ten hidden tribes

Chapter 3

一
In the bustling commercial center of City A, there is a small Chinese medicine shop, pitifully squeezed by the nearby private general hospital in an undemolished one-story house in the old city, called Yangjing National Medical Center.Green bricks and white walls, the front of the street is a pharmacy, and there is a small yard behind it, the walls are wet with moss, Tianqi and medlar grow beside the wall, and blue and white hydrangeas bloom in the patio.

The shopkeeper was a thin 17-year-old girl, wearing a blue floral dress with long eyelashes covering her eyes, and her skin was almost transparent.On the wall to her left was posted "One Hundred Magical Uses of Centipede", and on the pear wood table next to her was a family-passed prescription for treating malignant sores.The aroma of traditional Chinese medicine boiled in the kitchen in the backyard penetrates through the bamboo curtains, bringing a touch of coolness to the draft.

The Yangjing National Medical Center belongs to Qin Xiaoya's family.The summer was scorching hot, and there were few patients. Qin Xiaoya had nothing to do during the summer vacation. She lay on the counter of her Chinese medicine shop and poked a small paper figurine, looking sadly at the big hospital next door.

According to her father, the Qin family has practiced medicine for generations, and they were still famous nobles in ancient times.After the Republic of China, Western learning spread eastward, and Chinese medicine gradually declined.When Qin's father arrived, the ancestral business had been reduced to a small clinic crowded in a bungalow in the old city - of course no one would believe this.But now, this small clinic can't keep it.

When renovating the ancestral house, Qin's father owed a debt to the hospital across the street. It was not much at first, but calculated according to the method of capitalists, it turned out to be a huge debt somehow.The hospital belongs to the Cheng's Medical Group. This time, the Cheng family took a fancy to the location of her shop and wanted to open a western medicine clinic here, so they sent a lawyer over and said that they had to pay back the money within the stipulated time limit or buy the Yangjing National Medical Center.

But where did you get such a large sum of money?
Qin's father went out to raise funds, and she stayed to look at the store.The shop that I grew up with was about to be sold, Qin Xiaoya thought, if I could stay here for a while, I would stay here for a while.The phone rang, she picked it up, and said weakly: "I told you that I didn't do my summer homework... What, resume? What, congratulations, I passed?"

The other end of the phone is not a buddy who wants to copy homework, but a polite male voice, low and magnetic: "Miss Qin, congratulations on your resume passing the primary election. If it is convenient, please come to Bishe for an interview." Resume?She thought about it, and finally remembered.Two weeks ago when I went online, I saw a job posting on a regular website, saying that a family offered a sky-high price for a doctor, and there was only one condition, the applicant must come from a family of traditional Chinese medicine.

The so-called sky-high price means that if the patient is cured, she will be paid to directly slap the purchase contract on the face of the Cheng family's paralyzed lawyer.

Qin Xiaoya has been learning Chinese medicine from her father since she could read.Sometimes acquaintances in the neighborhood have some minor illness, and when Qin's father is away, she will ask her to feel the pulse.If other people saw a little yellow-haired girl sitting behind the doctor's desk, they would inevitably feel contemptuous and feel that this Chinese medicine clinic is unreliable.Acquaintances know that the Qin family's daughter's medical skills are no less than her father's.As long as three fingers are put on the patient's wrist, there is no disease in the world that Qin Xiaoya can't see through.

Qin Xiaoya was only buying lottery tickets at that time, but unexpectedly won the lottery.The man on the other end of the phone asked: "Miss Qin, I want to confirm, why is your surname Qin? Is it Qin from birth?" Qin Xiaoya was stunned, and suddenly felt that her IQ had been lowered by a level: "Because My father's surname is Qin, so I am also surnamed Qin."

The other party's next question scared her so much that she almost threw her phone outside the store and turned it off.It's like you've been shopping happily on the street, and suddenly someone puts a knife on your neck.

"Miss Qin, can you see the 'qi' of Chinese medicine?"

Blood rushed to the heart in an instant.But this phone call may save the family's ancestral pharmacy.Not wanting to give up this opportunity, she took a breath and tried to make her voice sound more natural: "How is that possible? If I could really see it, I would have been on Central Ten's 'Explore·Discovery'."

The other party seemed a little disappointed: "Sorry, just kidding." The doctor's family name was Xia, and the person who called was their manager, whose surname was Zhou, and his name was Zhou Mo.Qin Xiaoya had never heard of the Xia family, but since she could afford to hire a manager and charge a sky-high price, she should be a low-key rich family.She then asked Zhou Mo how she passed the initial test.

"Because your surname is Qin." It seems that the surname Qin is different and has some kind of priority.

two

That man named Zhou Mo is right, Qin Xiaoya can indeed see "Qi".The reason why Qin's father dared to let his 17-year-old daughter see the doctor alone was because Qin Xiaoya was different from other people.

The theory of Chinese medicine is based on the generation of "Qi". "Zhuangzi · Journey to the North" said that the life of a person is the gathering of qi.Gathering is life, scattering is death.The essence of human life lies in the flow of "Qi".However, modern medicine cannot locate Qi.But in every era, there are very few people who can see this thing.When Qin Xiaoya saw "Qi", she was still in elementary school, and Father Qin was teaching her to feel the pulse.

The first time I felt the pulse was in the downtown area.The vendors carried their shoulder poles and yelled loudly, the groceries were haggling over prices, and my father secretly bought a pack of five yuan cigarettes, hiding from Qin's mother while looking for a place to hide on his body.He suddenly stretched out his left hand to Qin Xiaoya, who was still in elementary school, and said, "Come on, Dad will teach you how to feel your pulse."

The first level of cutting the pulse is entering tranquility.Even if there are hundreds of people around making noise, there is still silence in my ears.Can feel, only fingertips father's strong pulse ups and downs.

Later, Qin's father took her to the construction site, and there was the roar of machinery behind her. The father and daughter, one big and one small, sat against the fence, each holding an ice cream, and sat for a whole day.Qin's father stretched out his wrist, and Qin Xiaoya placed three fingers on it, counting his pulse.Even if the earth crashes and the earth cracks behind him, the numbers are not bad.

At that time, Qin Xiaoya was thin and small, and Qin's father only wore an old sweater on his upper body.Depressedly, he held up a coin and asked his daughter, "Why do passers-by throw money at us?"

