Thirty-Six Acupoints

Qiao Long returned in the middle of the night, indicating that everything had been taken care of.

The next morning, Captain 12 was executed outright at the execution grounds in front of everyone.

The man kept shouting that he had been wronged before his death, but the Wa people did not care.

Team 12 was finished, and the Wa people knew it. In their eyes, this was basically the same as saying the entire team was the Prey Group's reserve force.

Once the next batch of newcomers arrived, they would simply reorganize Team 12 completely.

They executed the captain, then inventoried Team 12's public funds and checked the accounts. They directly appointed the explosive-balls man with the highest contribution in Team 12 as the new captain. He was a Black man.

Just as the Wa people finished handling things and were about to leave, the Black captain limped after them.

He said awkwardly, "Um... our team's Redemption Vouchers..."

"They were collected in advance. You still owe 6,900 points. You must make up the difference by the fifteenth." After saying that, the Wa people left.

The newly appointed Black captain was dumbfounded. The moment he took over, he had inherited a massive mess.

The Redemption Squad settled each team's monthly quota in the middle of the month. It was already the third, leaving only twelve days until the fifteenth.

The entire team had earned only 3,100 points in more than half a month, and even those had been taken away.

By the time he took over, they had not even been left with the chance to make one final desperate gamble with their lives. Including Jin Meimei, the entire team had only fifteen people left.

Each person had to earn 460 Redemption Vouchers in the final twelve days. This was practically an absolute dead end.

Seeing the Black captain's utterly hopeless expression, Sule could not help asking Qiao Long, "Does Team 9 also fall short by a lot?"

Qiao Long said, "We earned 8,400 points this month, but if we count the savings we secretly kept from before, we actually have enough already."

Sule was delighted. "Our team is that capable? Then we can just scrape together the rest casually and still have enough?"

Qiao Long frowned. "Scrape it together casually? Every time we send people into a game, they're risking their lives."

Sule fell silent, once again recalling Silver Hand's terror.

To encounter that guy in the first game for newcomers was damn unlucky. Under normal circumstances, it would end with the entire group wiped out.

Gaoxin asked him, "When are you planning to enter a game next?"

Qiao Long pondered. "Actually, I'm not planning to enter another game this month. I've already earned 2,000 over the past dozen or so days."

Sule covered his mouth. Good heavens, Qiao Long had earned 2,000 points by himself, completing a fifth of the quota. No wonder everyone on the team respected him.

"Then can't you use Black Medicine and become a Radiation User?" Gaoxin asked.

Qiao Long said in surprise, "It only has a ten percent survival rate. I did meet the requirement a long time ago, but I've never been willing to go."

"I advise you not to have that thought either. Although succeeding would let you turn your life around, it's actually more dangerous than a game. There's no room for any maneuvering. If you succeed, you succeed; if you fail, you die."

Gaoxin could understand, but he could tell that Qiao Long was not the sort to remain content with his lot.

He smiled. "If you have something else to rely on, then of course you don't have to go."

Qiao Long glanced at Gaoxin. "In a few days... I should be able to tell you in a few days."

Gaoxin understood. Qiao Long definitely had an escape plan, but he was only a low-level participant in it. There were influential figures above him.

Before he could tell Gaoxin about the plan, he first had to obtain permission from the people above him.

"Brother Xin Ku!" Dongfang Yi suddenly approached with Jin Meimei.

Meimei excitedly expressed her gratitude to Gaoxin. She had originally been assigned to Team 12, and after discovering what that team was like, she had fallen into despair.

The moment she joined the team, she had been taught the rules. The captain had immediately put her on the schedule, and she had to enter a game every day.

She also had to bring out Redemption Vouchers. If she failed to do so, she would receive severe punishment.

If Gaoxin had not dealt with Team 12's captain, she would have been sent into a game first thing this morning.

"I finally understand why Liu Xu said that staying in the entertainment group was the best possible outcome."

"Luckily, I have you."

Meimei spoke bitterly. Then she looked at Gaoxin with shining eyes. She had already learned what had happened the previous night and secretly thought that she really had not invested in the wrong person.

She was simply surprised that Gaoxin had used his fists. Could it be that he had strengthened his brain rather than his body? Still, if he had not relied on his fists, Gaoxin could not have seized control so quickly and saved her from the depths of misery.

Gaoxin shrugged. "You don't think following me means you won't have to enter games, do you?"

"No, but at least following you gives me something to look forward to... You have no idea. The moment I entered Team 12 and heard that guy talk, I knew the team was finished." Meimei still felt shaken.

