Chapter 18 – The Temptation of a Banquet
The roadster turned out of an expressway and arrived in Hanzhou's county-level city. It's located between the prime locations of Hanzhou and Huainan Providence. Su Tao glimpsed at the rearview mirror and saw that there were several Volkswagen Passat closely following behind the red roadster. They had to be Yan Jing's underlings.
This was a banquet set up with the aim of murdering the guest.
With Su Tao's character, he would definitely not be fooled by Yan Jing's appearance to follow her after some flowery words.
Yan Jing had come prepared. If she couldn't invite Su Tao with her, her underlings would definitely cause trouble at the doors of Jianghuai Hospital, which would definitely affect Su Tao.
She acted well with a close attitude and flirtatious words. But deep in her bones, she was vicious and ruthless. Su Tao could sense that if he didn't follow her, god-knows what she might have done.
The roadster exited the freeway ramp, heading towards the west. However, it wasn't heading towards the urban area, but a village. After driving around for ten-odd minutes, it arrived in an abandoned building. Su Tao followed Yan Jing in and saw two Tibetan Mastiffs barking with their saliva dripping on the floor.
Yan Jing walked over and placed her hand on one of the Mastiffs, before she slapped it. "Foolish dog, don't you even recognize your mother?"
The Mastiff whimpered before it obediently laid down on the floor and stretched its paws, then it scratched in excitement.
"Had it for three years now, but I'm intending on selling it off. A confined Mastiff doesn't have any ferocity, it can only be used to scare ordinary people." Yan Jing glanced at Su Tao and saw how calm he remained; she knew that he must have been used to big scenes.
Su Tao followed Yan Jing to the second floor. In contrast to the outside, this place was quite well renovated with a soft carpet on the ground. It was so soft that his feet could sink into the carpet. The walls were decorated with oil paintings, the roof hung a chandelier and a liquor cabinet was behind the office table.
Yan Jing spun and smiled. "What do you think of my office?"
Su Tao nodded his head. "It's layering, just like you."
Yan Jing burst into laughter. "Boy, you're amusing."
But inwardly, Su Tao corrected her words. My mouth not only knows how to amuse people but also eats others.
Yan Jing entered a chamber and she changed clothes while making a call before raising her head to Su Tao. "Come, I'll have you take a look at my bed."
Su Tao was left stunned before he helplessly shook his head. He followed Yan Jing into an open lift, similar to the ones in the past, and saw a spacious bed. A middle-aged man with a wrinkled face laid on the bed.
An azure-clothed old man stood beside him, holding onto silver needles and carefully place them into the acupoints of that man.
The middle-aged man did not have any reaction from the treatment; his eyes remained cold. The old man sighed before he turned around to Yan Jing and bitterly smiled while shaking his head. "There's nothing I can do about this!"
Yan Jing annoyingly waved her hand. "You can get lost now."
"What about my granddaughter?" The old man pursued.
Yan Jing sneered, "Relax, I will send her back after a month."
The old man looked at Yan Jing with a complicated gaze before he was escorted out by bodyguards.
Yan Jing swept a glance at Su Tao and her face immediately changed with a bewitching smile hanging on the corner of her lips. "Even Sichuan's Divine Physician, Qiao Shouchun, is only this capable. Looks like you have to be the one to do it, since you're the one who put him in this condition, so you must have a method to save him."
Su Tao looked at Nie Weiting and understood her intentions. He smiled. "You want me to save him?"
Yan Jing placed her finger on her lips before she shook her head and smiled. "I don't want you to save him. He stole something very important from me and if he dies, it will become a closed case. He stole something more important than his life. So I'll need you to treat him and give me time to find what I want. After that, he can die."
Even Su Tao felt a cold tingling down his spine from her words, even with his mentality. This woman had practically treated the life of others akin to grass.
Su Tao swept a glance at Yan Jing's face and asked, "What if I refuse?"
Yan Jing knitted her brows as she sighed, "That'll be troublesome, then. Your only kin, Su Guangsheng has died, so there's nothing I can use to threaten you. But I seem to recall that your relationship with the Emerald Antique Brook's daughter is pretty good. If I kidnap her, will it change your mind?"
Su Tao sneered, "Vicious, indeed."
Yan Jing gently scraped against Su Tao's nose as she replied, "Haven't you heard of a saying before? That people with vile characters and women are hard to deal with."
She clapped and her secretary brought a tablet with the scene of the Emerald Antique Brook in it. Cai Yan was talking to a middle-aged man on the counter. It was someone who was sent over by Yan Jing. If Su Tao refused to treat Nie Weiting, then Yan Jing would immediately issue the order.
Yan Jing was harder to deal with than Nie Weiting, since she had planned her moves, accurately predicting the heart of others and forced them to submit.
Su Tao had already walked into the tiger's den and he knew that there were dozens of experts lying around here with guns. The moment he made a rash action, then he would instantly be killed.
Su Tao briefly knitted his brows before loosening them up and sighed, "I'll save him."
