Seeing this, Song Hao was overjoyed and stepped forward to help. In no time, the grandfather and grandson had disassembled the bronze figure into eight pieces. Apart from the limbs and head, the torso could also be disassembled. When Song Hao saw the inner cavity, his eyes lit up, and he exclaimed in amazement, clicking his tongue in wonder.
Inside the body cavity, the sandalwood carving contained all the internal organs, along with a lifelike skeleton. The placement of the organs was perfectly anatomically accurate, not merely flesh and blood. The entire body was truly a magnificent and exquisite combination. Sandalwood has the properties of preventing decay and insect infestation. After being carved, it was soaked in a special solution and then combined with a bronze alloy. If properly preserved, the bronze figure could remain intact for over a thousand years, barring any serious damage. It was indeed far superior and more refined than the bronze figure looted by the Jin dynasty.
Looking at the scene before them, so real yet so unreal, so dreamlike and illusory, the grandfather and grandson felt a profound respect for the people who had created such an astonishing national treasure—Wang Weiyi—and the ancient craftsmen.
The grandfather and grandson then carried the bronze figure's parts one by one to the back house. The back house was the living quarters; the several spacious rooms had been cleaned and tidyed, with brand-new bedding folded on the old-fashioned beds. Two tables were placed by the window, with several potted plants on them. Everything was simple and natural.
A yellowed portrait hangs on the wall. The person in the portrait is wearing a melon-shaped hat, the kind only seen in the Qing Dynasty. His thin face and deep-set eyes show his competence and wisdom.
“Song Hao, this is your great-grandfather.” Song Zihe looked at the portrait, his eyes slightly moist.
"Great-grandfather!" Song Hao hurriedly stepped forward, knelt on the ground respectfully, and kowtowed three times.
Song Jingchun was a legendary figure who, with a miraculous prescription, cured and killed the usurper Yuan Shikai, before fleeing to Baihe Town in exile. When Song Hao was young, Song Zihe often told him stories of his great-grandfather's legendary medical exploits. In Song Hao's heart, his great-grandfather Song Jingchun was a chivalrous hero who protected the people and helped the world through medicine.
“Father, the Song family’s ancestral medical skills have found a successor. Although Song Hao is not a direct descendant of the Song family, he possesses an extraordinary talent for medicine, surpassing that of ordinary people. He was the disciple you most wanted to learn from before you passed away. Perhaps it is fate that brought me to him. Now this child has mastered the skills, but he still needs to hone them. I hope that your spirit in heaven will bless him with smooth sailing on his medical journey, so that he may become a renowned doctor who saves the world, just like you.” Song Zihe said with emotion.
After resting for a while, Song Zihe stood in a corner of the bedroom, counted down to the seventh brick from the bottom, and then pressed his hand firmly inward. Suddenly, the wall cracked open and moved to both sides, revealing a hidden door.
"Huh! It's just like in the movie!" Song Hao exclaimed in surprise.
"Things in movies and TV shows are all based on reality. This mechanism isn't outdated; it still works," Song Zihe said happily.
This so-called secret room is just a partition wall, two meters wide and more than four meters long, and it is completely empty.
"Tomorrow we'll run an electrical cord and install a lamp, and make a base for the bronze figure. Then you can study acupuncture inside it, and no one will notice. It's fairly dry inside, so it shouldn't cause any damage to the bronze figure in the long run," Song Zihe said.
"I never expected there to be such a hidden place in the old house! This is wonderful!" Song Hao said with delight.
Then the grandfather and grandson moved all the parts of the bronze figure over, reassembled them, and placed them in the secret room, covering them with a red cloth. Song Hao placed the two books on acupuncture techniques, "Illustrated Manual of Acupuncture Points on the Newly Cast Bronze Figure" and "Secret Words of the Bronze Figure Acupuncture Manual," along with other materials, in the secret room. He then sealed the hidden door, finally feeling somewhat at ease.
After working for most of the night, it was already late at night when the grandfather and grandson finally went to bed. Song Hao had never expected to have such a wonderful encounter, actually obtaining the priceless treasure, the Song Tiansheng Acupuncture Bronze Man, and two acupuncture manuals. He was in high spirits, and coupled with the new environment, he couldn't sleep for a while. He lay in bed thinking randomly, and only drifted off to sleep as dawn broke.
The next day, around noon, Song Hao, who was sleeping soundly, was woken up by his grandfather.
"Song Hao, get up. Your third grandfather invited us to dinner. You're so excited, you haven't slept well all night. Take a nap this afternoon after dinner. Your uncle is waiting in the front hall," Song Zihe said with a kind smile.
