Chapter 7: Fragrance of This Life – The Yin Spirit Needle

The Great Aunt once instructed the original owner, "This box is as important as the 'Life-Fragrance' itself. You must keep it safe; as long as you are here, it must be here. It must never fall into the hands of others."

Feng Chuchen felt that since this box was so important, it must be the only thing suitable for storing the Life-Fragrance.

The books included three sets of medical texts on women's and children's health: *Complete Prescriptions for Women*, *Effective Treasures for Childbirth*, and *Essential Medical Records*, along with the *Treatise on Cold Damage Disorders*, totaling several dozen volumes.

The original owner began memorizing medical texts when she was one year old, started learning to read at three, and studied mostly medical books. After turning eight, she was taught knowledge regarding the treatment of parturients and infants, as well as acupuncture. Occasionally, she would be taken to Dechun Hall to consult the elder Dr. Fang on medical arts outside of pediatrics and gynecology.

From age five to ten, the original owner went to a neighbor's house to study cultural lessons under the teacher's wife for an hour and a half each day.

The original owner was very intelligent and took an interest in these dry medical texts. So far, she had finished reading *Effective Treasures for Childbirth* and the *Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon*, and had studied most of the other books.

At age ten, she was taught how to light the Life-Fragrance and perform the "Divine Needle of the Hidden Yin."

To better perform the acupuncture, she had been practicing Tai Chi and finger-flicking techniques every day since she was five.

Lighting the Life-Fragrance did not require study; it required "fated opportunity." Those without this fate could not ignite it.

The Great Aunt never specified what exactly this fated opportunity was.

To this day, the original owner had never personally lit the Life-Fragrance; she only knew that she possessed the fated opportunity to do so.

The Divine Needle of the Hidden Yin was extremely difficult to learn. It required not only attention to acupoints, angles, depth, and technique, but also the ability to sink one's *qi* into the *dantian*, focusing one's spirit, thoughts, and intent into the two fingers holding the needle, and injecting true *qi* while piercing the *Baihui*, *Huantiao*, and *Shanzhong* acupoints in sequence.

The depth of the three acupoints varied, as did the rotation of the needle...

After the acupuncture was completed, the ashes of the burned Life-Fragrance were smeared onto the site of the needles, and a dying infant could be brought back to life.

Furthermore, not all critically ill newborns could be treated with the Divine Needle of the Hidden Yin. If the infant lacked the fated opportunity, the practitioner could not light the Life-Fragrance, and thus could not perform the acupuncture.

Infants capable of receiving this needle were few and far between.

In other words, the Divine Needle of the Hidden Yin was highly esoteric; it relied entirely on the word "fate." Not only did the practitioner need it, but the recipient did as well.

Moreover, each time this needle was used, it consumed more than half of the practitioner's physical strength. It was strictly forbidden to perform it twice within three days.

The Great Aunt had performed the needle twice within four days, exhausting her strength, and eventually passed away. Perhaps because her health was already extremely poor, she died even after exceeding the three-day limit.

The original owner had spent three full years learning the Divine Needle of the Hidden Yin, only mastering it last month.

The original owner had never personally performed the needle, but a month ago, she had followed the Great Aunt to the Li family to observe a delivery. After the Great Aunt lit the Life-Fragrance and finished the acupuncture, the original owner suddenly heard a few soft, milky giggles in her ears, and the suffocating infant began to breathe.

That laughter was incredibly cute, as if it could soften a person's heart.

It was also incredibly eerie; only those with the fate to light the Life-Fragrance and perform the Divine Needle of the Hidden Yin could hear it, while everyone else present could not.

The Great Aunt did not know who that eerie child's voice belonged to, either.

Feng Chuchen sighed once more; the end of science is metaphysics, and there are too many things that science cannot explain.

The mysteries of Traditional Chinese Medicine seemed numerous. In her past life, certain experts who loved seeking principles and details often attacked TCM.

Having witnessed these mysteries, Feng Chuchen could only explain them by saying there were still many fields that human science had not yet touched...