Later, her father asked her to put her fingers on the sofa leather and feel the tiny pulse of blood vessels in her fingertips.Later, he brought Mama Qin's feather duster and asked her to feel the pulse on the feather.Finally, there is a basin of water, let her brush the surface of the water with her fingertips, feel the micropulsation of the blood vessels.My father said that if you do this, there will be no pulse in the world that you cannot touch.

Qin's father brewed a cup of scented tea bought across the street at ten yuan a catty, and shook his head regretfully: "The highest state of feeling the pulse is to hang your fingers in the air, and you can feel the pulsation of your fingertips from the breeze. It is always said that Chinese medicine is wrong, but many people who are sitting The Chinese medicine practitioners in the hall have not even achieved the first level of tranquility, so how can they not be wrong..."

When the pulse reached the second level, Qin Xiaoya faintly felt something flowing between her fingers, which she couldn't see clearly.When touching the feathers in the third layer, those flowing things became clear and matched with the pulse.The pulse condition is different, and the flowing posture is also different.When she was able to touch the surface of the water at last, she could really see clearly that there were some transparent air currents circulating around the human body.Wherever the air flow stagnates, there will be ailments, and the smoother the flow, the healthier the body will be.

At first Qin Xiaoya was scared when she saw these things.Probably we all feel uneasy when we feel that we are different from other people.When she described what she saw to her father, Qin's father was smoking and wanted to hug his daughter when he got excited, but accidentally burned the cigarette butt on Qin Xiaoya's body, and Qin's mother kicked her into the kitchen to cook for three days.

My father said that what she saw was "Qi" in Chinese medicine.The blood of the Qin family is different from that of ordinary people. Every few generations, there will be a stranger who can see "Qi". The last one is her grandfather.

"My dear girl, you can use this ability to cure diseases and save people, but you must not let others know."

"Why?" Qin Xiaoya asked.

"This is the secret of the Qin family." The father hugged his seven-year-old daughter on his knees, sat by the window on the second floor of the Yangjing National Medical Center, watched the people coming and going on the street, and said sadly, "Your grandfather didn't keep it because he didn't keep it secret." This secret, passed away at a very young age."

Therefore, Qin Xiaoya understood from an early age that she was different from others, and if she wanted to live in peace, she had to keep this secret.

three

Xia's house is a deep house compound in the city's central district.People who came to find this address usually slammed around like headless chickens, and suddenly looked up to find themselves standing in front of a small carved iron gate.It's as if it just turned a street corner and emerged out of nowhere.On the low wall hung with vines, there is an old-fashioned nameplate, which reads "Xia Mansion".

Qin Xiaoya searched all the way according to the address in her mobile phone.After entering the door, the sound of cars and human voices suddenly disappeared, and it was so quiet that I could almost hear my own heartbeat.In front of me is a huge old-style bungalow, with stained glass windows all over the place, and gorgeous reliefs carved on the porch that I can't understand.I don't know who lives here and what kind of disease they have, so I need to call a doctor in this way.

Suddenly, a black silk umbrella for sun protection appeared above the head.The man holding the umbrella was dressed in black, like mourning clothes. He was less than 30 years old and smiled kindly: "Ah, Miss Qin is here. This way." Qin Xiaoya just stood under the umbrella when there was a maid like The man came out in a hurry: "Don't bother Mr. Zhou, let us come down to get the umbrella."

Zhou Mo still held the handle of the parasol by himself, and asked in a cold voice, "Can Miss Qin be served by you at will?" When he turned to Qin Xiaoya, he became gentle and polite again: "Go this way."

The eldest lady of the Qin family?She is indeed Father Qin's only daughter, but the word "Miss"... Is there something wrong?
There were dozens of people who came for the interview together. They either practiced medicine for many years or were educated from famous schools. They all sat in the reception room chatting and drinking tea.An old gentleman sitting next to him asked, "Why is such a young girl here? What's your name?"

"Qin Xiaoya."

The old man was stunned for a moment, and slowly said: "Oh, your surname is Qin." Several people around also nodded: "So your surname is Qin."

Does the surname "Qin" have a deep meaning in Chinese medicine?As she was struggling, she suddenly heard someone calling her name.

A voice as clear and cold as water: "Qin Xiaoya." The speaker was very young, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses and a white casual suit.With one hand in his suit pocket and a cup of tea in the other, he stood against the door.It seemed that he was looking outside boredly, but turned around when he heard Qin Xiaoya's name.

In the midsummer of July, his hand holding the tea bowl was wearing a white silk glove.When the young man came to Qin Xiaoya's side, he bent down and said, "You shouldn't be here, Qin Xiaoya. You've caused me a lot of trouble." The words were said lightly, as if they had not only Acquaintance, and deep friendship.

Before Qin Xiaoya could react, she had already left, leaving only a back view.He played with the teacup in his hand as he walked, with his fingertips touching the bottom of the bowl, and the teacup swirled on his index finger, yet not a single drop of tea spilled out.

Youth is an anomaly.His appearance was like putting a shark into a group of ordinary fish, and the people around suddenly started whispering.

"Isn't that the young master of the Cheng family of Western medicine? Their family was the first to oppose Chinese medicine! They bought many Chinese medicine shops and opened Western pharmacies!"

"The kid heard that he is studying in Europe, what is he doing here?"

"This kind of gentle scum who saves people to make money!"

Young Master Cheng?People who want to buy their own home?Qin Xiaoya chased after her: "Hello!"

The young man turned a deaf ear to the discussion, and didn't stop until he reached the verdant garden outside, then turned around: "What's wrong?"

"Others are talking about you, talking about you..." She suddenly didn't know what to say.

"The house is full of quack doctors. Can you believe what they say, miss?"

"They say you are the young master of the Cheng family."

"Oh," the young man nodded, "yes, my name is Cheng Yu."

Qin Xiaoya didn't know where her courage came from, so she raised her voice: "Can you not buy the Yangjing National Medical Center? If I buy it, I will be homeless." She looked up at him, feeling like a stray kitten .Mr. Cheng was also looking at her, up and down, from head to toe, and then smiled kindly.

"I know your family is raising money. If you cure the head of the Xia family, you will have money to pay off my family's debts. Of course, the Cheng family will not be able to get the Yangjing National Medical Center. But what do you think I am here for? I'm here to make sure you don't get the job. If anyone can cure Mr. Xia's disease, it can only be me." He put his hands in his pockets easily, shrugged, "You are very cute, but I never put Bring your personal feelings into business, Miss Qin."