Gaoxin frowned. "Your life is still tied to Team 12. That team still has a 6,900-point hole."

Meimei's face paled. 6,900 points—and she was not even on the same team as Gaoxin. Even if Gaoxin wanted to help, there was no way he could help with that much.

Dongfang Yi remained calm. "We can only risk everything in an Intermediate Game."

Gaoxin asked, "You've participated in an Intermediate Game?"

Dongfang Yi nodded. "I have. This team nearly failed to make it through last month. In the final few days, that guy threw most of the members into an Intermediate Game."

At that moment, the Black captain ran over. "That's right. Dongfang Yi was one of the people who survived, and he was the only one who brought back 3,000 Redemption Vouchers."

Everyone was startled. Three thousand points in a single game? That guy had saved the entire team at the last moment.

Qiao Long could not bear to listen any longer. "I knew your team was outrageous, but I didn't realize it was this outrageous!"

"With a sales champion like him, I'd worship him like an ancestor if he were on my team. If he wanted to be captain, I'd gladly give him the position!"

"And you people actually forced him to the point where he wanted to die together with the captain? I really have nothing to say!"

The Black captain laughed sheepishly. "It was all that guy's fault. We had no choice but to listen to him. After all, he alone decided who entered games and who didn't."

Dongfang Yi cast him a faint glance and said nothing.

Gaoxin asked, "What are Intermediate Games like? How are the rewards?"

Dongfang Yi recalled. "For Glass People like us, Intermediate and Low-level Games are about equally dangerous."

"The increase in difficulty is mainly aimed at Radiation Users. They're the real players."

"For us, either way, survival is nine times out of ten impossible. Compared in terms of risk and reward, I actually feel that Intermediate Games are somewhat more worthwhile."

Everyone looked at him strangely. "Intermediate Games are more worthwhile? Risking your life is still risking your life. There are degrees to it. You only feel that way because you won once, right?"

Dongfang Yi shook his head. "The basic survival reward for an Intermediate Game is already 1,000 points. I also eliminated an opponent in the game and completed a mission, so I received 3,000."

Gaoxin pressed him. "Was there a mechanism for eliminating opponents, or did you kill them through strategy?"

"It was a mechanism, but I'm not sure whether every game has one. I'll tell you roughly what happened."

As Dongfang Yi spoke, he began recounting his Intermediate Game.

The entire process had been hair-raising, and the difficulty was indeed much higher than that of a Low-level Game.

However, there was also more room for maneuver, because the increase in difficulty was mainly placed on the Radiation Users.

As long as Glass People were intelligent enough and cooperated well enough, they could still survive. They might even be able to use the mechanisms to kill Radiation Users.

In short, those with weak abilities would find Intermediate Games absurdly difficult and feel that entering meant throwing their lives away. Those with strong abilities, however, might find Intermediate Games easier to survive in. The results were polarized.

Of course, the prerequisite was that they must not be NPCs.

According to Dongfang Yi's description, the NPCs in his Intermediate Game had been as miserable as quest items... They had been almost certain to die!

Gaoxin pondered. "I roughly understand. The appeal of Low-level Games is slaughter and fear, as if a butcher were toying with sheep. Radiation Users usually aren't in much danger."

"But Intermediate Games are different. Although Glass People still have only a one-in-nine chance of survival, Radiation Users can also die easily. In the face of death, the two sides instead become somewhat more equal."

"The risk is higher, but the rewards are also greater. Theoretically, the rewards can exceed 10,000 points."

Dongfang Yi sighed. "They can exceed 10,000, but for Glass People, that's too difficult."

"I was lucky the last time. If I'd dared to be greedier, I probably wouldn't have returned."

Gaoxin now had a general idea. He then asked the people around him, "Has anyone here participated in an Advanced Game?"

Sule was startled. Good heavens, he was already asking about Advanced Games? Did he think Intermediate Games were not harsh enough?

Qiao Long frowned. "Boss Gao, the highest-level game Glass People can participate in is an Intermediate Game."

"Advanced Game players are held to combat-power requirements. They have to be at least a tiger."

Gaoxin understood. Advanced Games were contests between the strong.

At that level, matching them with Glass People would be meaningless.

Qiao Long had previously explained that True Tiger Level strength was three hundred times one's body weight. What kind of concept was that? They could probably lift a Blue Whale! In front of such an existence, Glass People were more fragile than glass!

"I'm going to participate in an Intermediate Game." Gaoxin made up his mind.

Dongfang Yi said calmly, "My team owes 6,900 points. I'll go too. Shall we form a team?"

Sule hurriedly said, "Then I'll go too."

Meimei hesitated for a moment before raising her hand. "I can go too."

