Chapter 7: Life-Extending Needles

Words : 1775 Updated : Oct 23rd, 2025

"This is why you burned through his life force. Once that black line creeps into his brain, the boy won't have long to live," Gabriel said, brows furrowed. Stunned, Johnny asked quietly, "Are you a doctor, young man?" Gabriel nodded and sighed. "Step aside." Johnny immediately stepped away from the exam table. Gabriel stepped forward and gestured for the woman to turn the boy so his back faced him. She had overheard their exchange and no longer hesitated. She lifted the child's shirt again. From the needle pouch on the table, Gabriel drew seven silver needles. After a moment, his hands moved in a blur, settling each needle into seven acupoints along the boy's back. His technique was crisp, assured, and each placement precise. "Life-Extending Needles?!" Johnny blurted out, unable to contain himself. Gabriel flicked him a glance. "I didn't expect you to recognize it." "When I trained under my master years ago, I read about it in some old texts. My master said the method had already been lost," Johnny murmured. Gabriel let it pass. He took the boy's pulse, then told the woman, "Ma'am, I need to use the needles once more to wake him up." "Oh, please... please do," she said, anxious and hopeful. "Even if he wakes," Johnny sighed, "Annabella, you should still take the child to a major hospital." This clinic could only go so far; some illnesses required big hospitals. "No need," Gabriel said evenly, "After I finish the acupuncture, I'll write a prescription. With the medicine, the boy will be fine going forward." "W-What?" Johnny stared, dumbfounded. Annabella looked at Gabriel as if he had spoken nonsense. Johnny had examined the boy earlier and said there was a mass in his brain, that he needed surgery at a major hospital. Yet this young man claimed he would fix it in a moment. "Sir, is that really true?" she asked, breath catching. Gabriel smiled and nodded. He picked up three silver needles. Two slipped to either side of the boy's head. He set one palm lightly on the boy's chest. With the other hand, he guided the last silver needle and, in one seamless motion, inserted it into the Crown Meridian. "Ah! You mustn't!" Johnny cried, lunging, but Gabriel was too quick. The needle had already found its mark. At the touch of the needle, the boy's body shuddered. His eyelids fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes. He looked up at the woman and whispered, "Mom, did I fall asleep again?" "You're awake. You're awake!" Tears streamed down Annabella's cheeks. Each time he blacked out, she feared that would be the last time she saw her son's eyes open. "Once you're home, have him drink plenty of lightly salted water," Gabriel said with an easy smile. "He may have a runny nose tomorrow. That's just fluid draining from his head." He wrote a prescription on a sheet of paper and handed it to her. Taken as directed for one week, it would correct the issue. Before she could take it, Johnny snatched the prescription and read, hands trembling. "Why didn't I think of this? Why didn't I think of this?" he muttered, dazed. After Annabella thanked them over and over and took her boy away, Johnny looked at Gabriel. "Um, sir..." "Go ahead, just say it," Gabriel said, meeting his gaze. "May I keep a copy of this prescription?" Johnny asked, uneasy. Many physicians guarded their secret formulas. Passing them around meant giving away one's edge. "If you like it, keep it," Gabriel said with a smile. "Thank you!" Joy lit Johnny's face. "Sir, forgive my earlier rudeness. You asked about a pill furnace. I happen to have one. Would you like to take it?" Gabriel brightened, then shook his head slightly. "No need to take it away. May I borrow it for a while?" Even if Johnny gave it to him, Gabriel had nowhere to put it. Take it home? How would he explain it to Madison and Lauryn? Say he was making pills? Would they believe that? "Of course. Please go ahead," Johnny said. Gabriel didn't stand on ceremony. He followed Johnny into the back room, where the stove sat. He spread out the herbs he'd just picked up and fired the furnace up. Seeing this, Johnny turned and left the back room. Gabriel's impression of him rose a notch. Most would have hovered, trying to copy his technique. It wasn't that Gabriel was being petty. Had it been an ordinary medicinal pill, he would have offered pointers. But this was the Bone Cleansing Pill, something only martial artists could truly use. If Johnny knew that, it might not end well for him. Half an hour later, Gabriel put away the finished Bone Cleansing Pills, left the back room, took his leave of Johnny, and headed home. He checked the time in the kitchen and thought, "I got so wrapped up in making pills that I forgot to buy groceries. We'll make do with a simple meal." When Madison came home and found Gabriel busy at the stove, her brows furrowed again. The man was still puttering around like a housewife. He was honestly hopeless. She ignored him, went straight upstairs, and changed. Not long after, Lauryn returned, arms loaded with shopping bags. She set the Chanel handbag on her arm on the wine rack as if laying down an offering. Gabriel brought out the dishes. Lauryn eyed the two plates on the table, frowned, and asked, puzzled, "Just two dishes today?" "There is a soup as well," Gabriel said evenly. "That's all?" "That's all." She nodded, said nothing, and went to wash her hands. Gabriel watched her back, a little surprised. In three years, this was probably the first time Lauryn hadn't exploded. Money talked, it seemed. He went upstairs and knocked softly on Madison's door. "Dinner is ready. Come eat." "I know. I'll be right down," she said. Silence followed. Gabriel smiled helplessly and headed back down. At the table, Madison glanced from the two dishes to Lauryn, equally surprised. She didn't care much about food, but her mother hadn't picked a fight with Gabriel. That was unexpected. Then she saw the Chanel bag on the wine rack and understood at once. Her mother was a social climber, and she was aware of it. It was likely the $10,000 Gabriel had come up with that kept her temper in check. Even so, a question nagged at her. Did Gabriel think that earning $10,000 meant he'd grown a backbone? "Why only two dishes today?" Madison asked coolly. "I had errands this afternoon. I forgot to buy more ingredients," Gabriel said. "What could you possibly have been busy with?" Madison asked, eyebrows knitting.

Chapter 7: Life-Extending Needles

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