Chapter 63

Pei Yu helped Lisa to her feet, and Xu Chunliang opened the needle box, taking out a fine needle. His gaze fell on Lisa’s back, which was exposed almost entirely, creating a convenient access point for needling. In broad daylight, it wouldn’t be appropriate to strip her completely and expose her chest and back.

Zhao Yongsheng had witnessed Xu Chunliang’s skill in acupressure to subdue enemies, but he didn’t know that Xu also practiced acupuncture. Years of medical experience told him that traditional Chinese medicine was less effective and quick in emergency situations compared to Western medicine. Lisa was at a critical juncture, and to save her from the brink of death, a tracheotomy was necessary. However, Pei Lin hadn’t yet found the tools he needed, and without them, even the most skilled doctor would be helpless.

The ambulance would take at least ten minutes to arrive, and there was no time to wait.

Xu Chunliang decisively inserted the first needle into the Dazhui point.

The Dazhui point, where the three yang meridians and the Governor Vessel meet, is where the yang heat energy from the hand and foot three yang meridians converges. It is located on the midline of the back, in the depression below the seventh cervical vertebra.

Xu Chunliang used the rapid insertion technique to quickly pierce the skin, breaking through the fat layer and the supraspinous ligament. After breaking through the ligament, the needle felt a distinct tightness. He advanced it another five millimeters, stimulating the second needle sensation, creating a sensation of gas expansion and pressure spreading up to two inches around the insertion site.

While rotating the needle, he forcefully flicked the needle handle with his index finger, producing a buzzing sound, like the rapid flapping of a bee’s wings. The vibration traveled along the needle to the tip, creating a vortex of expansion that spread along the Governor Vessel in waves.

He then took two more needles and simultaneously inserted them into the Dazhu point. The Dazhu point, also known as the Ben Shen point, is named for its fundamental nature. The term "shen" (神) is in contrast to "gui" (鬼), and the energy in this point is from the celestial realm. It belongs to the Bladder Meridian of the Foot-Sun and is a collateral of the Governor Vessel.

He inserted the needles vertically, still using the rapid insertion technique to sequentially break through the skin, fat layer, and the supraspinous ligament, stimulating the first needle sensation, which required a three-minute retention.

Next, he took two more needles and chose the Feishu point. The Feishu point, named for the lung organ and its function of transmission, is located on the back, transmitting the energy of the lungs and belongs to the Bladder Meridian of the Foot-Sun.

This insertion was the deepest, and the deeper the insertion, the more dangerous it was. Any deviation could damage the patient’s internal organs, requiring a high level of skill and precise point selection.

Xu Chunliang used the twisting insertion technique to break through the skin, subcutaneous tissue, trapezius muscle, rhomboid muscles, and the sacrospinalis muscle, stimulating the third needle sensation. A strong sensation of expansion came from deep within the point, spreading up to three inches in diameter. After one minute, he slowly withdrew the needle, retreating to the fascia between the trapezius and rhomboid muscles, stimulating the second needle sensation. The expansion range reduced by half, like deflating a ball halfway, with the flow of energy moving along the Bladder Meridian of the Foot-Sun.

Lisa could feel a stream of energy flowing through her back, a sensation she had never experienced before. Although she still couldn’t breathe, the feeling of suffocation in her chest was significantly reduced.

After a minute, Xu Chunliang further withdrew the needles from the Feishu point, with the needle tips exiting the trapezius muscle and stopping at the outer layer of fascia. The sensation of expansion continued to shrink, now less than an inch in diameter, with the flow of energy continuously streaming into the meridians.

This was a strange sensation, as if channels had been dug within her body, with clear water flowing through them. Lisa’s complexion visibly improved, though she still hadn’t regained her ability to breathe.

“I found it!” Pei Lin ran over with a scalpel and an IV line. Zhao Yongsheng’s attention was entirely focused on Lisa’s face. Although he didn’t know what method Xu Chunliang used, he could see that Lisa’s suffocation was visibly improving.

