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墨書 Inktalez
“Ancient Sorcerer, where did you go last night?”
As soon as I returned to the camp, I ran into Fang Ru. Not long after Ancient Sorcerer left last night, a fierce wind arose and heavy rain poured down. Fang Ru stayed up all night but did not wait for Ancient Sorcerer to come back.
What happened last night was definitely not something that could be spoken of. Ancient Sorcerer shook his head, “Oh, I went out for a patrol. In this kind of weather, it's most likely someone would cause trouble.”
“But... it was pouring rain last night.”
During the storm, while inside the tent, Fang Ru felt like the sky was about to collapse. She couldn't imagine how Ancient Sorcerer could stay outside.
“Someone like him could survive even if thrown into a cesspool.”
Ancient Sorcerer immediately recognized it was Li Zhu and didn't want to engage with such a person.
“I’m heading back to the tent for a shower.”
Watching Ancient Sorcerer turn and leave, Fang Ru thought something must have happened last night—there was no need to be outside all night just for a patrol.
“What a mysterious man!”
Seeing Fang Ru staring at Ancient Sorcerer’s back as if she couldn’t see him, Li Zhu felt frustrated and said, “He’s just a soldier, isn’t he? What makes him worthy of you?!”
Turning to look at Li Zhu, Fang Ru replied, “Li Zhu, you graduated from a prestigious school, come from a good family, and look decent. To put it in modern terms, you’re tall, handsome, and wealthy. As for Ancient Sorcerer, he’s just a soldier forced to be a bodyguard for survival.”
“Oh, Miss Fang, you flatter me.”
Hearing Fang Ru say this made Li Zhu smile and puff out his chest; it was the first compliment he had received from her in three months.
“To put it simply, you are like a bucket of water, crystal clear; Ancient Sorcerer is also a bucket of water but rather murky.”
“Oh, thank you! Thank you! Your description really makes me feel a bit embarrassed.”
Li Zhu's smile grew wider as he wondered if he should take the opportunity to ask for a date.
"The water is too clear; you can see right through it, which makes it uninteresting. But murky water hides what’s inside, and that’s what makes it attractive."
Li Zhu's smile froze. He wasn't a fool; Fang Ru was implying that he couldn't compare to the Ancient Sorcerer, that he was just a pretty face with no real substance!
"Fang Ru, you..."
Fang Ru smiled and said, "Li Zhu, I was just making a comparison; I didn't mean anything special."
The Ancient Sorcerer was unaware of what had transpired between Fang Ru and Li Zhu after he left. Upon returning to the tent, he hurriedly took a shower. Just as he put on his clothes, he heard a scream from outside, followed by a chaotic rush of footsteps, as if everyone in the tents had rushed out.
"Could someone be trying to steal something again?"
The Ancient Sorcerer's expression changed, and he quickly dashed out of the tent.
In the open space in front of the tent, a circle of people surrounded something; they were all members of the archaeological team. He could vaguely see an old man lying in the center.
"What happened?"
The Ancient Sorcerer pushed through the crowd and squeezed in, only to find that the person lying on the ground was Jiang Tiesheng, the leader of this expedition.
"Professor Jiang collapsed suddenly as soon as he stepped out of the tent."
Fang Ru looked terrified. Just moments ago, while she was talking to Li Zhu, Jiang Tiesheng had walked out of the tent and collapsed after just a few steps.
Jiang Tiesheng had been her advisor during her graduate studies and had come this time specifically to help her. If anything happened to him, she would feel guilty for life.
"Li Zhu, please hurry and see what happened to Professor Jiang."
Fang Ru turned to Li Zhu and called out loudly; he was the only doctor in the entire expedition team, and now they could only rely on him.
"I'll take a look."
Looking at the Ancient Sorcerer in the crowd, Li Zhu smiled proudly.
Ancient Sorcerer was speechless; it was truly unbelievable that Li Zhu could act this way during such a critical moment.
"Irregular heartbeat, difficulty breathing, nausea and vomiting, sweating... loss of consciousness. This is Professor Jiang experiencing a heart attack. He should have his medication with him; taking it will help."
A few seconds later, Li Zhu stood up, feeling that he was truly being aided by fate. Jiang Tiesheng had exactly the heart condition he was skilled at treating. Didn't women appreciate capable men? This would certainly make him stand out in front of Fang Ru.
"Heart disease? Professor Jiang has never had heart disease!"
Fang Ru was startled; she was quite familiar with Jiang Tiesheng's condition and had never heard of any heart disease.
"Huh? No way?!"
Upon hearing this, Li Zhu was dumbfounded, his mind going blank.
