Chapter 13: Mizu's Punctures

Pricking and bloodletting is a common method in Traditional Chinese Medicine for treating diseases. Which acupoint to prick for which disease, and how much blood to release—these technical skills are easy to learn.

However, how to change acupoints based on the condition, how much blood is appropriate to release, whether the patient's constitution is suitable for bloodletting, and what specification of bloodletting needle to use—these decisions must be made based on experience and personal insight.

This is one of the most formidable legacies of the Shui family, hailed within the profession as the "Shui-style Pricking." Many diseases have been aided to recovery using this method.

Among the Seventy-Two Absolute Needles of the Shui Family's Extraordinary Acupoints, pricking and bloodletting is the ultimate specialty of Shui acupuncture.

Due to profound differences in teaching and management philosophies, Grandfather repeatedly refused invitations from universities and hospitals, choosing to practice only in his own clinic, where his medicine was cheaper than anywhere else.

He cured many complicated and difficult diseases. Some people spent tens of thousands of yuan in large hospitals without success, only to be cured in the Shui clinic for a few hundred yuan.

An enterprise once approached Grandfather wanting to establish a pharmaceutical factory, but he refused.

He was unwilling to be bound by capital and act against his conscience.

Grandfather spent his entire life guarding that small-scale clinic, treating as many people as possible.

Some people attacked Grandfather, calling him a fraud, and some people actually believed them...

In her past life, of the son born to her father and that woman, and of Grandfather's several disciples, only Shui Chuchen truly grasped the essence of the Shui family's medical arts.

Regrettably, she died before she could leave a successor.

Grandfather was already eighty-six; it was impossible to cultivate another Shui Chuchen.

The strongest medical arts of the Shui family would vanish completely from that world after Grandfather passed away...

The needle went in, and the blood flowed out.

Feng Buji merely gave two soft hums, his small body remaining motionless.

He even said with great calculation, "Sister, if you're going to prick me, just do it. Whether you cure me or not, you'll have learned the skill. Don't tell anyone about you pricking me; if I die early, those bad people will say Sister killed me."

Feng Chuchen laughed, "Do you distrust your sister that much?"

"I'm just being prepared. If I'm to say anything, I'll wait until I'm feeling better."

What a calculating child.

Ban Xia blindly trusted her own girl; it wasn't strange at all that she was seeing Feng Chuchen treat Feng Buji for the first time.

She even said with a face full of pride, "My girl even knows how to perform the Shangyin Divine Needle, which is so hard to learn; of course she can treat other illnesses."

Feng Buji remained silent. He thought to himself, *Even Great Aunt knows the Shangyin Divine Needle, and yet she still can't cure my illness.*

After finishing the acupuncture, Feng Chuchen cupped the little man's face with both hands as a sign of praise.

Feng Buji blushed bashfully.

He liked it when Sister was like this.

Feng Chuchen then had him sit on the small stool under the tree again. "Sunbathe for two quarters of an hour; it's good for the body."

Mottled sunlight spilled through the gaps in the leaves; it was both cool and a way to get sun for calcium.

Not staying idle while sitting, Feng Buji recited loudly

"Lord Lei asked the Yellow Emperor: Regarding the words of 'Prohibitions on Medication,' the principle of all pricking begins with the meridians. One must observe their course, know their measure, arrange them internally according to the five umbilical points, and distinguish them externally according to the six viscera. I wish to hear the full truth of this path..."

The child's voice drifted through the bare courtyard.

Although Feng Buji's health was poor, he was extremely intelligent. Since he was three, the original owner of the body had taught him to recite the *Huangdi Neijing*. This set of books in Feng Buji's room was not only his reading material but also his medical textbook.

As Feng Chuchen went into the room to study, she didn't just read medical books; she also had to study the notebooks left by her Great Aunt. In a few days, when she went to the capital, she would buy more medical books.

