chapter 8 Vermilion Ink Brush cures diseases

"Young man, it's best not to speak too confidently," Yakez slightly furrowed his brow, obviously quite displeased.
"Alright, since my brother-in-law has spoken, let's have Dr. Harris stay and watch as well. It must be a valuable learning opportunity for him."
Agastya, seeing his brother-in-law displeased, didn't insist further and quickly tried to smooth things over.
Baqir shook his head and chuckled bitterly. He had only heard of the Salvation Clinic's skilled and compassionate practitioners, but never about their arrogance. Today, he got to see it firsthand.
After waiting for a moment, Othniel Carlyle emerged from the inner room. He was dressed in a white silk Tang suit, walking steadily. With his youthful appearance and spirited demeanor, he didn’t seem like a sick man at all.
"Yakez, you're here too? Sit down, sit down."
Othniel's demeanor was quite amiable, but his authoritative air, shaped by years of command, was naturally evident.
"Which one of you is the grandson of Mr. Scrooge from the Salvation Clinic?"
After everyone sat down, Othniel glanced at Baqir and Flint, continuously rubbing two black and red walnuts in his hands.
"Mr. Carlyle, hello. I am Flint Scrooge from the Salvation Clinic. My grandfather sent me to treat your illness. Before leaving, he instructed me that although you're offering a hefty fee for the treatment, we'll give you a 20% discount."
Flint said with a smile, somewhat proud. Three hundred thousand, just like that, waived. Such was the generosity of the Salvation Clinic.
"Good, true heroes emerge in youth. Since Mr. Scrooge has sent you, you must have exceptional skills. Don’t worry, as long as you cure my illness, you won’t miss a single cent."
Othniel said loudly, undeterred by the amount of money.
"Dad, I also invited a doctor for you, a young miracle doctor with equally exquisite medical skills," Yakez quickly introduced Baqir.
"Great, the younger generation will surpass us in time. Later, I’ll have to trouble both of you young friends," Othniel said with a smile, then instructed the butler to serve tea.
"Mr. Carlyle, aren’t we starting the treatment now?" Flint, seeing Othniel showing no signs of wanting to be treated, couldn’t help but express his doubt.
"Heh, if we start now, I'm afraid we won’t find anything," Othniel said with a helpless smile. "I’ve had doctors look at it before. The tests always come back normal, and they can never diagnose the problem unless my headache starts."
"Oh? That’s odd," Flint said, puzzled. He then approached Othniel, indicating if he could take his pulse.
Othniel didn’t refuse and extended his wrist. Flint's expression changed upon feeling his pulse, there was indeed no issue, and it even indicated that Mr. Carlyle was in excellent health.
"Don’t worry, Flint. In about an hour, Mr. Carlyle’s condition should flare up," Baqir said, glancing at the wall clock.
"Oh? Young friend, how do you know that my condition will worsen in an hour?" Othniel looked a bit surprised.
"Yakez mentioned that you suffer from migraines. It will be noon in an hour, and the rising temperature will increase the 'false fire,' causing blood to rush to your head and likely trigger the migraine," Baqir explained with a smile, glancing inadvertently at the walnuts in Othniel's hands.
Othniel nodded in approval at Baqir, smiling. Flint huffed coldly, somewhat displeased.
Just as Baqir had predicted, around noon, Othniel, who had been chatting and laughing, suddenly changed his expression. He appeared to be in extreme pain, holding his head with both hands, as large beads of sweat dripped down his face.
"Mr. Carlyle, hold on, I’ll administer acupuncture right away." Flint quickly checked Mr. Carlyle’s pulse, then took out a needle bag from his medical kit, extracting several silver needles. He accurately targeted the Clear Cool Abyss Acupoint and Heavenly Well Acupoint on the Triple Energizer meridian of Mr. Carlyle’s elbow, followed by several more on his head and shoulders.
"Divine Needle?" Baqir was slightly surprised. No wonder Flint was so arrogant, he indeed had real skills.
Hearing Baqir call out his technique, Flint was also surprised and proudly said, "Not bad, you’re quite knowledgeable."
After Flint completed his acupuncture, the painful expression on Othniel’s face visibly eased.
"Ha ha, the Salvation Clinic truly lives up to its reputation!"
Seeing the pain on his father's face lessen, Agastya breathed a sigh of relief.
"It’s just a small effort," Flint replied nonchalantly.
Before he could finish, Othniel, whose expression had just eased, suddenly shook, holding his head again and uttering a painful groan, even more severe than before.
Everyone in the room changed their expressions instantly, and Flint was also taken aback, muttering, "Impossible!"
As he hurriedly checked Mr. Carlyle’s pulse again, his face turned deathly pale. The pulse was erratic, sometimes there and sometimes not, extremely bizarre.
"Flint, what are you waiting for? Think of something, quick!" Agastya urged anxiously.
Flint was completely flustered and had no idea what to do.
Seeing the urgent situation, Baqir swiftly stepped forward, quickly removed the needles from Mr. Carlyle’s body, and then inserted six silver needles into six acupoints on his neck and shoulders.
"Fortune-telling Needle Technique?"
Flint was shocked and gaped.
"Correct, you are quite knowledgeable," Baqir returned Flint's earlier words nonchalantly.
As Baqir inserted the needles, Othniel's entire body relaxed instantly, the pain in his head suddenly disappeared, and his complexion gradually became rosy.