In the following days, upon hearing the news of Song Zihe's return, the clansmen came to visit him one after another, all vying to invite him to their homes for meals. Song Hao inevitably went along to keep them company, but with his mind preoccupied with the acupuncture bronze figure in Linmo, he lost his appetite for the sumptuous food and wine prepared by the clansmen, his thoughts already returning to the secret room in his home.
Seeing this, Song Zihe knew the reason, and unless it was a dinner party for important relatives, he wouldn't drag Song Hao along. When people asked, he would just say that Song Hao wasn't used to the food from his hometown.
Having some free time, Song Hao inquired at a carpenter's shop and ordered a wooden base for the acupuncture bronze figure, half a meter high and one meter long and wide. The Heavenly Saint Bronze Figure originally had a heavy copper plate fixed to its feet to ensure it stood upright; now, he simply moved the acupuncture bronze figure onto the base. Next, Song Hao bought some electrical wire and fluorescent lights, and found a secluded spot to connect the wire to the secret room. Once the lights were installed, the narrow secret room was instantly illuminated, and the Heavenly Saint Acupuncture Bronze Figure, standing there, shone with a dazzling light, appearing especially vivid and colorful.
Song Hao counted them; the Tiansheng Acupuncture Bronze Figure had 354 acupoints marked on it, consistent with the historical records. Small holes were drilled through all the acupoints, and when probed with a hair, it was found that acupoints on adjacent meridians were mostly interconnected. "The needle enters and mercury exits"—it was indeed true.
After Wang Wei cast the acupuncture bronze figure, the imperial medical academy conducted annual acupuncture tests. Mercury was first injected into the bronze figure's meridians, and the surface was coated with beeswax to cover the acupuncture points. If the examinee selected the correct points, the mercury would "enter the needle and exit," a truly miraculous feat. This demonstrates the exquisite craftsmanship of the bronze figure, a masterpiece of nature.
At this moment, Song Hao had a question. Mercury is heavy, and when it is poured into a meridian, there must be a pressure difference between the upper and lower parts. So how could the thin layer of yellow wax coating the surface of the acupoints below be able to seal it? Even if it could be sealed, if an acupoint below were punctured, wouldn't the mercury poured into the entire meridian be released all at once? Although the bronze figure can be disassembled and reassembled, and the meridians at the connection points are broken, if the meridians of the entire legs are connected, the pressure difference over such a long distance should be very large. The yellow wax coating on the acupoints of the feet cannot seal the line of mercury on the legs.
With these questions in mind, Song Hao disassembled the bronze figure for a closer examination. He discovered numerous small holes inside the body cavity, which revealed that the mercury had been injected into the fine meridian channels from within the cavity. The mercury in the limbs, however, was injected through acupoints on the body surface.
The hair was too soft, so Song Hao found a thin wire and tried probing a few acupoints in the distance. He was surprised to find that only three or four or five acupoints on the same meridian were connected. The meridians inside were not all connected, nor were they hollow on the surface of the body as he had originally imagined.
Song Hao immediately understood. Only a few adjacent acupoints along the same meridian were connected; a small amount of mercury was sufficient to prevent mercury leakage due to pressure difference, making it impossible to detect any abnormality on the body's surface. Such a precise and ingenious technique must have been incredibly difficult to create. Historical records indicate that the casting of the Tiansheng Acupuncture Bronze Figure took three years to complete—truly exquisite, ingenious, and miraculously wonderful!
Examining the entire bronze figure closely evokes a wondrous feeling. Each tiny acupoint is crystal clear, seemingly revealing the flow of qi and blood within its meridians. It's as if these acupoints cannot exist anywhere else, and cannot be located anywhere else. Everything is crystal clear; the acupoints throughout the body are readily apparent.
"Scholars can pinpoint acupoints with a single glance during practice! It truly is a divine tool for physicians!" Song Hao exclaimed in amazement.
Chapter Seventeen: The Magic Needle of the Rocks
The Chong meridian originates in the lower abdomen, within the uterus. Its superficial branch originates at the Qichong point, running alongside the Foot Shaoyang and Foot Shaoyin meridians, ascending along the abdomen to the transverse vertebrae, flanking the navel for about five fen to each side, then ascending to the Dahe point… finally dispersing in the chest. —Excerpt from *A Study of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians*
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Facing the Tiansheng Acupuncture Bronze Man and simultaneously studying the *Newly Cast Bronze Man Acupuncture Points Illustrated Manual*, Song Hao observed and comprehended for over ten days. Suddenly, one day, a profound realization dawned on him—the extraordinary ability to pinpoint acupoints at a glance. The wonder of the acupuncture bronze man lies in its standardized form and accurate acupoint placement. Prolonged observation naturally grants the practitioner a unique understanding. Using this as a reference, even a person's height, weight, or build can be instantly determined to locate acupoints. Previously, during his studies at the health school, Song Hao had observed the actual human specimen for several months, establishing a solid foundation in accurate acupoint location. Now, through further study of the Tiansheng Acupuncture Bronze Man, he experienced another qualitative leap.