Later she found out that Cheng Yu's resume was submitted three days ago, after she received the call.Although the job advertisement on the website has been removed, it is not difficult to forcefully get an interview spot with the Cheng family's network.

Evil capitalists!Qin Xiaoya felt that the one who pleaded with the capitalist had a problem with IQ.

"Oh, that's right." Cheng Yu suddenly remembered something, walked towards a black-painted Audi parked outside the mansion, and came back after a while, holding an exquisite pastry box, "The gift for meeting should taste good."

She took the box and untied the bowknot, and there was a box neatly packed inside—green grass?
Green grass with dew on the morning lawn.A small silver fork was also thoughtfully placed.

Qin Xiaoya threw the thing away angrily.Rich people always have all kinds of eccentricities, she thought sympathetically, no wonder the Cheng family wanted to open a hospital, it must be to try to cure their son's mental illness.

four

The interview question was to make the Yishou Dixian Wan in the Song Dynasty medical book "Shengji Zonglu" on the spot.Qin Xiaoya saw her father make it once when she was a child, and vaguely remembered the usage of more than a dozen medicines.Several doctors stood tall in the pharmacy, stirring and stirring medicine, or weighing herbs with small brass scales, but she was the only one working hard to knead the pills.

After rubbing for a long time, it is still oval.It's so nasty... Even the pills made by capitalists are rounder than themselves!
She looked back at Cheng Yu.Mr. Cheng was wearing white gloves, playing with his mobile phone by the window, and beside him stood the busy secretary brother.He seems to have found a prescription from Baidu, and read it accordingly. Chrysanthemum flowers cost two and goji berries cost four, and the younger brother will be responsible for picking the medicine.

—Hey, is this cheating?

"I asked the manager, and he said that tools can be used." Looking at the dissatisfied Qin Xiaoya, he calmly pointed at the phone and the younger brother, "Tools."

In fact, think about it, the Cheng family's ancestral business is Western medicine, so it is understandable that they are not good at traditional Chinese medicine.However, what she couldn't understand was that in the end, it was herself—and the western doctor—who stayed behind.There is only one person among them who can heal Mr. Xia.

All the people dispersed, and the two sat in the empty hall.

Mr. Cheng was extremely bored, so he put an empty glass on his index finger and turned it around.Finding Qin Xiaoya looking at him, he turned around and said, "Guess what's wrong with Mr. Xia?"

"It's definitely not the epidemic." Qin Xiaoya said.Cheng Yu knew that this was not a current epidemic. Before that, he stood in the garden for half an hour, watching the maids come and go on the upstairs terrace, without wearing a mask, and did not take other preventive and isolation measures.So it is not a contagious disease.The girl answered so firmly, what did she notice?

There was one more thing that surprised Cheng Yu.In the first round of interview questions, the reason why other people failed was because the supervisor named Zhou Mo specifically asked for the Yishou Dixian Pill from the "Ancient Prescription".It has been passed down for thousands of years, and the formula of this medicine has long since changed. The Cheng family still keeps the original prescription with their family background.He specially sent a text message to a senior in the family who is proficient in Chinese medicine, and it took a lot of trouble to come over.Since Qin Xiaoya stayed, it means that she also knows this ancient prescription.As expected of the Qin family who are pharmacists, it seems that there are many secrets hidden in the Yangjing National Medical Hall.

The reason why Qin Xiaoya judged that it was not an epidemic was because she observed the "Qi" flowing in the manager and the maids as soon as she entered the door, and found that it was unimpeded, smooth and natural.If the head of the family got the disease, it is impossible for the daily servants not to be infected with the disease.What she cared about was not the illness of the head of the Xia family, but another point.

"Hey," Qin Xiaoya clenched her hands, feeling that her nails were digging into her flesh, "Why do you want to raise Jingguo Medical Center so much?"

"I'm only responsible for carrying out the family's decisions." As if the matter had nothing to do with me.

"There's no way...Is there no way to keep my store?" She looked at him and said softly, "Please."

Just as Cheng Yu was about to speak, when he raised his head, he met a pair of dark eyes with long eyelashes drooping down, as if he was about to cry out of sadness.The teacup on his finger suddenly stopped turning, and fell to the ground and shattered. Cheng Yu had no choice but to stand up hastily: "Ah, the manager is here."

Qin Xiaoya turned her head and saw Zhou Mo standing by the hall.The manager surnamed Zhou did not take them to see the sick head, but led the two of them through the courtyard of the deep house.This house is very strange.When you pass through the promenade, turn around and look back, where there should be a Chinese lotus pond across the arcade.But after two more steps, the lotus pond, which should be within the visual range, is no longer visible, and grass grows overgrown behind him.

They stopped in front of a dilapidated hut.In a low-key and luxurious house, such a dark house is out of place.It's like walking in the corridor of a comfortable five-star hotel, pushing open a door, and finding a dark and cold prison inside.

Zhou Mo opened the door, and the light penetrated into the dark room.

There were only two iron beds in the empty room.On the bed lay two unconscious boys.

五

They were twin brothers, not so much boys as boys.He's only five or six years old, his facial features haven't opened yet, and his face is frighteningly pale.His chest heaved up and down, and he gasped for breath, as if the breath would stop in the next second.

The moment Qin Xiaoya saw them, she took a breath and covered her mouth with her hand.Neither child lived long.

"Yes, they won't live to tomorrow."

The steward stood in the doorway, blocking most of the light that leaked into the room.He seemed to know what Qin Xiaoya wanted to say, so he spoke first without haste: "At this point, I don't hide anything——Mr. Xia is seriously ill, and cannot be saved by ordinary medical skills. I want to hire the best doctors. Neither of these two children will live long, but I hope that after the two go in, they will survive."

The manager, who has always been elegant and courteous, seems to have changed suddenly.He just stood at the door, and the warm air that poured into the room from his side was a few degrees cooler.Qin Xiaoya was stunned.She turned her head to look at Cheng Yu. Young Master Cheng was holding his mobile phone and sending text messages with his hair down, as if he didn't hear what the manager said.

