At that moment, a hand grabbed his arm.
Lu Yi smiled and stood up. He felt that what the patient had just said made complete sense: treating the patient came first, and there was no reason to make patients wait.
Swish!
Everyone present turned their eyes to Lu Yi.
There was Zheng Wen, Feng Yigu and the six community hospital directors, the six TCM doctors, Lin Chuqing, Wang Fengnian, Zhou Wenxuan, Ma Jianshan and the others looking through the second-floor glass, the man in the jacket, and the angry, agitated patients.
Zhao Jinliang looked at Lu Yi, who was holding him back, in shock and confusion: *You're going to handle this?*
The next moment, he calmed down.
This matter was truly difficult for him to handle, and equally difficult for Director Zheng Wen. It was much better for Lu Yi, the person directly involved, to step up and handle it!
"Give me ten minutes. I'll see the patients first. Ten minutes will be enough."
Lu Yi walked toward the patients on the outer edge, saying calmly.
Ah?
Zhao Jinliang's eyes widened. He had never expected Lu Yi—of all things—to want to see patients right now!
Ten minutes?
How on earth could you examine so many patients?
Not just Zhao Jinliang, but everyone else present was stunned as well.
Director Zheng Wen, Feng Yigu, and the other community hospital directors looked suspicious.
Wang Fengnian, Zhou Wenxuan, and the six TCM doctors wore expressions of utter disbelief!
Ten minutes?
Dozens of patients?
It was simply impossible!
Traditional Chinese Medicine emphasized differentiation of syndromes and targeted treatment—treating each person individually. There was no such thing as mass treatment. Even if the principle of treating different diseases with the same method existed, it only applied when different patients presented with the exact same pathogenesis.
At a glance, these patients clearly had different conditions. How could they possibly be treated with the same method?
Lin Chuqing looked at Lu Yi with eyes full of astonishment, her pen quickly writing four characters on her form:
*Behavioral disorder.*
Then she added a question mark.
Patients with schizophrenia often exhibited behavioral disorders, typically manifesting as sudden, extremely strange, or inexplicable movements.
The female reporter adjusted her glasses and aimed her camera at Lu Yi.
"Who holds this morning's number?"
Lu Yi walked up to the patients and asked with a smile.
"Me!"
The man in the jacket, holding his medical record, calmly raised his hand first.
"Me!"
"And me."
The others responded one after another. There were at least thirty or forty people, and they all crowded around.
So many?
Zhao Jinliang and the others were startled. They had thought there were only twenty-some people, but this was easily double that amount.
Lu Yi's gaze swept quickly across the faces of these forty people.
Most had mild, uncomfortable ailments, while a small portion suffered from complex, chronic conditions of many years.
He nodded and pulled two boxes of disposable acupuncture needles from his pocket.
When treating Zhang Guangyi, the rugged man with the stroke the day before yesterday, he had discovered the hospital lacked needles, so he bought two boxes to keep in his pocket as backups.
Was he going to use needles?
Wang Fengnian's sharp eyes noticed the needles in Lu Yi's hand, and his brow furrowed.
Needles were a good method, but you still had to needle patients one by one. Coupled with the time needed for reinforcing and reducing manipulation techniques and the retention time of the needles, it would take at least ten-odd minutes per patient.
Furthermore, as far as he knew, acupuncture had no method for mass treatment!
"Alright, line up according to your numbers."
Holding the acupuncture needles, Lu Yi looked at everyone, the corners of his mouth curving upward into a standard arc, his smile warm and friendly:
"In a moment, I will use a special method. After ten minutes, about 70% of you will be cured. The remaining 30% won't be completely cured, but everyone's condition will be substantially relieved by 100%.
"There is no charge for this treatment. Are you willing to accept it? If so, I will begin."
Gasp!
What did you just say?!
Wang Fengnian, Zhou Wenxuan, and the six community hospital TCM doctors widened their eyes, staring fixedly at Lu Yi.
How could there possibly be a way to cure 70% of people all at once?
And provide 100% relief?
In just ten minutes?!
"What kind of joke are you playing?"
Standing behind Wang Fengnian, Zhou Wenxuan looked at Lu Yi, sneering mockingly.
