In the consulting room at the acupuncture department.

  “Did you use Qigong earlier when you treated the patient earlier?” Xu Miaolin asked after the patient and all the doctors who gathered outside had left.

  “Yes,” Fang Qiu said with a nod.

  In fact, Qigong was not very different from internal Qi because Qi was at their essence.

  However, internal Qi was more pure and abundant as compared to Qigong.

  Internal Qi was formed by absorbing the Qi of the sky and earth into one’s body while Qigong was cultivated by using one’s Qi. Although Qigong was very similar to kung fu, upon closer examination, there was a very distinct difference between the two.

  Naturally, it was possible to cultivate Qigong since it was similar to kung fu and in fact, there were many Qigong techniques around as well.

  Similar to kung fu, Qigong experts could be incredibly powerful.

  Unfortunately, very few people managed to cultivate Qigong to the highest level, so no one knew how powerful Qigong could be. It was only known that Qigong masters could be incredibly powerful.

  “No wonder,” Xu Miaolin said with a nod.

  Then, a series of footsteps could be heard along the quiet corridor.

  “Clack, clack……”


  These footsteps belonged to the patients who had been waiting at the orthopedics department on the seventh floor.

  They had immediately rushed to the acupuncture department after the registration process.

  “Where is Dr. Xiao Fang?”


  “What is Dr. Xiao Fang doing at the acupuncture department? It’d be great if he continued to work at the orthopedics department.”


  “It doesn’t matter which department he is working at. All that matters is that Dr. Xiao Fang is working in this very hospital.”


  “Where is he?”


  “Where is Dr. Xiao Fang’s consulting room?”


  These patients created a commotion as they searched for Fang Qiu’s consulting room.

  There weren’t that many people at the acupuncture department and it was usually very quiet, so the arrival of these patients immediately attracted the attention of the doctors and nurses at the acupuncture department.

  The doctors and nurses were dumbfounded when they heard who the patients were looking for.

  What was going on?

  How did so many people manage to find their way here even though Fang Qiu had only been here for several hours?

  Fang Qiu and Xu Miaolin could hear the commotion all the way from his consulting room.

  “I couldn’t tell that you were such a popular doctor here,” Xu Miaolin said with a smile. “You’ve only been here for a short while and now, so many patients have come in search of you.”


  “Of course not,” Fang Qiu said with a smile. “I’m doing okay.”


  “This would save us a lot of time,” Xu Miaolin said as he rolled his eyes at Fang Qiu. “At the very least, you wouldn’t need to waste time waiting for a patient to end up in your consulting room because you are new. You’ve come here to gain practical experience, so it would speed things up if the patients are familiar wit you.”


  The moment he finished speaking, a patient pushed open the door and headed toward Fang Qiu’s desk.

  Upon a closer look, Fang Qiu noticed that it was a family of three.

  It was a middle-aged couple and a young man who was in his 20s.

  The young man looked a little dazed and it was obvious that he wasn’t as normal.

  “Doctor, could you please take a look at our son?” The middle-aged woman said. She only turned to look at Fang Qiu after her son had taken his seat and there was a plea in her voice.

  “Sure,” Fang Qiu nodded. “What’s wrong with him?”


  “He has schizophrenia,” the middle-aged woman said. She paused for a moment before she added, “He hasn’t left the house since he was 16 and he would spend the entire day cooped up in his room. He refuses to eat and would only chuckle to himself. He would head out in the middle of the night in search of food when he is hungry and he doesn’t bathe, nor wash his face, nor his hair. He is unable to care for himself and sometimes when I try to step in, he would even flare up at me and hit me.”


  Fang Qiu frowned when he heard the middle-aged woman’s words.

  Schizophrenia?

  This wouldn’t be easy to treat.

  Most patients would be sent to the psychiatric hospital or the psychiatric department, so why did his parents bring him to the acupuncture department?

  However, since they were here, Fang Qiu would do his best as a doctor to treat their son.

  “Does this run in the family?” Fang Qiu asked. “Has he sought treatment before this?”


  “Yes to both questions,” the middle-aged woman said as she nodded. “This does run in the family and we’ve already sought treatment several times but to no avail. Finally, we brought him to the psychiatric hospital where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and they told us that it was incurable. However, he is our son who we had painstakingly raised. Doctor, please take a look at him. I’ll give you all the money you ask for as long as you’re able to cure him.”


  “I’m a doctor,” Fang Qiu said as he nodded. “So I will do my best.”


  At this moment, Xu Miaolin said. “I’ll do it.”


  Xu Miaolin said, “Let me show you how to embed the thread.”


  “Sure,” Fang Qiu said and immediately rose to his feet.

  The middle-aged couple looked confused. They didn’t know why their main physician had changed at the last moment.

  “He is my teacher, so I’m sure that the treatment will be more effective,” Fang Qiu said.

  The middle-aged couple nodded as realization dawned and looked at Xu Miaolin hopefully.

  “Schizophrenia has the highest rate of disability and it is very difficult to treat. The most effective acupuncture treatment for this disease is the thread-embedding technique,” Xu Miaolin said as he made preparations.

  “Haha,” the young man seated at the table suddenly laughed to himself.

  He stared at the corner of the table and his head would turn from side to side.

  He looked like he was having mild seizures.

  “Come here,” Xu Miaolin gestured for the middle-aged couple to bring the young man over to the acupuncture chair.

  After he finished making preparations, he immediately started to treat the young man.

