Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
He spent the entire night in agony. There was pain throughout his body. He was better off dead.
He wanted to die, to bite his tongue off and commit suicide, but found that he did not even have the strength to open his mouth. He could only lie on the ground and breathe.
The feeling of wanting to die but not being able to was horrible.
That night, Wang Yao called Su Xiaoxue and told her that he had found the person who had harmed her years ago. Su Xiaoxue was silent for a long time.
âWhat are you going to do with him, Sir?â she asked.
âHe will not live past the next few days,â Wang Yao said.
âNo,â Su Xiaoxue hurriedly said. âI donât want you to kill people because of me. Itâs against the law!â
âHe wonât be able to live long on his own,â Wang Yao said. âHe is seriously ill. He often comes into contact with poisons. There are a lot of poisons accumulated in his body, which will destroy his body.â
âOh, thatâs good then.â Su Xiaoxue felt a little relieved.
âYou are too kind,â Wang Yao said. âNobodyâs finding trouble with you at school, right?â
âNo, Iâm fine here,â Su Xiaoxue replied.
âThat is good. The weather is turning cold. Wear more clothing and pay attention to your health.â
âYes.â
After chatting for a while, they hung up.
The night was long. For some people, it was excruciating and long. One day felt like a year. When a ray of sunshine in the early morning shone into the house, the man lying on the ground squinted.
Iâm still alive! Why am I still alive?
He wanted to shout, question, and curse, but he did not have the strength. He did not even have the strength to wish to die. He just laid on the ground with the pain tormenting him.
Three people were in the clinic. It was a couple and a young man in Taoist robes.
âHello, Dr. Wang. I am sorry to bother you again,â the middle-aged man said. âI am here about my sonâs illness.â
âAh, I remember,â Wang Yao said. âHe wanted to become an immortal, right?â
This time, the young manâs appearance was much worse.
âWhat is the matter?â Wang Yao asked.
âAh, he made the elixir at home himself and took two of them,â the young manâs father said. âHe went to the hospital to get his stomach pumped.â
âOh.â
âAh, Dad, you are ruining my success. Have you not heard of this before? If one becomes an immortal, his family and relatives will all follow him. If I were to achieve immortality, how could I forget about you guys?â The young man sighed and shook his head. âForget it, forget it. It is probably an obstacle I have to cross.â
Ha-ha, he is getting more and more serious, Wang Yao thought.
âIâll try to treat him,â Wang Yao said. As he spoke, he took some silver needles out of the needle bag and approached the young man.
âWhat are you going to do?â The young manâs face quickly changed.
âBe calm, and donât panic,â Wang Yao said.
The man wanted to stand up to resist, but he felt that his body was disobeying him. It was as if it had been bound by something. He could only watch the doctor hold the silver needle and insert it into his head, which slightly hurt. His body unconsciously trembled. As soon as his eyes opened, a strange feeling enveloped him. It was like his thoughts had been instantly emptied.
Was it useful?
The needle had pierced a unique acupoint that affects oneâs memory and thinking. The invisible binding disappeared. The young man felt that he had regained control of his body.
âWhat did you do to me just now?â he asked.
âHow do you feel?â
The young man thought for a moment and said, âAs if my soul has just left my body.â
âMmm.â Wang Yao was observing the young man.
âAre you also a man of practice?â
âYour sentences are almost inseparable from your dreams!â
âIâm a pharmacist,â Wang Yao replied. âI heal and save people.â
âIâm not ill,â the young man said. âIâm cultivating. Is that considered a disease?â
âYes. Actually, I think youâre on the wrong track,â Wang Yao said.
âWrong track? Where did I go wrong?â the young man asked.
âIf you are cultivating and practicing, where are the holy lands of practice?â Wang Yao asked.
âWudang Mountain, Sanqing Mountain, and Longhu Mountain,â the young man replied.
âHave you ever been there?â
âI have been to Wudang Mountain,â the young man said.