Zhao Jinliang froze in place, his expression locked solid.
*Lu Yi,* he thought, *let's be honest, didn't you just blow this boasting a bit too wide?*
When Feng Yigu and the other community hospital directors heard this, their hearts gave a jolt, followed by a joyful exchange of glances. They wouldn't even need to make a move—Lu Yi was digging his own grave!
Ten minutes for a 70% cure rate? Young man, you really dare to boast!
Health Department Director Zheng Wen also looked at Lu Yi in astonishment. He found it hard to imagine what kind of confidence could possibly drive Lu Yi to utter such words.
*Cognitive disorder!*
Lin Chuqing cast a suspicious look at Lu Yi and quickly jotted it down on her form.
This time, there was no question mark behind it!
Cognitive disorder was also one of the manifestations of schizophrenia—the so-called delusion, where the patient firmly believed in things that contradicted reality!
***
Chapter 29: Could This Be... the Divine Turtle Eight Methods?!
"I agree!"
A special method?
70% chance of getting better?
100% relief?
And no money?!
Hearing Lu Yi's words, the forty-plus patients who had been panicking in line all lit up!
"I agree!"
"I agree too!"
In an instant, the agreement of all the patients echoed across the entire courtyard.
The man in the jacket holding his medical record gave Lu Yi a deep look and also shouted his agreement.
"Snap!"
The female reporter appeared at just the right angle, captured a photo of this wholesome doctor-patient relationship scene, and then checked the screen, nodding with satisfaction.
"Very well."
Lu Yi maintained his warm smile. "Everyone, take off your shoes. Take off your socks too, and roll up both sleeves."
Take off shoes? Take off socks?
Hearing this demand, everyone present was dumbfounded.
The TCM doctors like Wang Fengnian were even more perplexed. What kind of requirement was this?
The patients standing in line looked at each other in hesitation.
Without a word, the man in the jacket was the first to take off his brown leather shoes and black socks, then reached up to undo his shirt cuffs and roll up his sleeves.
Seeing this, the other patients also began bending down to untie their shoelaces.
The courtyard instantly grew extremely quiet, filled only with the sounds of untying shoelaces and rolling up sleeves.
Lu Yi took out his phone from his pocket and opened the perpetual calendar app.
He glanced at today's Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, and then at the earthly branch corresponding to the current time, 9:20.
*Yisi hour, Renchen day.*
He calculated rapidly in his mind.
*Ren is 8, Chen is 10, Yi is 8, Si is 4. The sum of the four numbers is 31!*
*Ren is a Yang Heavenly Stem, and today is a Yang day, so divide by 9!*
*31 divided by 9 gives a quotient of 3 with a remainder of 3!*
The moment the remainder 3 appeared, Lu Yi's mind quickly matched it to the acupoint to be opened in the Divine Turtle Eight Methods: the Waiguan acupoint!
Simultaneously, another acupoint appeared in his mind: Zulinqi!
These two formed a paired set of acupoints and had to be used together!
The calculation complete, under everyone's watchful eyes, Lu Yi walked directly up to the first patient—the man in the jacket.
He lowered his head, bent down, and said, "Don't move."
The man looked suspiciously at Lu Yi, who was staring down at his feet. Suddenly realizing something, he hurried to explain, "My back hurts. Day before yesterday, I was helping an old man with farm work and sprained it. I've sprained it before too..."
"No need to explain."
Before the other man could finish, Lu Yi cut him off. With a flick of his wrist, a needle was thrust directly into the Zulinqi acupoint on the outer side of the man's left foot.
Then came the Zulinqi acupoint on the outer side of the right foot.
The needles went in at lightning speed!
Extremely fast!
Before the middle-aged man could react, Lu Yi had already stood up, pulled the middle-aged man's left hand over, and inserted another needle into the Waiguan acupoint on the back of his forearm.
Then the Waiguan acupoint on the right arm.
With all four needles placed, the man finally reacted and instinctively wanted to struggle and move, but Lu Yi immediately stopped him. "Don't move. Wait five minutes."
