NOVPUB
Chapter 98: Chapter 96: The Skill of Barehanded Treatment (3000 words, please follow and subscribe)
Old Factory Street, Lin Fusheng’s Clinic.
The air was filled with the unique fragrance of essential oils and the pungent smell of herbal wine.
Comfortable humming sounds emanated from the massage room inside.
"Master Lin, your skills are really good, ten times better than my old man..."
Ma Donghe lay on the massage table, eyes half-closed, enjoying the massage service.
His bare back was broad and muscular, with fierce tattoos.
Also, there were old scars and newly added bruises.
On hearing this, Lin Fusheng shook his head and chuckled:
"Teacher Ma is a renowned martial arts master; my craftsmanship can’t compare with him."
Ma Donghe’s mouth twitched slightly but said nothing in response to these words.
Others might not know the details about Master Lin, but he was clear.
Lin Fusheng, an important leader of the once-flourishing United Youth Gang seventeen years ago, a gold-medal hitter.
Having been in the underworld for so long, with countless enemies and lives claimed,
he later washed his hands of this past, opened this small clinic, and has been safe up to now.
So, could such a man be just an ordinary craftsman?
While the two were talking, suddenly, a burst of shouting came from outside.
It seemed like more business had arrived.
Soon, a young man lifted the curtain and walked straight in.
Ma Donghe looked up and was pleasantly surprised:
"Ah Cheng, are you also here for Master Lin’s massage and bone setting?"
Fang Cheng glanced and smiled:
"I am not here to have my bones loosened, but to loosen bones for others."
Ma Donghe didn’t understand this at first, but his eyes lit up when he saw the woman standing behind him:
"And who is this miss?"
"She’s my neighbor from the same building, newly moved here, named Wen Huixi, looking for a job in the area."
Fang Cheng briefly introduced and then looked at Lin Fusheng, who was massaging Ma Donghe’s back.
"Master Lin, I have something to discuss with you."
Upon hearing this, Lin Fusheng lifted his head.
Seeing the seriousness on Fang Cheng’s face, he wiped his hands with a towel and followed him outside.
"Here’s the thing..."
The two deliberately stood at the entrance of the clinic.
Fang Cheng described Wen Huixi’s family situation without concealing her drug addiction.
Lin Fusheng listened in silence, sighed, and eventually nodded his agreement:
"Let her stay and try, but the conditions here are quite special, she might not be able to persist."
Perhaps because the Jianghu had recently been somewhat unstable, the clinic’s massage and bone setting business was especially booming.
He kept mentioning that he needed to hire staff, but was unwilling to offer high wages.
And since this job required technical skills, it made it even harder to recruit qualified staff.
As for the trainee Fang Cheng, coming only once every couple of days, he wasn’t much help.
While they were talking, two guys with bruised noses and swollen faces supported each other as they came seeking medical help.
Lin Fusheng hurried forward to greet them and inquire about their injuries.
Seeing that matters were handled, Fang Cheng prepared to share the good news with Wen Xin’s mother.
He lifted the curtain and went inside the massage room.
But he found Ma Donghe and Wen Huixi looking awkwardly at each other in an uneasy atmosphere.
Seeing Fang Cheng return, Ma Donghe quickly offered an explanation:
"I got some minor injuries yesterday and came to Master Lin for help."
Fang Cheng nodded and then asked with concern:
"Donghe, Master Lin has other clients to attend to outside. How about I give you a massage instead?"
"Ah?!"
Ma Donghe was startled for a moment before he decisively declined, "No, really, I think my injuries are already much better."
"Please rest assured, my skills were personally taught by Master Lin, who excels beyond his teacher."
Despite Fang Cheng’s self-promotion and guarantees, Ma Donghe kept shaking his head, his refusal very firm.
It wasn’t that he wanted to be disrespectful.
The thing was, Fang Cheng’s grip was terrifyingly strong; just a little force could have disassembled his bones.
"Let me do it, I have learned some massage techniques before."
A gentle voice rang out, Wen Huixi then went to the sink to wash her hands, skillfully applying the essential oil.
"How could I let you?"
Ma Donghe said coyly but obediently lay down as told.
Fang Cheng had no choice but to drop the matter, as he couldn’t force a client to accept his service, could he?
So, he informed Wen Huixi about her successful employment, encouraged her to work well in the future, and then left the massage room.
When he reached the lobby,
he saw Master Lin treating a hooligan who appeared to have been hit with a blunt object, causing half of his body to become paralyzed.
However, the treatment method seemed a bit peculiar.
He saw him repeatedly rubbing with his thumb, poking with his index finger, and pressing with his middle finger on several spots along the patient’s waist and back.
It appeared as if he was performing the legendary acupoint technique.
And the nearly paralyzed hooligan’s muscles twitched slightly, gradually showing some response.
"Acupoint Therapy?"
Fang Cheng’s eyes brightened, watching intently.
He had seen Master Lin use it once before, but at the time, he had been busy practicing the Bone Setting Skill and had not observed carefully.
Now that he had room in his skills column, Fang Cheng wanted to learn something new.
Especially inspired by the awakening of his language Talent.
He could consider learning several medical skills that didn’t require equipment, relying solely on hands, to form a healing Talent.
