Chapter Summaries

Tongtong and Qiangzi visited Su Ziyang to apologize and thank him after his medicine cured Tongtong, whose relationship with Qiangzi had recovered. Erhei also came to thank Su Ziyang for treating his insomnia, and the group headed out to lunch together.

• Tongtong and Qiangzi visited Su Ziyang’s family with gifts and apologized for Tongtong’s hurtful words before the New Year.
• Tongtong explained that after taking Su Ziyang’s medicine for a week, she felt as if she had awakened from a long, hazy dream, and Qiangzi confirmed that she had recovered.
• Tongtong apologized to Su Ziyang, who accepted her apology and thanked her for trusting his medicine.
• Su Ziyang’s father returned home with Erhei, who brought roast duck and thanked Su Ziyang for curing his insomnia.
• Qiangzi and Erhei argued over who should pay for lunch, and Su Ziyang’s father ushered everyone out to eat.

After the Daoist Medicine Clinic remained closed, Su Ziyang learned that Mr. Mengfei had found him a bone-setting and realignment teacher in Henan. He prepared to leave the next morning, shared a farewell dinner with his parents, and woke with his father’s advice still echoing in his ears.

• Mr. Mengfei called Su Ziyang and told him he had found a teacher, then sent him the address in Henan.
• Su Ziyang told his mother he was leaving to study bone-setting and realignment, and he gave her a massage before going out to buy food and expensive liquor.
• Su Ziyang’s father came home and learned that Su Ziyang was leaving the next day, so the family shared a farewell dinner and drinks.
• Su Ziyang told his parents how much he had learned from his masters and recounted cases that had deepened his respect for their skills.
• Su Ziyang’s father advised him to be frugal and focus on useful skills, then told him to use three parts of his strength and leave seven for his descendants.
• Su Ziyang woke the next morning with his father’s advice still echoing in his ears.

Su Ziyang traveled with Mr. Mengfei to a remote town to learn from Master Lao Pang, while Mr. Mengfei warned him against showing off his cultivation. At the barbershop, Beichen demonstrated his massage skills but struggled to examine an injured child, so he called his master.

• Su Ziyang left for the station with Su Zang and reunited with Mr. Mengfei, who took him by bus and three-wheeler to a remote town.
• Su Ziyang showed off his True Qi during the journey, and Mr. Mengfei scolded him for revealing his abilities and recalled the danger he had faced before.
• Mr. Mengfei and Su Ziyang reached Master Lao Pang's barbershop, where Beichen said his master was out.
• Beichen shaved an old man and gave Boss Guo a long, soothing head massage that put him to sleep.
• An old woman brought Xiaobao, whose neck was crooked after a fall, and Beichen failed to examine him without causing pain.
• The old woman urged Beichen to call Master Lao Pang, and Beichen phoned his master.

Su Ziyang met Lao Pang, who reset Xiaobao’s neck and agreed to teach Su Ziyang bone-setting. After Mr. Mengfei left, Lao Pang put Su Ziyang to work drying and sorting medicinal herbs, while Beichen and Tingting discussed the new apprentice.

• Lao Pang arrived and quickly straightened Xiaobao’s neck, impressing Su Ziyang with his skill.
• Lao Pang agreed to teach Su Ziyang bone-setting, provided he lived with him, paid for room and board, and followed orders.
• Lao Pang demonstrated remarkable finger strength at lunch and ate the meal he had ordered while Mr. Mengfei and Su Ziyang watched.
• Lao Pang brought Su Ziyang back to the courtyard and ordered him to turn and sort the medicinal herbs before sunset.
• Mr. Mengfei left Su Ziyang in Lao Pang’s care, and Beichen told Tingting that her father had taken on a new apprentice.

Su Ziyang settled into his apprenticeship with Lao Pang, doing chores and observing the barbershop while waiting for instruction. After a week, Lao Pang called him to guard the inner room while he prepared bone-setting medicine, leaving Su Ziyang outside with no explanation.

• Su Ziyang cooked noodles and cabbage for Lao Pang, then practiced the Midnight-Noon Heaven and Earth Art through the night.
• The next morning, Lao Pang took Su Ziyang for oil tea, and Su Ziyang began cleaning and helping around the barbershop with Beichen.
• Su Ziyang watched Lao Pang shave customers and clean one man's eyelid with a razor, while Beichen asked Lao Pang how to perform the unusual skill.
• For a week, Su Ziyang swept hair, fetched water, cooked, and assisted Lao Pang, who did not teach him; Beichen watched him and treated him warmly.
• A young man arrived seeking bone-setting medicine for an elder's fractured collarbone, and Lao Pang took Su Ziyang to the back courtyard.
• Lao Pang told Su Ziyang to guard the inner-room doorway and keep everyone out while he went inside to prepare the medicine.

