Chapter 52: She Knows Acupuncture Skill?
He glanced at Bai Dazhu’s arms and said coolly, "Two for one. Perfectly fair."
’Perfectly fair?’
Old Mrs. Bai was so furious she nearly fainted. ’His father only got one arm broken, but my son got two! And he still calls that fair?’
While Old Mrs. Bai and Hu Feng were arguing, Bai Zhi had already pulled Doctor Lu over to Zhao Lan. Doctor Lu’s medical skills weren’t exactly profound, but he was very proficient in the common Bone Setting Skill, as he had to use it often.
He examined a few spots on Zhao Lan’s arm and couldn’t help but curse under his breath, "Dammit, the fracture is severely displaced. It’s already this swollen... It needs to be reset."
Looking at Zhao Lan’s pale face, Doctor Lu asked with concern, "Resetting the bone is extremely painful. Can you endure it?"
Zhao Lan nodded lightly. "I’m fine. Go ahead. I can take it." In truth, she didn’t know if she could. Waves of pain were causing her vision to go black. The only reason she was gritting her teeth and enduring was that Zhi’er was by her side, and she didn’t want to make her daughter worry.
Bai Zhi had treated patients with fractures and dislocations like this before. She knew the pain of bone setting was more than an ordinary person could bear.
She whispered to Doctor Lu, "Doctor Lu, do you have any silver needles in your medical kit?"
Doctor Lu nodded. "I do, but you don’t need silver needles for bone setting."
Bai Zhi said, "Please let me borrow them."
Doctor Lu knew this girl, Zhi, was no ordinary child. She had real abilities. Otherwise, how could she have known what was missing from his ancestral formula just by smelling it? How could she have found wild ginseng on her first trip into the mountains? It couldn’t be as simple as just good luck.
Without another word, he turned, retrieved the needle bag from the medical kit behind him, and handed it to Bai Zhi.
Bai Zhi glanced at the Bai family members, still arguing with village chief Hu Feng, and then at the curious onlookers outside. She whispered to Doctor Lu, "Doctor Lu, could you shield me? I don’t want anyone to see."
When Doctor Lu saw her draw out two silver needles, he was startled. ’She’s going to use them on Zhao Lan? She understands the Acupuncture Skill?’
’A twelve-year-old girl who understands medicine, pharmacology, *and* the notoriously difficult Acupuncture Skill?’
His curiosity piqued, he also wanted to see for himself if she truly understood the Acupuncture Skill. So, without a word, he positioned himself to block her and Zhao Lan from view.
Zhao Lan was seated, and Bai Zhi herself was petite. With Doctor Lu standing guard, most of her actions were obscured. People elsewhere couldn’t see what she was doing at all.
He, however, had a crystal-clear view. Bai Zhi held a long, thin silver needle and inserted it directly into three acupoints—Quchi, Tianfu, and Hegu. After twisting it back and forth several times with a special technique, she withdrew it. Then, she took another needle and inserted it into the Lingxu acupoint on her mother’s chest.
"There," Bai Zhi said. "We can remove the needle after the bone setting is finished."
The needle remained in the Lingxu acupoint, trembling and bobbing with the rise and fall of Zhao Lan’s breathing.
Doctor Lu wasn’t an expert in the Acupuncture Skill, so he didn’t understand what Bai Zhi had done. He also had no idea how Zhao Lan would feel after the procedure.
So he asked, "Zhao Lan, how do you feel?"
Zhao Lan’s complexion had visibly improved. Her face lit up. "It doesn’t hurt anymore! My arm doesn’t hurt at all." But her smile froze before it could fully form. "But... why can’t I feel my arm? It doesn’t hurt, but I can’t even move it. Wh-what’s going on?"
Bai Zhi spoke in a low, reassuring voice. "It’s alright, Mother. I just used the needles to temporarily block your acupoints to ease the pain. Once the bone is set and bandaged, I’ll remove the needle, and everything will be back to normal, just like before."