She thought to herself, "Kid, go ahead and take advantage of me if you want. I'm not short of money. But once I get my hands on the bronze man, I'll make you pay me back a hundredfold. Even if you're suspicious, as long as you don't confront me directly, I'll have my own way of making you submit."
Song Hao and Luo Feiying then got into the car and continued on their way.
Song Hao sat leisurely in the car, occasionally glancing back to check. He didn't notice any unusual vehicles following him, which reassured him. He knew that Li Yan was acting alone, and even if something went wrong, he could handle it. He occasionally checked the road signs, heading north without worrying that she might take him somewhere else.
Luo Feiying was speechless for a moment, pondering how to get Song Hao to reveal the whereabouts of the Heavenly Saint Acupuncture Bronze Man. A temporary silence fell, with only the car continuing its leisurely journey.
After noon, I suddenly saw a person standing in the middle of the road waving to flag down a car. There was another person sitting next to him, clearly someone who had an urgent matter and needed a ride.
"Ugh!" Luo Feiying frowned and slowed down the car.
Seeing this, Song Hao thought to himself, "It must be this girl's plan. What a coincidence that someone stopped your car less than two hours after you started your journey. I want to see what tricks you can come up with."
The car stopped in front, and Luo Feiying rolled down the window.
A middle-aged man wearing glasses approached and said anxiously, "Young lady, please have mercy, my child is sick. Please take us to Wujiaji ahead. It's not far, only about half an hour away. I don't know why, but there are very few cars on the road today. It's so rare to find your car."
Luo Feiying's face showed a reluctant expression. She had just formed a thought in her mind and did not want to be disturbed by this unexpected event.
Song Hao glanced at the patient sitting on the ground by the roadside. It was a boy of twelve or thirteen, his face flushed, panting heavily with his mouth open and shoulders raised.
Upon seeing this, Song Hao was startled. He quickly opened the car door, got out, and walked to the boy's side, saying, "Young man, shall I take a look at you?"
Without waiting for the boy's consent, Song Hao took his wrist and began to take his pulse. However, the moment Song Hao touched the boy's skin, he felt it was burning hot; the boy was running a high fever. Furthermore, the pulses in all six positions on both hands were wiry, rapid, and forceful, indicating a severe heat-related illness. Only then did Song Hao realize he had encountered a genuine patient, not someone Li Yan had deliberately arranged; the boy's condition could not be hidden from Song Hao.
"You've come to this point, why did you only think of going to the hospital now?" Song Hao shouted at the middle-aged man wearing glasses.
"The child went out to play, felt unwell and went home. I only just found out," the middle-aged man said in a panic.
"I'll use acupuncture to temporarily alleviate his condition, and then treat him at the hospital later," Song Hao said, taking out a needle from his sleeve and inserting it into several acupoints on the boy's Shaoshang and Dazhui acupoints.
Seeing this from inside the car, Luo Feiying thought to herself, "This Song Hao is indeed a doctor who knows acupuncture. My dad said that his finger strength is super strong, to a terrifying degree, but I can't tell."
When the middle-aged man saw Song Hao using acupuncture to treat the patient, he knew he had encountered a doctor and was naturally delighted, saying, "Thank you! My surname is Liu, and I am a teacher. This is my son, Xiao Huzi. May I ask your name, doctor?"
“Just call me Song Hao! Let’s call him Xiao Huzi. His condition can’t be delayed any longer.”
Song Hao then picked up Xiao Huzi and placed him on the back seat of the car.
"Miss Li, this child has a high fever and needs to be taken to the hospital for treatment. I'd appreciate it if you could make the trip."
Luo Feiying nodded helplessly, but secretly resented, "You're good at playing the good guy, thinking I'd abandon them? Kid, let's see who comes to your rescue in the end!"
After Song Hao and Teacher Liu got into the car, Luo Feiying started the car and sped away.
Once she got in the car, Ms. Liu relaxed.
"That's great! With Wu Qiguang, the 'Ice and Fire Divine Needle,' this child can be saved!" Teacher Liu breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's best to take this kind of emergency to the hospital!" Luo Feiying said as she drove.
“Going to the hospital for IV drips and injections might not bring the fever down even after a day or two. But at the Ice and Fire Divine Needle Clinic, the child’s high fever can be brought down in eight hours at most, and he will recover on his own without having to wait several days,” Teacher Liu said confidently.
"Ice and Fire Divine Needles! What do you mean?" Song Hao asked in surprise.
"Of course, I'm referring to Wu Qiguang's acupuncture skills. It's truly miraculous. Wu Qiguang can create amazing sensations of hot and cold on a person's body with just an ordinary needle. I experienced it once myself. I had caught a cold and was in constant pain all over my body. After Wu Qiguang pricked me a few times, it was like taking a hot bath, as if my bones were being steamed. The cold was instantly relieved, and it felt so good! This time, Xiaohuzi had a high fever, and a few 'cold' needles brought the fever down. A relative's child had a cold and fever, and Wu Qiguang cured him with his acupuncture. One treatment was enough, no need for a second time. This 'Ice and Fire Divine Needle' technique, Wu Qiguang is a miracle doctor in our area. The old gentleman has superb medical skills and is a good person. Everyone within a hundred miles respects him," Teacher Liu said with considerable pride.