Since there was no one to practice "massage" on at the moment, it wouldn’t hurt to learn some "acupoint" techniques first.
Seeing Fang Cheng asking for guidance, Master Lin did not hold back and demonstrated by pointing and prodding acupoints on a patient while explaining with examples.
The so-called "Acupoint Therapy" is actually not as miraculous as one might imagine.
It is simply a medical method similar to massage.
Its principle is similar to acupuncture, applied on the appropriate acupoints on the patient’s body surface, with fingers replacing needles, performing various techniques such as poking, pressing, pinching, prodding, and hammering.
By maintaining the smooth flow of qi and blood in the body through the meridians, it promotes the restoration of normal functioning in muscles that have encountered problems.
The difference from massage is that one focuses on large muscle groups and bones, while the other targets specific key points.
Fang Cheng nodded in acknowledgement repeatedly.
He didn’t really care whether "acupoint" was as magical as the legends in the martial world suggested.
Even the most ordinary skill, when levelled up to the max, becomes extraordinary.
According to Master Lin, in order to learn this craft, besides mastering the techniques, the most important thing is to memorize the meridian routes of the human body and locate the acupoints accurately.
This was precisely the easiest part for Fang Cheng.
He glanced carefully at a human acupoint model standing nearby.
He mostly had the knowledge of the meridian routes and acupoint locations memorized.
As for practical exercises.
Taking advantage of the arrival of new clients, Fang Cheng immediately took over Master Lin’s work and started enthusiastically serving this blonde patient.
He recited the Eight Techniques of Acupoint while following the points previously indicated by Master Lin, poking and rubbing vigorously.
"The poking and more poking is called a point, like the peck of a bird."
"Hisss—"
Perhaps because his hands were a bit strong, he caused the blonde patient to feel a slight pain.
Fang Cheng nodded slightly and continued to increase the pressure on his fingertips.
"When pointing without moving it’s called pressing, the force penetrating the acupoint."
"Oh—"
The blonde patient couldn’t help but let out a slightly pleasant groan.
Fang Cheng’s eyes shone brightly, gaining some insight while pointing.
The key to acupoint lies in the technique, the more exquisite the technique, the better the effect.
With each poke, press, and rub, not only did his technique become more skilled, but he also gradually sensed the faint flowing or blocked breath beneath the patient’s skin.
"Pointing and stirring is called stirring, used on tendons."
Suddenly, Fang Cheng’s eyes focused, and his index and middle fingers accurately jabbed at the tendons connected to the acupoints.
The numb and stiff body of the blonde patient instantly jerked as if electrified by a reflex.
"Yi!"
He was immediately surprised and openly praised:
"Brother, your skills are quite good, hardly any less than Master Lin."
"Too kind."
Fang Cheng replied with a slight smile, continuing to apply the Acupoint Therapy and increase his proficiency.
Suddenly, several shiny notifications appeared before his eyes.
[You have gained a preliminary understanding through practice and have successfully mastered a medical skill]
[Unlocked Skill: Acupoint lv0 (0/100)]
Fang Cheng wasn’t surprised at how quickly he got the hang of it and made progress.
Because all of this was thanks to the strong perception and memory capabilities brought by his over 30 points in Spirit Attribute.
Maybe in the future, he should consider placing greater importance on the Spirit Attribute when allocating points, second only to Constitution.
Just like that, Fang Cheng immersed himself in Lin Fusheng’s Clinic, devoted to the work of saving lives and healing wounds.
Not only did he successfully unlock the "acupoint" skill, but he also managed to unlock the "massage" skill.
After enjoying a massage by Wen Huixi, Ma Donghe roamed around spiritedly.
As if he had taken the wrong medicine, he also started to do volunteer chores like Fang Cheng.
Until after three o’clock in the afternoon.
The number of patients slowly decreased, and the clinic became a little quieter.
Wen Huixi had also begun to adapt to the environment, and her work attitude and ability seemed decent so far.
Fang Cheng looked over his gains from his voluntary work this time.
[Bone Setting lv0 (33/100)]
[Acupoint lv0 (12/100)]
[Massage lv0 (9/100)]
Then he stood up, greeted Master Lin, and bid farewell to leave the place.
"Ah Cheng, wait."
Ma Donghe followed behind him and stepped out as well.
Then, getting close to Fang Cheng, he whispered with a hand covering his mouth:
"Those two guys have been locked up in my secret base since last night, what do you plan to do with them?"
He came to Old Factory Street today not only to get a massage from Master Lin to treat his injuries but also to seek Fang Cheng’s opinion on the matter.
Upon hearing this, Fang Cheng thought for a moment before saying:
"I’ll meet them first and prepare to interrogate them personally."
"Go there now?"
Ma Donghe asked.
"First to the supermarket, there’s a discount promotion today, as it’s Sunday."
"Uh..."
Ma Donghe was momentarily taken aback by Fang Cheng’s response, then immediately nodded:
"Alright, I’ll call Yingjun to come and pick us up in his car."
"Use my phone number."
Fang Cheng took out his phone from his bag and handed it over.
The two left Lin Fusheng’s Clinic and slowly headed towards the end of the street.
Meanwhile, not too far away.
Inside an inconspicuous van parked on the street corner,
were several pairs of eyes peering through the windows, closely watching their departing figures.
