In the blink of an eye, four needles were already jabbed into the old man.
“Wait… Did I just hit the median nerve wrong?” Cold sweat broke out across Eric’s body, soaking his back.
He yanked his hand back from the fifth needle, stunned. He’d trained with his first master in the mountains for over a decade, mastering the Acupuncture technique.
Since then, he’d never slipped up—not once. How could he botch something as basic as a wrist insertion point now?
He knew all thirteen points like the back of his hand. Blindfolded, he could hit them perfectly—depth, position, angle, everything. A rookie mistake like this? Impossible.
It’s just nerves… Eric forced himself to calm down. His shaky left hand wasn’t cutting it, so he switched to his right. This time, he slowed way down for the fifth needle, aiming for the peroneal nerve near the ankle. No flashy moves—just a steady, honest jab.
“Phew!”
The needle went in fine.
‘See? Just nerves.’ Eric let out a relieved breath, his confidence creeping back. He grabbed another needle, aimed for the external occipital protuberance at the base of the skull, and with a little flair, drove it in.
The silver needle hit the brainstem-adjacent point dead-on. But as he reached for the next spot, his eyes widened in horror. The needle… It was in too deep.
“Hiss!” Eric sucked in a sharp breath, both hands trembling uncontrollably.
How could this happen?
The occipital nerve region was the sixth in the Acupuncture technique, and it demanded precision. Messing it up wasn’t just bad—it was deadly. Too deep, and the patient could die.
Is something dirty at play here?
A memory flashed back—his first master’s warning before teaching him the Acupuncture technique: “It has two uses: one to heal the living, two to deal with the drifting.”
Was there something unclean on this old man?
Eric’s panic spiked.
He’d only learned to heal people—not whatever this was!
‘No, no, no, that’s impossible. It can’t be real…’ Eric was freaking out. He wanted to bolt. Saving some random old guy wasn’t worth risking his own neck.
Just then, the unconscious old man on the ground started twitching. His legs and arms jerked in weird, uneven spasms.
“Whoa! He’s moving!”
“No way… is this guy actually the real deal?”
“Just a few needles, and the man is already showing signs of recovery? That’s unreal—he might actually be a real doctor!”
The crowd gasped, marveling as if they’d witnessed a reaction from the lying old man. Even Henry, who’d been tense the whole time, relaxed a bit.
Guess you can’t judge a book by its cover.
The praise grew louder, the compliments more extravagant. But to Eric, every cheer felt like a hammer slamming into his chest.
Dread spread fast.
He knew exactly what a too-deep insertion at the occipital region meant: at best, severe injury; at worst, certain death.
This was his first—no, second screw-up. Both on this same old man. That sealed it. There had to be something unclean clinging to this guy.
No more needles. No more healing. If he kept going, whatever was haunting this old man might come after him next.
Nobody noticed, but Eric’s crouched legs were shaking like crazy now.
‘Why did this have to happen to me? No… why didn’t Master teach me how to handle this crap?’ For the first time, Eric felt a twinge of resentment toward his first master.
If he’d just learned how to properly treat a stroke, he wouldn’t be standing here today, totally helpless and sweating buckets.
‘No, no, no—this world runs on science. Ghosts, demons, and all that nonsense don’t exist…’ Eric muttered to himself over and over, trying to hypnotize his fear away.
He was supposed to be the carefree Doctor—left hand saving lives, right hand… well, taking them. Wait a second. Didn’t he just jab the occipital nerve region with his right hand?
“Pfft, pfft, pfft!” He spat out the thought like it was bad luck.
‘I just want to save lives, not take them. I swear on everything, my intentions are pure!’
But if Henry, the head of the Wade Family, found out that Eric might’ve just made his father’s condition worse with that needle, there’d be no mercy. Nope, no way.
He’d barely stepped off the mountain into the bustling city—his grand adventure hadn’t even started yet! He couldn’t afford to mess up now.
‘Forget this guy. I don’t need his favor, and I’m done acting cool…’ Eric Vaughn chickened out. He had to leave—right now, before things spiraled any further!
Pulling the silver needle back with a quick flick, Eric stood up, cleared his throat, and put on his best wise-master act.
“Sir, your father’s stroke has dragged on too long. My needle can only ease things a bit. But don’t worry—once the ambulance gets here, he’ll be fine.”
Inside, he was practically shaking in his boots, but on the outside? Still the picture of a mysterious, aloof expert.
Truth was, he could keep going with the needles and fix his mistake at the occipital nerve region. But he was too scared.
What if there really was something weird—like some dark energy—in the old man’s body? His next jab wouldn’t save a life; it’d end one.
And killing someone in front of all these people? That’d be a disaster.
Even the Dawson family from Another City probably couldn’t bail him out this time. Favors like that were a one-and-done deal.
Back when he got released by the Dawson family’s pull, it was only because the police lacked hard proof he’d killed grandfather of Sera, No direct evidence, so they let him walk.
But now? There was a crowd around him—and five idiots livestreaming the whole thing on their phones!
If he botched this and the old man died, he’d be toast. No escape.
“It’s already a huge help to ease his condition. The Wade Family won’t forget your kindness. You’ll be rewarded handsomely later,” Henry said, his voice firm and grateful.
“No, no, that won’t be necessary!” Eric waved his hands like he was swatting away flies. “I helped your father because it’s my duty as a doctor, not for any kind of reward.”
Funny how he’d totally forgotten his original plan: save the guy, earn a favor, and hitch a ride on the Wade Family’s big ship.
What a guy—this doctor didn’t care about fame or fortune, only about helping people.
Henry’s respect for him shot through the roof.