Yan Jing nodded her head in satisfaction before she moved to his ear and blew a wind. "I'll wait for you in the office. Boy, if this Big Sister is satisfied with your performance, I will reward you."
Finishing her words, she left and the metal door was shut with several bodyguards indifferently looking at Su Tao.
Su Tao walked towards Nie Weiting. Since Nie Weiting had suffered his Heavenseizing Hand, he was akin to a vegetable.
Su Tao placed his equipment down and chose a three-inch silver needle.
In medical terms, Nie Weiting's situation was called "flaccid paralysis" which was recorded in the Yellow Emperor's Internal Canon with detailed descriptions about it. It mentioned that it caused the lungs to feel like they were being scorched by heat and it's theorised that one would use the Yangming Acupoint to treat it.
The sickness was split into the flaccidity of acupoints, body, bones, tendons, and skin. The cause of Nie Weiting's illness was considered as the flaccidity of acupoints.
The flaccidity of acupoints could be considered the toughest to cure, since medicines were ineffective in treating it. Even acupuncture was tough if one didn't know how to circulate qi.
The past famed doctors, Hua Tuo, Ge Hong, Tao Hongjing were all masters in qi. So one must know how to circulate qi if they want to become an outstanding acupuncture master.
At the age of five, Su Tao was already versed in acupuncture, which Su Guangsheng had praised him endlessly for it. He even suggested that Su Tao should trek the path of acupuncture treatment.
Furthermore, the Heavenseizing Hand was a unique technique, so even if physicians were skilled in acupuncture, they wouldn't be able to understand it. This was also the reason why Su Tao said that aside from himself, there was no one in the world that could treat Nie Weiting.
Even if Su Tao had been threatened by Yan Jing to treat Nie Weiting, he also felt pity for Nie Weiting's situation. Nie Weiting's injuries wouldn't cost him his life, it just took away his ability to harm others. After all, Su Tao had his promise to Su Guangsheng that he had to keep for 3 years.
So Su Tao felt pity for Nie Weiting, since not only had he lost his health, he even lost his freedom.
This was the underworld, the weak were only the food for the strong. At this moment, Nie Weiting was prey on the chopping board that anyone could butcher.
Acupuncture emphasized on using the mind to control the needles. That meant that when applying acupuncture, their mind must be concentrated on the needles and circulate their qi into the needles. Wherever the mind goes, the qi goes.
Silver needles were placed into Nie Weiting. The majority of them were his acupoints, Futu, Zusanli, Jiexi and Juegu, which were located on his waist and back.
Roughly an hour later, Nie Weiting breathed out in relief and had barely managed to open his eyes. When he saw Su Tao, his eyes rolled and he fainted again.
It was mainly due to the trauma that Su Tao had given him with the Heavenseizing Hand.
Su Tao wiped his hand with a clean cloth before the bodyguards led Su Tao to the second floor after knowing that he had done his treatment.
Yan Jing sat at the dining table and directed him to her opposite seat, then smiled. "Thanks, I trust that you must be hungry. This is your reward, a rich banquet."
Su Tao was already used to Yan Jing's sudden change of demeanour, so he sat on the chair, held his chopsticks and placed a piece of fish in his mouth. He had exhausted himself too greatly earlier, so was feeling hungry.
Yan Jing clasped her hands together and smiled. "Aren't you worried that I would poison your food?"
Su Tao confidently shook his head. "I'm not worried. As long as Nie Weiting hasn't given you the answer you want, you will not be able to harm me."
Su Tao understood someone like Yan Jing. As long as he had his worth, he would be used until he's squeezed dry.
Yan Jing sighed, "Boy, you're too smart. Can't you pretend to the naïve sometimes? Furthermore, tell me, how long do you need to treat him?"
Su Tao continued to feast as he said, "Nie Weiting isn't stupid and he knows his own situation. If he gives you what you want, he will definitely lose his life. So he will do his best to keep the secret. This way, he will be able to live longer. Treating him completely isn't hard, but here's the million dollar question. Will he be useful to you if he is so quickly treated?"
Su Tao had clearly seen through the situation and if Nie Weiting had been completely treated, it wouldn't be favourable to her. So Su Tao's intention was to let him remain a patient and control him. Yan Jing shrugged. "Since that's the case, then we'll have to meet often. Oh right, we've been talking for a long time. Perhaps we can talk about the cooperation regarding the Old Street."
Su Tao looked unhappily at Yan Jing. "What secret is there in the Old Street that you and Nie Weiting don't want to give up on it?"
Yan Jing noticed that Su Tao wasn't willing to talk about this topic, so she pursed her lips after a brief ponder. "Can you reveal your history for the past ten years? Are you someone from Dragon's Talon?"
Su Tao rolled his eyes as his speech blurred with food in his mouth, "Dragon's Talon? What the hell is that!"
Yan Jing burst into laughter. Su Tao was truly amusing and Yan Jing felt at ease by talking to him.