"Li Zhu, what's wrong?"
A sense of unease rose in Fang Ru's heart.
"If Professor Jiang has never been diagnosed with heart disease before, it means this is an acute heart attack..."
"Li Zhu, stop rambling and just tell me what to do now?!"
Throwing up his hands, Li Zhu said, "If we were in a hospital, there might be a way, but right now I am powerless."
"Ah!"
Fang Ru exclaimed, her body swaying as her face turned pale.
"Eh?"
While Li Zhu was checking, the Ancient Sorcerer was also examining Jiang Tiesheng's body, feeling that something was off.
Rubbing his eyes, the Ancient Sorcerer focused again on Jiang Tiesheng.
"Silk!"
The Ancient Sorcerer gasped. He felt as if a crack suddenly appeared between his eyebrows, and a wooden tablet appeared out of nowhere. Then he "saw" that Jiang Tiesheng's entire body was enveloped in a faint layer of black mist, especially thick around the heart, resembling a blob of ink!
"This is Ghostly Affliction; it can be broken with the Dao Finger."
The Ancient Sorcerer was startled, unsure why he had such a thought. Moreover, wasn't that wooden tablet something he took from Fang Ru, the so-called Luo Tian? How could it appear at the Yintang position of his own eyes?
At the same time, the Ancient Sorcerer felt a surge of memory:
The excess Yin energy within conflicts with the Yang energy, leading to a lack of harmony. This causes heart pain and chest discomfort. By using the Dao to guide the True Spirit to strike the Neiguan acupoint, one can draw Yang energy into the body to balance Yin and Yang.
The first half of this sentence explained the cause of Jiang Tiesheng's illness, while the latter half described the treatment method, specifically a shamanic approach.
"This..."
The Ancient Sorcerer was dumbfounded, standing there like a wooden statue, unable to move.
"Li Zhu, aren't you an expert in heart diseases? Why do you have no solutions at all?"
Li Zhu's face flushed slightly as he replied, "There are no instruments here and no medications; what solutions could there be?"
"Professor Jiang's pupils have already shown signs of dilation, indicating that the heart has stopped for 30 to 45 seconds and has entered what is clinically referred to as a state of death. At this point, even Hua Tuo would be powerless to save him."
Fang Ru's legs went weak, and she could no longer stand, falling backward.
As soon as the Ancient Sorcerer saw this, he quickly reached out to support Fang Ru.
"What... what should we do now? Professor Jiang..."
Leaning against the Ancient Sorcerer, Fang Ru felt as if the sky had fallen. If it weren't for the Ancient Sorcerer's support, she would have collapsed to the ground. Tears welled up in her eyes and soon began to fall in streams.
Glancing at Jiang Tiesheng lying on the ground and then at Fang Ru, who looked like a weeping willow, the Ancient Sorcerer blurted out as if possessed:
"How about I give it a try?"
The memories of Luo Tian in Yintang might be useful, but given the current dire situation, there was no time to think too much.
"You?!"
Seeing Fang Ru leaning against the Ancient Sorcerer, Li Zhu's eyes nearly burst with anger as he shouted, "Hmph! The golden rescue window for sudden cardiac arrest is four to six minutes; otherwise, brain cells will suffer permanent damage. Don't even mention that you're not a doctor; even if you were, what could you possibly do in this godforsaken place?"
The Ancient Sorcerer coldly stared at Li Zhu: "How about you give it a try?!"
"I..."
Li Zhu was at a loss for words. If they were in a hospital, he might have had a solution, but here in the wilderness, there were no medicines or equipment—what could he possibly do?
Fang Ru lifted her head and realized she was almost pressed against the Ancient Sorcerer. Her face flushed, but she couldn't afford to feel shy at that moment. She exclaimed loudly:
"Ancient Sorcerer, do you have a way?"
"I learned a bit of first aid when I was in the army, but I don't know if it will help. I can only try my best."
"Great! That's wonderful! Please give it a shot. No matter what the outcome is, I and Professor Jiang's family will be grateful to you."
Fang Ru felt like a drowning person, clinging to any straw for hope.
"Just him? Hmph! Putting on a show!"
Li Zhu felt quite uncomfortable; he sensed that his authority was being challenged—how could someone already sentenced to death still be alive? What he couldn't tolerate even more was Fang Ru's gaze at the Ancient Sorcerer!
The Ancient Sorcerer ignored Li Zhu; time was of the essence now.
The treatment method was simple; all he needed to do was disperse the dark energy in the heart with True Spirit. Taking a deep breath, the Ancient Sorcerer tried to calm himself down; after all, this was his first time using sorcery to save someone.