Lao Pang began teaching Su Ziyang about medicinal preparation, martial arts, and traditional bone-setting after Su Ziyang impressed him with his thoughts on secret recipes. He left to go out after giving Su Ziyang an introductory lesson, promising more practical instruction when an opportunity arose.

• Lao Pang sold a young man bone-setting medicine for thirteen yuan a packet, and Beichen questioned why he charged so little.
• Lao Pang asked Su Ziyang about the medicine’s secret recipe, then told him to bring over poplar bark, rice, and a basin so they could prepare the ingredients.
• Lao Pang crushed rice into flour with his bare hands, explained that he had mastered the Thousand-Jin Art after twenty years of practice, and recalled fighting a Baguazhang expert to a draw.
• Lao Pang and Su Ziyang cut the poplar bark and soaked it in rice water for a day and night as part of processing the medicinal ingredients.
• Lao Pang taught Su Ziyang the basics of traditional bone-setting, describing palpating, joining, positioning, and lifting, then said he would continue when practical instruction became possible.

Lao Pang began teaching Su Ziyang bone-setting with lamb bones, but Su Ziyang struggled to control his force. After Elder Wei remarked that Lao Pang had stopped taking apprentices, Lao Pang told Su Ziyang to focus on learning and not ask about anything else.

• Lao Pang brought lamb bones to the kitchen and explained that he would use them to teach Su Ziyang bone-setting.
• Lao Pang demonstrated separating and resetting a joint, but Su Ziyang damaged the lamb leg while trying to copy him.
• Lao Pang told Su Ziyang not to rush and sent him to invite Beichen for lunch.
• At the barbershop, Elder Wei asked whether Lao Pang had taught Beichen his secret bone-setting formula, and Beichen confirmed that he had.
• Su Ziyang asked Lao Pang about Elder Wei's claim that he had stopped taking apprentices, and Lao Pang ordered him to focus on learning and avoid other questions.

Su Ziyang shared a meal with Lao Pang and Beichen, learning that Beichen was Lao Pang’s son-in-law and fellow apprentice. After lunch, Lao Pang demonstrated how to set Daqing’s badly fractured arm while teaching Su Ziyang about the bones and the procedure.

• Su Ziyang helped Lao Pang serve a meal of lamb spine bones and offered Beichen liquor at Lao Pang’s prompting.
• Lao Pang introduced Beichen as his son-in-law and half-apprentice, making Su Ziyang realize Beichen was married to Lao Pang’s daughter.
• After lunch, Daqing’s wife brought him to Lao Pang for treatment after he fell from a roof and broke his arm.
• Lao Pang let Su Ziyang examine the fracture and explained the bones and injury.
• Lao Pang pulled Daqing’s bones into alignment, treated the wound, and secured the arm with a plaster and splint, telling him to return in three days.

Su Ziyang examined Lao Pang’s old bone-setting tools and learned how they were used, then asked to take them with him. Lao Pang refused, saying he wanted them buried with him, while Beichen explained that despite twenty years of study, he lacked the talent for some of Lao Pang’s techniques.

• After Daqing and his wife left, Su Ziyang examined the bamboo mat splint and Beichen brought out Lao Pang’s dusty collection of bone-setting tools.
• Lao Pang explained the uses of the wrapping cloth, tapping rod, shoulder wrap, backboard, lumbar brace, fir lattice, and knee brace, and Su Ziyang considered whether the tapping method might help concussion symptoms.
• Su Ziyang asked Lao Pang to give him the tools, but Lao Pang refused and said he wanted them buried with him.
• Beichen told Su Ziyang that he had studied under Lao Pang for twenty years but still could not master certain delicate bone-setting techniques; he demonstrated his strength by crushing a wine cup and said strength alone was not enough.
• Mr. Mengfei later explained to Su Ziyang that students should be taught according to their aptitudes, and Su Ziyang recalled Lao Pang’s advice that a bone-setter needed both a compassionate heart and forceful hands.

Lao Pang had Su Ziyang grind medicinal ingredients all day, then treated his exhaustion with pigeon soup and asked him to become the formal inheritor of the Bian Clan Bonesetting art. Su Ziyang accepted and was officially initiated at the ancestral hall.

• Lao Pang brought home a medicine boat and stone mill, then had Su Ziyang grind a large quantity of medicinal ingredients.
• After working from morning until night, Su Ziyang collapsed into bed and woke the next day aching all over.
• Lao Pang served Su Ziyang nourishing medicinal pigeon soup, which eased his soreness.
• Lao Pang asked Su Ziyang to formally become his apprentice and inherit the Bian Clan Bonesetting art, and Su Ziyang agreed.
• Lao Pang took Su Ziyang to the ancestral hall, where they paid respects to the Bian ancestors and completed the initiation.

