Taoist Doctor - Chapter 1

Under Xianglu Mountain in Haizhou City, Haizhou Province

 

September, although past the peak of summer, still brought the wrath of the autumn tiger, with the scorching sun high in the sky and few pedestrians on the road. Under the trees by the roadside, a few people were arguing, their voices getting louder.

 

Among them was an old woman, holding in her arms a seven or eight-year-old child who alternated between crying and laughing, drooling incessantly.

 

Standing to her left was a Taoist with long whiskers wearing a long robe. Despite the blazing sun, he showed no signs of sweat, adopting a posture with his hands behind his back that exuded an air of transcendence.

 

On her right were two young people, one of whom was wearing a white coat. These two were anxiously pleading with the old woman, saying, “Mrs. Yang, don’t be confused. If the child is sick, we should take him to the hospital. Going with him to perform some kind of ritual will only delay the child’s treatment!”

 

The Taoist with long whiskers looked down on them, “Young people, I understand that you’re concerned about the child, but there are things in this world that you still don’t understand.”

 

The one in the white coat was a medical student who was interning at the hospital and also a neighbor of the old woman. He angrily retorted, “I know you’re just trying to scam money!”

 

The other young man was the old woman’s nephew, knowing that his aunt had always believed in Taoism. However, the regular Taoist temple she usually visited, Xianglu Temple on the nearby Xianglu Mountain, would never advise against going to the hospital like this. So he didn’t oppose her finding some spiritual solace.

 

But today, his aunt had been taken in by this charlatan Taoist who had approached them, and he couldn’t stand it, joining in the accusations, “Aunt, when did the Taoist at Xianglu Temple ever tell you to only perform rituals and not go to the hospital?”

 

The old woman hesitated, “But this Taoist is very powerful. Didn’t you hear? As soon as he saw Yuan Yuan’s face, he deduced that Yuan Yuan’s parents died in a car accident when he was young. And look at Yuan Yuan’s symptoms, isn’t it possession? Crying and laughing, ignoring people, sometimes even hitting them. The hospital couldn’t cure him before, so why not try a ritual?”

 

“Mrs. Yang!” the intern shouted, “These are symptoms of mental illness, not possession. The hospital you went to last time had average medical standards. Let’s go to a top-tier hospital this time!”

 

He tried to take Mrs. Yang away, but the Taoist extended his hand to stop him, causing a commotion.

 

“What’s going on here? Xiao Yang?”

 

Just then, a familiar voice sounded.

 

The young man turned around and was delighted to see Taoist Zhao, who was quite familiar with Mrs. Yang. He had just returned from a trip, followed by a handsome young man in a light blue Taoist robe, looking unfamiliar, probably just arrived.

 

“Taoist Zhao! Please see, Yuan Yuan got into a fight at school a few days ago, and his mental state has deteriorated. This scammer Taoist insists that Yuan Yuan is possessed and won’t let us take him to the hospital, saying we should perform some ritual instead, asking for an exorbitant fee.”

 

Seeing Taoist Zhao, the Taoist who had been soliciting clients around Xianglu Mountain felt a little uneasy, but still argued emphatically, “The child suddenly exhibited abnormal mental symptoms, showing signs of being ensnared by evil spirits due to his young age and low yang energy! He has suffered many misfortunes since childhood, with his parents dying early. If he doesn’t overcome this calamity, he will join his parents in the afterlife!”

 

Having just heard the gist of it, Taoist Zhao, the intern, and the Taoist started arguing again, each insisting that taking the child with them was the correct course of action.

 

Meanwhile, the old woman looked to Taoist Zhao for help, hoping this familiar Taoist could give her some advice. In fact, she was somewhat inclined towards the wild Taoist, as his predictions were too accurate.

 

“Go to the hospital!”

 

“Do the ritual!”

 

“He’s mentally ill, get him treated immediately!”

 

“He’s entangled by evil spirits, if we don’t expel them now, it’ll be too late!”

 

…

 

“That should be my job.”

 

A clear voice suddenly rang out, not high nor low, but with a strong presence, causing the dispute to come to a halt.

