Zhao Yang's once trembling hands suddenly steadied, and he inserted the first silver needle with unerring accuracy into the patient's Dangyang acupoint!
"Once into Dangyang, all evils are warded off, and as the seven dirtinesses come to an end, the gate of life opens."
This phrase is a part of the "Nine Needles Against Fate," which states that the Dangyang acupoint is the only one to be used if one wishes to remove blood stasis from the patient's brain!
At this time, Xu Weimin looked at the dean beside him, his gaze clearly inquisitive, as if to ask, "You're the expert, what do you think?"
The dean looked back at Xu Weimin and smiled, shaking his head...
Xu Weimin didn't understand; if it was a good sign, why did he shake his head? If it was bad, why did he smile?
Xu Weimin would never have guessed that the dean's expression meant — he couldn't understand!
At fifty-eight years old and two years away from retirement, after practicing medicine for forty years, the dean felt that Zhao Yang's needling technique didn't look amateurish; however, even as a professional, he had never seen such a technique and could only sense its profound mastery — immediately awe-inspiring and unfathomably deep!
However, the sequence and points of the needle insertion were unheard of to him.
One must know that different masters might teach different methods of needle insertion, but the sequence usually varied very little.
Since the flow of Qi and blood in a human body is fixed, the sequence cannot be disrupted; chaos begets mutual contradiction, which, at the least, may harm the patient, and at worst, may even lead to death.
Now the dean was truly at a loss. Who was this young man? Who had taught him acupuncture, and how skillful was he truly?
The dean dared not make a decision, so he could only continue to watch.
Soon, Zhao Yang precisely inserted needles into the following five acupoints of Director Song: Shangxing, Yintang, Qucha, Yangbai, and Dicang, each one with the utmost caution. Therefore, though he only pricked five times, Zhao Yang's movements were extremely slow, and he was even starting to sweat profusely on his forehead.
Mrs. Song and Yang Wei watched with intense anxiety. If the young man in front of them couldn't bring Director Song back to life, they might soon have to prepare for the worst.
And suddenly, Yang Wei began to wonder if he had been too hasty in relying on such a young man.
Mrs. Song looked toward Yang Wei, likely thinking the same thing. Uncertain, Yang Wei quickly turned his head away.
The driver, Xiao Wu, seeing Zhao Yang sweating, thought the young man was overly nervous, seemingly lacking real ability.
After the needle was inserted into the Yangbai acupoint, the monitoring equipment beside them immediately started acting up, with Director Song's heartbeat fluctuating rapidly then slowly, but overall growing much stronger.
Both Xu Weimin and the dean, being experts, showed looks of surprise in their eyes!
Could it be that this youngster was really going to save a life?
The dean was still okay, but Xu Weimin's face suddenly turned sour!
The next second, Xu Weimin's tense heart relaxed.
For, the most terrifying moment had arrived!
Blood started pouring from the patient's ears, eyes, nose, and mouth!
Bleeding from the seven orifices!
It was horrific beyond words!
Mrs. Song panicked and promptly collapsed onto her husband, wailing and crying. Yang Wei was also shaken, and upon looking at Xu Weimin and the dean, he saw the former unable to hide his satisfied expression, while the latter sighed and shook his head, looking helpless.
At that moment, Zhao Yang's sweat dripped from his forehead down to his nose and fell onto the bed as he picked up the seventh needle. Silently harnessing his mysterious power, he exclaimed "Rise!" and punctured Director Song's Futu acupoint.
Everyone present was taken aback by Zhao Yang's action. In that instant, they clearly saw Director Song, who had his eyes tightly shut and a gaunt look, open his mouth and moan!
Then, Director Song's eyelids began to move, and even before his eyes opened, his hand grasped Mrs. Song's!
Everyone was astonished. They watched as Director Song slowly opened his eyes, looking bewildered at everything around him.
He was awake; he had actually woken up!
At this moment, black blood was still trickling from his ears, eyes, nose, and mouth — a scene like something out of a horror movie!
"What's going on... What happened to me?" Director Song looked at his teary-eyed wife.
"Lao Song, you... you finally woke up!" Mrs. Song cried uncontrollably, tears spilling from her eyes incessantly like beads off a broken string.
By then, Zhao Yang had already neatly packed away the silver needles and solemnly handed them to the dean, complimenting the needles before walking out of the ward alone.
With the patient saved, his job was done. As for Xu Weimin, Zhao Yang was too indifferent to glance at his near-collapsing face.
Complacency is the enemy of a physician, as Master often said.
Once a person becomes arrogant and self-satisfied, their medical skills cease to improve.
Xu Weimin, his face ashen, saw his confidence shattered. The dean patted him, saying, "Let's go."
At that moment, Xu Weimin had no face to look at Director Song, now back from the brink of death, nor at Mrs. Song, and left dejectedly with the dean.
Incredible!
Yang Wei recalled the entire process in disbelief. To him, Zhao Yang seemed nothing short of a miracle worker!
If he could bring back the dead, then wasn't his own trivial issue a piece of cake?
The thought of the jar of alcohol in his office cabinet made Yang Wei wish he could rush back and drink it all!
"Director Song, how are you feeling now?"
Director Song wiped his nose, looked at his hand before him, and said discontentedly, "It's just a nosebleed. Why such a fuss?"
"Director Song, it's not just a nosebleed, the hospital had given you..."
Realizing Mrs. Song was signaling him vehemently, understanding she feared the news might affect Director Song's condition, Yang Wei abruptly stopped and said, "Director, you passed out, so of course we had to bring you to the hospital. Now that you're okay, you should stay and be observed for a few more days. There are many issues at the office; I'll go back and handle them."
Once Yang Wei had left, Director Song turned to his wife and said, "I almost died, didn't I?"
Mrs. Song nodded her head.
Seeing that Director Song was in good spirits, she didn't keep anything from him any longer.
"I feel as though there's nothing wrong now." Saying this, Director Song lifted the blanket, got out of bed, walked around for a bit, and felt not only that there was nothing wrong, but his energy levels were even better than the past few days, though he was a bit hungry...