Chapter 41: Saving a Life with Acupuncture

"Save him! Of course, save him!" Song Boyuan blurted out without hesitation.

Gu Xiangnan folded his arms, questioning, "Weren’t you just calling me a fraud?"

Song Boyuan strode quickly to Gu Xiangnan, dropped to one knee, and pleaded, "Young man, what I said before was wrong. I sincerely apologize. Please, I beg you, save my father."

"I'll have to think about it," Gu Xiangnan replied, his expression unhurried.

Su Hanyan approached and tugged at his sleeve, urging, "Xiaonan, if you can save him, please do. This is a matter of life and death!"

Gu Xiangnan lowered his gaze to her. After a few seconds, he sighed, "Alright, since you’ve asked, Senior Sister, I suppose I must."

At that moment, the doctor in the white coat nearby spoke with a mocking tone. "Let’s not talk about whether you can cure Mr. Song. Are you even a doctor? Do you have a medical license?" She sneered, "If you don't, and something goes wrong, who will take responsibility?"

Gu Xiangnan stared at her, speechless. "You can’t cure him, yet you won’t let others try. Are you just waiting for the old man to die?"

Fury flashed in Song Boyuan’s eyes. It had been so difficult to persuade Gu Xiangnan, and if he left now, what hope was there? In his desperation, he seized the doctor’s arm and slapped her hard across the face, threatening fiercely, "If you keep talking nonsense and delay this young man from saving my father, don’t blame me for being rude!"

Clutching her reddened cheek, the woman in the white coat slunk away.

A distant relative from the Song family tried to dissuade him, "Boyuan, even Doctor Hua said nothing could be done. How could this young man, who hasn’t even grown all his hair, be better than Doctor Hua? This is just grasping at straws!"

Song Boyuan shot him a withering glare. "At a time like this, not trying is death anyway. What could be worse?"

With Song Jinlong’s passing, Song Boyuan would be the next Lord of Jiangning.

Silenced by his glare, the Song family members dared not utter another word.

Song Boyuan came before Gu Xiangnan, patted his shoulder heavily, and said earnestly, "Young man, I entrust my father’s life to you. If you succeed, you will have the eternal gratitude of the Song family."

Gu Xiangnan offered him a slight smile.

He then turned to Hua Hongwen. "Doctor Hua, I came in a hurry. May I borrow your needles?"

A life was at stake. Without hesitation, Hua Hongwen handed him his set of silver needles, each varying in length and thickness.

When Song Boyuan saw Gu Xiangnan expertly inserting the needles into his father’s body, his gestures practiced and assured, half his anxiety eased.

Gu Xiangnan placed the needles in sequence at Yamen, Laogong, Sanyinjiao, Yongquan, and other vital points, then closed his eyes to concentrate his energy.

Hua Hongwen sat at the bedside, observing intently. He recognized the technique: the "Nine Needles of Revival."

The "Nine Needles of Revival" targeted acupoints commonly used in emergency resuscitation. It was said that even if a patient had just stopped breathing, this technique might pull them back from the brink of death.

Hua Hongwen thought to himself: he, too, could perform the "Nine Needles of Revival." It wasn’t particularly rare. But merely this would not be enough to bring Song Jinlong back—at most, it might briefly rouse him before he faded for good.

Suddenly, Gu Xiangnan tapped his index and middle fingers together, and a golden light shot from his hand to the needles. One by one, each of the nine needles began to glow with golden radiance.

Hua Hongwen was lost in thought, then suddenly realized something, his expression changing dramatically.

"This is… guiding the needles with inner energy?!" he exclaimed.

Song Boyuan, seeing his distress, asked in confusion, "Doctor Hua, what does it mean to guide the needles with inner energy?"

Hua Hongwen stroked his white beard. "It means using one’s own vital energy to drive the needles. Cultivating such internal energy is extremely difficult—without decades of practice, it’s impossible!"

"But… for this young man to master this at such a young age is truly eye-opening! Given this, there is real hope for Mr. Song’s recovery."

Hua Hongwen spoke objectively; from the moment they entered, he had not disparaged Gu Xiangnan, showing the utmost integrity in both character and medicine.

Gu Xiangnan’s hands began to shift and change. His fingers moved with astonishing speed, and the golden light from the needles seemed to burrow beneath the skin, darting like serpents between the nine acupoints.

Though the skin concealed them, one could still see the golden light racing swiftly below the surface—a truly spectacular sight.

Everyone watched, stunned.

Hua Hongwen was beside himself with shock.

"I have only ever read about this in ancient texts. Never did I imagine that, in my lifetime, I would witness the true art of guiding needles with inner energy. I am profoundly fortunate!"

His excitement was so great that his face flushed red.

The others in the ward, hearing such praise from Doctor Hua, looked on in disbelief.

Hua Hongwen, trembling, leaned in for a closer look, nodding repeatedly with a broad smile. "This needle technique is indeed formidable. I thought it was merely a legend. It’s said that, a hundred years ago, the kindly Medicine Immortal knew this art, but she has long since passed from the world."

"Who could have guessed that someone living today would possess such skill?"

When Gu Xiangnan withdrew the silver needles, Song Jinlong remained unconscious.

Song Boyuan, anxious, asked, "Young man, how is my father? Why hasn’t he woken up?"

After being struck, the doctor in the white coat muttered resentfully, "So much for guiding needles with inner energy—if it’s so powerful, why isn’t the patient awake yet?"

"If we Western doctors can’t solve it, there’s no way traditional medicine can."

Hua Hongwen, infuriated, glared at her. "Mind your tongue! It’s people like you who make our nation lose its cultural treasures."

The woman forgot that Doctor Hua himself was a traditional physician and now had managed to offend several people at once.

Gu Xiangnan ignored her, smiling easily at Song Boyuan. "He’s fine. He’ll wake up very soon."

On the hospital bed, Song Jinlong coughed a few times, then abruptly opened his eyes.

Song Boyuan rushed to the bedside, grasping his father’s hand tightly. "Dad, you’re finally awake!"

Whispers spread among those present:

"How is this possible?"

"Incredible."

Though Song Jinlong was conscious, he was still weak and did not speak.

"Why can’t my father talk?" Song Boyuan turned to Gu Xiangnan.

"That’s perfectly normal. He just walked the edge of death and will need time to recover."

Hearing this, Song Boyuan bowed deeply to Gu Xiangnan.

"You saved my father’s life, young man. The Song family owes you a great debt. Here is my card, and a black card. Within any Song family business, you face no restrictions."

He presented his card and the black card with utmost respect.

Gu Xiangnan slipped the card into his pocket and handed the black card back. "If you truly wish to thank me, do more charity. Thank Heaven for letting you meet me today."

"I will, I will," Song Boyuan replied earnestly.

But when he insisted on offering the black card, Gu Xiangnan could only accept it.

The woman in the white coat squeezed over, her cold demeanor replaced by a bright smile. "Handsome, I knew you could do it. I was just using reverse psychology because you seemed reluctant before."

Gu Xiangnan was at a loss for words—her change of face was truly impressive, and her shamelessness even more so.

Hua Hongwen, flushed with excitement, came over and grasped Gu Xiangnan’s hand, saying solemnly, "Sir, may I invite you to serve as a visiting professor at our university?"