With that, amidst the middle-aged man's bewildered gaze, he moved on to the next patient who had bared their shoes and socks.
The same four acupoints.
Equally lightning-fast!
"This is..."
Wang Fengnian stood up abruptly, his eyes wide as he stared fixedly at Lu Yi.
He hadn't reacted in time to the four needles on the first patient, but seeing the exact same four needles applied to the second patient, realization struck him instantly.
"Could this be the Divine Turtle Eight Methods?!"
*The Divine Turtle Eight Methods?*
The puzzled expressions on the faces of the six community hospital TCM doctors and Zhou Wenxuan all froze.
Lu Yi was using the Divine Turtle Eight Methods?!
The six TCM doctors looked at each other in dismay.
Zhou Wenxuan's pupils contracted. Hailing from a renowned university of traditional Chinese medicine, he had heard his teacher mention the Divine Turtle Eight Methods during his acupuncture classes, but it had only been a brief introduction.
The reason was simple.
His teacher didn't know how to use it either!
Wang Fengnian kept his eyes glued to Lu Yi, who was continuously needling patients—always the exact same acupoints, always the exact same four needles.
Though his specialty was herbal formulas, he had a good understanding of acupuncture.
From the perspective of TCM, regardless of whether a disease stemmed from external or internal causes, it ultimately resulted from an imbalance of Yin and Yang in the human body.
In other words, if a human body remained in a state of Yin and Yang balance, disease would not occur!
And restoring that internal imbalance of Yin and Yang back to equilibrium would make the disease disappear!
Herbal medicine cured diseases by using medicinal properties to restore Yin and Yang balance, while acupuncture cured diseases by stimulating acupoints to achieve that same balance.
Orthodox acupuncture involved differentiating syndromes based on the patient's condition, and then selecting and combining acupoints for reinforcement or reduction according to their functions and meridian affinities.
Yet the Divine Turtle Eight Methods before his eyes did no such thing!
When needling with this method, one completely ignored the functions of the acupoints and paid no attention to what the disease actually was. One looked only at the date and the time!
Then, based on the calculation of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches of that date and time, one determined which set of acupoints corresponded to that moment.
There were eight acupoints in total, divided into pairs.
Regardless of the illness, you simply needled those two acupoints of the set!
The reason for selecting points this way was because, in the view of this method, the human body was a state of Yin and Yang balance. By viewing the human body in conjunction with the Eight Trigrams, one could select eight specific acupoints along the extraordinary meridians of the human body.
Those eight acupoints controlled the extraordinary meridians and also controlled the body's Yin and Yang balance!
A different set of acupoints controlled each double-hour period.
As long as acupuncture was applied to that specific set of acupoints, the human body would naturally restore its balance, and the illness would naturally vanish!
That was the theory, but how effective was it in practice? He had no idea!
Because he didn't know how to use it either, and this was his first time witnessing it.
In the eyes of many orthodox acupuncturists, this method seemed too bizarre and its therapeutic claims too exaggerated; they only knew the theoretical principle, while having no clue how to calculate the acupoints.
"Is the effect really as miraculous as the legends say?"
Wang Fengnian stared intently at Lu Yi. He hadn't expected Lu Yi to be proficient in this at such a young age!
"Is it really that formidable?"
Feng Yigu watched Wang Fengnian's expression and asked in a low voice, frowning, turning to Jia Gui, a forty-something TCM doctor from his own hospital.
Swish!
Health Department Director Zheng Wen, Zhao Jinliang, and the other five community hospital directors, who had all remained in a daze, instantly locked their gazes on Jia Gui.
Jia Gui thought for a moment, then gave a bitter smile. "I'm not sure. It's said to be quite formidable, but it's an extremely obscure acupuncture method."
"How obscure?"
Feng Yigu pressed.
Jia Gui thought earnestly for a moment before saying, "It's like having a fishbone stuck in your throat. Ordinary acupuncture is equivalent to going to the hospital and pulling it out with tweezers."
At this, he took a deep breath and continued, "This method is akin to taking the fishbone out, burning it with fire until it turns black and charred, crushing it into ashes, putting it in your mouth, washing it down with water, and thereby clearing the fishbone from your throat."
