"Little Demon Girl, your grandfather's house is pretty big!"
Ling Yun followed Xue Meining into the villa to realize that the living room alone was as big a classroom and he could not help but exclaim.
Xue Meining stood at the bathroom door and waved at Ling Yun, "I've prepared shampoo, soap and a towel for you. Come over quickly and wash your face before I bring you to the shower."
Ling Yun walked towards Xue Meining and stood beside her with a smile on his face. "There isn't much blood on my clothes, I don't have to shower. Go take care of your grandfather, you don't have to bother about me."
"No, look at you completely drenched in sweat, how can you not shower? Just take a shower since my grandfather told you to, else he'll nag at me again…"
Perhaps it was because Ling Yun had healed her grandfather that Little Demon Girl's attitude towards him became a lot better.
Ling Yun, however, could not be bothered as he dashed into the bathroom and began to clean himself up.
"I'm heading out to take care of grandpa, give me a holler when you're done."
Ultimately, Xue Meining was most worried about Miracle Doctor Xue. She quickly ran back into the garden once she was done settling Ling Yun.
"Grandpa, why are you up on your feet?"
Miracle Doctor Xue had been pacing slowly in the garden when he turned around in response to his granddaughter's voice.
"Hehe, don't worry Little Ning, the Nine Needles of The Spiritual Pivot truly lives up to its name. Right now, my Qi and blood are flowing smoothly and calmly, there's absolutely nothing wrong with me."
Xue Meining quickly ran up to Miracle Doctor Xue's side and gently supported his arms as she helped him back into his seat.
"Grandpa, are you really alright?"
"Mhmm, I'm alright for now. You have wronged Ling Yun just now, you shouldn't have treated him like that. I want you to apologize to him sincerely later on."
"Grandpa, didn't you say that the Nine Needles of The Spiritual Pivot can only be executed by someone who has Xiantian True Qi? Is it possible that Ling Yun has already entered the Xiantian Realm?"
Xue Meining stuck her tongue out and made a funny face before voicing her doubts.
Miracle Doctor Xue slipped into his thoughts, shook his head and said softly, "When Ling Yun was applying the needles, he did use a kind of Qi, but grandpa is sure that it wasn't Xiantian True Qi, thus, he definitely has not entered the Xiantian Realm."
"However, the world is full of wonders, Ling Yun has a lot of secrets that I can't decipher. Since he is now grandpa's savior, remember to get along well with him in the future, alright?"
Miracle Doctor Xue told his precious granddaughter this in an extremely serious tone.
Xue Meining was unhappy that her grandfather placed that much importance on such a shameless person. She bit her rosy lower lip lightly and wanted to retort, but finally decided to just nod her head in agreement.
"Grandpa, are you really willing to gift him this set of gold needles?"
Miracle Doctor Xue looked at his own granddaughter in amusement and asked her, "Why? Are you not willing to gift it to him? Isn't looting grandpa's gold needles the reason you brought him here?"
A crimson blush crept onto Xue Meining's beautiful face as she pouted and said, "Who would've known he was here for this kind of needles…? I wouldn't have brought him here if I had known…"
Miracle Doctor Xue gave her a warm smile as he patted Xue Meining on her head and said, "I was just joking around. How would grandpa recover if you didn't bring him here? Speaking of which, grandpa has to thank you too…"
Miracle Doctor Xue's expression suddenly turned serious as he said to Xue Meining, "Tell me, Little Ning, since Ling Yun saved my life, how should we express our gratitude?"
Xue Meining's expression changed too as she looked at Miracle Doctor Xue in shock. "Grandpa, you've already given him our family heirloom, isn't that enough gratitude?"
Miracle Doctor Xue calmly shook his head and said seriously, "Little Ning, you don't understand. The reason I gave him the nine gold needles is because he is the only one who can use it! This hardly counts as gratitude!"
"Giving someone who is capable of executing the Nine Needles of The Spiritual Pivot the nine gold needles is putting the needles to good use. It's similar to Bo Le unleashing the Thousand-Mile horse's potential."
"Otherwise, the nine gold needles would be stuck in this jade box forever. How much more precious would it be then as compared to the gold bars all around the world?"
Xue Meining initially nodded in agreement as she listened, but curled her lip later on and said, "But grandpa, you have no idea how petty and greedy he is. What if he takes advantage of this opportunity and makes use of us…?"
Little Demon Girl had experienced Ling Yun's petty and shameless behavior before. The mere thought of it was enough to grind her gears.
Miracle Doctor Xue laughed softly as he shook his head. "You're still young, Little Ning, you still do not understand. Think about it, before he carried out the acupuncture procedure, you were worried and suggested that he should leave, how did he react?"
"He turned around and walked off…"
"Well, doesn't that prove something? If it wasn't for grandpa asking him to stay, he would've walked off without turning back. Grandpa could tell that Ling Yun didn't even care about my nine treasured gold needles! I suppose he was willing to treat me because of my kindness to him since the beginning. It wasn't because he was looking for anything in return."
"Then, according to you, we're the ones owing him a huge favor?"
Miracle Doctor Xue nodded his head in silence.
Ling Yun casually rubbed his face after he was done cleaning up before walking out leisurely.
All it took was one look at Miracle Doctor Xue's complexion for Ling Yun to know that the nine streams of spiritual energy that he had channeled into Miracle Doctor Xue's body had already begun to take effect. Suppressing the heartworm for two months should not be an issue.