 

Everyone present looked towards the speaker – the young Taoist standing behind Taoist Zhao.

 

His features were outstanding, but it was unclear whether he was of age, with a hint of lingering baby fat, and his eyes were dark and moist, exuding a delicate beauty.

 

But what did it mean to let him come, and come for what?

 

This young Taoist stepped out from behind Taoist Zhao, and under everyone’s gaze, he pulled out two credentials from his bag, “Zhou Jinyuan, a Taoist of the Zhengyi School specializing in the Fire Habitat. This is my Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner Certificate.”

 

The crowd: “??”

 

Seeing everyone’s expressions, the young Taoist added, “I am a Taoist physician.”

 

Was he here as a doctor or a Taoist?

 

How convenient, he was both a doctor and a Taoist, a perfect fit!

 

Everyone: “…………”

 

Whether it was the interns or the Taoists, they all felt a bit dumbfounded, even Taoist Zhao was confused, “Junior Brother Zhou, do you know medical skills?”

 

This was the first time he and Zhou Jinyuan had met. He only knew that this young-looking junior brother came from Yingzhou Province, was from a prestigious family of the Zhengyi School, and seemed to be looking for work in Haizhou Province.

 

Even though he was a guest of their Xianglu Temple, it had to be said that at his age and appearance, speaking about treating illnesses made him seem unreliable.

 

After a brief silence, both sides spoke up.

 

“Young Taoist, what do you know…”

 

Where did this little guy come from, trying to steal business? Taoist with long whiskers thought.

 

“How old are you? Where did you get your medical license?”

 

What a joke, a Taoist and a doctor, and a superstitious traditional Chinese doctor at that… sounded even more unreliable!

 

Furthermore, after graduating with a medical license, you needed to work for a year before you could take the exam. Considering the young age of the other party and already having a license, could he be another scammer? the intern thought.

 

As for the old woman herself, needless to say, she was one hundred percent skeptical. Just because this young man was too young.

 

For a moment, everyone ignored the young man and continued their confrontation.

 

Zhou Jinyuan didn’t seem annoyed, he just approached and touched the child’s hand. He seemed harmless, and just as the old woman was about to ask him what he was doing, she was distracted by the ongoing dispute among the others about her grandson.

 

Zhou Jinyuan gently rubbed the child’s thumb downward, then moved to the palm, and continued pushing down to the earlobe and the back of the neck, his movements gentle and rhythmic.

 

And with his gentle and seemingly casual movements, the previously restless child gradually quieted down!

 

This change caused the scene to slowly fall into silence, with the disputants staring at him strangely, leaving only the mournful chirping of autumn cicadas.

 

It wasn’t until the old woman stuttered and broke the silence, “Yuan… Yuan Yuan? Are you okay?”

 

The child’s gaze remained vacant, drooling, showing no response to his grandmother’s words, as if living in his own world.

 

But compared to before, he was much better, at least he had rarely quieted down!

 

This noticeable improvement was clearly due to the young Taoist named Zhou Jinyuan.

 

Facing the old woman’s excitement and the astonishment and confusion of others, Zhou Jinyuan calmly explained, “I just sealed several of the thirteen ghost points, such as Ghost Xin, Ghost Xin, Ghost Road, and Ghost Pillow, making it impossible for evil spirits to rampage.”

 

So that’s how it is. Looks can be deceiving, this young Taoist is actually a master of the esoteric arts!

 

The two of them argued for a long time, but they were no match for this young Taoist. As soon as he intervened, the child improved, and coupled with what he said about sealing ghost points and evil spirits, he sounded very knowledgeable, unlike something made up on the spot, which made the old woman even more convinced.

 

As for the others, not to mention the interns and the young people, even the Taoist with long whiskers couldn’t help but shake inwardly: “Oh my god, could they really be possessed?”

 

Although the young Taoist was young, he knew Taoist Zhao and had such skills. The old woman immediately turned to him for help, “Daoist, please help us drive away the evil spirits!”