Gaoxin glanced at them and nodded in agreement.

Putting everything else aside, at least they were obedient. If he replaced them with others, he would have to divide his attention.

Qiao Long narrowed his eyes. "A team game? In that case, it'll be a team battle."

Gaoxin asked, "Do you have experience with that?"

Qiao Long nodded. "Team games usually yield more income than solo games."

"But I've only participated in team battles in Low-level Games. I don't know about Intermediate Games."

"In any case, if you form a team, the other participants will also be in teams. If you form a team of however many people, they'll have the same number of people."

Gaoxin looked over everyone and asked, "What's the maximum number of people in a team?"

"Five." Qiao Long spoke up. "If you need someone, I can make up the numbers."

Gaoxin nodded. "Then the five of us will do."

"But let's rest for a few days and go once we're in better condition."

"Dongfang Yi, how are your injuries?"

Dongfang Yi smiled. He had been beaten half to death yesterday, and today he was still covered in injuries.

The team's public funds had all been confiscated, and he had no way to get proper treatment. He could only receive some rough treatment at the medical station, so he did indeed need to recuperate.

Still, he said confidently, "They're just flesh wounds. A little Muscle-generating paste will do. As long as there are no broken bones or damage to the internal organs, it's nothing."

The corners of Gaoxin's mouth lifted. "Muscle-generating paste. Did you make it yourself?"

Dongfang Yi answered casually, "Yes. Team 12 beat its members at the drop of a hat, so everyone was covered in injuries."

"Although the island lacks medicinal materials, anything can be exchanged for at Silver Tower. AI medicine is too expensive, so I spent a few Redemption Vouchers to buy a pile of Chinese medicinal herbs and made some white medicine and Muscle-generating paste myself. They work very well on external injuries."

Gaoxin put an arm around him. "Good, good, good. Everyone, disperse. Come upstairs with me and explain the medicine-making process in detail."

Thus, everyone agreed on a time and went their separate ways.

Gaoxin returned upstairs and dragged Dongfang Yi into the small room.

Dongfang Yi was not very strong and could not resist him at all.

But when Gaoxin dragged him into the bathroom, Dongfang Yi's expression changed. "Wait... what are you doing?"

"Damn it, Team 9 isn't any good either! I'd rather go back to Team 12 and get beaten."

Seeing him struggle desperately, Gaoxin released his hand. "What am I doing? I'm going to give you acupuncture."

Dongfang Yi stared at him and retreated into a corner. "What acupuncture? Is that Team 9 slang?"

Gaoxin asked in surprise, "I heard that traditional Chinese medicine can treat people by stimulating acupoints with acupuncture. You don't know how?"

Only then did Dongfang Yi come back to his senses. He coughed. "Oh, you mean that kind of acupuncture..."

"Cough, cough. Then why did you drag me into the bathroom?"

Gaoxin pointed at the petal-filled water in the bathtub. "Because the medicinal bath we make ourselves has become less and less effective. Can you help me prepare a better one?"

Dongfang Yi was dumbfounded. He walked to the bathtub and looked at the petals inside. "A medicinal bath? You call this thing a medicinal bath?"

"Does it clear heat and reduce internal fire?"

He scooped up a handful with his hand. Seeing the petals had already turned black, he immediately flung them away in disgust.

Gaoxin said, "My brother prepared it for me. It mainly replenishes my physical exertion and stimulates my body to heal injuries."

"It works well, but I wanted to see if you could prepare something better."

Dongfang Yi looked completely bewildered. He hurriedly scrambled over to the bathtub and stirred through the water, even tasting some.

Then he spat repeatedly. "How the hell could this be effective? Um, fill a bottle and let me take it back to study."

He had begun to doubt himself. This seemed to have gone beyond his knowledge of pharmacology.

"This... might have had some effect at first, but methods such as medicinal baths and fumigation are only effective once. Have you been using it continuously?" Dongfang Yi asked.

Gaoxin nodded. "Yes. There aren't many flowers nearby, but what does it matter if it only works once?"

He did not take it seriously. After all, he had soaked in it more than once yesterday, and it had worked each time, just with diminishing effects.

Dongfang Yi bared his teeth. "What do you mean, what does it matter? If it's for one use, you can't use it twice."

"After you use it, its components change. Add the passage of time and the fact that the flowers have rotted..."

"In other words, it has become another medicine, or even poison!"

Gaoxin suddenly understood. "So that's what happened. It became a different medicine... I thought there was something wrong with my thinking."

He relied on the Art of False Medicine to amplify and distort the medicine's effects.

