Xiao Bing walked into Zhang Yizhi’s room and closed the door. He asked with a grin, “Mr. Zhang, the lady downstairs looks quite nice. Are you keeping her here as your woman?”
“You little bastard, you only know how to talk nonsense.” Zhang Yizhi said with a smile but instantly became serious. “Xiao Bing, come and sit down.”
Although Zhang Yizhi looked very dignified outside and gave others attitude, in private Xiao Bing rarely saw Zhang Yizhi being so serious and dignified. “Is it that Mr. Zhang has a crush on the lady downstairs and you’re ready to announce the good news to me?” Xiao Bing thought to himself.
After Xiao Bing sat down, Zhang Yizhi said, “Give me your hand.”
Xiao Bing was shocked, “Do you want to touch me?”
Zhang Yizhi got so angry that he wanted to kick Xiao Bing. Fighting back the impulse, he put a finger gently on the pulse of Xiao Bing, Zhang Yizhi frowned slightly, then closed his eyes with dignity. Xiao Bing calmly looked at him.
After a long time, he let go of Xiao Bing and said in a calm tone, “The injury you suffered three years ago seems to be showing signs of a relapse now. Last time when I was drinking with you in the noodle restaurant, I found that your injury seemed to have relapsed. So I asked you to come here today. I will return to the capital tomorrow. Before I leave, I must control your injury, otherwise, I can’t leave without worry.”
“Three years ago, when I saved your life, I already told you that if you continue to fight and kill every day, the injury will recur sooner or later.”
Xiao Bing smiled indifferently, “I am not a person who can spare time. Let Heaven decide my destiny.”
“It’s okay for you. But what about Yezi?” Zhang Yizhi looked at Xiao Bing and said, “You used to think so, and I can’t say anything about it. But can you still be free now? I can see that you like that girl very much. Can you give up on her?”
Xiao Bing was silent. Yes, what about Yezi… He suddenly raised his head, looked at Zhang Yizhi earnestly with a serious face, and said, “Mr. Zhang, how can you help me?”
“Alas, you little punk. I knew it was the only way to persuade you.” Zhang Yizhi thought for a moment and said, “There is only one way, which is to temporarily seal several acupuncture points on your body. The strength you have in your body is too strong. If you are healthy, there will be no problems. However, your body is injured. Once you release all that strength during a fight, it is likely to bring harm to your body.”
Xiao Bing frowned and said, “Do you mean you want to control the power inside of my body?”
Zhang Yizhi said, “I need to temporarily seal up some of the strength inside your body. After your injury is healed, I will unseal it for you. You can use your strength again in the future, but during the period it is sealed up, the strength in your body will be greatly reduced.”
Xiao Bing asked, “How much will it be reduced by?”
Zhang Yizhi pondered carefully for a moment, as if doing careful calculations, and finally said cautiously, “To the degree of the Concealing Strength stage.”
Xiao Bing said with a wry smile, “Is there any other way?”
“No.” Zhang Yizhi said seriously, “Are you still going to play around with your life?”
Xiao Bing took a deep breath. It was a very difficult decision. He arrived at Jiang City to protect Su Xiaoxiao, so that the traitor wouldn’t endanger her life. Once his strength was sealed, when the traitor appeared, the consequences would be hard to imagine…
Zhang Yizhi seemed to see what Xiao Bing was thinking. He could not help but remind him with a serious face, “I think I have to remind you that, according to your current physical condition, once the traitor you talk about really appears, and if the strength you use is too strong such that your current body cannot bear such a strong load, it will lead to your death. If your injury cannot be cured, you cannot even protect yourself. Who else can you protect? ”
Xiao Bing hesitated, “How long will it take for my injury to heal?”
“I’m not sure either.” Zhang Yizhi shook his head and carefully thought for a moment, then said, “If I don’t give you a reply, presumably you will not willingly seal it. Let’s take six months as a deadline. After six months, no matter whether your injury has completely recovered or not, I will unseal the strength in your body. What do you think?”
“Half a year…” Xiao Bing hesitated for a moment, “Half a year it is.”
In this half year, he could keep a low profile. He could consider revenge for Su Peiya afterward. Xiao Bing had been thinking recently that he had been here for a while. He also let Su Xiaoxiao recall, but there was no evidence of a traitor. Was it possible that the person who met Su Peiya was just talking nonsense, so he could get some money? Maybe there were no traitors in the organization at all? It was maybe only a coincidence that their moves were predicted.
Xiao Bing was not sure, but he couldn’t help thinking it over and over again. After all, nobody would want one of his brothers who fought with him to turn out to be a traitor. No one wanted it.