"Whoosh!"
It was as if a gust of wind suddenly appeared in the void. The Ancient Sorcerer immediately felt something "stick" to his hand, a wave of warmth. Without thinking too much, he brought his wrist down and struck hard at Jiang Tiesheng's Neiguan acupoint, then hit the Jianli acupoint.
He brought his wrist down and struck hard at Jiang Tiesheng's Neiguan acupoint, then hit the Jianli acupoint.
The Neiguan acupoint is located in the center of the forearm, two inches above the wrist crease, while the Jianli acupoint is on the midline of the upper abdomen, three inches above the navel.
"Smack!"
"Bang!"
"Smack! Smack!"
"Bang! Bang!"
The Ancient Sorcerer rhythmically struck Jiang Tiesheng's Neiguan and Jianli acupoints, strands of True Spirit penetrated through the acupoints, slowly wrapping around the mass of dark energy in the heart, which began to dissipate and change color.
"Effective!"
Fang Ru exclaimed softly; she noticed that Jiang Tiesheng's breathing had become slightly heavier than before, no longer resembling someone who could stop breathing at any moment.
"What good is that?! An acute heart attack must clear the blocked arteries within an hour; otherwise, it will cause irreversible damage to the myocardium. Not to mention that he hasn't woken up yet; even if he does wake up, it won't matter. Once the myocardium is severely injured, he won't survive for long."
“Li Zhu, get out of my way!”
Fang Ru's face turned cold as she shouted loudly. Just when the situation seemed to be improving, Li Zhu said such a thing. How could she not be angry?!
“Fang Ru, although what I said is harsh, it is the truth. I am not like some people who are just pretending!”
Ancient Sorcerer frowned tightly. At this moment, he also realized that although the dark energy in Jiang Tiesheng's heart had decreased significantly compared to before, after reaching a certain level, his efforts were no longer effective.
Clenching his teeth, Ancient Sorcerer formed his hands into fists and struck hard at Jiang Tiesheng's heart!
“Bang!!!!”
Ancient Sorcerer hit with great force, producing a loud sound that startled everyone.
“What are you doing?! Do you want Professor Jiang to die even faster?”
Seeing this, Li Zhu felt delighted. Ancient Sorcerer had directly struck the heart of a patient with heart disease; this would definitely accelerate death, and he would surely be held responsible later.
Defibrillation is an important aspect of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and cardiovascular emergency care. Generally, there are three methods: electric shock, medication, and manual techniques. Among them, electric shock is the most effective, while manual chest compressions are the most difficult and least effective.
In Li Zhu's view, Ancient Sorcerer was trying to achieve defibrillation by striking the heart, but this was absolutely absurd. Even electric shock has poor effects! Not to mention that Ancient Sorcerer's technique at this moment was problematic—there was no difference from hitting a sandbag.
It seemed that Ancient Sorcerer did not hear Li Zhu's words at all; a hint of joy appeared on his face as he struck down again, causing the dark energy in Jiang Tiesheng's heart to decrease further.
“Bang bang bang!”
Ancient Sorcerer alternated his hands and struck fiercely at Jiang Tiesheng's heart.
“Um... Ancient Sorcerer, is this effective?”
Fang Ru trembled all over. The way Ancient Sorcerer was hitting looked just like he was hitting a sandbag—the only difference was that the target was a person!
"Hu~~ Hu~~~"
At this moment, there was no time for words for the Ancient Sorcerer. His breathing became increasingly rapid; if it were just punching a sandbag, he would have confidence to strike continuously at the fastest speed for half an hour without losing his breath, but it was not that simple now.
Each punch was actually gathering the thin True Spirit from the surrounding air and sending it to Jiang Tiesheng's heart to expel the darkness, which was incredibly exhausting.
Beads of sweat as large as soybeans covered the Ancient Sorcerer's forehead, yet his hands maintained a steady force and speed.
As his fists continued to strike down, the veins on Jiang Tiesheng's body began to swell, most notably in his neck, which had bulged like ugly centipedes. His entire face turned dark purple, as if it would burst with just a poke.
"Bang!"
The Ancient Sorcerer suddenly clasped his hands together into a fist and slammed it hard against the old man's heart.
"Pa!"
It sounded as if something had shattered.
"Puh!"
A mouthful of black blood spurted from the old man's mouth, and a foul odor spread, making those nearby feel nauseous. Fang Ru and the others stared in shock at everything happening, unable to utter a word; it was dead silent.
"It's okay now."