Ah?
Everyone was momentarily dumbfounded. Was this some kind of shamanistic ritual?
Zhao Jinliang asked with curiosity, "Does burning it to ashes actually work?"
Director Zheng Wen and the others gave him helpless looks. *Do you think it works?*
"I don't know." Jia Gui blinked. He had never used it himself; he had only read about it recorded in ancient books.
"So in other words, this needle technique belongs to the realm of metaphysics?"
Feng Yigu narrowed his eyes at Lu Yi and smiled.
Even with his toes, he could figure out that this definitely wouldn't work!
If it were truly this simple and possessed such miraculous therapeutic effects, acupuncturists would have mastered it ages ago!
It seemed this kid didn't even need them to make a move; he was walking right up to slap himself in the face!
At that moment, Lu Yi was applying needles with flying speed, already reaching the 20th patient.
Twenty-one, twenty-two...
Every single insertion was executed in a single smooth motion, without the slightest hesitation. It was extremely fluid and natural, almost as casual as... tossing garbage.
"Just based on this single hand of technique alone, even discounting the Divine Turtle Eight Methods, he's a veteran acupuncturist!"
Wang Fengnian sighed inwardly. He hadn't expected that not only were Lu Yi's herbal prescriptions exceptional, but his acupuncture skills were also top-notch!
In the autumn wind and warm sunshine, forty people with bare feet and exposed arms stood neatly in a row in the courtyard, a rather spectacular sight.
Lu Yi continued needling, while the female reporter followed closely behind, snapping photos incessantly.
Lin Chuqing's eyes never left Lu Yi for a single second.
Five minutes. All forty-plus people were completely done.
Finishing the very last needle, Lu Yi didn't pause. He turned and walked directly up to Health Department Director Zheng Wen, smiling brilliantly.
There was a saying on the internet: *Burn more incense in peaceful times, and you'll have people to help when trouble strikes.* He felt that made a lot of sense!
When it came to the Danshen matter in Qingshan County, he might well need to make use of this man!
"Director Zheng, I see you've caught a cold and your right nostril is blocked. Would you like me to treat it?"
***
Chapter 30: Could the Director Be a Plant Too?
Treat me?
Health Department Director Zheng Wen looked startled, staring at Lu Yi in astonishment.
He had indeed caught a cold this morning and had a nasal twinge, but how on earth did Lu Yi know it was only his right nostril that was blocked, and not the left?
And did he really dare to treat the Director with this useless Divine Turtle Eight Methods?
Feng Yigu, the other community hospital directors, and Lu Yi's words left them all frozen in place.
Zhao Jinliang was struck completely dumb.
This kid played entirely outside the rulebook!
Treating forty patients was one thing, but why on earth was he flirting with the Director?! If the treatment failed, even if they won this exchange in the end, it would still count as a loss!
"You really want to treat me? Using that acupuncture method from just now?"
A trace of interest hung on Zheng Wen's face as he asked.
Lu Yi nodded, his face beaming with sunny smiles.
Zhao Jinliang stared hard at Lu Yi before glancing back at the forty patients standing barefoot in the chilly wind. Suddenly, his expression hardened with resolve.
He gritted his teeth and steeled his heart!
*Things have come to this—if we die, we die together; if we live, we go out with a bang!*
He immediately bared his teeth in a smile.
"Director, it's rare for you to visit our hospital. Why not personally experience the medical skill of the frontline doctors at Qingyun Street Community Hospital? Consider it an inspection!"
"Very well!"
Zheng Wen readily jumped at the chance to step down the slope.
He had long been curious about these Divine Turtle Eight Methods. He briskly rolled up his sleeves and quickly slipped off his shoes, leaving the onlookers staring in utter bewilderment.
Zhao Jinliang looked down at Zheng Wen's discarded shoes, a flash of deep regret passing through the depths of his eyes.
*Such a great opportunity to suck up, and I was too slow...*
He raised his head to look at Feng Yigu and the others, only to find regret plastered across their faces as well.
Lu Yi took out four needles. Without any superfluous movements, under everyone's watchful eyes, he rapidly pierced four needles into Director Zheng Wen's bilateral Zulinqi and Waiguan acupoints. His speed was blistering!
