Chapter 100: Blood Seal Secret

He hurriedly took out several medicinal herbs from the medicine box: "Old Sir, this illness requires the 'Vessel-Unblocking Blood-Reversing Pill', combined with acupuncture, to......"

Zhang Jun suddenly reached out and grabbed the old man's wrist: "Taking medicine only suppresses it, can't eradicate the root. The old man's qi and blood have gone astray; his internal injuries have accumulated over a year. We need to use guiding methods to get the qi and blood flowing smoothly again."

His two hands pressed lightly on several acupoints on the old man's back, murmuring something under his breath; where his fingertips passed, there seemed to be an imperceptible warmth.

The old man felt a warm current flow along his spine, spreading out, penetrating his limbs and bones; the tightness that had suffocated his chest for decades actually loosened.

"Ah…… It's smooth! It's smooth!" the old man couldn't help exclaiming, letting out a long breath, "I've been holding it in for over twenty years, and today I finally can breathe evenly!"

The seven judges on the panel, without hesitation, all raised the red flag signifying Zhang Jun's victory.

Zhou Mu's face was so grim it could drip water, yet he forced out a semblance of composure: "Lucky. Next!"

On the second bed lay a middle-aged woman, her complexion sallow and waxy, the left side of her body appearing stiff, her eyes full of pain and numbness.

This time Zhou Mu felt confident, stepping forward to pick up a specially made magnifying glass and examine the woman's skin closely.

"It's poisoning," he declared, "'Three Corpses Nine Insects Powder', a very obscure gu poison, needs the 'Three Purities Detox Pill' to first suppress it."

He reached into his bosom, took out a small porcelain bottle, poured out three jade-green pills, and had someone feed them to the woman.

Soon after, the woman's sallow complexion indeed eased a little, and the pain in her eyes faded somewhat.

Zhou Mu stepped back and waited for the judges.

Zhang Jun walked over, shook his head: "Chief Zhou, this medicine works okay, but it only treats the symptoms, not the root."

He placed his hand on the woman's pulse: "This lady isn't afflicted with gu poison, but with 'Cold Star Spots'. This poison is yin and vicious, already seeped into the bone marrow, damaging the nerves. Ordinary detox methods are useless."

Zhou Mu's face cold: "Doctor Zhang, since you've figured it out, how do we resolve it?"

Zhang Jun took a set of silver needles from the nearby medicine box, plus a dark green medicinal cake of unknown composition.

"We need to use yang poison to lure out the yin poison, forcing it out."

He inserted the needles rapidly; in an instant he had placed over a dozen needles in the woman's left side, then pinched a bit of the medicinal cake powder onto the needle tips and lit them with a match.

Green smoke drifted up; Zhang Jun held his hands hovering over the woman's back, his internal heat subtly circulating, guiding the silver needles through her clothing.

Something strange happened: those silver needles, roasted by the flame, began to tremble slightly, and the flame at their tips gradually turned an eerie purple!

"Ah——!" the woman suddenly screamed, black threads wriggling beneath the skin of her left arm, as if alive, burrowing toward the needle sites.

Zhang Jun's forehead beaded with sweat, his teeth clenched tight, as he continuously drove his internal Pure Yang Power.

He could feel that this heat flow was contending with the woman's internal yin-cold toxin from a distance, the sensation like trying to grab a slippery, icy poisonous snake barehanded—disgusting and dangerous.

The entire hall fell silent, everyone transfixed by this eerie and perilous scene before them.

At that moment, the black lines on the woman's body suddenly accelerated their writhing, converging together, and with a final "puff", a mass of ink-like black mist spewed from several needle holes.

An indescribable fishy stench instantly permeated the air; the black mist twisted and struggled in midair a few times before finally dissipating.

The woman collapsed on the bed, gasping heavily, drenched in sweat, yet her left-hand fingers twitched slightly—a reaction never seen since her poisoning!

"Divine doctor! Truly a divine doctor!" the crowd burst into unstoppable exclamations and applause.

Zhou Mu's face turned completely black, the casing of his pulse diagnostic device creaking under his grip. He stared at Zhang Jun, his expression like he wanted to devour him: "Mister Zhang, you're indeed formidable. But this is only the second round—don't get too excited yet."

"The final patient." the host's voice trembled as he stepped forward and lifted the white cloth from the third sickbed.

On the bed lay a half-grown child, about sixteen or seventeen, face ashen, eyes closed, breath as faint as a spider's silk.

An indescribable yin chill emanated from him.

What's even more spine-tingling is that on the boy's bare chest, a dark red, strange symbol could be seen, faintly visible—exactly the one Lin Xue had seen in the abandoned old house!

Several elders on the judges' bench couldn't sit still, whispering among themselves, their faces growing grimmer. A white-haired old lady sighed: "This child…… something's off, this evil aura on him isn't a mere illness……"

Zhou Mu stepped forward and pretended to conduct a thorough examination.

He tried all the devices he'd brought, but found nothing. The silver needles bent on contact with the boy's skin, and the pulse diagnostic screen flickered a few times before going black.

"This illness…… is really strange." Zhou Mu's forehead also beaded with sweat, as if he truly had no recourse: "Perhaps…… he's been afflicted by an evil spirit. We need to ask an expert to draw talismans and exorcise it—this isn't something medicine can fix."

He stepped back a few paces, his face instead showing a look of relief, even with a hint of enjoying the spectacle: "I admit, I can't treat this. I don't know, Doctor Zhang, what do you think?"

Lin Xue stood in the corner, seeing Zhou Mu's little move clearly. Her heart sank—indeed it was a trap!

Zhang Jun walked forward in silence.

That yin chill on the boy's body was all too familiar to him.

Just like the feeling in that cave on Snow Mountain, only not as strong.

He reached out, lightly placing his hand on the boy's pulse, probing with his internal Pure Yang Power to investigate.

"Bang!"

A surge of vicious, malicious cold qi rebounded along his arm, rushing straight into his meridians!

Zhang Jun let out a muffled groan from his throat, his feet staggering as he stepped back three paces, his internal heat flow running wildly, barely managing to block that backlash.

"Doctor Zhang!" Lin Xue's heart tightened, she instinctively wanted to step forward, but Zhang Jun stopped her with a glance.

"It's fine." He steadied himself and stood firm again.

The audience below had already erupted into an uproar, all frightened by this eerie patient.

Zhou Mu's voice carried undisguised glee: "Looks like Doctor Zhang can't do anything either. How about admitting defeat?"

Zhang Jun lifted his eyes, giving him a cold glance: "Chief Zhou, are you too impatient? This boy isn't afflicted by an 'evil spirit'; he's been struck with a 'Blood Seal Curse'."

He approached the sickbed again, this time holding a yellow talisman, a secret-made exorcism charm from the Mo School given to him by Mo Tianhe.

He affixed the talisman onto the boy's chest over the dark red symbol, then placed both hands on the boy's chest and abdomen, slowly channeling his internal Pure Yang Power into him.