"Although I called you master," Yang Ruxin had been using her mind to watch Dao Xuzi needling, she could even see how deep the needle entered the acupoints, "is it okay for you to teach me like this... without having formally kowtowed and been accepted into your Cloud Sect?"
"Ha ha..." Dao Xuzi couldn’t help but laugh, "Then give me a kowtow, and it will be considered as a formal entry. You’ll also be the only disciple of Dao Xuzi. I used to think I would take this needling technique with me to the grave, having never met someone whose character and talent were both exceptional. If that were the case, I would have failed our founder. But now I’ve got a successor, and I’ve accounted for myself to our founder..."
"Are you praising me?" Ruxin couldn’t help but roll her eyes, "Also, is accepting a disciple supposed to be this hasty?"
"You could ceremoniously make me some more delicious food..."
"Fine." Ruxin’s mouth twitched, but she didn’t bother about the old man’s pettiness. She glanced at Gu Qingheng, who had fallen into a deep sleep, then kneeled on the ground and respectfully kowtowed three times to the old man, "Master."
"This is the token of Cloud Sect." Dao Xuzi pulled out a jade pendant from somewhere and handed it over, "Keep it safe."
Yang Ruxin took it and glanced at it. It was a red, round jade pendant. At first glance, it seemed ordinary, the kind you could buy several of at a market stall for a couple of silver coins. However, when she focused her thoughts to inspect it, she saw that there seemed to be characters flickering inside the pendant, although she couldn’t make them out clearly just yet. She then thanked her master and hung the jade pendant around her neck.
Dao Xuzi nodded in satisfaction, "Remember the rules of the Cloud Sect: do not treat those who do not believe, those who are not sincere, and those who are not dedicated."
Yang Ruxin nodded, understanding without needing an explanation. Why bother treating those who didn’t trust them, those who were insincere, and those who weren’t earnestly seeking treatment? Would that not be a needless hassle?
"You should understand what not believing and not being sincere mean," Dao Xuzi stroked his beard, "And ’not dedicated’ means that if you encounter an illness that is not your specialty, you must not treat it, to avoid delaying the patient."
Yang Ruxin suddenly felt embarrassed, having misunderstood.
At that moment, Gu Qingheng began to shiver and sweat profusely, obviously due to the needling, and his body was in severe pain again, although he was still asleep.
Yang Ruxin grabbed a towel to wipe off the cold sweat from Gu Qingheng’s body and glanced at Dao Xuzi, who was observing Gu Qingheng intently, but she said nothing.
"Speak up," Dao Xuzi adjusted the depth of the Golden Needle at the Zusanli point and then looked at Yang Ruxin, "You don’t have to beat around the bush with your master..."
"If I said I could heal his eyes, would you believe me?"
"I believe," Dao Xuzi nodded without showing any surprise, "because my needling technique has limited effect on the blood clot in his eyes. To disperse the clot, adjunctive medication is needed, and right now, his body is so poisoned that any medicine would be pointless. Therefore, to treat his eyes, the poison must be completely removed, and his body gradually brought back to health before medication can be used. That process..." It would undoubtedly be very long, possibly taking three to five years, "but I’ve noticed these past few days, the condition of his eyes has been continuously improving, so I guess you’ve been treating him..."