She was a "Child Deity"; she had already mastered the Supreme Divine Needle, so she would understand other medical principles after a single reading.

Only Great Aunt knew how much skill the original owner had possessed; now, she was the one who decided how much skill she had.

She worked diligently until the beginning of noon, when Auntie Wang from the south end of the village arrived.

Auntie Wang and her husband were tenant farmers for the Feng family. The couple was honest and dutiful; the Feng family asked them to deliver firewood to the house once every two days.

Feng Chuchen came out and asked, "Auntie Wang, does Uncle Wang's ewe have milk?"

Uncle Wang was Wang Dazhu, the elder brother of Auntie Wang's husband.

Auntie Wang smiled and said, "Yes, his ewe just had lambs a few days ago."

Feng Chuchen took a large bowl and led Feng Buji to Wang Dazhu's house to buy goat milk.

Baima Village was over twenty li from Xiyang Gate in the capital. It was a large village of over a hundred households with a population of over seven hundred, mostly surnamed Zhao.

A rugged dirt road ran through the middle, and a winding stream flowed through the north side of the village; beyond the stream lay Miaoqing Mountain.

Most of the Feng clan lived in the neighboring village of Hekou; even Patriarch Feng's family lived there, with only a few families residing in Baima Village.

The villagers greeted the siblings

"Chen girl, Buji boy."

"Little Aunt Chen, Uncle Buji."

...

The original owner was not a talkative person, but Feng Buji's little mouth was sweet, and he greeted them loudly

"Third Uncle Li."

"Brother Zhao."

"Scholar Zhao."

...

Scholar Zhao was Zhao Wei, the third son of Entrepreneur Zhao. He was seventeen and had just passed the *Tongsheng* exam this spring, making him the most admired youth among the nearby villages.

He had not yet settled on a wife, mainly because he was extremely picky. He didn't want a country girl; he wanted a fair, beautiful, and literate girl from the city.

Wearing a bright blue long robe and holding a folding fan, he gave a curt "Mm" to Feng Buji, his gaze lingering a moment too long on Feng Chuchen's face before turning away disdainfully.

He didn't just look at Feng Chuchen with disdain; he looked at everyone and everything here with disdain.

He felt like a colorful rooster walking down a country path, incredibly arrogant.

Even after the man had walked far away, Feng Buji's gaze followed that silhouette forward and forward.

A sense of regret involuntarily arose in his heart.

He whispered, "Our village has produced three *Tongsheng* in total. The first was our great-grandfather, many years ago. The second was Scholar Zhao's uncle, who passed the *Juren* exam and went elsewhere to be an official. The third is Scholar Zhao..."

"Scholar Zhao is good-looking, comes from a good family, and is very learned. But he is too arrogant... he is not a good match."

Feng Chuchen burst into laughter.

The little fellow had very high standards; even the "god" that all the village girls yearned for was not good enough for him.

As they walked through most of the village, they saw six or seven pregnant women, ranging from teenagers to forty-year-olds.

There seemed to be many pregnant women, as people in the village gave birth every few days. But because of backward living and medical conditions, many children did not grow up well.

In ancient times, even royal children easily died of illness, let alone in impoverished and backward rural areas.

But regardless, as long as it was a time of peace in ancient times, as long as the common people could rest and recover, the population would still show positive growth.

Unlike that era in her past life, where many young people did not want to have children and the population had begun to decline. Walking through several streets, it was hard to find even one pregnant woman; many hospitals no longer had separate maternity wards, and it was becoming increasingly difficult for kindergartens and schools to recruit students...

Suddenly, the wail of a woman drifted over, coming from a small courtyard ahead.

Feng Buji was so frightened that he gripped his sister's hand tightly.

A woman said, "Oh dear, Jinniu's wife went into labor last night. Her mother-in-law has been trying to deliver her for half the night without success. Someone was just sent to Hekou Village to fetch Midwife Li, but Midwife Li has already been called away by the people of Guozi Village."