To be honest, the traditional Chinese medicine clinic gave him more the impression of an appliance repair shop, cluttered with various broken household electronics.
When Lin An arrived, Doctor Zhang was sitting on a pink plastic stool, gnawing on a chunk of watermelon.
A white vest with several holes and a bit of yellowing, a protruding belly, wide wrinkled beach shorts, and a pair of blue and white flip-flops.
It was only the round, plump face adorned with a pair of gold-rimmed glasses that lent the portly uncle a touch of sophistication.
Lin An found it extremely difficult to associate this portly uncle with traditional Chinese medicine, let alone with his more magical 'Witch-hunting Knight' identity behind the scenes.
Hmm...
It was quite fantastical.
But his life itself was fantastical enough.
However, Lin An liked hanging out with Professor Cao and Doctor Zhang; as long as they didn't use their transcendental powers, there wouldn't even be any abnormal visions when they looked at him.
This made him feel much more relaxed.
"Yo, you must be the student Mr. Cao mentioned, right? Are you here to visit your teacher?" Doctor Zhang greeted Lin An with a smile and beckoned him to sit on the plastic stool beside him; he then reached into an iron basin beside him and pulled out a slice of watermelon, "Here, have some."
Lin An hesitated for a moment, then turned to look inside the clinic, unfortunately, he could only see several large LCD monitors, with no view of the interior.
"I just gave him acupuncture, so we have to wait half an hour, you can sit down for a bit."
Doctor Zhang seemed especially enthusiastic.
Lin An could only quietly sit next to the chair, joining Doctor Zhang in eating the watermelon.
"Watermelon is a good thing, it tastes sweet and has cooling properties, perfect for relieving heat and irritation." Doctor Zhang glanced at Lin An, and as he spoke, his chubby face became animated, making him seem particularly interesting, "Your current condition is just right for it, eat more, no problem."
Lin An was startled for a moment before realizing that the person before him was a doctor with transcendental powers—wouldn't asking this gentleman be more reliable than searching on search engines or Q&A websites?
He thought for a moment, then looked tentatively at Doctor Zhang, "I fainted last night while practicing the Deer Play Breathing Skill from Baqinxi. I don't know what happened, can you have a look for me?"
Doctor Zhang's face suddenly became serious, and his gaze sharpened as he looked at Lin An, "What happened, tell me the details!"
As he spoke, countless strands of black smoke drifted from his body, converging behind him into the shape of flames, aggressively twisting and shaking, and a massive deer head seemed to emerge from bronze or moja
The deer's eyes stared straight at Lin An.
Lin An immediately became a bit nervous. Seeing Doctor Zhang's encouraging expression, he hurriedly recounted, "I felt like I was having breathing difficulties, a stabbing pain in my sternum, and the whole person was dizzy, covered in cold sweat. I looked online, and the symptoms seemed a bit like oxygen toxicity."
Seeing Doctor Zhang frown and say nothing, Lin An continued, "At that time, I didn't have the strength to stand up. I lay on the ground and quickly fell asleep, but after waking up, I felt completely fine."
"Hm~" Doctor Zhang nodded his head, then stretched out his chubby finger to pinch Lin An's wrist, "Try the Deer Play Breathing Skill again, I'll check the situation."
There's hope!
The man knew how to examine!
Lin An quickly set the slice of watermelon in his left hand on the plastic stool next to him, attempting to re-enter that breathing state.
But it was hard, he was just a beginner and couldn't get the hang of it so quickly.
So he began recalling the illustration from "The Spirited Dance of the Fawn," the picture of a fawn leaping from a rock bursting with flowers.
It was quite magical, and he quickly became absorbed in it.
He felt lighter and more agile, and his breathing grew longer and smoother.
Even more magical was that as he entered the state, the vision of the deer head that manifested from Doctor Zhang's body began to fade from view, becoming blurrier bit by bit until the apparition was no longer visible.
Just then, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his neck.
The pain was so unique, as if a gigantic cotton swab had struck him all over, bringing with it an intense sensation of being smacked.
Lin An was pulled from that light state and startlingly found Doctor Zhang with one hand pinching a tendon between his neck and shoulder, gripping it with such force that it caused him to cry out in pain.
"Hiss~~~"
"Pain~pain~pain~~~"
Doctor Zhang chuckled and let go, "Does it hurt? If it hurts, that's good, pain means it's healing!"
What exactly "healing" meant, Lin An didn't understand, but he did feel a sense of clarity throughout his body. It was as if a balloon in his chest had burst, and the air inside instantly spread to his limbs and head.
This feeling was extremely unique.
Lin An felt that light sensation slowly spreading throughout his body.
However, it wasn't as intense as before; it wouldn't make him uncontrollably desire to jump around, but rather it was a very gentle feeling of lightness throughout his body.
"Sir, what is the problem?" Lin An looked at Doctor Zhang a bit nervously.
This was crucial to whether he could control his desire to see those visions or not, inevitably tensing him.
"It's just as you're feeling," Doctor Zhang said while holding Lin An's wrist again for a moment, "You probably wouldn't understand the professional lingo. People have qi and blood in their bodies; you're experiencing qi stagnation."
"Eh, like a bruise, I've dissipated the stagnant qi for you, so it's no longer blocked."
"Qi stagnation?" Lin An was completely baffled, encountering yet another term he didn't understand.
Doctor Zhang released his hand and nodded, "It's like continuously pouring water into a pond that has nowhere to drain; of course, it's going to burst. You need to learn to get it moving, eh, like just now, letting this qi flow towards the limbs and throughout the body, then doesn't it clear up?"
As he spoke, Doctor Zhang cursed, "How is Mr. Cao teaching?! Our Antler..."
He seemed to realize he had misspoken, paused for a moment, and continued, "When we practice Deer Play, or any other Health Cultivation Skill from Baqinxi, it's important to first learn the forms and then gradually the breathing skill. Breathing skill, breathing skill... Mr. Cao is getting more and more obstinate with age. Does he really think it's all about the breathing skill? It's only because he has such a strong body that he dares to be so rigid."
He glanced inside the clinic and then turned back to Lin An, "You shouldn't follow this approach. Breathing is a form of interaction between humans and nature that accompanies the movement of life, not something to be discussed in isolation!"
Seeing Doctor Zhang furiously cursing and ranting, Lin An quickly tried to explain, "I... I just studied with Professor Cao for one day. Perhaps he hasn't had the chance to teach..."
Before he could finish, Doctor Zhang suddenly widened his eyes in surprise, leaning slightly back, "What?!?!"
"Young man, are you kidding me?!?!"
666, Doctor Zhang clearly hadn't skipped his share of short videos; his imitation of the quirky tones from those anime videos was simply spot on.
Lin An looked at this chubby uncle, his expression turning strange.
Just then, the majestic figure of Professor Cao appeared at the doorway, his head studded with silver needles.
He fixed his gaze on Lin An, then glanced at Doctor Zhang, "He's just someone Lu (the boss) introduced to study armor-making, reportedly a planner from Antler Software Company."
"!!!" Doctor Zhang blinked, "Not an apprentice then..."
"A student!" Professor Cao interjected, cutting him off.
Somehow, the two exchanged glances, simultaneously turning to look at Lin An.
Countless black smokes drifted, converging into flames, and within the flames, two enormous deer heads gazed intensely at Lin An.
Lin An swallowed hard and quietly shrank back onto the plastic chair.