Chapter 358: Procedural Resolution
Pan Xiaolian had Yang Ru remove his robe and undershirt and lie face down on a padded table.
“This shouldn’t hurt,” she said. “In fact, you shouldn’t feel a thing. If you do, please tell me at once.”
She and the two other Healing Pavilion members who learned the techniques had practiced applying needles to each other, and it had be completely bloodless and painless. Yang Ru was her first actual patient for the procedure, though, and it was important to ensure that everything was proceeding correctly at each stage.
One hundred needles had been sterilized by one of her assistants and placed in a container in the room for her use. Pan Xiaolian didn’t expect to need more than forty at most in his body, but not every placement was perfect on the first try. The quantity should be plenty for his treatment with some to spare.
The ultra-thin needles themselves were quite extraordinary. Crafted by the sect leader out of a fancy cultivator material, each one was the work of a Master Blacksmith. Though single use and only about the width of a human hair, she imagined that each one would cost more than anything she had ever owned before joining the sect, maybe more than everything put together. When it came to necessary tools, the man didn’t hold back on quality.
Her assistant had also prepared a disinfecting solution, which Pan Xiaolian used to clean the planned insertion points on Yang Ru’s body, including those in the ears, back, neck, and his arms and legs from the elbows and knees down. After she was done, she used a sanitized cloth to dry the areas she’d washed.
“The prep work is complete, young man,” she said. “How are you doing?”
Yang Ru grunted, which she took to mean that he was fine, so she continued her work, tapping in the first of the needles. He didn’t react, not even to flinch.
“No pain?” she said.
He grunted again.
Generally speaking, she was of the belief that it was best to let patients explain themselves in whatever way made them the most comfortable, but that leeway sometimes had to be overruled when she required complete clarity.
“I’m afraid I need an actual verbal response this time.”