Before anyone could figure out where Su Yayan took out her pouch from, they all stared, puzzled at the moxibustion bag in her hands, and asked, “What’s this…”


  Su Yayan opened up her pouch to reveal a gleaming row of long, sparkling thin needles.

  A bad feeling arose from Ning Qirui’s heart. Xia Junsheng inhaled sharply and asked carefully, “Yayan, these needles… Are you really gonna prick Qirui with them?”


  “If not on him, who else? Who else in this room needs some treatment?” As if Su Yayan remembered something, she looked suggestively at Xia Junsheng and Ning Siyuan. “If you want me to get rid of the problems on both your bodies, I can give you a few jabs as well.”


  As soon as she was done, Xia Junsheng and Ning Siyuan took a few steps back, putting distance in between themselves and Su Yayan.

  “No, no thank you, we’re still considered healthy, we’ll take care of ourselves. Why not you start Qirui’s treatment, so you don’t waste your huge talent on insignificant people like us.”


  Ning Siyuan nodded in agreement. “Yeah, he’s right.”


  “Bro!” Never would Ning Qirui have thought that the brother that was rushing up and down because of his sickness would throw him out to become cannon fodder, no, needle fodder!

  Ning Siyuan felt a little guilty after hearing his brother’s anguish cries. He frowned and just as he was about to say something, Su Yayan interrupted and said, “President Ning, you said you’d be fully cooperative. Are you taking back your words now?”


  Whatever that Ning Siyuan wanted to say was swallowed back to where it came from. Ning Qirui was in panic mode. “Bro! That’s needles! How painful would it be to have long, sharp needles like this poked into you? Also, I’ve never heard of anyone who would get better from a few needle pokes. She’s basically using this opportunity to take her revenge against me! Are you really gonna watch her bully me like this?”


  “If you’ve never heard of it before, it means that you live under a rock. If your sickness could be healed in the conventional ways, your brother wouldn’t have come for me. Unique sickness requires unique treatments. Since you’ve promised to be fully cooperative with me, if you decide not to, I’ll leave now.”


  Ning Qirui choked on his words. Xia Junsheng chimed in, “Just suck it up and take it in, Qirui. The needles may be scary but if you can get better, what’s a little pain to endure? Do you want to watch your parents bury their son?”


  “I…” Ning Qirui was at a loss for words, so he did all he could — look at his brother pleadingly.

  Ning Siyuan nearly gave up on his stance, but as he thought of what Xia Junsheng said, he hardened his heart and turned away, ignoring his brother’s pitiful gaze.

  Su Yayan rolled her eyes at how dramatic the Ning brothers were acting. “Okay, President Ning, you’ve gotta first get me a few things, and get a few people to bar the door in case anyone barges in. You’ve seen how scary the needles are, so if I’m performing the treatment, someone barges in, disrupts my workflow, and I poke at a wrong angle…”


  Ning Siyuan, “…”


  Xia Junsheng, “…”


  Ning Qirui nearly burst out into tears. This is threatening! She’s threatening us!

  As though he had just realized the extent of cruelty the person in front of him was capable of, Ning Siyuan slipped out to get things ready.

  In a few minutes, whatever Su Yayan needed had arrived, and the entrance door was barricaded by burly security guards.

  Su Yayan composed herself, lit up some wormwood so its refreshing scent filled the entire ward, relaxing its patient’s tensed-up nerves.

  She took out the silver needles, sterilized them, and brought them closer and closer to Ning Qirui.

  In a split second, a harrowing, heart-stopping shriek emitted from within the room.