Xu Chunliang then re-gripped the handles of the two needles in the Dazhu point, pushing them deeper until the needle tips pierced the yellow ligament, stimulating the third needle sensation in the Dazhu point.

Lisa felt an unprecedentedly strong sensation of expansion, which spread upward to the base of her occipital bone, downward to the edges of her twelfth ribs, and outward to the rear edges of her shoulders. It felt as if a large amount of gas had been injected into her chest, like a ball suddenly inflating.

Pei Yu, who was holding Lisa, felt the most real sensation. She could feel Lisa’s chest pushing forward, almost pressing against her own chest, with an incredible elasticity that nearly pushed her backward. The sensation was similar to taking a deep breath and expanding the chest to its maximum.

Lisa felt a clear stream of energy flowing from the top of her head down her spine, like a waterfall rushing down her back, opening up her pores and internal airways.

Pei Lin approached Zhao Yongsheng and handed him the tools she had found. Zhao Yongsheng, who hadn’t noticed her arrival, waved his hand to signal her to be quiet.

Xu Chunliang withdrew the needles from the Dazhu point to the hard, rubber-like supraspinous ligament, stimulating the first needle sensation. The expansion sensation that had spread throughout her chest rapidly contracted to a diameter of two inches.

“Huff!” Lisa’s throat emitted a sound like a roar, and a stream of foul air was expelled from her rapidly narrowing chest, passing through her throat and spraying onto Pei Yu’s face.

It was as if she had expelled all the air from her lungs.

Xu Chunliang left the needles in the Dazhu point and first removed the needles from the Feishu and Dazhui points.

“Ha!”

Lisa breathed deeply, though the effort was visible and somewhat difficult. However, she had regained her ability to breathe, and the feeling of suffocation was gradually disappearing.

The sound of the ambulance siren could be heard in the distance.

Xu Chunliang put the remaining needles back into the needle box and said to Pei Yu, “She’s fine. Take her inside to rest. I’ll remove the needles in ten minutes.” The first needle sensation in the Dazhu point needed to be retained for fifteen minutes.

Zhao Yongsheng went to explain the situation to the emergency center personnel, while Pei Lin and Pei Yu helped Lisa back to the store to rest.

The police also arrived, seeing the mess outside the store, taking photos for evidence, and then finding Pei Lin to ask for details.

Lisa, who had narrowly escaped death, was grateful but also began to reflect on the problems with today’s event. She didn’t want to cause any more trouble and, after discussing with her cousin, decided not to pursue the matter further.

After everything settled down, they realized that Xu Chunliang had disappeared. Zhao Yongsheng only remembered that Xu had said he was going back to put things away, but he never returned.

The female celebrity Lisa was clearly frightened by what had happened today. She asked Pei Lin to convey her thanks to Xu Chunliang and left with her assistant without attending the luncheon.

Pei Lin called Xu Chunliang several times, but his phone remained unanswered. Both she and Pei Yu understood that they owed Xu Chunliang a significant favor.

Zhao Yongsheng was still deeply shaken, his mind replaying the scene of Xu Chunliang saving Lisa. He had always believed that traditional Chinese medicine was far less effective in emergency situations compared to Western medicine, especially in modern emergency medicine, where traditional Chinese medicine had almost no presence.

Emergency measures like CPR and tracheotomy had nothing to do with traditional Chinese medicine. Before today, if someone suggested using acupuncture to treat acute airway obstruction, he would have considered it a fantasy, even a reckless act. However, his decades of clinical experience had been completely overturned.

If Xu Chunliang hadn’t acted, the female celebrity would have certainly died. Even if Pei Lin had found the tracheotomy kit and he had performed the procedure, the patient would have been left with a scar on her throat, which could have been a disaster for a celebrity.

Zhao Yongsheng looked at the closed door of Huichuntang, feeling a strong desire to enter and uncover the mysterious secrets behind its sign. What kind of incredible secrets did Huichuntang hold?