"I'm feeling great now, I've never felt this relaxed in decades. I didn't expect to be able to live in such comfort at such an old age, thank you so much!"
Elder Xue was feeling refreshed and did not bother to conceal his gratitude towards Ling Yun.
"Ling Yun, when are you going to force the Gu Insect out of my grandfather's body?" Xue Meining asked with a face full of anticipation the moment she saw Ling Yun.
It seemed she had not forgotten that Ling Yun had said that the treatment was just a temporary fix for Miracle Doctor Xue's cough.
Miracle Doctor Xue could not help but furrow his brows at his granddaughter's anxiety. Little Ning thinks that he's begging to treat me, doesn't she know that we're the ones begging him?
However, Ling Yun was completely fine with it as he replied with a smile, "Well, I can't be sure, I think two months later would be good."
"Really?!"
Xue Meining was elated as her big eyes brightened up.
Even the experienced Miracle Doctor Xue got excited when he heard the news and looked at Ling Yun with a hopeful expression.
"That's great, let me bring you to the shower!" Xue Meining was so excited, she ran straight to Ling Yun and tried to drag him by his hand into the house.
"It's okay, I've already cleaned up, there are only a few specks of blood on my clothes, it's fine."
Miracle Doctor Xue announced, "Ling Yun, you saved this old man's life, we're family now. Just make yourself at home, forget about the formalities!
Miracle Doctor Xue assumed that Ling Yun was shy and reserved.
Formalities? Even though Ling Yun had attended numerous big occasions, he really did not know what formalities were. He just felt that all these were unnecessary.
"Mmm, Elder, saving lives is a physician's duty. I've only stopped your cough temporarily. That can hardly be considered as saving your life. Not to mention, I also received your gold needles as a gift."
Ling Yun was being diplomatic with his words since there was no harm to it.
He followed up by saying, "I don't have to take a shower, but I do want to ask for a favor."
Xue Meining's heart dropped when she heard that. Is Ling Yun really going to take advantage of us?
Actually, with Miracle Doctor Xue's status and wealth, he would be able to satisfy any request Ling Yun made no matter how ridiculous it was. It was just that Xue Meining's impression of him would worsen.
In her heart, Ling Yun was a strong character, a powerful hero. If a hero actively sought for something in return after saving someone, it would make her feel conflicted.
Miracle Doctor Xue, however, was extremely comfortable with it. He smiled as he nodded his head, "What favor? If it's anything this old man can do, I'll definitely do my best to help you out!"
The corner of Ling Yun's lips curled into a bright smile as he said, "I just need you to get me an ordinary set of silver needles, that's all. Saves me the trouble of going out and getting a set."
Even though he had obtained the gold needles, those should be saved for when a patient suffering from a difficult and complicated disease came along. It would be a waste of its potential if the gold needles were used to treat headaches or fever.
The tension on Xue Meining's face disappeared the instant she heard that and was replaced with a rosy blush on her cheeks as she wondered why she would always think the worst of him.
Miracle Doctor Xue quickly understood what Ling Yun meant and chuckled gladly while nodding his head. "Such a small request? Even if you wanted ten sets, I would've given it all to you, let alone one!"
"Little Ning, what are you waiting for? Go get my favorite set of silver needles!"
Xue Meining had a slight smile as she responded and ran straight into the house.
Within three minutes, Xue Meining came back out with a dark maroon pouch made out of cow leather in her hands and handed it to Miracle Doctor Xue.
The simple and ancient-looking leather pouch was neither big nor small, about the size of an adult hand rolled into a cylindrical shape, with a royal yellow colored silk ribbon tied around it.
Miracle Doctor Xue held the cylindrical leather pouch in his right hand as he stroked it gently as if he was caressing his beloved child.
Then, he untied the silk ribbon and rolled out the leather pouch. Ling Yun noticed that the leather bag was at least 50 centimeters long with two rows of shiny silver needles of unequal length.
"A total of 81 silver needles."
Miracle Doctor Xue said with his eyes fixed on the silver needles. A slight hint of reluctance could be seen in his eyes.
Xue Meining glanced at Ling Yun and thought, These are the silver needles my grandpa used to treat patients, you're really in luck.
"Elder, I only need it for an emergency, you can gift me any random set of silver needles for me to practice with, I would be done with them in three months…"
Ling Yun was a shrewd character, of course, he could tell that Miracle Doctor Xue was reluctant to give it away.
Miracle Doctor Xue finally looked up at Ling Yun and said in a serious tone, "Ling Yun, honestly, to me, this set of silver needles is more important than the nine gold needles. I mainly rely on these silver needles whenever I'm treating patients."
"However, since you need it, I'll gift it to you. I hope you can use them to treat even more patients who are severely ill."
Ling Yun gave an awkward smile as he thought, If you knew my main purpose for these is self-defense, you'd definitely be pissed as hell.
After Miracle Doctor Xue was done speaking, he handed over the opened leather pouch with both of his hands to Ling Yun carefully.
Ling Yun rolled up the leather pouch and tied the royal yellow colored silk ribbon around it before putting it into his pocket.
"Elder, thank you for gifting me these needles, I'll return them to you once I'm done with them."
Ling Yun realized that it was about time. "Elder, if you feel that everything's fine, allow me to remove the needles."