When the group left the bar, the sun was already slanting west.
Feng drove the two back to the courtyard before returning to the bar with his car, since Jin was not there, he had to hold the fort.
Luo Qianqian didn’t get a chance to rest upon returning to the small courtyard; she only managed to put a large bag of medicinal ointments and alcohol into the house before entering the main hall. Today, without Feng around, there was clearly no need to continue catching snakes, which made Luo Qianqian heave a sigh of relief. However, the very next second, she wished she could choke on that breath.
Hu Si took out needles, a whole set of them. Even the scalpel that he usually carried was placed on the table, a sign that nothing good was coming.
Trembling, she took two steps back, her eyes filled with terror as she looked at Hu Si.
Hu Si found the look in Luo Qianqian’s eyes somewhat amusing, "It really doesn’t hurt."
"Don’t," Luo Qianqian shook her head, viewing Hu Si as if he were a snake or scorpion, retreating step by step until she stood against the wall.
Hu Si was speechless; he was just trying to scare Luo Qianqian a bit, but now it seemed he truly terrified her. Afraid of needles, such a child.
In her panic, Luo Qianqian obviously didn’t catch the mockery in Hu Si’s eyes, feeling only that everything on the table was a ferocious beast.
"I’m not going to stab you. This set is a gift for you. Medicine isn’t just about treating illnesses and saving lives," Hu Si implied profoundly.
Reminded by Hu Si, Luo Qianqian came to a realization. Was this about her task?
Moving slightly forward, she looked at Hu Si with reproach in her eyes, "Because of that Strong Guy?"
Hu Si nodded, "Even if you successfully reach your goal in a month, that doesn’t mean you can match those bloodthirsty members, so I need to teach you some life-preserving skills," Hu Si said calmly while picking up the book from the dining table, "This is essential; you need to immediately recall the name and function when hearing about a location, know the location and function when hearing the name, and identify the name when hearing the function.
"First memorize these, about ten or so a day should be doable, but you must locate them precisely. How many can you memorize first? I will draw a rough human body on you with a pen to indicate the positions."
As he spoke, Hu Si took out a water-based pen, and without a moment’s hesitation from Luo Qianqian, she just felt overwhelmed. All this study, and her major was Geophysics... "How many in total? When is the task?"
Looking deeply at her, Hu Si slowly said, "There are seven hundred and twenty in total, of which four hundred and two are for medical use. There are one hundred and eight harmful acupoints, divided between active points and deadly points; seventy-two are non-lethal, and thirty-six are fatal. The task is next weekend."
"Seven hundred plus... Four hundred plus... So remember the harmful acupoints first? One hundred and eight... Hmm, eighteen a day, it would take six days to memorize them all, leaving the seventh day for review and to reinforce memory," Luo Qianqian calculated with her fingers, then spoke out, figuring that eighteen a day should not be too difficult.
"Fine," Hu Si didn’t care, and from somewhere he procured a red water-based pen, "Six fatal points a day, twelve non-lethal, with fatal ones in red and non-lethal in black."
Luo Qianqian nodded, watching as Hu Si marked points on her body with the pen while muttering the names and functions of the acupoints. Listening to Hu Si, Luo Qianqian did not dare to flinch, just standing there, listening and memorizing, and seeing Hu Si switch to the red pen tightened her heart even more, making her memorize with even more seriousness.
"Go back now, I’ll call you for dinner later. Keep these, I used to practice with them," Hu Si sighed.
Luo Qianqian nodded her head and started walking out of the room, but suddenly turned back and asked, "If the needles are laced with poison, wouldn’t even the non-lethal acupoints become deadly?"
Hu Si frowned slightly in annoyance, "If it’s a strong poison, one would die even without hitting an acupoint." However, he still answered Luo Qianqian’s question.
Luo Qianqian looked into Hu Si’s eyes as if she had thought of something and explained, "I’m not planning to poison the needles, and I don’t have the means to. I just think I shouldn’t casually perform acupuncture in the future. What if there’s something on the needles? I might just be sacrificing my life." After saying that, she walked out the door, leaving Hu Si alone to stare in the direction of the door, daydreaming until he shook his head after a while. What was he thinking about? What kind of tricks could a child have?
Unaware that the sun had already set outside, and his legs had gone numb.
Luo Qianqian was in her room, quietly memorizing the mere eighteen acupoints, but the more she recited them, the more her heart raced. Wasn’t it incredibly easy to lose one’s life with a single mistake?
Soon after, Uncle Zhuang returned, bringing the scent of blood with him. Although there were no signs of blood on him, Luo Qianqian could smell it from inside her room and couldn’t help but step out to look. She found that including Ji Xun, everyone acted as if nothing had happened, with no change in their complexions. After watching closely for a moment, she went back to her room.
Seeing the person leave, Hu Si sighed, "I thought you went out for a bite to eat. Isn’t there still a few days left in the month? What’s the rush?"
"Easy for you to say. Do you think there’s plenty of time? Didn’t I hear Feng say you took on a mission for that one?" Uncle Zhuang nodded towards Luo Qianqian’s direction, his eyes full of disapproval, "She’s still a child, why would you set her up for such danger?"
"I can’t do it myself; she’s currently in recovery. Why shouldn’t she? It’s her duty to help me, her savior from a desperate situation," Hu Si argued righteously.
Ji Xun, wisely, said not a word. He was the eldest here but had no authority at all, even though he too was an elder.
"Aren’t you afraid she’ll become twisted after she goes back, acting like that?" Uncle Zhuang still looked disapproving.
Hu Si shook his head, "Cultivating one’s character is indeed necessary, but what’s there to cultivate now when everything is subpar? What, cultivate meat?"
"What a hassle, just doing ordinary treatment would have been much better. Why make it so complicated?" Uncle Zhuang huffed coldly, then looked at the three people in the room, "Feng has something else to do today, so who’s cooking?"
"It doesn’t matter who as long as it’s not that young girl," Ji Xun quickly expressed his opinion, but then he saw two direct gazes staring at his face. His expression froze for a moment, and he pointed to his own nose, "Me? No, no, I can only eat..." However, he still ended up reluctantly cooking under two intimidating stares.
Luo Qianqian was lured out by the smell of burnt food, which was on par with her own culinary disasters, so she headed towards the kitchen. Before she even entered, she saw an old man emerging, hunchbacked and coughing continuously. She quickly stepped forward to slap his back a couple of times and moved him further away from the kitchen.
Only then did she notice the twosome standing at the door, watching the show. Thanks to the burnt smell, the blood scent in the air had completely dissipated.
Luo Qianqian was speechless, for their cooking level was on par with hers, yet they still complained about her. She very much wanted to rant, but seeing Ji Xun’s pitiful face, tearful from choking, she kept silent and considerately brought him a glass of water.
After Ji Xun had drunk the water, Uncle Zhuang finally went into the kitchen to put out the fire and opened all the windows and doors. It was fortunate that only their household lived here, otherwise wouldn’t every family be rushing over with basins and buckets to put out a fire?
In some sense, Luo Qianqian understood the power of her own cooking.