From Evil Sect Leader to Doctor

Huang Youlong laughed and said, "I always thought the Xu Family had no worthy successors, but it turns out there’s a talented young man like you."

Xu Chunliang replied, "I dare not claim to be talented; however, the acupuncture skills of your chief Korean doctor still lack finesse. They are superficial and do not capture the essence!"

Lu Taiyin, who had been fully focused on performing acupuncture on Li Changmin, couldn’t help but look up at Xu Chunliang upon being mocked for no reason, his dissatisfaction evident. He thought to himself, I didn’t provoke you, so why are you targeting me?

Xu Chunliang said, "The most important thing during acupuncture is concentration. You should not be distracted by anything other than the patient. This is the most basic requirement of acupuncture. Even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand. You’ve only learned the superficial techniques."

Huang Youlong smiled slightly, "Dr. Lu, you need to remember this."

Lu Taiyin was initially provoked to anger by Xu Chunliang. Upon hearing Huang Youlong’s reminder, he immediately calmed down, realizing that Xu Chunliang was deliberately trying to provoke him. It seemed he still had a way to go in cultivating his mindset.

Xu Chunliang reached out to feel Li Changmin’s pulse. Lu Taiyin wanted to stop him, but Huang Youlong stopped him with a glance, knowing that Xu Chunliang wanted to verify whether the toxins in Li Changmin’s body had been neutralized.

Huang Youlong closely observed Xu Chunliang’s method of checking the pulse, already deducing from Xu Chunliang’s every move that the young man had considerable medical skills.

Xu Chunliang, from Li Changmin’s pulse, confirmed that the toxins in his body had indeed been cleared. This Huang Youlong was far more formidable than he had anticipated, having not only resolved the Five Poison Heart Attack Pill but also neutralized the toxins of the Seven-Ring Life-Stealing Pill. In the "Poison Scripture," the strength and complexity of poisons are distinguished by numbers, divided into nine grades, with the ninth grade being the highest.

The Five Poison Heart Attack Pill and the Seven-Ring Life-Stealing Pill are fifth and seventh-grade poisons respectively. Xu Chunliang initially believed that no one in the current age could resolve a seventh-grade poison, but reality surprised him; he did not expect Huang Youlong to be capable of undoing a seventh-grade poison.

He concluded it was Huang Youlong’s doing because Lu Taiyin previously tried to exchange a dragon bone for an antidote, proving that Lu Taiyin’s capability still fell short of resolving a seventh-grade poison; hence, the detoxifier could only be his boss, Huang Youlong.

Xu Chunliang released Li Changmin’s pulse and got up to leave.

Huang Youlong followed him out, calling, "Mr. Xu, please wait. I have something else to show you."

He led Xu Chunliang to an adjacent room. Upon entering, Xu Chunliang was immediately drawn to a large dragon bone rubbing hanging on the wall. A rough count showed that this rubbing comprised the inscriptions from twelve dragon bones, several of which Xu Chunliang had seen before; these were the four pieces that Liu Haiyu had stolen from the Ghost Market.

Upon closer inspection, the rubbings differed from the original, having evidently been artificially altered. Xu Chunliang silently acknowledged Huang Youlong’s deep scheming, using this method to mislead others. If it weren’t for himself, anyone else would be led astray by this rubbing.

Huang Youlong said, "When I was a child, I had a persistent navel sore. Later, I went to Huichun Hall, and your great-grandfather prescribed a remedy using dried alum and dragon bones ground into a fine powder and applied directly to the affected area. He said it had healing and sore-converging effects."

Xu Chunliang nodded this prescription was known to many traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and was nothing special, but the focus of Huang Youlong’s words was clearly not on the treatment but on the dragon bones.

Huang Youlong said, "From the dragon bones obtained from Huichun Hall, I discovered a lot of words. I told my father about this, who was well-versed in ancient and modern knowledge. He told me the writing on the dragon bones was called Oracle Bone Script."

Xu Chunliang thought to himself, your father was an old rogue. No matter how learned he was, he was still a cultured scoundrel.

Huang Youlong said, "My father said it was too much of a waste to use such artifacts for grinding into powder, so he kept these dragon bones and also bought dragon bones from other pharmacies as supplements."

Xu Chunliang said, "So you and your dad preserved the dragon bones obtained from Huichun Hall?"

Huang Youlong said, "My father should have been the first to understand the value of these artifacts. At that time, no one valued such things. Out of some concern, my father didn’t dare tell the reason to the Xu Family of Huichun Hall. He just tried his best to obtain some dragon bones from them. His motive was simple and purely for the purpose of preserving cultural relics. But he never imagined that this matter would bring disaster upon him."

Xu Chunliang deliberately gasped in surprise, noting that Huang Youlong was always watching him, clearly wanting to observe his reaction during this story.

Huang Youlong continued, "My father’s frequent purchase of dragon bones aroused Huichun Hall’s vigilance. Your great-grandfather discovered the secret at some point—he asked my father to return the dragon bones, but my father refused. This led to estrangement between them. But he never imagined, your great-grandfather harbored resentment and used an opportunity during a prescription to poison the medicine, causing eleven members of my family to die from poisoning."

