Chapter 20

"Sixteenth floor!" Xu Changshan lay on the chair, one hand holding a purple clay teapot, his eyes half open and half closed.

Xu Chunliang sat beside him, a piece of wood placed across his thighs, a cotton pad on top, and a stack of rough-edged paper above it. He was practicing his finger sensitivity according to his grandfather's guidance, mastering the subtle sensation of the needle tip piercing through each layer of the rough-edged paper.

Finger sensitivity, also known as refining the spirit, is the most challenging part of acupuncture and the key to the fine needle. A slight deviation can lead to a significant error, and it can be said that finger sensitivity determines the level of the practitioner.

One of the keys to practicing finger sensitivity is to keep the arm suspended, with no support for the wrist or elbow. Xu Changshan had Xu Chunliang practice calligraphy from a young age, with the purpose of preparing him for learning acupuncture one day.

What delighted Xu Changshan was that after just a week of practice, this young man had already reached the point where the needle tip could "see" through the layers. As long as he called out the page number, Xu Chunliang could accurately insert the needle tip into the designated spot. Even when he was young, Xu Changshan did not have such insight, and he became increasingly convinced that his grandson was a natural talent for medicine.

For Xu Chunliang, such practice was merely a formality. Not to mention the rough-edged paper, even if he were given a block of layered tender tofu, he could still precisely control the depth of the insertion.

"The way to hold the needle is to be steady and upright, calm and quiet," the old man said slowly, taking a sip of tea. The radio beside him was playing the Liuqin opera he loved, the volume turned up high, deliberately to train Xu Chunliang's concentration. To become an excellent doctor, one must have a calm mind and focused spirit.

Xu Chunliang put on a humble and receptive appearance, but in his eyes, what the old man taught him was just the basics. It wasn't entirely useless, as through the old man's teachings, he realized that traditional Chinese medicine had not only failed to make progress over the years but had even regressed.

Xu Changshan was very pleased with his progress. Although Xu Chunliang started late, with his exceptional insight and the old man's meticulous guidance, he believed that in time, he would surpass him. What the old man didn't know was that Xu Chunliang's medical skills were far superior to his.

Xu Chunliang's purpose in learning medicine was to provide a reasonable excuse for his abilities. In fact, it was mainly to deceive the old man. No matter how skilled he was, outsiders would think it was due to his family's medical heritage, and only the old man knew that he had just started learning medicine.

Compared to healing people, Xu Chunliang preferred poisoning. Using poison allowed him to challenge opponents much stronger than himself, and the sense of achievement from such a challenge was indescribable.

The Five Poison Sect considered snakes, centipedes, scorpions, spiders, and toads as the five sacred objects. The Five Poison Sect was skilled in controlling venomous insects and was seen by the righteous as the most evil sect in the world, with the slogan "Everyone should exterminate the evil and heretical sect."

What truly made Xu Chunliang a public enemy was a secret manual. If it weren't for the news of him obtaining the "Tongtian Baojian" leaking out, the Five Poison Sect would not have been attacked by the nine major sects.

"What are you thinking about?" Xu Changshan noticed he was distracted.

Xu Chunliang smiled and said, "I'm not thinking about anything, Grandfather. I found an ancient book on the bookshelf, and I can't understand the content." He deliberately handed a book to his grandfather.

Xu Changshan took it. It was a bound book with yellowed paper and vertical handwritten text, passed down from his ancestors. The Huichun Hall had many similar books, all passed down from the ancestors. Some of them Xu Changshan could understand, but many he could not.

The one Xu Chunliang handed him was one of those. Xu Changshan looked at it for a while and sighed, "Your great-grandfather passed away too early, and I didn't learn all of his medical skills. I feel ashamed."

In fact, the way traditional Chinese medicine was passed down was too conservative, often through generations, without ensuring that each generation was interested in the field. Moreover, people's talents and insights varied.

Of course, there was also the master-apprentice tradition, but as the saying goes, "Teaching the apprentice starves the master," so masters usually kept some secret formulas for their own family.

