By all rights, Li Yuer tormenting herself like this now—whether he intervened or not—was no longer his concern.
But as a doctor, Xu Ping’an would never abandon his professional ethics!
This was one of the few convictions he still held onto.
He pushed open the door, and outside, Jing’er’s shrill scream rang out.
“Miss!!”
Li Yuer’s face was as pale as paper.
Her whole body seemed to collapse into Li Jing’er’s arms, but what was most alarming were her eyes.
They had nearly lost all trace of life.
“Lady, bring me my needle belt.”
Xu Ping’an immediately crouched down and checked her pulse.
The moment his fingertips touched her wrist, his heart sank.
Dianshui Mai!
Also known as Dragonfly Touching Water.
The pulse slid, its rhythm chaotic, like a fish drifting on the water’s surface, or a shrimp struggling, gliding by in a flash, a fleeting touch, scattered and disordered.
This was… the pulse of Yin Death.
Yin Death referred to a pulse like a fish skimming the surface—slipping past, a sign of Yin Excess Yang Deficiency.
Like a shrimp’s struggle, the rhythm was disordered, twitching in brief bursts—this was the pulse of the Five Organs in turmoil.
In other words: when Yin overwhelms and breaks Yang, Five Viscera All Declined, the person stands at death’s door.
“Forgive me.”
Xu Ping’an pinched the philtrum of Li Yuer.
Stimulating the heart, urging it to beat a few more times.
At the same time, he pulled up her sleeve and looked at Jing’er.
“Slap the inside of her wrist and her inner elbow—don’t stop!”
“Ah? Ah! Yes—”
Jing’er hurriedly laid Li Yuer on the floor, grabbing her arm and slapping it repeatedly.
“Lady! The needles!”
“I’m coming!”
Pei Qingxuan rushed out of the room, holding Xu Ping’an’s needle belt, and placed it beside him.
“Husband, what’s wrong with Sister Yuer?”
“It’s nothing.”
Pei Qingxuan felt at ease.
In her heart, as long as Xu Ping’an said “it’s nothing,” then it would surely be all right.
Xu Ping’an drew out the needles, pulled up Li Yuer’s right sleeve, several needles caught between his fingers.
A few flashes of silver, and his hand was empty.
The several Silver Needles quivered, half-buried in Li Yuer’s right arm.
“That’s enough.”
Xu Ping’an scooped Li Yuer up at the waist and carried her into the east wing.
Only Zhao Pingzhi was left in the courtyard, stomping his feet in anxiety.
“Liu Yingying, Ning’er, boil some water.”
“Qingxuan, Medicine Cabinet, first row, seventh box—bring the Jin Box.”
“Jing’er, support your Miss—she can’t lie down right now.”
At this moment, he had already entered his physician’s state—unmoved by outside matters, his mind as calm as still water.
After giving his orders, Xu Ping’an undid the button loops, gently tugged, and then loosened the inner shirt.
His palm swept across the needle belt; a dozen Silver Needles seemed to leap into his fingers in an instant.
Xu Ping’an took a deep breath and closed his eyes slightly.
In his mind, the meridians and acupoints within Li Yuer’s body appeared.
The next moment, the Silver Needles fell—silent and swift as lightning.
In the blink of an eye, a dozen Silver Needles pierced her deathly pale skin.
Under Jing’er’s anxious gaze, he took Li Yuer’s frail body, then swung his large palm and struck her back firmly.
‘Puh!!’
With that slap, Li Yuer—whose chest had ceased to rise and fall—suddenly opened her mouth and spat out a jet of blood.
Within the blood, several clots of varying size could be seen, already blackened. The blood itself was nearly black.
Only then did Xu Ping’an breathe a sigh of relief.
Li Yuer, in his arms, opened her eyes a sliver.
“Mister…”
“Don’t speak. The Mountain Lord Inner Core in your body was agitated by Yin Qi, your breath was in chaos, blocking your lung meridian. You were already gone a moment ago.”
He gently released Li Yuer, handing her over to Jing’er, who quickly caught her Miss and let her rest against her own chest.
Tears streamed down her face.
Xu Ping’an stepped down from the bed, his gaze turning cold.
“I warned you before—not to let your emotions fluctuate too much. Did you treat my instructions as wind by your ear!?”
He wasn’t worried about Li Yuer fainting or dying again.
With him here, to put it bluntly, even if Yama King himself came, whether a person left or stayed depended on Xu Ping’an.
As long as he didn’t want the person before him to die, even if her heart stopped and breath ceased, he could bring her back.
“Mister… Yuer wouldn’t dare. I remember all your instructions…”
Li Yuer struggled to lift her head, her voice weak and faint as a whisper.
“If you remember, why not follow them? What’s the difference between remembering and not? Now you even dare to argue with me? Do you not realize your mistake!?”
A bitter smile touched Li Yuer’s lips.
“Mister, Yuer knows her mistake… But it’s not that I don’t want to obey you, Mister. Truly, my heart is burdened with too much…”
“Enough, I don’t want to hear it. Jing’er, help your Miss back to her room later. In her condition, forget about traveling to Chao Ge or returning to Jinling—even leaving Liuyexian would be fatal.”
The time the meridians could be sealed was always too short. The Qi inside still habitually followed the old routes. Only when it hit a blocked acupoint would it turn to another path.
If her mood remained calm, over time, those blocked acupoints would enter a dormant state, and her condition would stabilize.
But Li Yuer’s mind… could not settle, causing the vitality within to become chaotic.
The Yin Qi surged at the blocked acupoints again.
Once the acupoints reopened, the balance of Yin and Yang that should have been stabilized by the Tiger Demon Inner Core was instantly destroyed.
The violent Yin Qi struck the Mountain Lord Inner Core, and the Pure Yang Inner Core, which had been mostly sealed, suddenly went berserk. Thus, the harmony of Yin and Yang became a fierce clash.
That was why her blood congested the meridians, cutting off her breath.
Now, with the meridians blocked again, and the output of the Pure Yang Inner Core adjusted, the balance was restored and her condition stabilized.
Only then did she slowly awaken.
“Mister… I know you don’t care for Great Qi, but I beg you… Save Great Qi. No matter its faults, at least it is still stable.”
Xu Ping’an furrowed his brow deeply, waved his hand, and turned away, refusing to listen any further.
Seeing this, little Jing hurried to comfort her Miss.
“Miss, don’t say any more, Mister is already angry.”