Some people wanted to learn the Divine Needle of the Hidden Yin from Dr. Feng, and some even offered a thousand taels of silver to learn the craft, but Dr. Feng never taught them.

She would say, "This is not something that can be learned casually; it requires fated opportunity."

Others thought she was unwilling to teach, but the original owner knew it truly required fate.

The original owner's greatest regret was that when the Great Aunt went to the Cai family for a delivery, she hadn't gone along because she was taking Feng Buji to the capital for medical treatment. If she had gone, she could have performed the acupuncture, and the Great Aunt might not have died...

The original owner had the fated opportunity, but the soul inside this body had changed; she didn't know if she still possessed that fate.

Fate is the most elusive and inexplicable thing.

Feng Chuchen felt very uneasy.

Another small box contained several contracts, bank notes, and some silver ingots.

The family's assets included one hundred *mu* of land, this residence, over one hundred taels in bank notes and silver, and more than five *guan* of copper coins.

The total family fortune amounted to over nine hundred taels of silver.

Over the past twenty-plus years, Dr. Feng had earned a fair amount of money. But a great deal had been spent on medicine and treatment for her younger brother, Feng Qiu'en, and her nephew, Feng Buji. Coupled with the costs of making incense and providing medicine, this was all that had been saved over the years.

Especially for Feng Qiu'en and Feng Buji, their lives were essentially kept hanging by money.

The Great Aunt said that before Feng Chuchen married, she was to keep these things. If a large sum was spent, she had to explain it to Aunt Wang, and after Feng Buji turned eight, she had to explain it to him.

Once Feng Chuchen married, the family money would be kept by Feng Buji, and if Feng Buji needed to spend a large sum, he had to explain it to Feng Chuchen and Aunt Wang beforehand...

Another cabinet drawer contained over one hundred taels of silver and eight *guan* of copper coins, along with two sheets of white paper densely recording which families had sent money and how much.

This was the condolence money received after the Great Aunt's death.

The silver was mainly sent by wealthy families whose children had been saved by the Divine Needle of the Hidden Yin; they remembered the favor.

Being able to remember that favor, no matter how much they sent, showed their sincerity.

Feng Chuchen opened the trunk again.

One trunk contained a few old dresses and daily necessities, while another locked trunk held over twenty notebooks.

Feng Chuchen sat on the *kang*, searching through her memories for every detail about the Great Aunt. Some were told by the Great Aunt herself, but more were told by her parents and the villagers.

On the night of the fourteenth last month, the Great Aunt called the original owner, Feng Buji, Aunt Wang, and Banxia to her side, placed Feng Buji's small hand in the original owner's, and gave her final instructions.

She said that when Feng Chuchen married in the future, Banxia would go with her as a dowry maid, along with twenty *mu* of land and twenty taels of silver.

The remaining assets were to be left for Feng Buji's living expenses, medical treatment, and future marriage. Aunt Wang was responsible for taking care of Feng Buji, and if Feng Buji lived a long life, he was to provide for Aunt Wang's old age. Even after Feng Chuchen married, she was to help her younger brother...

If they encountered insurmountable difficulties, they could go to the Hu residence and seek help from Magistrate Hu.

He would help.

She specifically noted, "Magistrate Hu's son was the first person I saved with the Divine Needle of the Hidden Yin. For so many years, I have never gone to trouble him. It must be an insurmountable obstacle; otherwise, do not disturb him."

"As for other officials, I saved them, and they paid the medical fees; we are even. You are my descendants; you must have a backbone and never cling to the powerful..."

Dr. Feng's final words were, "I have repaid the sins owed by our ancestors many times over. Heaven has the virtue of cherishing life; Buji and my descendants will no longer suffer unprovoked disasters. After I die, bury me at Jiupo Ridge. Alright, I am tired. You all go and rest."

After she finished speaking, she fell asleep.

Although the original owner and the others were sad, they did not know those words were the Great Aunt's final testament.

The next morning, when the original owner went to wake the Great Aunt for breakfast, she discovered she had already passed away.