Xu Chunliang had already heard one version of this story from Zhou Renhe, and now Huang Youlong told another version. Xu Chunliang didn’t believe a word of it. Firstly, at the time of the massacre, he was too young to probably know the truth, and even if he did, he wouldn’t admit it, since his father’s misdeeds were despicable.

However, his words did explain well why the dragon bones ended up in his hands.

Xu Chunliang looked at Huang Youlong and said, "So it seems, our two families have an ancestral feud."

Huang Youlong smiled calmly and said, "You don’t need to worry. Since I told you, I have no intention of revenge. Even if there was a feud, it’s a thing of the past. The people involved are long gone. Thinking back, the tragedy of both families is tied to the era, and we, the descendants, need not be troubled by the grudges of the past."

Xu Chunliang nodded perfunctorily, thinking to himself, Huang Youlong is definitely a smiling tiger. The reason he brought up this old grudge is that he knows he can’t hide it. So he laid everything out openly, telling me he’s long let go of the hatred. Firstly, to show his magnanimity, and secondly, to lull me into a sense of security. If I really believed him, I would fall for his trap.

Only Huang Youlong knows what he’s truly thinking. If he really had let go, the incident of someone framing Grandpa wouldn’t have happened. Perhaps this guy’s revenge has only just begun. Whether Xu Chunliang admits it or not, this guy is an unprecedentedly powerful opponent.

Huang Youlong said, "I heard Huichun Hall has closed down?"

Xu Chunliang replied, "My grandfather is advanced in years, and his physical and mental energy is dwindling. I am not very interested in practicing medicine, so that’s why we’ve made this decision."

Huang Youlong said, "I have a suggestion. Would you consider selling everything of the current Huichun Hall to me? I can definitely offer you a price that will satisfy you."

Xu Chunliang smiled slightly. Huang Youlong is a deeply scheming person; it’s hard to tell which of his words are true and which are false. His proposal to buy Huichun Hall might be to test me, to see if I am moved by money.

It’s not possible to sell Huichun Hall, and even if it were, it wouldn’t be sold to an old enemy.

Xu Chunliang intentionally asked, "Aren’t you already cooperating with Renhe Hall? Why are you eyeing Huichun Hall?"

Huang Youlong said, "The development of traditional Chinese medicine in the country is slow, even regressing year by year. As a descendant of the Chinese nation, I am quite distressed to see this dilemma faced by traditional Chinese medicine. I want to protect it in my own way."

Xu Chunliang inwardly laughed. This guy speaks so grandly, yet isn’t he collecting traditional Chinese medicine recipes under the guise of protection?

Xu Chunliang said, "You are no longer a Chinese citizen." The implication is, when did protecting our traditional Chinese medicine become something for foreigners? Don’t give me any nonsense about being a descendant of the Chinese nation. There are plenty of traitors among the descendants of the Chinese nation.

Huang Youlong said, "Mr. Xu should not have such a narrow view. Changing nationality does not change the fact that I am of Chinese descent. Moreover, medicine has no borders. When a doctor treats and saves people, they don’t care what nationality someone is."

Xu Chunliang said, "Medicine having no borders doesn’t mean our traditional Chinese medicine can be misappropriated and woven into their cultural heritage. Since you claim to be a descendant of the Chinese nation, let me ask you, what nonsense is Korean medicine? Is it their original creation? Where did acupuncture originate? Where was Li Shizhen from?"

Huang Youlong laughed and said, "These questions are beyond doubt. Every country has its extreme groups. What you see is only part of the phenomenon and does not represent the entire Peninsula."

Xu Chunliang said, "You’re still not answering my question. I find it baffling that such a tiny country doesn’t even know who their ancestors are and starts appropriating other people’s culture. When did acupuncture become their invention? This is utterly shameless."

Huang Youlong said, "It seems you worry that after selling Huichun Hall to me, I would modify its content and attribute it to the Peninsula. I can assure you this will never happen."

Xu Chunliang thought to himself, your assurance is worthless. There’s no need for you to modify anything from Huichun Hall.

This guy keeps saying he wants to protect traditional Chinese medicine, so why is the Mingde Group promoting Korean medicine? Huang Youlong’s approach now is to pave the way with money, using vile capitalism to annex traditional Chinese medicine culture. Our people should be wary of such behavior and not sell the precious cultural heritage passed down by our ancestors for a little money.

Xu Chunliang said, "Huichun Hall is not for sale."

Huang Youlong sighed and said, "Since Mr. Xu has made such a decision, I won’t insist. I actually want to help you. The secret formulas of Huichun Hall don’t mean much to me." He walked to the bookshelf, pulled out a book, and handed it to Xu Chunliang.

Xu Chunliang took it and saw that it was the "Xu Clan Treatise on Cold Damage", and he couldn’t help but be shocked. This book is an undisclosed secret of the Xu Family. Even Zheng Peian, the first disciple formally apprenticed, has not had the chance to see the original.

When Xu Chunliang helped his grandfather organize the ancestral secret formulas, he had transcribed the entire manuscript by hand, so he was very familiar with its content. Flipping through this "Xu Clan Treatise on Cold Damage," he immediately determined that the content was completely identical.

Xu Chunliang looked at Huang Youlong in some surprise. Through what means did he obtain this "Xu Clan Treatise on Cold Damage"? Did he use illegal means to steal it? But if that were truly the case, why would he dare exhibit it to me so openly?