After an unknown amount of time, the silence was broken by the Ancient Sorcerer. With his words, the old man lying on the ground moved slightly, slowly opening his eyes and bitterly smiling as he said, "That hurt like hell!"
"Professor Jiang!"
Fang Ru suddenly rushed over, unable to hold back her tears.
Seeing Jiang Tiesheng able to speak, the Ancient Sorcerer let out a complete sigh of relief—he had succeeded! Looking at the boiling crowd, the Ancient Sorcerer shakily stood up and walked towards his tent; at that moment, all he wanted was to rest for a while.
"Thud!"
The Ancient Sorcerer sat down heavily on the simple bed, feeling as if all his strength had been drained away.
"Is all of this real? Did I really bring Jiang Tiesheng back to life? With sorcery?"
Staring at his hands, it felt as if they did not belong to him. Bringing Jiang Tiesheng back to life proved that the sorcery he had in his mind, such as spells, the Ancient Sorcerer, and the Nine Heavens Mysterious Fire Token, was indeed effective!
Raising his hands, the Ancient Sorcerer slowly formed the same hand seal he had used when saving Jiang Tiesheng, and a warm sensation immediately emerged.
"This is what they call True Spirit?"
The so-called True Spirit refers to True Spirit Energy, which exists to varying degrees in the world or in living beings with spiritual essence. A sorcerer can attract True Spirit through hand seals and symbols, which is key to the effectiveness of sorcery.
Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes tightly and gradually focused his attention between his eyebrows.
"Wow!"
The Ancient Sorcerer discovered that a wooden plaque was indeed floating between his eyebrows; it was the same one that had hung around his neck before.
"What the hell is going on in this world?"
He didn't know how much time had passed when someone lifted the fabric door of the tent and walked in. The Ancient Sorcerer looked up and found it was Fang Ru.
"Thank you."
Fang Ru pulled up a chair and sat down across from the Ancient Sorcerer—if it weren't for him, Jiang Tiesheng would probably have already lost his soul by now.
"Want a smoke?"
The Ancient Sorcerer picked up the cigarette box and waved it at Fang Ru.
"Yes."
Fang Ru nodded. Today's events were absolutely shocking, and she was still shaken.
"Ha~~~~~"
The Ancient Sorcerer took a deep breath and exhaled a long series of smoke rings before saying, "Is everything alright now?"
"Yeah, it should be fine. Professor Jiang has already fallen asleep."
Fang Ru pulled over a chair and sat down across from him. "Professor Jiang has a black fist mark on his chest, and this..."
"Oh, really? I didn't notice."
How could he not have noticed? Jiang Tiesheng was afflicted by the Ghostly Affliction, which essentially meant he had been hit by some kind of evil curse, with a ghost entering his body and devouring his essence! But he didn't want to say anything about it.
"Really?"
Fang Ru looked at the Ancient Sorcerer with disbelief. The strange fist mark on Jiang Tiesheng's chest looked like it had been left by a skeletal hand without flesh, striking him hard, resembling a chicken claw. She had noticed it; how could the Ancient Sorcerer not have?
Shrugging his shoulders, the Ancient Sorcerer gave a wry smile and said, "At that time, things were so rushed that I couldn't pay attention."
"How about this? I want to leave here, but Professor Jiang has just escaped danger. After such a long journey, I'm afraid..."
To be honest, Fang Ru didn't want to leave. She knew that the stone figure she was looking for should be nearby, but what happened to Jiang Tiesheng made her realize that things were not that simple. Staying here any longer might lead to situations beyond her imagination.
She was still a novice in archaeology and understood that there were some things she shouldn't touch, and they couldn't be explained by science either.
"How about this? I'll prepare a prescription."
Ancient Sorcerer immediately thought of a medicine that was just right for Jiang Tiesheng.
Fang Ru's eyes lit up as she said, "You can still prescribe medicine?"
In fact, Fang Ru was already quite surprised that Ancient Sorcerer could bring Jiang Tiesheng back from the brink of death, and she never expected that he could also prescribe medicine!
"Ah, a family heirloom medicine. Let's go now; time waits for no one."
The medicine was witchcraft, but it couldn't be said, so Ancient Sorcerer used the term "family heirloom" to gloss over it.
"This... you look very tired. Should we wait a bit before going?"
Just now, Ancient Sorcerer couldn't even light a cigarette by himself, which showed how exhausted he was.
"You drive; we'll find a traditional Chinese medicine shop in the nearby town."
"Okay!"
Fang Ru hesitated for a moment but ultimately agreed. Ancient Sorcerer was just a bit tired, while Jiang Tiesheng was in a life-and-death situation.
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