Chapter 134: The Mountain Fire

Lu Feng helped Mr. Liang onto the bed and made him comfortable. He then pulled over two chairs and gestured with his fingers, calling out, "Mu Yu, come here."

Su Mu Yu hesitated for a split second before responding with an "Oh" and walking over.

Lu Feng pulled her down to sit beside him and said, "Didn't you want to learn the 'Burning Mountain Fire' technique? I'll teach you now."

"Huh?" Su Mu Yu’s mouth hung open in surprise.

The students behind them who had heard of "Burning Mountain Fire" were equally astonished and began to whisper, "I heard that Burning Mountain Fire is an ancient acupuncture technique. What remains today is incomplete; only the basic needling methods have been passed down."

Wang Shunyi frowned, feeling skeptical. Could this kid actually know Burning Mountain Fire? Impossible! The boy must be bluffing. Currently, the only person in the Traditional Chinese Medicine community who truly knows Burning Mountain Fire is the "Needle King," Li Guhe, and it is rumored that Li is writing a book on acupuncture to detail the technique.

Ignoring their reactions, Lu Feng picked up a filiform needle. Using the basic "three advances, one withdrawal" method, he inserted it into the Yinlingquan acupoint on Mr. Liang’s left leg.

As he manipulated the needle, he explained to Su Mu Yu, "Mr. Liang has old injuries in the meridians between the Xuehai and Yinlingquan acupoints on both legs. Half a year ago, these injuries were aggravated by arthritis. Since the legs are the part of the body closest to the ground, they are the most prone to gathering cold. We must use the Burning Mountain Fire technique to disperse the cold accumulated in his leg meridians."

Su Mu Yu listened intently; she was always incredibly focused when studying traditional medicine. However, the fact that a student was listening so devotedly to someone else in the presence of a legitimate associate professor like Wang Shunyi infuriated him. He felt Su Mu Yu was intentionally slighting him as revenge for his previous attempt to take liberties with her during a tutoring session.

"The fire of the burning mountain dispels cold; three advances, one withdrawal, and the illness is calmed. Start at five-tenths depth, end at one inch; lift slowly after three cycles of insertion and withdrawal." After reciting the mantra, Lu Feng continued, "The *Suwen: Needle Treatise* says that to treat a deficiency with tonification, one must induce heat under the needle; when the Qi is full, heat is generated. With three advances and one withdrawal, you can feel the heat on the needle during the withdrawal phase. That is the ‘heat under the needle.’"

Lu Feng inserted another needle into the Xuehai acupoint. These two points—Xuehai and Yinlingquan—were the most critical; the remaining points could be handled with slightly less intensity.

Lu Feng handed the needles to Su Mu Yu and said, "You do the next five. Follow the method I just described and needle the Shangqiu, Sanyinjiao, Lougu, Diji, and Jimen acupoints."

"Me?" Su Mu Yu felt a wave of nervousness as the needles were placed in her hand.

"Yes, you," Lu Feng nodded firmly. He then picked up a pen and paper to write a prescription.

After finishing the prescription, he looked around but couldn't find anyone to fill it. A nurse was standing by the door, so Lu Feng beckoned her over and said, "Please fill this prescription for me."

The nurse glanced at Lu Feng sideways and said with disdain, "Can't you do it yourself?"

This was Wang Shunyi’s territory, and the nurse was clearly trying to curry favor with him. Her dismissive eye-roll at Lu Feng immediately won Wang’s approval. Lu Feng didn't get angry; he simply stood up, intending to get the medicine himself.

Su Mu Yu suddenly grabbed his hand and said with a helpless expression, "I'm nervous. Let me go get the medicine instead."

"You weren't nervous when you needled me. How can you learn traditional medicine if you're afraid to perform the technique?" Lu Feng said, his tone slightly stern.

"I just can't help it," Su Mu Yu said with a bitter smile.

Treating the patient was the priority. Lu Feng handed her the prescription and said, "Fine, you go get the medicine, and remember to get a bottle of medical alcohol."

Su Mu Yu nodded and left with the prescription.

Lu Feng inserted needles into both of Mr. Liang’s legs, leaving two neat rows of filiform needles protruding from his skin. Usually, once the acupoints were needled in this manner, the acupuncture session would be considered finished. Mr. Liang looked at the two rows of needles on his legs, feeling nothing out of the ordinary. The small glimmer of hope for recovery in his heart flickered out, and he sighed silently to himself, thinking that if a professor from the Medical University couldn't cure his condition, how could he pin his hopes on a mere youth?

After a while, Su Mu Yu returned with the medicine and the alcohol. Lu Feng took the medicine, pulled her aside, and asked in a low voice, "Are you tired?"

Su Mu Yu shook her head. Looking at the two rows of needles on the patient's legs, she asked, "Is the needling finished?"

"Not yet. I've taught you the basic insertion for Burning Mountain Fire; what follows is the true 'burning' of the mountain." Lu Feng smiled, crushed the medicine into a mortar, poured it into a glass, added a small amount of water, and heated it over an alcohol lamp.

Once the medicine boiled, he extinguished the lamp, let it cool slightly, added the medical alcohol, and stirred it with a glass rod to create a medicinal liquor. Su Mu Yu watched intently, occasionally glancing at Lu Feng’s focused expression as he prepared the medicine. She suddenly realized that the saying, "a man’s greatest charm lies in his focus," was remarkably accurate.

He was so focused that she couldn't bear to disturb him, simply watching in silence, even when she had questions.

Once the medicine was prepared, Lu Feng used tweezers to soak a cotton ball in the liquor, pressed it against the side of the glass to squeeze out the excess, and carefully placed the saturated cotton ball onto the head of one of the inserted needles.

There were fourteen needles in total on Mr. Liang’s legs; Lu Feng placed fourteen soaked cotton balls on them. The onlookers watched, confused as to the purpose of this. There are many types of acupuncture, including those using external medicines, so those with medical knowledge assumed the medicinal properties were meant to slowly seep into the meridians through the needle tracks.

However, after finishing this, Lu Feng didn't stop. He picked up a match, struck it, and lit one of the alcohol-soaked cotton balls.

The concentration of medical alcohol was very high, and it ignited instantly upon contact with the flame. Everyone stared wide-eyed, eager to see what he would do next. Mr. Liang felt a bit nervous, as there was literally fire burning on his legs.

Lu Feng pressed down on his shoulder to reassure him, "Don't worry, the alcohol concentration is high, it won't be too hot." As he spoke, he leaned down and blew on the burning cotton.

*Whoosh!*

The flame was blown sideways, immediately igniting the second cotton ball, which in turn ignited the third. The fire spread until all fourteen cotton balls were ablaze. The flames connected into a single sheet, resembling a mountain range set on fire. At that moment, everyone finally understood the origin of the name "Burning Mountain Fire."

Driven by the high temperature, the medicinal properties permeated the meridians along with the seeping liquor, dispersing the cold while treating the damaged meridians.

Several minutes later, the alcohol in the liquor burned off, and the flames slowly died out. Mr. Liang felt that the needles in his legs were somewhat hot, but he gritted his teeth and endured it, for he had witnessed such a miraculous technique that a glimmer of hope for recovery had suddenly returned to his heart.

Once the fire was extinguished, Lu Feng used the tweezers to remove the cotton balls and then pulled out the needles one by one.