Wang Wei's purpose in casting the acupuncture bronze figure was to enable practitioners of acupuncture to accurately locate acupoints for treatment. This bronze figure, crafted by a master artisan, was imbued with a unique charm and function, possessing an extraordinary spirituality. Those who observe it with a calm mind for a long time may develop the remarkable ability to pinpoint acupoints at a glance, as if a resonance has formed between the person and the bronze figure. This bronze figure truly can assist physicians in enhancing their acupuncture skills; this medical artifact has already been classified as a supernatural object.
With the aid of the Heavenly Saint Acupuncture Bronze Figure, Song Hao's needle strength increased, and his finger techniques became exceptionally skillful. He would cover the bronze figure with a red cloth instead of clothing, selecting acupoints "through the cloth" and inserting needles, always hitting the mark with remarkable accuracy. After a while, he could even close his eyes and locate the acupoints by feeling for them, and the same was true. If someone were present and their location determined, none of the hundreds of acupoints on the body could escape Song Hao's needles.
Dou Mo's "Secret Words of the Bronze Man Needle Classic" contains profound secrets of acupuncture, specifically the techniques described in the book. It explains the concepts of "positive and negative needling," where the positive method heals, while the negative method harms. This illustrates that everything has two ends, including medicine. Song Hao later obtained the needling techniques from the book and thus achieved mastery of acupuncture.
Acupuncture, a method that can cure serious illnesses in an instant and provide immediate relief from acute conditions, was highly praised by ancient physicians. Its simplicity, speed, and immediate effectiveness made it readily accepted by patients. The classic Chinese medicine text, the *Huangdi Neijing*, devotes a large portion to acupuncture, demonstrating the importance the ancients placed on it. Throughout history, numerous masters have practiced acupuncture, a practice that continues to flourish today. Therefore, this book will first discuss the principles of acupuncture, followed by prescriptions and other related topics.
That day, Song Hao was reading medical books in his room when Song Zihe entered from outside with a serious expression.
"Song Hao, take a look at this news. I found this newspaper at your uncle's house; it's from several days ago." Song Zihe handed over a newspaper. You Zi sighed sadly.
When Song Hao took the message, the headline read: "A couple was mysteriously murdered in their home; police offer a reward for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators."
The post included photos of the deceased couple, who turned out to be Wang Yu and his wife from Yantai.
Upon seeing this, Song Hao's expression changed drastically, and he stood up in shock.
"Uncle Wang and the others have had an accident!" Song Hao exclaimed in shock.
"The incident occurred on the very night we moved the bronze statue. There were no signs of disturbance in the house, and the tens of thousands of yuan in cash in the drawer were untouched, ruling out theft and murder. Furthermore, the couple had no external injuries; they were simply killed instantly by having their throats crushed, suggesting the work of a professional killer. The police have initially classified it as a revenge killing, but they don't know who committed it, so they are offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrator. It seems that Ms. Dou's secret hiding place for the bronze statue has been discovered. Fortunately, we moved it in time, otherwise it would have been stolen. What a close call! It's truly heartbreaking that Mr. and Mrs. Wang were innocently implicated!" Song Zihe sighed.
Shocked, Song Hao said worriedly, "Grandpa, these people are too amazing! They were able to trace it back to Uncle Wang's family, and they can also trace it back to our place. What should we do? Maybe we should hand it over to the state."
"Fortunately, we changed trains halfway, so it won't be easy for them to trace us to us for a while. However, this is no ordinary national treasure; it's enough to tempt people's ambition and selfishness, causing them to betray their country. If we encounter the wrong person when handing it over, someone will inevitably take the risk and flee with the treasure. Ms. Dou also tried to donate the treasure to the country through legitimate channels, but it was almost stolen. And once the news leaks out, the entire underworld will be in an uproar. It's likely that before it even reaches the national treasury and receives effective protection, it will be seized by outsiders. In that case, recovering it will be even more difficult. We cannot act until we are absolutely certain. This is not only being responsible to Ms. Dou, but also to this rare treasure. The best course of action for now is to hide it in a secret room and observe the situation. We will make further plans once the situation calms down," Song Zihe said solemnly.
Song Hao nodded, his excitement and joy at seeing the Tiansheng Acupuncture Bronze Man immediately overshadowed by a strange nervousness.
…… ……
In a luxurious villa in the suburbs of Tianjin.