On this day, Samuel Bennett was extremely busy—writing prescriptions, selling pills, and explaining to people what each pill was for and how to take them. It wasn’t until the afternoon that things finally quieted down. He hadn’t even had time for a bowl of noodles at lunch, but he felt more satisfied than if he’d eaten ten bowls. By now, he was sure he had earned 92 yuan. His memory was especially good; even though he hadn’t written anything down, he remembered clearly who bought which pills and how many.

Seeing that there weren’t many people left, he was just about to pack up when a middle-aged man with glasses arrived. The man looked thin, but his eyes were bright and he had a scholarly air about him.

The man sat down on a chair, and Samuel Bennett took his pulse, discovering that this man’s condition was a bit different from everyone else’s he’d seen before.

Chapter 10: The Auditor

This patient seemed to have a lung problem. Samuel Bennett sent a stream of internal energy through the man’s body, guiding it to the lungs for inspection. He found a lot of white dust on the lung membranes, and a distinct black patch on the left lung lobe. Probing the black patch with his energy, he discovered even more dust and many viruses. Since his energy was already inside, he decided to do a full-body check and found that the man’s legs also had issues—not rheumatism, but rather brittle bones and some abnormal bone growths caused by standing for long periods.

“May I ask what your profession is?” Samuel Bennett inquired.

“I’m a teacher at the middle school nearby.”

“No wonder. I see your lungs have some issues; you must inhale a lot of dust regularly. Also, your leg bones aren’t in great shape—looks like bone spurs from standing too much.”

“That’s right. I teach every day, and the chalk dust from cleaning the blackboard definitely gets into my lungs. Plus, I spend long hours teaching, and my legs have been a chronic problem.”

“I’ll write you two prescriptions—one for your lungs and one for your legs. The treatment will take some time, and during this period, you shouldn’t work. You should rest for a while.”

The middle-aged man became anxious at this: “That won’t do. The high school entrance exams are in two months. Without my tutoring, the students’ results definitely won’t be ideal.”

“Then try to shorten your class hours as much as possible, and sit more, stand less. You should be able to manage that, right?” Seeing his reaction, Samuel Bennett was reminded of his own father from childhood. The man before him resembled his father somewhat. He remembered being bitten by a red centipede as a child, and his father wasn’t home at the time—he was at school tutoring students.

“I guess that’s all I can do. The students will graduate in two months anyway.” The man smiled helplessly.

Hearing this, Samuel Bennett knew it would be hard for him to follow the advice. Clearly, he was doing this for his students, and his demeanor was so similar to Samuel Bennett’s father from his childhood. Thinking this, he wanted to help him more. Normally, the man’s condition would require regular medication and reduced exposure to dust, with gradual recovery. With Samuel Bennett’s prescriptions, he’d be mostly cured in half a year at best.

“Looks like I’ll have to use my internal energy to help him recuperate,” Samuel Bennett thought. But to avoid revealing his ability to use internal energy, he decided to say he’d use acupuncture instead—after all, his acupuncture skills were already somewhat well-known.

“In that case, I’ll give you an acupuncture treatment first, but you still need to take the herbal medicine on schedule.”

He inserted a few needles into the man’s chest, and as the needles went in, he sent several streams of internal energy into the man’s body. The man’s lungs were like a wall by the roadside, covered in a thick layer of dust from daily exposure. The left lung lobe was even worse, almost moldy. The internal energy acted like a high-pressure water jet, washing away the dust from the lung walls, wrapping it up, and sending it through the stomach into the large intestine, so that it would be expelled from the body during the next bowel movement.

After Samuel Bennett inserted the needles into his chest, the man felt a warm sensation in his lungs, as if years of blockage had suddenly cleared. It was especially comfortable, and when he breathed, there was no longer the pain he used to feel in that lung. When Samuel Bennett removed the needles, the warmth faded, but his breathing felt as easy as it had before he started teaching—something he hadn’t felt in a long time.

He then needled the man’s legs. There was no quick fix for the bone spurs, but Samuel Bennett used his internal energy to kill off some of the cells in the overgrown areas and smoothed out some of the bone spurs. Although Samuel Bennett thought the effect on the legs wouldn’t be significant, the man actually felt as if someone was massaging his legs—very comfortable, and without the previous swelling sensation. The man realized the young man across from him was probably using qigong to treat him; otherwise, the effect wouldn’t be so obvious. Seeing that Samuel Bennett didn’t mention it, he kept quiet as well, but felt deeply grateful.

“Young man, your acupuncture is really effective. I feel much better now, almost like I’m young again. Haha!” the man said happily.

“By the way, did you use qigong to treat me?” the man couldn’t help but ask.