 

“Don’t worry,” Zhou Jinyuan’s tone reassured the old woman. He took out his needle kit from his bag, “It’s okay, I’ll use acupuncture again to conduct yang qi through the meridians and dispel the evil spirits. It will get better soon.”

 

Although the interns and the young people were startled by what the young Taoist did earlier, they still felt uneasy and wanted to stop him. But when Zhou Jinyuan raised his hand and pinched them on the shoulder, their muscles softened immediately, and they couldn’t even use their strength, which was very strange.

 

Forget about stopping Zhou Jinyuan, they couldn’t even hold their phones to call the police.

 

Taoist Zhao originally wanted to step forward to stop him, but seeing how the others ended up, he didn’t dare to approach and could only cautiously advise, even bringing up the temple master, afraid that if anything went wrong, they would be held responsible by Xianglu Temple.

 

“Taoist Zhao, just let him help my grandson. Aren’t you together?” The old woman not only didn’t understand the situation, but also clung to Taoist Zhao, fearing that he wouldn’t allow the young Taoist to drive away the evil spirits.

 

Taoist Zhao sweated, “He’s just a guest of our temple.”

 

The old woman: That’s even better.jpg

 

He knows the temple master, too. That’s even more reliable.

 

Taoist Zhao: “…”

 

Zhou Jinyuan ignored all this and helped the child sit down on the ground, then proceeded to diagnose him on the spot. First, he felt his pulse, then pinched and pressed several places on his body for a moment before disinfecting them.

 

Then, he concentrated his qi and spirit, and inserted needles diagonally into these acupoints, pulling them out slightly after inserting them partially, and then inserting them downward again, repeating this process several times, the entire needling process took several minutes.

 

The child remained dull, showing no response to the acupuncture, while Zhou Jinyuan seemed to be feeling the flow of yang qi under his hand, with one hand needling and the other forming seals.

 

After the needling was done, Zhou Jinyuan packed up his things and instructed, “Let the needles stay for a while, and the yang qi is still circulating.”

 

He looked relaxed, as if it were just a small effort, and sarcastically added, “By the way, who said the child had suffered a lot of misfortune? Although he had a difficult childhood, his bones are strong and his body is very healthy. Despite the dangers, he is safe. It’s some people who have big mouths like horses, which is a sign of greed. Grandma, don’t believe in any wild Taoists.”

 

The Taoist with long whiskers: “…”

 

The old woman looked at the “wild Taoist” intently.

 

Uh, he does look a bit like a horse…

 

The Taoist with long whiskers twitched at the corner of his mouth, feeling both angry and trying to maintain the demeanor of a master. Hehe sneered, “Stop talking nonsense, I want to see what skills you, little brat, have.”

 

How much skill can such a young brat have? He had been in the rivers and lakes for so many years, and although he was startled for a moment just now, he quickly figured it out.

 

At most, this teenager used some method he didn’t know, they were all scammers anyway, what was the point of him standing in for them?

 

Blowing so much hot air, not afraid of getting tongue cramps. The Taoist with long whiskers stood with his arms crossed under the shade of the trees, keeping an eye on Zhou Jinyuan, intending to see what this young colleague could do to drive away the evil spirits.

 

The others watched Zhou Jinyuan intervene, feeling anxious and unable to stop him. Although Zhou Jinyuan’s previous actions were intimidating, they couldn’t fully convince them. They were afraid that something bad would happen to the child. — He always felt that the treatment system of traditional Chinese medicine was very mysterious and especially fantastical. Acupuncture did have some effect, and his supervising teacher at the internship unit would sometimes invite acupuncture doctors to consult.　

 

But the premise is that he has to be a legitimate doctor, right? Do you think this young Taoist looks like a real doctor? What yang qi dispelling evil, ghost points, unheard of, afraid it’s all fake just like his credentials.

 

But the jaw-dropping thing happened. About ten minutes later, Yuanyuan suddenly shivered all over, his eyes rolled back, and his gaze instantly became clear. After looking around, he even opened his mouth and said in a childish voice, “Grandma, I’m thirsty.”

