Song Hao said, "I only have suspicions at the moment, and I don't have any conclusive evidence yet. In order to be responsible for this person, let's not tell Director Zhang about this for now. We can talk about it after we have made new discoveries."
Tang Yu asked, puzzled, "I understand. But what kind of illness could make someone incredibly strong and agile, able to leap over high walls?"
Song Hao shook his head and said, "That's also what I don't understand. Perhaps the monster is of a different kind and has nothing to do with this Sun Baoli."
Traditional Chinese Medicine Under Heaven - Volume Two: The Heavenly Doctor's Hall - Chapter Thirty-Six: Night Wandering Syndrome
In the evening, Zhang Yonghe and Liu Yong returned to Aken Village. Song Hao didn't voice his suspicions, wanting to find evidence first. He requested to act with Tang Yu that night, and Zhang Yonghe agreed.
That night, with a little moonlight, it was possible to barely make out objects within a few dozen meters. Song Hao and Tang Yu hid in an alley opposite Sun Baoli's house, keeping a close watch on the movements across the street.
After midnight, faint noises could be heard coming from the Sun family's courtyard, and someone opened a door and came out. About ten minutes later, Sun Baoli slowly and silently walked out of the courtyard gate, and an extremely eerie atmosphere immediately enveloped the surroundings.
Sun Baoli first looked up at the moon hidden in the clouds and breathed out a few breaths. Then, he seemed to get a little irritable and walked towards the stone mill in the open space at the entrance of the village.
At this moment, an unbelievable sight appeared. Sun Baoli bent down, picked up the stone roller weighing five or six hundred pounds with both hands, and actually lifted it up with a single effort. After hoisting it onto his shoulders, he began to walk in circles on the spot. After more than ten circles, Sun Baoli put the stone roller down. It seemed that this exercise with heavy loads had relieved some of the restlessness in his body, and he was venting his frustration.
Sun Baoli, who was standing there, looked into the village. He seemed to know the danger lurking in the village. After hesitating for a moment, he walked into the village indifferently.
"So he has somnambulism!" Song Hao exclaimed in a low voice.
"Somnia!" Tang Yu exclaimed in surprise.
"Let's see what he does next," Song Hao said, getting up and pulling Tang Yu along. Now that they had confirmed the ghost was human and not a demon, their fear lessened considerably.
At this moment, Sun Baoli walked along the base of the wall, avoiding the ambush set up by the police and civilians. He reached a house, and with a light leap, he jumped into the courtyard, his movements silent, like a swift thief soaring high above the ground. Song Hao and Tang Yu, watching from behind, were dumbfounded. Even Tang Yu needed to use the wall for leverage to cross it, two meters high, but Sun Baoli seemed to have it all done with ease, his strong body moving as lightly as a swallow.
"I'll go stop him," Tang Yu said, getting up to leave.
Song Hao pulled Tang Yu back and said, "This is somnambulism. We mustn't be alarmed, or his life will be in danger."
Upon hearing this, Tang Yu suddenly realized, "I almost forgot, what do we do now?"
Song Hao said, "Let him do it again first. It will help us solve the mystery of the village's ghost story. We'll figure out how to cure him after dawn."
Tang Yu said, "That's fine..."
Just then, the two suddenly felt a cold wind approaching. When they turned around, they were both shocked to see that Sun Baoli had been standing behind them at some point. Although his expression was blank, his eyes were filled with a fierce light, and he raised his hand as if to attack.
It was only because Song Hao and Tang Yu saw Sun Baoli enter the courtyard ahead and talk to him that they lowered their guard, allowing Sun Baoli to sneak up behind them silently.
At this moment, Song Hao was closest to Sun Baoli and had no time to dodge. In his haste, he pulled a needle from his sleeve and casually applied a Thunderclap Needling Technique to the Waiguan acupoint on Sun Baoli's outstretched right hand. Sun Baoli's body trembled, and he froze in place, blood still smeared at the corner of his mouth, indicating that he had just drunk sheep's blood.
Tang Yu, who was behind, was about to help when she suddenly saw Song Hao raise his needle and subdue Sun Baoli with a single needle. Surprised, she pulled Song Hao aside.
"You're so fast at pulling out the needle!" Tang Yu exclaimed in surprise.
"No problem, but I can only attack at close range and not from a distance. However, if I'm slightly faster than the opponent, I can easily take them down," Song Hao said with a smile.
"What do we do now? Should we notify Director Zhang and the others?" Tang Yu asked.
"Not for now," Song Hao said. "Let's take him home first, otherwise he won't have a good life in the future."
It took Song Hao and Tang Yu quite a bit of effort to carry Sun Baoli back to his own home and place him on the earthen bed, finally putting them to a temporary sigh of relief.
"What do we do next?" Tang Yu asked.
"Let him rest for a while, then we'll examine him," Song Hao said. He then took Sun Baoli's wrist and began to take his pulse.
Tang Yu asked in confusion, "Sleepwalkers shouldn't be able to recognize people or be startled, so how could he detect us and attack us?"