If it had been something he drank, that would have been fine. But this was for external use, and it had been continuously affected and changed. As he kept using it, the concept he had originally implanted in himself through the techniques of Dark Logic became ineffective, because this was no longer "Sule's exclusive medicinal bath."

Dongfang Yi rolled his eyes. "What the hell does this have to do with your thinking?"

"Who prepared this for you? Didn't they tell you something so basic?"

"Chinese medicine isn't that simple. Different people, different illnesses, and even different times of day can all produce different effects."

Gaoxin smiled. "Yes, yes, yes. From now on, once I finish my special training, I'll leave all my restorative and fatigue-relieving medicinal baths to you."

Dongfang Yi stroked his chin and thought. "Not for now. I don't have any medicinal materials. I'll have to exchange for them at Silver Tower."

"But if it's only for conditioning after training, relieving fatigue, reducing swelling and removing bruises, unblocking the meridians, reducing inflammation, and expelling toxins, you don't need a medicinal bath."

"I can apply a wet compress and massage you, working over the acupoints."

Gaoxin asked in surprise, "Massage? You don't need to stick needles in?"

Dongfang Yi smiled. "Who says you need acupuncture for everything? If you're only stimulating acupoints and unblocking the meridians, you can simply rub the relevant acupoints with your hands yourself."

Gaoxin clapped his hands in delight. "Good. That's good!"

"I'll go train first. When I'm done, you can massage me."

After that, Gaoxin continued his training.

Meanwhile, Dongfang Yi ate outside, and after finishing, he went to sleep.

But before he had even slept for an hour, Gaoxin shook him awake. "I'm done. Come on."

Dongfang Yi rose groggily. "What? I just fell asleep... You've already finished training?"

Seeing Gaoxin emerge while weakly supporting himself against the wall, his entire body limp,

Dongfang Yi curled his lips. "Little brother, I couldn't tell, but your body's a little weak."

"You look so strong, yet you're already done after only an hour?"

Gaoxin smiled, then slid straight to the floor. "It's nothing. I can still train later. I'm only taking a ten-minute break."

Dongfang Yi hurriedly caught him and helped him lie down on the bed.

"You can recover in ten minutes? Good grief, how did you get bruised too?"

"And where did this cut come from? Were you abusing yourself in there?"

Gaoxin said casually, "My training is very intense."

Dongfang Yi shook his head. "Wait here."

With that, he ran off.

He soon returned with a bottle of ointment and several rolls of bandages. After applying the medicine, he bandaged all the wounds.

Before long, Gaoxin's hands and feet, waist and abdomen, and chest were wrapped in white bandages. He looked exactly like someone who had been training hard for years.

Dongfang Yi then brought over a basin of hot water. He soaked a towel in it, wrung it out, applied medicine to the other bruises, and covered them with the towel.

At the same time, he skillfully kneaded and massaged Gaoxin.

Although Gaoxin looked weak and listless, he still forced himself to stay alert and kept asking which area Dongfang Yi was pressing and what place he was rubbing.

Dongfang Yi could only explain as he continued the massage.

But Gaoxin kept asking about the effects. Dongfang Yi wondered how he was supposed to explain it when Gaoxin had never even laid the foundation.

So he said patiently, "Stop asking. It's complicated. I learned it from elementary school onward."

Gaoxin continued pressing him. "Then teach me. Let me learn the acupoints, so I can massage myself in the future and won't have to trouble you."

Seeing him say that, Dongfang Yi thought that he really couldn't stay here and keep Gaoxin company every day.

So he casually replied, "Sure. I'll teach you thirty-six super-effective acupoints. The techniques are simple, and ordinary people can use them too."

"They can strengthen the spleen, cleanse the intestines, protect the liver, nourish the stomach, benefit the kidneys, soothe the heart, clear the mind, promote blood circulation, open the meridians, relieve pain, dissolve blood stasis, detoxify..."

"Massage them regularly. Press them whenever you have nothing to do. You'll get sick less often and even grow younger."

He rattled it all off like he was reciting a textbook, spouting one catchy phrase after another.

He sounded completely casual, but Gaoxin was shaken to the core!

So many effects? It could even stop bleeding, detoxify the body, and make someone younger?

"Hiss! It's that powerful? Traditional Chinese medicine is freaking awesome!"

"That one! Master, that's the one I want to learn."

Gaoxin was wildly excited.

Dongfang Yi felt a little embarrassed. "Ahem, traditional Chinese medicine is definitely awesome, but I'm no master. I just learned a bit from my grandfather when I was young."

As he spoke, his gaze dimmed slightly.

P.S. Sorry.