Chapter 201: Achilles' heel
Xiao Qing was busy in the kitchen before opening the door. At this moment, Lan Ling had arrived. She volunteered to help out. That gave Xiao Qing an opportunity to hear about Yang Ming's background.
"Ling Ling, that means you met Yang Ming in Tengchong City?" Xiao Qing was surprised by her background.
"Yes, later on… I followed him to Song Jiang." Lan Ling might seem to be brave in front of Yang Ming, but she was embarrassed with outsiders.
Xiao Qing arranged the information she got. Right now, she only knew Yang Ming came from a normal blue collar family. After the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, he went with Zhang Bing to Tengchong for rock gambling.
The overall information seemed to be like this, and Xiao Qing didn't find anything out of the ordinary.
As they were having their meal, Liu Weishan formally introduced Xiao Qing to Yang Ming, "Yang Ming, this is my goddaughter, Xiao Qing. She works in Song Jiang Industry University. She teaches the JAVA language. It seems you are in computer science. She may be your lecturer later on."
"Hehe, Elder Liu, I actually know sister Xiao Qing beforehand." Yang Ming explained the bus incident to Elder Liu.
"What a coincidence. In the future, Qing Qing, look out for Yang Ming in the university." Liu Weishan said happily.
"I understand, and I will." Xiao Qing answered with a smile.
After their meal, Liu Weishan asked Yang Ming into the study. Next, he took out a box from his bookshelf and said to Yang Ming, "Yang Ming, your gift is too expensive. I am grateful for your kind intentions, but you should take back the item."
Yang Ming took a look. On the table was the imperial jade he gave, hence he spoke, "Elder Liu, I have offered you this gift. I have no use for this imperial jade. I heard you like to make sculptures for leisure. You should accept it."
"Yang Ming, you need money during this period of time. The market price of imperial jade will go between two to three million yuan. I am just an old man. What leisure am I seeking?" Liu Weishan shook his head and smiled bitterly. "You don't need to feel indebted toward me and return the favor. I am just a professor. Those who are eager to learn will always be my student. After all, I am just providing you a few sentences of guidance."
"Elder Liu, I don't intend to take it as a token of gratitude. Rather, I present this imperial jade as a gift. I believe it is much more useful in your hands." Yang Ming smiled.
"It seems you have put that into words. How about this? I will have fun with the imperial jade and enjoy my time sculpting it. After I'm done, I will give you the end product. With that, you can sell it at a higher price." Liu Weishan was persistent as he spoke.
"That…" Yang Ming felt as if he reaped without sowing? With all the words and observations coming from Zhang Bing, Yang Ming understood the situation of Liu Weishan's art. Many people wanted to have Liu Weishan sculpt something but lacked a channel to do so! At this moment, Elder Liu offered an awesome deal.
"Alright, let's just settle it with that. I'm just an old man. What's the use of giving me that?" said Liu Weishan as he waved his hand.
During the long eleven days of holidays, Yang Ming had been using Fang Tian's technique to train his strength. Yang Ming didn't feel any extraordinary growth in his strength. However, on the seventh day, Yang Ming punctured a hole in the tree trunk with his fist. With a sound of "klak", the whole fist sunk into the tree trunk. Its interior was as soft as a sponge!
It seemed Fang Tian's Chinese medicine was rather effective. Yang Ming came before waiting for nighttime to arrive. He straight away went and looked for Fang Tian during the day. He was excited as he saw the power of his fist and leg had reached a certain level. Even though it wasn't tested, Yang Ming believed his strength could break his opponent's bone.
"You have come?" Fang Tian was preparing dumplings. He said it plainly after he saw Yang Ming.
"I have come." Yang Ming replied. He washed his hand at the cistern and helped Fang Tian prepare the dumplings.
"It seems you have completed my mission. Or else, I will be wasting my dumplings." Fang Tian picked up a dumping and put it on top of a cover beside him.
"It is exactly seven days." Yang Ming laughed, "I broke a tree."
"Alright, a decent strength will do." Fang Tian nodded in satisfaction. Later on, he continued, "For a killer, strength comes secondary. The most important element is technique. Assassins are different from martial arts masters, such as Taekwondo and Karate. Those required a substantial foundation. Only solid training at every single step allows you to be an outstanding one. For an assassin, the most important one is to kill. Most situations require only one lethal hit. Hence, you need to understand the weaknesses of a body. Later on, I will explain to you in detail about the physiology of the human and its lethal parts and acupuncture points. Alright, I will now cook the dumplings."