Song Hao said, "The true symptoms only become apparent when the illness flares up. At this time, the cun pulse is strong, rapid, and forceful, indicating a sudden onset of intense heat. The guan and chi pulses are firm and solid, suggesting a strange illness with excessive phlegm, resulting in this complex nocturnal symptom. This Sun Baoli is in his prime, widowed and living alone, and has accumulated pent-up anger, which has transformed into phlegm. The excessive phlegm and heat attack the brain's meridians, causing this strange illness. According to the village chief, when the village was first haunted, it was Sun Baoli's sheep that were attacked first. At the time of this illness, although he was in a nocturnal state, he was also in a state where a latent potential was being activated." The patient, possessing superhuman strength and agility, exhibits a mutated power that has nowhere to dissipate but requires strenuous exercise and the consumption of fresh blood to release it; otherwise, it becomes irritable, hence its initial consumption of its own sheep. Upon discovering this during the day, a comparison was made subconsciously, leading it to prey on neighboring sheep. When symptoms flare up, lacking immediate relief, it uses its own sheep's blood for sustenance, thus causing the greatest losses to other sheep. This is the reason why such a mutated condition is occasionally recorded in ancient texts. It's unexpected that we would encounter it ourselves.
Song Hao continued, “This illness is particularly complex and unique. Even in the symptomatic state, the person remains vigilant, repeatedly avoiding the ambush points set by Director Zhang and his men, thus committing crimes undetected. This kind of potential activation under pathological conditions is, in a sense, a manifestation of returning to one's ancestral nature. The full extent of human potential is still unknown. Some potential occasionally manifests under pathological conditions, which those who don't understand often attribute to ghosts and gods. For example, the power you martial artists achieve is actually the development of inherent human instincts, which can manifest under special circumstances under pathological conditions. Sun Baoli is a special case like this. Even in his nocturnal pathological state, he still possesses a certain degree of alertness and is more sensitive than ordinary people. He discovered us and attempted to attack, but fortunately, I was quick and subdued him in time; otherwise, it would have been a fierce battle between you and him. Nowadays, some qigong masters who suddenly display supernatural abilities are actually patients with 'mental illnesses' whose nature cannot yet be determined. We cannot give them a correct conclusion at present.”
Tang Yu listened and nodded, saying, "I understand a little better now. How should we treat this?"
Song Hao said, "We will use acupuncture to regulate his meridians and medicine to reduce heat and clear phlegm. By combining acupuncture and medicine, we hope to eliminate the abnormal power in his body. We do not yet have the ability to properly guide him so that he can retain and utilize the special potential that has been stimulated. Let's just treat it as an 'illness' and eliminate it for him so that he can return to a normal human body. Otherwise, if he becomes crazy from prolonged illness, he may attack people."
Tang Yu said with regret, "That's all we can do. A lifetime of hard training may not be enough to compensate for his sudden burst of talent. If only we could guide this pathological condition into a normal state."
Song Hao said, "It's not impossible, but it would be extremely risky. Besides, it's not what he wants. Let him live a normal life, especially since he has already caused so much trouble. If people find out, how can he have a place to stand? Such extraordinary potential is of no use to him. If it were you, I would try my best to preserve it."
"Get lost! You want me to suck sheep's blood? I won't do it!" Tang Yu said reproachfully.
Song Hao laughed and said, "To achieve extraordinary skills, one must use extraordinary methods. Alright, enough said, let me now treat this Sun Baoli's illness."
After Song Hao used several acupuncture needles to subdue Sun Baoli, he removed the Thunderbolt Needles. By then, Sun Baoli had fallen into a deep sleep. When Song Hao applied the needles, he sensed something strange: the eerie power within Sun Baoli's twelve meridians appeared and disappeared intermittently. When it vanished, it couldn't be found anywhere in the meridians, not even in the eight extraordinary meridians; it seemed to be hiding somewhere within the body. Then it would suddenly reappear, rapidly moving about, causing the unconscious Sun Baoli to become restless. Fortunately, the acupuncture technique subdued it, otherwise, it would have flared up.
At this moment, Song Hao sighed, "Although I am skilled in acupuncture, knowledgeable in medicine, and adept at diagnosis, there are still some illnesses that I cannot fully control. Perhaps my skills are not yet up to par."
Tang Yu said, "There are few doctors in the world who are all-rounders in the field of medicine. Don't underestimate yourself. Just do your best."
After treating him, Song Hao removed the needles and waited quietly for Sun Baoli to wake up. As dawn broke, the ferocious look on Sun Baoli's face faded, replaced by a blank and indifferent expression. Opening his eyes, he saw Song Hao and Tang Yu standing guard beside him and exclaimed in surprise, "When did you two arrive?" He was completely different from the man he had been during the night.
Song Hao laughed and said, "We came over early this morning. You invited us. What, you don't remember?"
Sun Baoli scratched his head blankly, not knowing what was going on, and said in bewilderment, "How come I don't remember! Sigh! It's because of my headaches; when they flare up, I can't remember anything."
As he spoke, Sun Baoli wiped his lips, his fingers still bearing traces of blood, and shook his head, saying, "I get nosebleeds every morning, and I don't know why."
Song Hao said, "You have excessive internal heat, which is why you have this symptom. I will come back this afternoon to give you another acupuncture treatment, and all your symptoms should be relieved. You should rest now, and we'll go back."
"Thank you, Dr. Song!" Sun Baoli said gratefully.
Song Hao smiled, and he and Tang Yu got up and left.
When they returned to the village committee, Zhang Yonghe and Liu Yong were waiting for them. The others, who had stayed up all night, had gone home to rest.