  As he treated the patient, he told Fang Qiu, “Thread-embedding is a treatment that involves embedding a thread in a pressure point. This treatment is a combination of acupuncture theory, Chinese medicine, and modern medicine.”


  “In fact, the thread-embedding technique is a complicated treatment method that is a combination of many types of treatments and effects.”


  Xu Miaolin had already started his treatment even as he spoke.

  Fang Qiu observed him closely.

  “Its main treatments are the sealing of pressure points, the needle and thread-embedding, as well as tissue therapy.”


  “Its main effects are to restore the balance of the organs and Yin and Yang, as well as to balance blood and Qi, reinforcing deficiency while reducing excess. It will also strengthen one’s body resistance to eliminate pathogenic factors.”


  “Always remember that it is not suitable to carry out the thread-embedding treatment when the skin is infected or has open sores. It is also not advisable to use this treatment on patients who have serious heart issues or who are pregnant.”


  “In addition, you must take note of three things when performing this treatment.”


  “First, you must always ensure that everything has been properly disinfected to prevent infections. When you use the triangular needle to perform thread-embedding, your hands must be deft and accurate to prevent the needle from breaking.”


  “Second, the thread should be ideally embedded between the tissue and the muscle. You may embed the thread in the dermis layer for areas that are most muscular but the catgut thread should not be visible.”


  “Third, you must know how deeply to embed the thread when it comes to different parts of the body to avoid injury to the internal organs, main arteries, and nerves. You don’t want to end up causing discomfort and pain to the patient.”
……

  Xu Miaolin continued to teach Fang Qiu as he treated the patient.

  Fang Qiu listened intently in the corner.

  As Xu Miaolin continued to perform the treatment, he smiled when he noticed how intently Fang Qiu was listening to his words. “A highly-skilled doctor called Dr. Tu came up with this thread-embedding technique and I had spent ages trying to learn this technique. I finally managed to learn this after trading my boneset skills for this.”


  Boneset?

  Fang Qiu’s eyes lit up as he asked, “How skilled are you at boneset?”


  “My skills are of a passable level,” Xu Miaolin chuckled and added. “Clearly, I gained more from this trade than Dr. Tu did.”


  Soon, Xu Miaolin completed his treatment.

  Upon closer examination, the young man who had entered with a dazed and unfocused look seemed much more aware of his surroundings.

  This treatment seemed exceptionally effective.

  Fang Qiu was surprised.

  Was the thread-embedding treatment really that miraculous?

  Why would the psychiatric hospital recommend that the middle-aged couple forgo treatment if the thread-embedding treatment could be so effective?

  Or maybe……

  Fang Qiu turned to look at Xu Miaolin and saw that Xu Miaolin was very excited.

  The patient and his family left after Xu Miaolin advised them on the treatment plan and gave them a list of things to take note of.

  “You’re truly a genius when it comes to learning Chinese Medicine,” Xu Miaolin immediately turned to Fang Qiu after the patient left the consultation room. “I didn’t expect you to come up with a new treatment technique. You might even be able to start a new school of thought in the future.”


  “You will be acknowledged as a highly-skilled doctor if you actually manage to create a treatment technique that will be adopted by the masses!” He exclaimed.

  Fang Qiu immediately knew what he was referring to.

  His suspicions were right.

  Xu Miaolin had attempted to use Qigong earlier when performing the thread-embedding technique. He had the Qigong foundations and although it had been a while since he used it, he still managed to produce excellent results.

  Fang Qiu was a guru so he could sense the Qi within Xu Miaolin even though it was very faint.

  Xu Miaolin was elated.

  He had dedicated his life in the pursuit of mastering all forms of Chinese Medicine and now, he had managed to discover a new field of treatment. This was a treatment that incorporated internal Qi and acupuncture techniques.

  He could not hold in his excitement and happiness and even praised Fang Qiu for the first time.

  “Really?” Fang Qiu exclaimed in surprise.

  Would he be acknowledged as a highly-skilled doctor as long as he managed to come up with something that would be adopted by the masses or create a new form of treatment?

  “Of course,” Xu Miaolin said as he nodded. “However, it isn’t as easy as it seems. You might have come up with a form of treatment that incorporates Qigong and acupuncture techniques but this would be treated as a simple and innovative form of treatment. You’ve still got a long way to go before this would be considered a new school of thought.”


  “In order to create a new school of thought, you would have to forge a path that no one else has ever walked and create something out of nothing.”


  “Therein lies its difficulty!”


  Xu Miaolin couldn’t help but shake his head.

  He knew better than most how difficult it was to create a new school of thought because he had mastered all forms of Chinese Medicine. It was as hard as reaching the skies!

  “It might be difficult but this doesn’t mean that it is impossible, right?” Fang Qiu said with a smile.

  He secretly committed Xu Miaolin’s words to memory……

  He continued to see patients.

  Xu Miaolin rarely offered up any advice after he imparted the thread-embedding technique to Fang Qiu and left Fang Qiu to treat most of the patients himself.

  In the span of a day, Fang Qiu’s acupuncture techniques continued to improve because of the sheer number of patients he saw.

  Xu Miaolin was amazed at how accurately Fang Qiu managed to pinpoint pressure points.

  He also made use of the time when Fang Qiu was seeing patients to impart other forms of modern acupuncture techniques.

  Fang Qiu managed to pick it up on the spot and Xu Miaolin was amazed at how quickly Fang Qiu managed to learn.