Zhou Mo then politely closed the door.The medicine dispensing just now is simply child's play, this is the real test question from the Xia family - the art of returning to heaven!
The reason why Qin Xiaoya knew that the two children would not live long was because as soon as she entered the door, she found that the "Qi" flow on the boy's body on the bed was disordered, and it was different from the normal way, it was going in the opposite direction.Before this, she had never seen any living person's "Qi" flow in this way on the street.

She put her finger on the wrist of the boy who was closest to her, and it passed by like a dragonfly.The child's wrist is too thin, and the pulse under the fingertips is rapid and vain, as if it is not a pulse, but a fragile butterfly flapping its wings.This kid wants to live. The retrograde of "Qi" is very painful, and it is the hope of wanting to live that makes him persist until now.

The door was tightly shut, and no one looked at her.Qin Xiaoya looked back at Cheng Yu, Mr. Cheng was still sending out text messages, not knowing who the target was.

There is a way that may save the child.Since no one was watching, she decided to give it a try.

After Cheng Yu finished sending the text message, he found that the girl traveling with her was undoing her long hair.Her skin was so white that it was almost transparent, her long black hair poured down like satin, and her whole body was shrouded in the hazy light from the skylight.

When she carefully placed the hair accessories on the head of the bed, he realized that they were not ordinary hairpins, but a set of gold needles for acupuncture.She held the needle in her right hand, while her left hand was still lightly resting on the boy's wrist, and she leaned over gently.

Twisting the needles with plain hands, the girl inserted the needles so quickly that she almost didn't think about it, and the positions were remote and strange, and some places were not the acupuncture points written in traditional medical books.Cheng Yu stared intently at the site where Qin Xiaoya had injected the needle, and gradually understood.

Qin Xiaoya seems to be "changing the pulse" - using gold needles to reconstruct the child's meridians.Some places are cut off, some places are dredged, and some acupuncture methods are even making the meridians go retrograde... Abandon the original retrograde disordered meridians, and re-drain a new flow of Qi and blood.Just like water control, the retrograde water flow is cut off, aqueducts are dug from rivers with abundant water sources, and excess water is diverted to dry river beds.This is a very risky approach, because we cannot see how the meridians run clearly through the flesh and blood of a person like we can see a river.If the needle is not careful, the child will die—unless the girl can see the flowing "Qi" attached to the meridians.

When Qin Xiaoya stopped the needle, she happened to see Mr. Cheng, still handsome in a white suit, looking at her while looking at her phone.Regardless of the previous complaints, she pointed to another child next to her: "Stop playing with your phone, haven't you ever studied in Europe? Don't you want my Chinese medicine shop? If you want it, save him!"

"I'm not playing with the phone, but applying for permission." Cheng Yu looked down at the phone again, and found that there was an extra text message.After reading the text message, Mr. Cheng snapped his phone away, put it in his pocket, and then slowly took off his white gloves one by one.Even when he was playing with the teacup before, he always wore gloves.

"The permission to use the knife has arrived." Cheng Yu said, "Qin Xiaoya, in fact, many years ago, I wanted to fight you once."

scalpel.Cheng Yu always carried a black lacquer briefcase, and when he opened it, there was a neat row of different types of scalpels fixed inside.Each knife is handcrafted by a master knife maker, and then slightly adjusted according to personal habits.If a hair fell on the blade at this time, it would easily break in two even if there was no wind.

Regardless of spring, summer, autumn and winter, hot summer and cold, Cheng Yu always wraps his hands with the thinnest and softest silk to protect every bit of muscle in the best condition. Cutting human flesh and blood.The left hand, which was exposed in the air, picked out a suitable knife from the bag, raised it suddenly, drew a silver arc obliquely in the air, and landed on the face of another unconscious child.

Beads of blood came out immediately.

六

Qin Xiaoya has never seen anyone who can perform surgery to this level.

Cheng Yu lowered his head, his expression focused.There is no disinfection in the room, and every minute the child's wound is exposed to the air, it is more dangerous, so the operation must be done quickly.The silver blade fluttered so fast that the hands controlling it almost became a phantom.The bright blade cut across the left side of the child's face, peeling off a thin layer of skin, revealing the red flesh and blood underneath, Qin Xiaoya was terrified when she saw it, "What are you going to do?!"

"Change fate." Cheng Yu didn't change his face, and without stopping his hand, he turned the knife again, and scratched the boy's right cheek.The comatose child groaned, his delicate brows furrowed.Mr. Cheng's knife became faster and faster.He asked Qin Xiaoya, who was about to rush forward: "The condition of these two children is that the meridians are blocked, and the Qi and blood flow backwards—is that right?"

"Yes." Xiaoya nodded.It is precisely because of this that she uses the technique of golden needles to channel the true energy.

Cheng Yu raised his eyebrows and kept his hands: "Why?"

Why?Qi and blood retrograde is fundamental, what is really important is the cause of qi and blood retrograde.Qin Xiaoya couldn't see this by looking at "Qi".

"Because of these twins, the number of days is up. I'm stealing a piece of life for them." He used thin gut to sew up the removed face, and after wiping off the blood, he didn't look carefully. Not a single trace of a knife can be seen.

Qin Xiaoya finally understood.Draw a vertical line down from the nose, half of the face on one side.Two hands, two feet, everyone looks symmetrical.However, this symmetry is not perfect, because no one is exactly the same.Some people have a thinner left face than the right, and clumsier left hands than right ones. Some people have thicker left legs and thinner right legs.

Cheng Yu switched the boy from left to right, moving his left cheek to his right cheek, and dug out the birthmark on his left hand and moved it to his right hand.He even took off the left half of the boy's scalp and adjusted it with the right side.

Obviously just changed the direction, but it looks like there are completely two people.Not that damned boy anymore.Cheng Yu planned to help this child change his life.Stealing the heavens and changing one's life is a forbidden technique, no wonder he had to send a text message to ask for instructions before performing it.

Qin Xiaoya was a little relieved, and turned her head to give acupuncture.After an unknown amount of time, she heard the sound of the scalpel being put into the suitcase behind her, and she happened to take out the last needle herself.For the first time to change the pulse of a person, it took most of my physical strength just to concentrate on watching the flow direction of "Qi" on the meridians, let alone applying acupuncture.Probably due to standing for a long time, she had a little hypoglycemia, so she swayed.Someone behind her supported her.