Lao Pang began teaching Su Ziyang traditional bonesetting, explaining its treatment steps and sharing several secret medicinal formulas. He assigned Su Ziyang to practice locating and setting bones on a sheep’s spine and hens, leaving him with a new responsibility to master and preserve the craft.

• Lao Pang explained the initial bonesetting steps, including washing injuries and assessing them against ten conditions considered incurable in ancient times.
• Su Ziyang asked whether modern surgery had reduced Lao Pang’s patients, and Lao Pang said traditional medicine could complement surgery and that he needed to pass on his ancestors’ skills.
• Lao Pang taught Su Ziyang the sequence for setting bones, applying plaster, securing injuries, and taking medicine.
• Lao Pang made Su Ziyang promise to keep his secret formulas confidential, then dictated formulas for Black Dragon Powder, Wind Flow Powder, White Medicine Powder, and blade-wound medicine.
• Su Ziyang recorded the formulas and hid his notebook, and Lao Pang told him to practice bonesetting on a sheep’s spine and hens starting the next day.

Su Ziyang witnessed Beichen confront Lao Pang over the secret formulas and his grievances with the Bian family. After Beichen struck Lao Pang and demanded the formulas for a promised deal with Manager Li, Su Ziyang stepped between them.

• Su Ziyang practiced bone setting under Lao Pang and learned to handle ordinary dislocations and clean fractures.
• Lao Pang returned from treating an old man's broken thigh to find two suited men waiting for him, but he ignored them.
• Beichen urged Lao Pang to hand over his secret formulas, arguing that they were worthless and accusing him of neglecting Beichen's training.
• Lao Pang slapped Beichen, who lashed out over years of unpaid work and his marriage to Bian Mei before punching Lao Pang into a wall.
• Beichen asked Manager Li whether the deal still stood, and Manager Li confirmed they could sign a contract in exchange for the formulas.
• Beichen moved to grab Lao Pang, and Su Ziyang stepped in front of him.

Beichen tried to seize Lao Pang’s secret formula for a lucrative pharmaceutical deal, but Lao Pang refused and revealed the family’s promise to use the medicine only to help people. When Lao Pang claimed he had passed the formula to Su Ziyang, Beichen attacked him, leaving Su Ziyang with a dislocated shoulder, while Bian Mei asked him to return the family’s formula.

• Beichen demanded Lao Pang’s secret formula and attacked Su Ziyang when he blocked the way, but Lao Pang stopped the fight.
• Manager Li offered Lao Pang twenty million and a share in the pharmaceutical group, but Lao Pang rejected the contract and ordered him to leave.
• Beichen returned with powdered herbs, and Lao Pang exposed his attempts to steal the formula and explained that his ancestors had vowed never to use it for profit.
• Beichen called Bian Mei, who urged Lao Pang to hand over the formula because she and Beichen needed money for their future.
• Lao Pang said he had passed the formula to Su Ziyang, prompting Beichen to punch and dislocate Su Ziyang’s shoulder before Bian Mei stopped him and asked Su Ziyang to return it.

Su Ziyang gave Beichen the secret formula to help preserve Lao Pang’s family ties, then presented his master with a book documenting the Bian Clan’s bonesetting knowledge. Lao Pang forgave him, and Su Ziyang prepared to leave the next day.

• Su Ziyang handed the secret formula to Beichen after Lao Pang told him to do as he saw fit.
• Su Ziyang argued that passing on the formula had not violated Lao Pang’s rules or earned him any profit, and Bian Mei promised to treat Lao Pang better.
• Su Ziyang showed Lao Pang the book Bian Clan Bonesetting, which he had written and compiled in Bian Juncheng’s name.
• Lao Pang cried over the book, forgave Su Ziyang, and said he would be buried with it and his tools.
• Su Ziyang kowtowed to Lao Pang, said he would leave the next day, and made him qiangguo noodles.

Su Ziyang returned to the Daoist Medicine Clinic and, during his train journey, argued with a fat passenger before recognizing a familiar man washing an apple. The man also recognized Su Ziyang, leaving their unexpected reunion poised to unfold.

• Lao Pang sent Lao Liu to take Su Ziyang to the bus station, and Lao Liu refused to charge him after learning he was Lao Pang's disciple.
• Su Ziyang traveled by bus and coach back to the train station, then boarded a slow train toward the Daoist Medicine Clinic to prepare his rented room before reopening.
• Su Ziyang noticed a familiar figure on the train but could not identify him, then traded insults with the fat woman seated beside him after accidentally bumping her.
• An old man intervened in the quarrel, and Su Ziyang and the fat woman stopped arguing.
• Su Ziyang spotted the familiar man washing an apple, hurried into the aisle, and saw that the man recognized him too.