Fast as he was, the female reporter was faster!
"Snap!"
She rapidly captured the scene of the leader personally experiencing traditional Chinese acupuncture.
Watching Lu Yi, Lin Chuqing silently drew a minus sign ("-") right behind the "Behavioral disorder?" on her form.
Knowing how to navigate human relationships meant his behavioral disorder wasn't all that severe.
"Doctor Lu, my throat hurts. Why don't you stick four needles in me too, and let me experience your exalted, supreme medical skills?"
Recovering his wits, Feng Yigu suddenly let out a mocking chuckle, his eyes flickering with calculation.
He was thinking deep ahead: if it didn't work out a moment later, Zheng Wen as the bureau chief might feel too embarrassed to expose it, but he himself had no such scruples!
"Did you register?"
Lu Yi turned his head. The smile vanished from his face as he asked calmly.
Register... a number?
Feng Yigu froze instantly.
He had anticipated that Lu Yi would refuse, but he never expected him to refuse on such a legitimate ground.
Just as he wanted to snap back, a joyful voice rang out.
"Huh? My back doesn't hurt anymore?!"
Everyone hastily swung their heads toward the source. It was none other than the man in the jacket holding his medical record, who had been first in line.
Under everyone's gaze, the man in the jacket moved his back in pleasant surprise, bending forward.
No pain!
He bent backward again.
Still no pain!
Then he rapidly twisted his waist and spun around in a circle like he was twirling a hula hoop.
Still no pain!
"It's really cured!"
The surprise on the man's face instantly magnified as he looked at Lu Yi in disbelief.
As soon as those words left his mouth, Zhao Jinliang—who had been extremely nervous just a moment ago—snapped to alertness. A dazzling light burst forth in his gaze as he stared fixedly at the man.
Lu Yi's Divine Turtle Eight Methods actually worked?
"My stomachache is gone too!"
The second patient widened his eyes at that moment, his face brimming with delight.
Boom!
A thunderclap sounded in the silence!
If curing one person was a coincidence, then two people getting better meant it was no longer a coincidence!
That was already two!
The exact same treatment method, yet one had a bad back and the other had a stomachache—two completely different illnesses!
Wang Fengnian, Zhou Wenxuan, and the six community hospital TCM doctors—all of them experienced practitioners—instantly widened their eyes, shock washing over them.
"My headache is gone too."
The third one!
"My constipation is cured as well! Move aside, make way, I need to go to the toilet!"
The fourth patient completely disregarded the shoes and the needles still stuck in his hands and feet, sprinting wildly toward the hospital lobby!
That made four!
Feng Yigu could no longer stay seated. His face turned exceptionally ugly as he looked at Zhao Jinliang, whose face was glowing with radiance, and demanded in a panicked voice, "Are these plants you hired?"
"That's right, they're plants, aren't they? How could anyone get better this fast?"
The other community hospital directors snapped out of their daze and asked in extreme shock.
Deep down, Zhao Jinliang himself hadn't entirely believed in the therapeutic efficacy of the Divine Turtle Eight Methods either. Hearing this, his blood pressure instantly spiked straight to his brain. It was one thing to doubt once, but you motherfuckers were getting addicted to doubting!
Did they really take him, Zhao Jinliang, for someone made of mud?!
Just as he was about to point to the heavens and swear another poisonous oath, the surprised voice of Health Department Director Zheng Wen rang out.
"My nose is cleared up too."
Feng Yigu whipped his head around, staring in shock at Director Zheng Wen.
The expressions of the other five community hospital directors shifted dramatically as they looked at Zheng Wen in disbelief.
The Health Department Director was cured too?
The faces of Zhou Wenxuan and the six community hospital TCM doctors instantly transitioned from doubt and astonishment to sheer disbelief.
A bright gleam flickered in Wang Fengnian's eyes as well.
The others might be plants, but Director Zheng Wen certainly couldn't be a plant!
It was plainly obvious that he was truly cured!
It seemed Lu Yi's Divine Turtle Eight Methods were genuinely effective!
*Could the Director be a plant too?*