Cheng Yu helped her to sit down on the chair and said, "I'll get you a cup of tea."

Qin Xiaoya held the teacup and looked at the child who was still sleeping soundly on the bed.Although they were still pale and short of breath, she knew that it would not be long before they would be able to bounce around in the sun like normal boys.

"I didn't expect that today, someone would be able to 'change acupoints and change pulses'." Cheng Yu looked at the girl in front of him who looked no better than the child on the bed, and praised, "I also didn't expect that there are still people who can see living people. The 'Qi' flowing around the body."

Qin Xiaoya didn't raise her head: "Aren't you too?" She noticed that when Cheng Yu slashed his knife to change his life, the Xueliang blade happened to pass through the place where the breath was disordered, subtly changing the flow of the boy's Qi veins loop. "Changing fate by stealing the sky" not only needs to change a person's face, but also a person's energy veins.

Cheng Yu smiled, but did not answer.He put his index finger on his lips, made a silent gesture, turned to the door, and raised his voice: "Mr. Zhou, do you want to come in and take a look? After a few days of recuperation, the two children should be fine."

Zhou Mo didn't leave, and stood outside from the beginning to the end.

Qin Xiaoya took a sip of water from her teacup, feeling something was wrong.Suddenly it spewed out in one gulp—what was soaked in it was not tea at all, but a handful of green grass.

Seven

Qin Xiaoya admits defeat.

Although she changed the boy's pulse, it only saved him for a while, not for the rest of his life.In terms of numerology, the boy's days are over, and he may die from other accidents if he does not die from the retrograde qi channel. "Stealing the sky and changing one's life" is different. It's like you crossed out the person's name from the fortune book and added him to another page with another name.

Admitting defeat is admitting defeat, but in the next few days, Qin Xiaoya still went to Xia Zhai on time.It was the first time I heard their own names from the children. The child she saved was named Bu San, and the child Cheng Yu saved was named Bu Si.Bu San got well, his face turned rosy, his fever subsided, and he was bouncing around on the bed.He pulled Qin Xiaoya's cotton skirt and swore: "Thank you sister for saving me and my brother. When I grow up, I will definitely come back and marry you."

Just when Mr. Cheng came in humming "Love Trading", he handed the gold needle box to Qin Xiaoya with a smile, and encouraged him, "Oh, it's time for the needle to be strengthened." Qin Xiaoya raised the needle and dropped it.

Once they joined forces to save people, she and Cheng Yu got a little closer, and occasionally talked.She asked Cheng Yu: "Isn't your family a western doctor? Why do you also know Chinese medicine?"

"In the past, the Cheng family was a vassal of a large family of traditional Chinese medicine, and many secrets of traditional Chinese medicine have been handed down in the family." He sat on the recliner opposite Qin Xiaoya, folded his legs comfortably, and put back the pair of white gloves, " Later, our family declined, and only our family has been prosperous to this day. Do you know why? Because we keep pace with the times."

"For example, join Western medicine?"

"At that time, Western learning spread eastward, and Western medicine was in the hands of foreigners. The medical system of Western medicine has its strengths, and someone must stand up and study it."

"But some people say that you use patients to make money."

Cheng Yu smiled, and shook the slender index finger under the white gloves: "If you don't make money, how can the hospital under our family survive?" He looked at the watery eyes of the girl beside the bed, and said vigilantly, "Qin Xiaoya, don't try to influence Me, don't bring the topic to the acquisition of your Chinese medicine shop. As I said, this is the family's decision, and now I don't have the authority to interfere. "

Qin's father was still running outside.When she is free, Qin Xiaoya always stays in the Yangjing National Medical Center.Although sooner or later, if it is someone else's shop, it is always good to stay longer.When she received the call again, she was helping her father cut betel nuts in the backyard. She cut a small betel nut into a hundred pieces, and each piece was as thin as a cicada's wing.On the other end of the phone was the steady voice of the manager of the Xia family and the humming of cicadas.

"Miss Qin, congratulations, Mr. Xia has decided to ask you to treat him." He said with a smile in his voice, "I'll pick you up by car if it's convenient."

Qin Xiaoya held the phone and was stunned: "Didn't I admit defeat?"

"This is what the Patriarch meant."

The place where Xia's family came to pick her up was on the main street outside Yangjing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hall.Qin Xiaoya was standing at the entrance of the blue brick alley with raspberries hanging down, the wind gushed through the narrow passage, blowing the corners of her skirt flying.She saw the Xia family's black Bentley appear at the end of the long street, standing on tiptoe.

Suddenly, he stretched out a hand obliquely.

A hand in a white silk glove.Cheng Yu leaned against the wall and stopped her: "Don't go to Xia's house."

"Get out of the way!" She looked at the gloves angrily.

The young master of the Cheng family looked at her with a stiff expression for a while, then sighed: "I've always caused trouble for me, from childhood to adulthood."

He hesitated for a while, knelt on the ground on one knee, lowered his head: "Miss, you can't go to Xia's house." He spoke every word very slowly, and every time he uttered a word, it was as if he was putting his dignity on the ground, whatever Qin Xiaoya stepped on her high heels ten thousand times.

Eight

A black Bentley appeared at the end of the long street, just at a red light, the Bentley and the traffic stopped.

Zhou Mo rolled down the car window and looked out from his position, just in time to see a green brick alley obliquely ahead.The sky was covered with dark clouds, and the wind swept across the street, a harbinger of summer rain.A girl in a light blue chiffon dress and a crocheted white waistcoat stood at the entrance of the alley angrily.The young man standing in front of her slowly knelt down on one knee like in slow motion in a movie.

"He really paid homage!" Zhou Mo raised his eyebrows.

The so-called allegiance, there is a simple example.During the turbulent period of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, some nobles became destitute and poor, while some of their retainers became dignitaries by chance.If a retainer who has become a dignitary encounters the downcast old master on the road, and finds that the master is not fully clothed and helping someone drive a car, he must immediately take off his clothes, put them on the old master respectfully, drive the car on his behalf, and hand over the coins on his body to the old master. Master use.

Another example is the Qin family, which has been in charge of pharmacists for generations.Everyone knows that the surname Qin is unique in Chinese medicine, and it started with Bian Que.Ordinary people know Bian Que, a genius doctor, but few people know that Bian Que's original surname is "Qin".According to legend, this young man named Qinyue could see through the wall, see through the opposite person, see through the internal organs of the patient through the flesh and blood.

