulse to confirm that he was doing okay, only then feeling relieved and faintly said, "He'll be alright now."
Everyone's face showed an expression of incredulousness.
Without even waiting for people to recover, doctor Xie immediately stepped forward in large strides, using his spiritual energy to examine the youth's body.