 

Normal tone, normal expression, clear-minded, just ten minutes ago, he was drooling and smiling foolishly, with no response to the outside world for days.

 

At first, others were surprised, then they were all chilled.

 

Oh my god, could it be that being possessed is real? Otherwise, how do you explain this situation?

 

The old woman was ecstatic. Since her grandson was “possessed,” he had no response to the outside world, didn’t even cry for food, and did his business in his pants. Now he recognized her and even expressed that he was thirsty!

 

Looking like this, isn’t he back to normal?

 

Zhou Jinyuan was not surprised at all and calmly said, “Grandma, be careful not to touch the needles when feeding water, I’ll take the needles out later.”

 

“Okay, okay!” The old woman fed the child water while thanking the young man, “Taoist, thank you so much, you’re really amazing! This, how should I say it… you’re really incredible!”

 

Such a bizarre illness, not cured even in the hospital, was cured by a master. With just one needle, the evil spirits were dispelled!

 

The Taoist with long whiskers felt both amazed and a little disgruntled.

 

As for the interns and the young people, they were all dumbfounded, their minds unable to keep up for a moment.

 

The young man muttered, “No… really, Yuanyuan was really possessed?”

 

Zhou Jinyuan looked at him inexplicably:

 

“Of course not, didn’t I tell you I have a medical license? I just did acupuncture treatment.”

 

“This child was diagnosed with epilepsy in traditional Chinese medicine, I don’t know what stress he encountered at school, which caused phlegm to obstruct his heart orifices. I needled the Neiguan, Renzhong, Sanyinjiao, and Quchi points to wake him up. When his heart orifice reopened, he immediately recovered. The thirteen ghost points, although somewhat superstitious, are effective empirical techniques in clinical practice.”

 

“All sorts of madness are diseases. I said exorcism just to reassure the old lady. How could you believe it?”

 

Looking at Zhou Jinyuan’s upright appearance, the young man’s face turned green, feeling a bit like crying without tears.

 

Damn it, it’s all because of your solemn appearance that was so convincing. You’re so good at changing your stance. Just now it was about ghost points and exorcism, now it’s “all sorts of madness are diseases.”

 

Moreover, he had never seen such immediate results in traditional Chinese medicine before. The whole process took only fifteen minutes, and the patient who was just insane was now healed!

 

Zhou Jinyuan’s words were clear, although the treatment principle was not understood, but Grandma Yang already knew that what he said just now was just to comfort herself. She was willing to accept the treatment. There was no possession, the child was just sick, and it was the young Taoist’s medical skills that truly cured him.

 

Looking at the wild Taoist, he was under tremendous pressure, unable to maintain his dignified demeanor, and fled under Grandma Yang’s angry gaze.

 

The old woman spat at his back, but fortunately, she had just written down the name and phone number of this scammer. She must expose him.

 

Taoist Zhao was embarrassed. He was so anxious just now, who would have thought it would end like this? Somewhat embarrassed, he said, “Um, I didn’t expect Brother Zhou to be only twenty-one years old and have such good medical skills.”

 

The old woman first understood, but then exclaimed, “Really? Twenty-one? I thought he was only sixteen or seventeen!”

 

Zhou Jinyuan’s smile paused for a moment, “…”

 

The so-called old doctors are better, everyone likes to find older and more experienced doctors, but he was not only young, but also had a baby face. Forget about being sixteen or seventeen, twenty-one was still very young. The intern thought to himself, he hadn’t expected acupuncture skills to be so good, and the effect was so fast. He had never seen anything like it before, almost believed there were ghosts, felt a chill.

 

The intern rubbed his arm, and said to Zhou Jinyuan, “Honestly, your acting skills are too good, and the effect is so fast, I’ve never seen it before. I almost believed there were ghosts, it was chilling.”

 

Zhou Jinyuan glanced at the intern, patted his robe, and said, “You’re still learning Western medicine, have a firm belief, don’t be more superstitious than me.”

 

The intern: “You %￥#@*…………”

 

…Forget it.