There is also a legend that Qinyue people are not actually human beings, but moon rabbits who have specialized in medicine since Chang'e made medicine.A young man from the Moon Rabbit Clan descended to the Nine Heavens privately, came to the world, and fell in love with a human woman.Their descendants are all named "Qin".And a certain ability of the ancestor was secretly passed down through the blood in this pharmacist family surnamed Qin.

Of course, the legend cannot be proven, but under the surging torrent of each city, there are indeed hidden voices beyond human rules, such as the fox clan who has served perfumers for generations, or the moon rabbit clan that has long been integrated into humans.Every few generations of the Qin family's main family, there will be a strange person who can see the "Qi" of the human body's life flow.In ancient times, this family relied on this ability to be included in the top ten families with medical skills, and their branches spread all over the world, and they were highly respected.

"Through the vicissitudes of life, the world has changed. One of the top ten famous families in the past has opened a medicine shop in an alley. Although Cheng Yu gave Miss Qin a box of Yaochi fairy grass, she didn't know that she was actually a rabbit. Throw such precious things into the trash can." Zhou Mo sighed, "The Qin family of the pharmacist is long gone, and there is even a vassal family that still maintains its loyalty to the family."

The Cheng family has been responsible for protecting the pharmacist's family since ancient times.The tree fell and the monkeys scattered. With the decline of the family, many master-servant relationships that were originally attached to this big family gradually disintegrated.Only the Cheng family, who was in charge of the shadow guards, never left.Later, the Qin family declined, while the Cheng family devoted themselves to Western medicine and gained power.The family even gave up Chinese medicine, but never gave up their loyalty.

Wherever the Qin family's pharmacy moved, the Cheng family's hospital opened there.Even if the Qin family has long forgotten this contract, the Cheng family still abides by it for generations, silently guards it, abides by its responsibilities, and never crosses the line.Cheng Yu prevented Qin Xiaoya from treating Xia's family because he wanted to save her.He was even ready to use part of his life to exchange her from this vortex.

When Zhou Mo pushed the car door and went out, the young man who knelt on one knee also said at the same time: "Miss, have you heard of... the continuation master?"

Every few generations of the Qin family, there will be a "life continuation teacher".

nine

Qin Xiaoya's outlook on life was overturned.After living for 19 years, I knew for the first time that I was a rabbit, or a purebred rabbit.The reason why she has always maintained the appearance of a human is because the blood of the Moon Rabbit Race in her body is the purest and has a strong ability to transform.But if frightened, it still turns into a rabbit.

The life of a person is the gathering of qi.Gathering is life, scattering is death. "Qi" is the source of human life.There is a way to bring the dead back to life, which is to extend part of your own life to others.That is to say, give one's own "Qi" to the dying patient to prolong their life.People with this ability are honored as life-continuing masters.

The premise of life continuation is to be able to see the circulating "Qi", so the life continuation teacher can only come from the pharmacist Qin's family, and only be passed down in the blood of the family.And the Qin family, who passed their own lives on to others, is doomed to die young in their prime.Therefore, this family has established a rule, never easily revealing who in the family has the ability to survive.After the Republic of China, the family declined, and now no one knows which descendant of the Qin surname is the orthodox.Only the Cheng family, the shadow guards who have been silently guarding the Qin family, know that Qin Xiaoya's Yangjing National Medical Center is the family of the Qin family that has declined to this day.

"The Xia family is a very powerful family of onmyojis, and their patriarch is Xia Ziyou. Someone told me that Xia Ziyou only has ten years of life, so what he is looking for is not an ordinary doctor, but a continuation of life. The exorbitant reward is to buy your life." Cheng Yu looked at the stunned girl and sighed.

"I was negligent. Some people have very dexterous fingers and are suitable for holding a scalpel. Some people have unusual eyes and can see the 'qi' flowing in ordinary people. Some people have very good ears. He could hear the conversation clearly. For example, Zhou Mo, the manager of the Xia family.

"The ancient prescription of Yishou Dixian Wan in the first round of interview questions is almost only circulated in the Qin family. Xia Ziyou who wrote the question did not want this medicine, but wanted to try it. Who is the pharmacist Qin among the interviewees? The heir of the family. The Cheng family had an in-law relationship with the main family 100 years ago, so I can vaguely see a little "Qi". Originally, I wanted to pretend to be the blood of the family and use my life instead of yours to extend Xia Ziyou's life. But It's too late now, he heard our conversation and knows that you are the continuation teacher of the Qin family's generation.

"You don't have to believe a word I say, but please run away with me now."

Cheng Yu stood up and glanced at the Bentley at the end of the long street.

"Run!" He suddenly pulled Qin Xiaoya's arm.Because the news came too urgently, I was not prepared, otherwise I could have done something other than run away.

Qin Xiaoya was wearing a long skirt and was stumbling while running. "Why didn't you tell me in advance, we quit together..."

After zigzagging through several small streets, Cheng Yu pushed her into a dilapidated and painted phone booth, closed the door, and took out his cell phone to make a call: "It's useless, the moment you submitted your resume, you were already being watched by the Xia family." The power of the Xia family is far greater than ours, if it wasn't for the family's inability to contend, I would not have appeared in this place."

Outside the glass door, the wind swept the street for the last time.There was a muffled bang, and the rain poured down.The torrential rain filled the entire block, and there was a person standing far away through the dirty glass of the phone booth and the overwhelming rain.

The visitor held a black silk umbrella and approached along the sidewalk.He stopped when he almost passed the phone booth.

Zhou Mo still smiled politely, and turned his face: "Cheng Yu, do you think it's safe to hide your young lady in that kind of place?"

Ten

Cheng Yu did call someone, but it took time for the helper to come.

He pushed open the door of the phone booth and closed it again, leaving Qin Xiaoya inside.Mr. Cheng stood alone in the heavy rain, his expensive suit leaning against the glass door covered with faded small advertisements, and his voice was still not soft or heavy: "I brought the eldest lady here, just because I didn't want her to get wet in the rain."

There was a dark gray rain curtain above his head, and he slowly took off his white gloves.The last time he took off his gloves was to save someone.The last time, it was to use a lancet to accurately cut the throat of a certain mafia.