"Dad, how are you feeling?" Yakez was overjoyed, not expecting Laszlo to be such a master.
"Much better."
Othniel managed a weak smile, his breathing becoming steadier. The butler hurried over to wipe the sweat from his face.
Agastya didn't rush to be happy, fearing a recurrence like earlier, but after waiting a while, he saw no signs of strangeness in his father.
Only then did he feel relieved, and he asked Baqir, "Young brother, is my father's illness just temporarily relieved, or is it completely cured?"
"It's relieved."
"Is there a way to cure it completely?"
Flint, who was standing nearby, had his face turned pale. It was clear that he had lost Agastya's trust. However, since he had made a mistake earlier, he now had no say in the matter.
"Yes, and it's quite simple," Baqir smiled and then turned his attention to the pair of walnuts in Othniel's hand, "Actually, the main problem lies with these walnuts."
"The problem is with these walnuts?" Everyone looked at each other, not understanding the situation.
"Mr. Carlyle, may I take a look at these walnuts?"
Baqir reached out and took the walnuts, examining them closely. To him, these walnuts emitted a jade-green light, obviously valuable. However, in one of the walnut's seams, there was a dense black aura, similar to what he had seen on the little girl.
"If I'm not mistaken, these walnuts are Kirin Pattern Lion Heads, and they are quite old, dating back to the Majestic Era of Quintus Dynasty," said Baqir.
"Indeed, young friend, you have good eyesight!" Othniel's face brightened, pleasantly surprised. Not many people could recognize the origin of his lion heads.
"Even if they are extraordinary, they are just ornamental walnuts. What do they have to do with my father's headache? Mr. Harris, you must be joking," Yakez was puzzled.
Baqir didn't rush to answer and turned to ask Othniel, "Mr. Carlyle, where did you get these walnuts, and how long have you been carrying them?"
"I stumbled upon them in an antique market and have been carrying them ever since. It's been over half a year," Othniel recalled.
"Then think about it, how long have you had this headache?" Baqir said with a smile.
Othniel thought hard and then, his expression changing, he looked at the walnuts in Baqir's hand and exclaimed, "It seems that this problem started when I bought these walnuts!"
Othniel, not a believer in superstitions, had never thought in this direction and assumed it was a sequela of years of overwork.
"To be honest, these walnuts came from a deceased person and thus have absorbed some negative energy. Since you carry them with you, they have impacted your luck. I presume that your business hasn't been going well over the past half year either," Baqir explained.
"Indeed, I inveted in two projects in the past half year, both of which suffered heavy losses. I thought I was getting senile with age and was planning to hand over the company's affairs to Agastya," Othniel shook his head and smiled bitterly.
"Mr. Harris, what you're talking about, this negative energy, sounds like superstitious talk..." Yakez frowned. People in his line of work typically didn't believe in such things.
"Many things are not entirely superstitious. Some are laws extracted by our ancestors from the workings of the universe and nature, and they are highly credible. Otherwise, how could the Ancient Wisdom Octagrams have been passed down to this day?" Baqir patiently explained.
Yakez had no response. Baqir's reasoning was sound, and many universities offered public courses on the Octagrams.
"Baqir, so if I smash and discard these walnuts, will my dad's illness be cured?" Agastya asked eagerly.
"What a pity to destroy such fine artifacts," Baqir smiled, "I have a way to both cure Mr. Carlyle's illness and let him keep these walnuts."
"Then please, young friend," Othniel's tone couldn't hide his excitement. He was very fond of these walnuts, and it would pain him to destroy them.
"Mr. Carlyle, do you have a Vermilion Ink Brush?"
"Yes, I do," Othniel quickly instructed the butler to fetch it from the study.
When the Vermilion Ink Brush was brought, Baqir recited the Sanity Formula, breathed onto the tip of the brush, and then lightly touched the end of each walnut. The dense black aura instantly vanished, and the pair of lion heads emitted an even brighter jade-green aura.
Baqir handed the walnuts back to Othniel, who, upon receiving them, felt a cool sensation that spread throughout his body, seemingly opening all his meridians in an instant, making him feel incredibly clear-headed.
Flint, standing by, had a gloomy expression, feeling very unconvinced and thinking Baqir was just bluffing. But since Baqir had indeed cured Mr. Carlyle's illness, he had no choice but to accept it.
"Baqir, so my dad's illness truly won't recur?" Agastya was still somewhat worried.
"Truly, if there are any problems in the future, Yakez can come and fetch me anytime, he knows where I live," Baqir joked.
"Mr. Harris, we can't thank you enough," Yakez laughed, then gave Agastya a meaningful look.
Agastya immediately understood and hurriedly said, "Mr. Harris, please give me your bank account number. I'll have someone transfer five hundred thousand to you right now. If my dad's condition doesn't recur in the next few days, I'll transfer the remaining five hundred thousand."
"Agastya! How can you say that? Transfer the full 1.5 million to the young friend at once," Othniel was somewhat displeased.
"Alright, then we'll do as Dad says. 1.5 million, transferred to you all at once."
"1.5 million?" Baqir touched his nose and smiled, "Can I set the price for the consultation fee?"
Everyone's expression changed slightly. One million wasn't enough? This seemed like a huge ask.
"Sure, let him set the price. Whatever you say, we'll pay," Othniel was generous, after all, Baqir had saved his life. It wasn't unreasonable to ask for more.