Zhang Yizhi took out a needle and asked Xiao Bing to take off his clothes and sit on the bed cross-legged. He began to start the acupuncture treatment. After seeing the dragon on Xiao Bing, his eyes also showed a moment of loss. He sighed with emotion, “This dragon is really a masterpiece.”
Xiao Bing laughed, “This is the masterpiece of a brother from the Dragon Gate. The director of the orphanage said that when I was a child, I had a small dragon tattoo on my body. She then depicted the appearance of the dragon tattoo. This is what it looks like. When my body grew up slowly, the tattoo disappeared. I just asked the brother to re-tattoo it according to that appearance.”
Zhang Yizhi was surprised. “You had tattoos on your body since you were little? I really can’t understand why your parents who abandoned you would give you such a tattoo.”
“I don’t get it either. Since they had decided to abandon me, why bother?” Xiao Bing smiled, with a slight sadness in it. “But my personality is that if I can’t get it, I don’t think about it.”
“All right, get ready. It will be a little bit painful during the acupuncture.”
Xiao Bing grinned, “I didn’t feel the pain three years ago when I was severely tortured. I wouldn’t feel it now for a few needles.”
Zhang Yizhi didn’t say more and began the acupuncture. There was a terrible pain when the silver needle stuck into his body. Xiao Bing indeed didn’t even hum a sound, and even maintained a smiling face. He just sweated on his forehead and his skin slightly shook.
The pain got stronger as the number of needles increased. There was a feeling of tearing at his diaphragm. The diaphragm was an essential part of martial arts. Xiao Bing would’ve pushed him away if it were other doctors. But he could trust Zhang Yizhi with his life.
Zhang Yizhi took a look at Xiao Bing, who had a calm expression, and felt infinite emotion in his heart. Up till now, he still could not forget the night three years ago. Xiao Bing was lying on his operating table. It was he who saved Xiao Bing’s life. However, Xiao Bing was still the same today. No matter how painful it was, he did not say a word. The pain at that time was countless times more than now… He had never seen a man with such perseverance as Xiao Bing in his entire lifetime of being a doctor.
When the last needle was put in, Xiao Bing could even clearly feel the strength in his body split into two parts. Most of it was gathered together and then wrapped up by something. Only a small part of his strength remained in his body.
Zhang Yizhi pulled out the needles one by one, breathed a sigh of relief, and wiped the sweat from his head.
Xiao Bing stood up and slowly launched a punch. The air fiercely shook, but Xiao Bing was not satisfied. There was a feeling of emptiness that he could detect. The strength in his body really decreased.
The Concealing Strength stage… He couldn’t imagine that his strength was decreased to the Concealing Strength stage. What’s more, it was the medium stage of it.
Zhang Yizhi stood up slowly with a crutch, looked at Xiao Bing and said, “Don’t overthink it. It will be yours if you deserve it. You just need to take good care of your body. Although you can use the force in your body as you wish and it won’t hurt you at all, it is better not to fight… Get yourself healed as soon as possible so I can unseal the power earlier.”
“I know.” Xiao Bing said with a wry smile, “It’s just that the strength I gained after so many years of hard work has been left with only this much. And I feel not used to it. If I meet some expert…”
Zhang Yizhi rolled his eyes and said, “Isn’t Concealing Strength already considered an expert? How many masters like this can you find in the entire country? You should be grateful that I didn’t turn you into the Clear Strength or Bone Refining stage.”
Xiao Bing had no choice but to give a wry smile. Suddenly he wanted to drink to relieve his sorrows, “Stop talking. Let’s go for a drink.”
“Okay, let’s go drink!”
Maybe because of their upcoming separation, they both drank a lot. Although Zhang Yizhi was old, he never quit drinking. But he seldom got drunk like this. He would drink a cup or two when he was alone. He would only drink more if there was someone drinking with him, but there were not many people to have this honor in the whole of China.
Xiao Bing, after all, was young and in good health. Feeling that Mr. Zhang was a little drunk, Xiao Bing asked Feuillet and the nanny to help him back. When he went upstairs, he still kept talking nonsense. There was not much difference between old adults and young people when they drink too much.
Xiao Bing went back to the Su family house. After washing his face, he went back to his room and got ready to sleep. He was just going to turn off the lights when he saw a small note on his bedside table, which said that dinner was already heated up in the kitchen pot.
Xiao Bing felt some warmth. It was the warmth of being at home.
For more than 20 years since childhood, Xiao Bing felt for the first time what a home was like…