Thus, over the years, traditional Chinese medicine did not achieve the expected prosperity, and this method of inheritance was largely to blame.

In the Xu family, Xu Changshan's father died early, and many medical skills were not passed down to him. In Xu Changshan's generation, none of his three children were willing to learn medicine. If Xu Chunliang did not inherit the tradition, the Huichun Hall would be lost.

Xu Changshan never thought of passing his medical skills to outsiders, and many in the medical field shared this view.

In the afternoon, Lu Qi came over. This time, he wasn't there to get medicine but to ask Xu Chunliang for help.

Xu Chunliang saw him in his uniform and knew he was on duty. He smiled and said, "So busy, working on Saturday?"

Lu Qi said that the city was undergoing a comprehensive cleanup this month, and they hadn't had a break for two weeks.

Xu Chunliang saw that his eyes were bloodshot and his face was tired, knowing he hadn't been resting well recently. "Why don't you sit down? I can help you with a few needles to calm your mind and refresh you."

Lu Qi said, "Thanks, but I don't want to be your guinea pig."

Xu Chunliang laughed, thinking to himself that this guy had no idea what he was missing. As the leader of the Five Poison Sect, he never easily treated others, and one needle would make him feel invigorated. Since Lu Qi was unwilling, he didn't insist and poured him a cup of tea.

Lu Qi took it and said thank you.

Xu Chunliang asked about the stolen phone case, and Lu Qi had actually come for this reason. They had previously gone to Qinglong Mountain together, and it was proven that Xu Chunliang's judgment was correct: the Wang Jin snake had swallowed the phones.

During this time, Lu Qi had investigated all the people involved in the release, but found no new leads.

Fibers were found in the mouth of the dead snake, and through testing, human blood was discovered, type B. The blood type did not match any of the involved personnel, and no one had sought medical help for a snake bite at nearby clinics on that day.

Based on the case, the snake catcher Fan Yajun was the most suspicious, but an investigation of his accounts found no abnormalities. All related personnel had been investigated, and the case had reached a bottleneck.

Lu Qi came to Xu Chunliang with the hope of finding a solution.

After listening to Lu Qi's account of the investigation, Xu Chunliang couldn't help but laugh.

Lu Qi said, "Stop laughing. I'm going crazy. Yu Li keeps nagging me, and I shouldn't have eaten that meal with her."

"Eating someone's meal makes you soft."

"You ate it too!" Xu Chunliang said, "Wasn't that meal to thank us for saving her life? How did it turn into a double-edged sword?"

"You can't eat a businessman's meal for free. Even if I hadn't eaten that meal, solving the case is still my duty. Brother, you have to help me. Carefully analyze the case and see if there are any other leads."

Xu Chunliang hadn't taken the case seriously, as it wasn't his job. Initially, he thought it was likely related to the snake catcher. If he were to investigate, he would find Fan Yajun and use severe interrogation to get the truth.

But the police had to follow the evidence, and severe interrogation was not allowed in the current era.

Xu Chunliang said, "Isn't it obvious? On one side, they release the snakes, and on the other side, someone is waiting to receive them. It must be one or more of the release personnel who are involved."

"But where's the evidence? You can't just suspect people without evidence." Solving a case requires evidence, not just feelings.

"That day at Qinglong Mountain, we only found the body of one Wang Jin snake."

Lu Qi nodded, indeed, only one was found. Two snakes were released, but what help could this provide? The other snake might be dead or have returned to the wild. Even if it were found, it couldn't speak and describe the case.

"The Wang Jin snakes are a pair, one male and one female. The female is dead, and the male is missing. Actually, all things have a spirit. As long as the male snake is alive, it will definitely seek revenge on the killer."

Lu Qi said, "But how does this relate to our current case? We don't know who the killer is, or where the male snake is."

Xu Chunliang said, "If you see the snake again, can you recognize it?"

Lu Qi thought for a moment and shook his head. To him, Wang Jin snakes all looked similar, and he could only distinguish by size, and even then, only if the difference was obvious.

"Do you think Fan Yajun can recognize it?"