âHave you found a man of practice?â
âItâs all people who are famous and without skills,â the young man said.
âHave you found a senior, a person with the same aspiration?â
âThe path was meant to be walked alone,â the young man said with great confidence.
âAre you not afraid that you will go the wrong way and fall into the ditch?â
âSince I have embarked on this path, I am naturally not afraid,â the young man said. âWhat are you trying to say to me?â
âGo to other places and have a look at Sanqing Mountain and Longhu Mountain,â Wang Yao said. âYou might just meet some skilled masters that can give you some advice on your cultivation.â
The young man was stunned. His parents were as well.
âWell, alright.â After returning to his senses, the young man nodded to show that he had accepted Wang Yaoâs suggestion.
âAccompany him to the car. Iâll talk more with Dr. Wang,â the young manâs father said to his wife.
âSure.â
After the mother and son left, the man hurriedly asked, âWhat did you mean by that, Dr. Wang?â He had come to see a doctor to treat his son, but the doctor in front of him had suggested that his son should go to Sanqing Mountain and Longhu Mountain after pricking him with a needle. It seemed he was not stopping his son and instead encouraging him to continue cultivating.
âDonât worry, please sit down. Letâs talk about your sonâs condition,â Wang Yao said.
âYour son doesnât have any obvious organic disease in his body. His illness is purely due to conjecture, a very serious conjecture, which we usually refer to as a mental disease. You should also know that.â
âYes, I know that.â The man nodded.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
âLetâs talk about my possible treatment plans for him,â Wang Yao said. âFirst is to let him realize that his previous insistence was wrong through external guidance. He will give up his insistence as a result.â
âGuidance? How do we guide him?â
âThat was why I asked him to go to Sanqing Mountain and Longhu Mountain,â Wang Yao said. âIf he wants to go, that is a good sign. Try to meet some skilled masters on those two mountains. Ask them to cooperate with you to enlighten your son and change his mind.â
âWill it work?â The man had some doubts.
âTry it,â Wang Yao said. âTo be honest, I donât think the possibility of success of this method is particularly great, but it might be enough to shake his thoughts and beliefs.â
âWell, alright, I will do that,â the man said. âIs there another treatment method?â
âYes, there are certain risks to that method,â Wang Yao said.
âIâd make him lose his memory.â
âLose his memory?â The man was stunned.
âWhat do you mean?â
âI would clear his mind and let him forget the past,â Wang Yao said. âIf all the memories of the past have been emptied, the things he once insisted on will also be emptied.â
âIn that case, would he forget us?â
âYes,â Wang Yao said.
âDo you mean that my son, who I have been raising me for more than 20 years, will not recognize me?â
âYes,â Wang Yao replied. âYou guys would need to start from the beginning and build up his memory or make him recall things, but you need to avoid hints on cultivation.â
âWhat kind of treatment method is that? My son will not be able to recognize me!â The man laughed and said, âIn that case, I would rather he continue to be like this. Are there any other ways?â
Wang Yao smiled. He had guessed that this man would likely ask that.
âThere is a third way.â
âWhat is it?â the man asked.
âI will help him have a dream and guide him through the outside to let the dream become empty,â Wang Yao said. âHave heard the story of A Dream Of Grandeur?â
âDoes that work too?â The middle-aged man was stunned.
âIn theory, it will work,â Wang Yao said. âIt is similar to hypnosis. Have you seen the famous movie âInception?ââ
âYes, I have.â
âIt is theoretically similar to the movie but not so mysterious.â
Wang Yao had gotten this treatment from the book âTreatise on Miscellaneous Diseases.â It was a kind of therapy similar to psychological suggestion, which he had never tried.
âIs this safer?â the man asked.
âOh, not necessarily,â Wang Yao said. âHe may rather stay in his dream and never wake up again.â
âAre there any other ways?â
âAll I can think of for the moment are these three methods,â Wang Yao replied.