In just a moment, Zhou Mo bullied him.In the long sleeves of his black suit, suddenly there were two short knives.This is a military hunting knife, purely handmade, reflecting the obscure skylight in the rain.At this time, he was no longer the general manager who usually behaved politely, showing his true nature hidden under the black clothes and white tie without reservation.You will know that this is a man with a past, his knife is replacing himself, telling that period of history.

Cut down with the long knife!

The blade suddenly stopped in mid-air, and was held by two hands—to grab the blade with bare hands!

"As expected of someone who has been the shadow guard for the Qin family for generations. It's not bad that the young master who is well-clothed and well-fed can do this. I thought you would only attend dinner parties." Zhou Mo praised, "Young master, Can you really wait until reinforcements arrive?"

"I should ask you this sentence." Cheng Yu weighed the knife he had snatched, took a step back easily, and said, "I am a medical student, and since I was seven years old, every deadly part of a person's body has been cut. I have memorized everything by heart. Mr. Zhou, can you hold on until the reinforcements arrive?"

If Qin Xiaoya could see Cheng Yu's eyes at this time, she would find that they were as sharp as eagle eyes.In the rain, his back is tall, firm and forbearing.For a moment she even thought he could win.

So when Zhou Mo's other hunting knife finally pierced Cheng Yu's body, Qin Xiaoya screamed and rushed out of the phone booth to stop his bleeding.Cheng Yu stepped back, put his back against the glass door of the phone booth, and locked Qin Xiaoya inside.He arched his body and covered his lower abdomen, blood gurgled from his fingers and was diluted by the rain.

"I'm only 17 years old, and there are still many days to come. The Xia family can't take all of my life!" Qin Xiaoya patted the glass, her voice hoarse from crying, "Cheng Yu, you let me go with Zhou Mo!" She It's just losing most of his life, but Cheng Yu will die here now.

Cheng Yu was silent for a moment, and pressed his back against the glass door: "Qin Xiaoya, you don't understand. If a continuation master wants to pass on his 'qi' to someone else, he must establish an emotional connection with that person. If he wants to become Xia Ziyou's continuation Life Master, you must fall in love with Xia Ziyou. I... don't want you to do this."

Mr. Cheng turned around and smiled: "Qin Xiaoya, you really don't remember at all, who am I?"

Qin Xiaoya shook her head.During the interview a month ago, she met this young man for the first time—a rich young man who wore white gloves, whistled and played with teacups, and didn't care about the whole world.

"Qin Xiaoya," in the rainstorm, in front of the mottled green phone booth, a young man in a Dior tailored suit leaned against the door, trying to stand up straight.His suit was soaked, the wound was bleeding, and his eyes were as sharp as knives, "You asked me if there is a way to protect the Yangjing National Medical Center. I am not in charge of the family yet and cannot interfere in family affairs, but I do know a way .”

Qin Xiaoya pricked up her ears.

"I have the right to inherit a lot of money, but I will have the right to control it after the wedding. If you marry me, you can get half of my property and buy it back to the Yangjing National Medical Center."

Qin Xiaoya thought for a while: "Then you must be willing to marry me first."

Mr. Cheng covered his bleeding stomach and smiled with difficulty: "Ask me to try it. If you don't ask, how do you know I don't want it?" Amidst the sound of the rain, Qin Xiaoya asked stupidly: "Then are you willing to marry me?"

"I am willing, dear." Mr. Cheng replied quickly.As if he had made up his mind, he suddenly jumped up and opened the door of the phone booth——

The phone booth was empty.

In the corner squatted a shivering, frightened rabbit.After going through so many things, the sudden successful marriage proposal made Qin Xiaoya's nerves finally disconnected—for the first time in her life, she turned back into a rabbit.

Cheng Yu picked up the rabbit and rushed into the boundless rain curtain.He touched the long ears of the rabbit in his arms: "Qin Xiaoya, you must keep your word this time!"

The enemy is strong and we are weak, the enemy advances and we retreat.The young master of Cheng's Pharmaceutical Group ran away with his fiancée in his arms.

eleven
It was raining heavily all around, and I couldn't see anything.

It seemed to be trapped in another space, a space constructed with yin and yang techniques, and the Cheng family couldn't get in, and they couldn't get out.It was raining heavily, and the footsteps of the pursuers could be heard all the time behind him, but he couldn't see the way out in front of him.

Qin Xiaoya could already feel that the "Qi" flowing around Cheng Yu's body became very weak, as if it would dissipate when the wind blows.And she still doesn't know how to change herself back from the rabbit state.

Later, a thin cold fragrance suddenly appeared in the air, as if someone accidentally knocked over the perfume bottle.Where there are perfumes, there are people.Cheng Yu ran along the scent for an unknown amount of time, when the shadows of vehicles approaching gradually appeared in the rain.

Someone was talking, shouting something.The familiar face is the bodyguard that the family has known since childhood.He finally stopped, carefully placed the rabbit in his arms in a dry and waterless place, shook it, and fell headlong to the ground.

Not far from where he fell to the ground, someone did knock over a bottle of perfume.The golden liquid flowed out, exuding a calming and cold fragrance.

In the heavy rain, they did stray into a world.Since when did you go in?
Later, Qin Xiaoya recalled that it was probably when Manager Zhou was walking along the sidewalk with a black silk umbrella.When you meet his eyes, you enter his world.Thinking about it carefully, she had never heard of any ordinary perfume that could penetrate the heavy rain and form a space barrier.Qin Xiaoya didn't know if someone accidentally knocked over a bottle of perfume in that place, or someone hid behind the rain curtain and offered a helping hand in secret.

She met Xia Ziyou.

Qin Xiaoya brought out the boiled soup from the backyard of her pharmacy, put it in a thermos cup, and sent it to Mr. Cheng who was hospitalized in the VIP ward of the opposite hospital.

Two children, Bu San and Bu Si, came to visit the sick, bouncing around, holding a few wrinkled white roses in their hands, and said timidly: "I heard that brother Cheng Yu is also sick, we are here to send flowers."

I came with the children and a man.On a hot day, the man is still wearing a gray woolen overcoat and a soft hat with a wide brim. If he adds a cane with a silver tip, he looks like a gentleman who has stepped out of a poster in the last century.He sat on the green-painted strip chair outside the ward until Qin Xiaoya came over with a thermos cup in his arms.

