On the third day of the fourth month, during the hour of the snake.
In the deepest cell of the Ten Directions Secret Prison, luminous pearls and warm jade shone upon one another, bathing the room in warmth like the first light of dawn.
Lu Changfeng was administering acupuncture to the child whose arms were abnormally long.
With a slight movement of his wrist, a Huayang Needle pierced precisely into the Shentang point on Longhand's back.
Lu Changfeng held the end of the needle and circulated his cultivation to channel energy through it. A strand of pure, gentle Shennong Qi flowed in, nourishing like a springtime stream the meridians that the Soldier Blood Tonic had left congested and feverishly hot.
Longhand lay obediently on his stomach. He no longer trembled in terror as he had at first, only making faint "huh, huh" sounds in his throat, as though enduring the sensation of the needles.
On the other side of the room, Qing Dai stood watch over several small red-clay stoves, carefully tending the medicine pots.
Dark brown medicinal liquid bubbled inside them-the Heart-Clearing Meridian-Nourishing Decoction that Lu Changfeng had painstakingly formulated. Its rich medicinal fragrance mingled with the faint, fresh scent of vegetation, filling the entire space.
"Sir, the medicine is ready."
Qing Dai poured the strained decoction into a warm-jade bowl and brought it over.
Lu Changfeng had just withdrawn the last golden needle. He said gently to Longhand, "Come, drink your medicine."
Longhand raised his head, looking at Lu Changfeng and then at the bowl of medicine with its familiar scent. He reached out with both hands and took the jade bowl himself. He tried to drink on his own, but his altered arms made his movements clumsy, and some of the medicine spilled.
Qing Dai hurried forward