"A single needle can pierce through both ice and fire! Is there really such an extraordinary person in the world?" Song Hao exclaimed in surprise.
"You're exaggerating too much. How could a needle produce such a hot and cold effect so easily? It must be combined with medicine, you people just don't know that." Luo Feiying shook her head in disbelief.
“You’re from out of town, so naturally you wouldn’t know. Experts and professors from major hospitals in the provincial capital also went to observe Wu Qiguang and even had the needles he used tested. They couldn’t find anything, and finally concluded: ‘The Ice and Fire Divine Needle! A miracle!’” Teacher Liu said.
Song Hao and Luo Feiying remained silent. Both of them were highly skilled in acupuncture, and upon hearing of the wonders of the "Ice and Fire Divine Needle," they were eager to witness it for themselves.
The Record of Strange Writings, Chapter Thirty-One: The Ice and Fire Divine Needle (2)
The car traveled for a while and entered a small town. Following Teacher Liu's directions, the car stopped in front of a private traditional Chinese medicine clinic by the roadside. A group of people were gathered in front, clearly there to see Wu Qiguang. Since there wasn't enough room inside, they had to wait outside.
Looking at the scene before him, Song Hao recalled the bustling scene of patients filling the Ping'an Hall in Baihe Town in the past, and he couldn't help but feel emotional.
Song Hao carried Xiao Huzi out of the car, while Teacher Liu cleared the way ahead, anxiously saying, "Everyone, make way! My child is seriously ill!"
Upon hearing this, the patients and their families who were waiting for their turn made way for them.
Inside the consultation room, a large group of people sat and stood. A slightly overweight, ruddy-faced middle-aged man in a white coat was calmly taking pulses and diagnosing patients at a table. The walls were covered with uniform large red banners, all praising "miraculous healing" and "high medical ethics." But the banner hanging in the center, embroidered with eight large yellow characters, read "Ice and Fire Divine Needle! A Miracle on Earth!" The inscription read "Respectfully presented by XX Provincial Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine and XXX Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine." It was a recognition from the highest institution of traditional Chinese medicine in the province and from the official government.
The inner room of the clinic was a traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy, with a row of medicine cabinets covered in labels, filling the room with a strong herbal aroma. A woman was busy dispensing medicine according to prescriptions and handling pricing and payment. It was clear that Wu Qiguang was a versatile expert skilled in both acupuncture and medicine.
"Dr. Wu, my child has a sudden illness, please take a look first." Teacher Liu pushed through the crowd, squeezed to the table, and said with a sigh of relief.
"Oh! It's Teacher Liu! Since it's an emergency, let's see him first and wait a moment." Wu Qiguang left the patient he was seeing and quickly stood up.
"Put him on this bed, that's Xiaohuzi, right?" Wu Qiguang pointed to a wooden bed full of people and said to Song Hao, who was holding Xiaohuzi. The people quickly made way.
Wu Qiguang first touched Xiaohuzi's forehead, then took the pulse of both hands, and said, "He has caught a cold with wind-heat! This child has a high fever! If we had come any later, his lungs might have been damaged. Let's reduce the fever first."
Wu Qiguang took a large alcohol swab from the tray on the table, wiped his ten fingers, and disinfected them first. Then he told Xiao Huzi to take off his shirt, turn over, and lie face down on the bed. He then took another swab and disinfected four acupoints on Xiao Huzi's arms (Quchi acupoint) and two acupoints on his back (Feishu acupoint).
Then Wu Qiguang took out four three-inch-long acupuncture needles from a sealed needle box on the table. He began to insert them into the four acupoints one by one, inserting them deeper into the Quchi acupoint and shallower into the Feishu acupoint to avoid damaging the lungs. He then took another needle and inserted it into several other acupoints without leaving the needle in. The technique was ordinary and nothing out of the ordinary.
Then, Wu Qiguang paused for a moment, stretched out his right hand, grasped the needle handle that was stuck in a lung acupoint, twisted it slightly a few times, and then stopped moving, his whole body as if frozen.
Song Hao, an expert in acupuncture, was surprised to find that Wu Qiguang's fingers, which seemed to be still, were actually trembling rapidly. However, the frequency of the trembling was so fast and the amplitude was so slight that it was almost impossible to see that his fingers were trembling so quickly.
"He truly is a master of acupuncture!" Song Hao exclaimed inwardly.
Three minutes later, Wu Qiguang stopped and repeated the same process on the other three acupoints. The consultation room was completely silent as everyone watched with bated breath as Wu Qiguang performed his seemingly effortless Ice and Fire Divine Needle technique.