"Miss Qin." Half of the man's face was hidden under a silver mask, and the outline of the other half of his face seemed to be carved out with a knife, and it was three-dimensional like a Greek sculpture.If you take off the mask, maybe you can shoot the cover of a magazine, Qin Xiaoya thought.

The moment she saw him, she knew who it was.

This man is alive, but he has no "qi" on his body, and exudes a dead-like icy smell.The "Qi" flowing around Xia Ziyou's body was so exhausted that Qin Xiaoya could barely notice it.In the past, she had also encountered people whose "qi" had been exhausted like this, but they were all lying on the death bed, unable to move a finger, and never lived a day.But this person walked freely and greeted her with a voice like an ordinary person.His hands are even stronger than normal.

Qin Xiaoya thought, he must have performed some forbidden technique to make his body reach the limit of human beings.But now that the forbidden technique is invalid, this person must find a new forbidden technique to support this already cold body.His qi meridian has been exhausted, so he cannot use "mass exchange" to prolong his life.Half of his face was covered with a mask, so he couldn't use the Cheng family's "Stealing Heaven and Changing Life".His only way to survive seems to be to "continue his life".

"Don't be nervous, Miss Qin." The man reminded Qin Xiaoya who wanted to turn around and run away, "You don't want to turn back into a rabbit in public, do you?"

"What is Mr. Xia doing here?"

"I'm here to explain. The matter of finding a continuation teacher this time was made by the manager, and I didn't know it. Manager Zhou has already been punished. I'm sorry to surprise you." He stretched out a hand, not San conjured up a tea tray as if out of thin air, holding a bowl of green tea on it, and handed it over respectfully.Xia Ziyou took it over, bowed his head and took a sip, before slowly saying: "Miss Qin knows that life extension requires both parties to have a relationship like a couple. I already have someone I care about, so even if you want to continue life Give it to me, and I can't accept it."

Qin Xiaoya thought, who is the man who cares most about this man who has lived like a walking corpse?It was obviously just an ordinary gust of wind, as if it had been splashed with ink from nowhere.The ink stains spread out and became entangled, and the man seemed to be blown in the wind without leaving a trace.

Together with the two children, Bu San and Bu Si, they disappeared without a trace.The wind carried the sweet fragrance of summer flowers outside the hospital ward, as well as a faint fragrance of requiem.

twelve
Mr. Cheng frowned and slept soundly on the hospital bed.Qin Xiaoya put the soup on the bedside, and when she was bored, she flipped through Cheng Yu's notebook.She suddenly remembered who the pale young man lying beside her was.

It is said that the doctor's handwriting is flamboyant and difficult to read, but Mr. Cheng's handwriting is always correct and upright, with a strong character.When I was young, my father once said that the hanging pot is to help the world, and to practice medicine is to save people.Today, as Western learning spreads eastward, folk remedies are gradually lost.Leave one more understandable and useful prescription, you will have more chances to save lives, and you will have more medical inheritance.

In order to prevent his family's recipe from being ridiculed for being ugly when his handwriting was passed on, Qin's father asked Qin Xiaoya to practice calligraphy since childhood.

There was also a boy who practiced calligraphy with her at that time.

The boy lives in the hospital next door. She is a little older than her. He comes to Yangjing National Medical Center to play from time to time. When he was seven years old, he learned how to use chewing gum to trick five-year-old Qin Xiaoya into saying that he would marry him when he grew up. Watching "Transformers" in front of the TV.Then one day, the boy moved, and before he left, he specially gave her a beautifully wrapped gift box, telling her to wait for him to come back.Qin Xiaoya opened it expectantly, and angrily found a box of grass inside.

Many years have passed, the memory has faded, the boy has grown up, but the handwriting has not changed.The font is almost exactly the same as Qin Xiaoya's back then, it is willow font.At that time he did not hold a scalpel, nor did he wear white silk gloves.The two of them lay on the large chopping board of the Chinese Medicine Museum, copying Liu Zongyuan's "Eight Records of Yongzhou" all morning.

Qin Xiaoya thought, when Cheng Yu wakes up, she must have a good chat with him about the past.In an impetuous society, Chinese medicine is declining day by day.Her father's Yangjing National Medical Center is barely making ends meet, and it will be even more difficult when she takes over.But if she is with this person, she will probably have the courage to keep going.

The Cheng family has always been the shadow guard of the pharmacist Qin's family, so the heir of the branch family must grow up with the eldest lady of the family, and stick to her like brown sugar, so that she will not be bullied by the neighbor boys and beat up the bully in the street. Run, practice calligraphy with her, and watch TV in the living room of the eldest lady's house.

Later, he was thrown away by his father to study in Europe, and he reluctantly bid farewell to Qin Xiaoya.Every day, I watch the eldest lady's today's safety report from home.On the wall are photos of Qin Xiaoya's primary school graduation, junior high school graduation, and high school classmate gatherings.Later, Cheng Yu, who finally received the mission to return to China, discovered that Qin Xiaoya had long forgotten about him.

The heartbroken Mr. Cheng was lying on the hospital bed cultivating his body and mind, and suddenly felt something warm and moist holding his hand.

"Thank you for saving me." The voice was as clean and soft as water drops falling on the surface of a lake.

The whole person feels better.

"Stop saying you're a capitalist and a gentle scum."

"Thank you for the grass."

"Actually, looking at it this way, he looks quite handsome."

Qin Xiaoya suddenly remembered something and was very dissatisfied: "Last time you seemed to say that if you want to keep my store, you have to marry me. Then I thought about it, and I thought it was wrong. The patriarch of your family came to my father and said that when the Cheng family bought it The Yangjing National Medical Center is trying to cover up our home with the skin of Cheng’s Medical Group, not to build a pharmacy. Now that the matter has been closed, there is no need to buy it. Do you really not know, or... want to What about a cheating marriage?"

Mr. Cheng continued to stand upright on the bed, motionless.

The fingers holding his wrist loosened, Qin Xiaoya seemed a little puzzled, as if she was looking for something: "The pulse condition is normal. The doctor said that he should wake up after a short sleep. Could it be because the Qi channels on these acupoints are stagnant..."

The sound of metal clashing.Qin Xiaoya was about to prick her with a gold needle, when Cheng Yu jumped up: "Don't, don't, you were the one who proposed to me at that time, how could you pierce me! You must mean what you say!"

(End of this chapter)