"Yi?" Yang Ming heard the 180 degrees change of conversation, and he was not used to it. Fang Tian first talked about how to assassinate, and then proceeded to dumplings. Yang Ming felt a chill at his back as he recalled a movie he watched before "The Untold Story" [1].
Fang Tian boiled the water. Then, he took a pile of scrap paper out from the bottom of the stove. He pulled out a few pages and passed them to Yang Ming. "It talks about the important human acupuncture points. You need to start learning about it. I didn't go out to buy some books in the past two days, but it is not a big deal. It is just a beginner's guide. Luckily, I didn't burn away these few pages."
Yang Ming broke into a cold sweat. Are you using it to feed the fire? This Uncle Fang is extraordinary! Yang Ming took the picture of acupuncture points. It wasn't any different with what he read in an institute of traditional Chinese medicine.
Yang Ming had a good memory. Utilizing the opportunity before their meal, he had roughly memorized the major acupuncture points. As for what lay behind the acupuncture points, it wasn't described in the content. Yang Ming didn't bother much about it.
"There are a few differences in the acupuncture points between males and females, but they aren't the major acupuncture points. It may not have a great effect on you." Fang Tian threw the dumplings into the pot and covered it. "In the human body, there are 409 acupuncture points, which include 14 meridians, 361 acupuncture points and 48 acupoints beyond meridians. Among them, there are 180 acupuncture points that leave significant symptoms after a critical blow. Among the 180 acupuncture points, there are 36 big acupuncture points labeled as "Achilles' heel." After a critical strike or blow, the person's life is in danger if not treated immediately. As an assassin, you only need to understand those 36 acupuncture points, and that will suffice. Since you are not a martial arts master, you don't need to learn how to strike an acupuncture point. Right now, I will describe them to you, and you need to look it up in the picture. What you need to do now is to remember their positions."
Yang Ming nodded and said, "I understand it now." Then, he took a pen and made some preparation.
"Acupoints in the eyebrow, situated between the two eyebrows. Forehead acupoints, situated on top of the center of the eyebrow. The temple, it goes without explanation. Occipital acupoints, situated above occipital protuberance. Jue Yin acupoint, situated on both sides behind the brain, after the papilla between Fubai and Wanggu acupuncture points. Canopy point, the center point which connects the manubrium sternum and the body of the sternum, and the Tiantu acupuncture point two inches below…"
Yang Ming labeled them in the picture until Fang Tian finished explaining the 36 acupuncture points.
"Next, you need to identify the acupuncture points accurately. Bring this picture home. You have two days to memorize the positions of these acupuncture points." Fang Tian instructed.
"There's no need for it. I have already memorized them." Yang Ming had an outstanding memory. It was just 36 acupuncture points which are comparatively easier than memorizing English words.
"Not bad." Fang Tian nodded his head and said it plainly, "Let's eat first. The dumplings are ready. After a while, Dong Jun will bring us a dummy used as a teaching tool in a medical college. What you need to do is to find the acupuncture point." [2]
Fang Tian distributed the dumplings into two plates and said later on, "There's soy sauce, vinegar, and chili oil. Go and get if you want it."
Yang Ming nodded and prepared a small plate for the dip.
Without further ado, Yang Ming finished half of the plate in just a short time. The dumplings which Fang Tian prepared with cabbage and pork filling were great. Fang Tian couldn't eat much, so he was full after a few bites.
After they finished their meal, Dong Jun came with a dummy in his arm. He put it on the ground once he entered.
"This thing is quite heavy!" said Dong Jun as he wiped off his sweat.
"Here's some dumplings. If you want to eat it, cook it on your own." Fang Tian pointed at the breadboard and said.
Dong Jun nodded his head and went over to prepare it for himself.
Yang Ming was caught by surprise over the dummy. How can you get something like this? This isn't for sale, right?
But, he quickly recalled Dong Jun's occupation. Yang Ming was speechless. This thing was most likely obtained from a random medical college.
Fang Tian gestured to Yang Ming. He raised the dummy from the ground and leaned it against the corner.