Su Ziyang confronted the middle-aged man who had attacked him, and the two fought until a railway police officer interrupted them. After they secretly struck each other’s acupoints, Su Ziyang returned to his seat and circulated his qi to recover, while the fat woman began treating him like a martial arts hero.

• Su Ziyang crushed the apple thrown at him, asked the fat woman to watch his backpack, and chased the middle-aged man through the train.
• The middle-aged man attacked Su Ziyang with the Plum Blossom Finger, and Su Ziyang fought back with his footwork and Twisting Character Force.
• The two men continued their fight in front of the passengers until a railway police officer arrived; while pretending to embrace, they struck each other’s acupoints.
• The middle-aged man called off the fight, and Su Ziyang returned to his seat, where the fat woman gave him back his backpack.
• Su Ziyang circulated his qi to repair his injuries, and the fat woman offered him a wet wipe and snacks while admiring him as a martial arts master.

Su Ziyang returned home with Fairy Li after the train ride and rested while recovering from his injured meridians. When the Daoist Medicine Clinic reopened, Jin Tiantian contacted him and said she would come see him for treatment.

• Su Ziyang got off the train with Jin Tiantian following him and met Fairy Li at the station.
• Jin Tiantian admired Fairy Li and added Su Ziyang on WeChat before leaving.
• Fairy Li drove Su Ziyang home, where she cleaned his apartment and prepared food while he rested.
• Su Ziyang resumed circulating his Qi to repair his damaged meridians, and Fairy Li cooked for him over the next several days.
• The Daoist Medicine Clinic reopened, and Jin Tiantian messaged Su Ziyang to ask whether he could treat illnesses.
• After Su Ziyang confirmed he could, Jin Tiantian said she would come find him soon.

Su Ziyang examined Jin Yizhi, Jin Tiantian’s uncle, and found that his advanced nasopharyngeal cancer had left him with almost no vitality, though a faint pulse suggested a sliver of hope. After questioning him about his symptoms and learning how Jin Tiantian had supported his family, Su Ziyang faced Jin Yizhi’s question about how long he had left as the deathly Qi around him intensified.

• Jin Tiantian brought Jin Yizhi to Su Ziyang’s clinic and urged him to treat her uncle’s advanced nasopharyngeal cancer.
• Su Ziyang found Jin Yizhi’s pulse nearly lifeless, then detected a faint beat that suggested a small chance of survival.
• Jin Yizhi explained that radiotherapy had failed to help and described his worsening symptoms, while Su Ziyang learned Jin Tiantian had regularly helped his family financially.
• Su Ziyang examined Jin Yizhi’s tongue and carefully recorded his eating, thirst, temperature preferences, and bowel and urinary symptoms.
• After Jin Tiantian left to buy cigarettes, Jin Yizhi asked Su Ziyang whether he had long to live, and Su Ziyang saw the deathly Qi around his brow grow stronger.

Su Ziyang prescribed Pinellia and Magnolia Bark Decoction for Jin Yizhi’s nasopharyngeal cancer, aiming to guide stagnant Qi downward, and promised Jin Tiantian the Leopard Fetus Tendon-Altering Pill formula later. Mr. Mengfei then arrived to examine Su Ziyang’s shoulder injury from the same attacker who had struck him on the train.

• Su Ziyang told Jin Yizhi he would prescribe three doses and reassess him before giving a definite answer about his illness.
• Su Ziyang prescribed Pinellia and Magnolia Bark Decoction to address Jin Yizhi’s Qi stagnating in the upper body, and reminded him to add fresh ginger.
• Jin Tiantian praised Su Ziyang as a hero and asked again for the Leopard Fetus Tendon-Altering Pill formula, so he promised to give it to her on her uncle’s next visit.
• Mr. Mengfei arrived after hearing Su Ziyang’s WeChat report and examined the bruising on his shoulder.
• Su Ziyang said he had struck the attacker’s waist acupoint, and Mr. Mengfei patted his shoulder approvingly.

Su Ziyang explained why he had checked a dead man’s pulse, then reunited with Daoist Jin, who examined his injury and summoned him to a village before dawn. Daoist Jin began an intense training session to teach Su Ziyang the Golden Bell Shield, leaving him eager but unaware of what was coming.

• Mr. Mengfei questioned Su Ziyang about checking a dead man’s pulse, and Su Ziyang explained that he had felt a faint pulse.
• Daoist Jin visited Su Ziyang, promised to ask around about the person who had struck his acupoints, and examined his bruised shoulder.
• Daoist Jin called Su Ziyang before dawn and ordered him to come to a village on the outskirts of the city.
• Daoist Jin made Su Ziyang stand on a well cover and circulate his True Qi while he prepared something in an iron pot.
• Daoist Jin told Su Ziyang that the next part would be brutal and that he was training him in the Golden Bell Shield.