In the barracks, Chen Hua and this batch of new recruits were gathered together, helping each other to apply medicine to their bruises. During the daytime drills in formation, everyone made mistakes and no one escaped the whip of the inspecting guards.

  A hissing sound echoed through the barracks, as if the air was being sucked dry. The normally boisterous men were all scowling today, and it was clear that this day's flogging had been particularly painful. It was unclear how those guards had trained, but with one lash of the whip, their clothes remained intact, while the skin underneath turned a deep purple, making even the toughest of men clench their teeth in agony.

  "Director Chen, trouble you to find some needles about three or four inches long for me, I have a big use." Zhang Feng called Chen Hua aside and instructed.

  "Needles are available, and the soldiers usually mend their own clothes when they get slightly damaged. But what do you want this for? Is this your trump card after confidently agreeing to the bet earlier?" Chen Hua asked in puzzlement.

  "You'd better not ask more questions, just find the needle quickly."

  "Alright... I'll go get it for you." Chen Hua saw that Zhang Feng was being mysterious and couldn't do anything about it, so he turned around and left the barracks to fetch the needle.

  Zhang Feng's small flag has 8 people, Lao Gu, Ma Liu, Da Niu, Wang Ping, Zhang Liang, Xu Jia brothers two, and two vacancies are old soldiers, waiting for the end of January exercise to supplement Zhang Feng's flag.

  During the day, the ones who got whipped the most were Da Niu and Wang Ping. These two men were sturdy and strong, but unfortunately had poor sense of direction, often running to the wrong position, and the guards' whips frequently visited them, each with at least a dozen scars. Now, these two men were exposing their upper bodies and applying medicinal liquor to each other's wounds. Zhang Liang and the Xu brothers were quite ordinary, their running positions were average, and the whip marks on their bodies were about the same as everyone else's.

  At the very least, Lao Gu and Xiao Liu Zi had to be counted. Lao Gu was experienced, although he hadn't practiced in some years, his body still remembered. As for Xiao Liu Zi, it was purely because he was clever. After being whipped twice, Xiao Liu Zi became smart, focusing on Zhang Feng. Wherever Zhang Feng ran, he followed, and wherever Zhang Feng stood, he stood the same way. In short, the general direction would definitely not be wrong, so he was spared a lot of whipping compared to others.

  "Lao Gu, what did you do to get punished and become a horse groom?" Little Liu wiped his hands clean of the medicinal wine and, having nothing else to do, his curiosity got the better of him as he looked at Lao Gu sitting alone nearby.

  Others who were applying medicine also slowed down their movements, apparently all curious about Lao Gu's experience, but not as serious as Xiao Liu Zi, and if there was a story to be heard, no one wanted to miss it.

  Zhang Feng was also quite curious about this matter, and since Xiao Liu Zi asked, he came over to help and said: "Lao Gu, just tell everyone what's going on, but if there's really something difficult, then forget it, just consider Xiao Liu Zi as having spoken out of turn."

  The old man's face, slightly pale and worn out, smiled helplessly, his hoarse voice speaking in a thick Shaanxi accent.

  Nothing much, I was once a small flag like you. One day, my family received news that my mother was seriously ill, but the Wei camp had already ordered us to prepare for battle. With my heart heavy with worry about my old mother, I secretly escaped and rushed back home, but unfortunately didn't get to see her one last time. After hastily taking care of my mother's funeral, I returned to the Wei camp, and was lucky not to be beheaded, thanks to the mercy of the hundred-household leader. Then I was demoted to a horseman, and that lasted for ten years...

  Everyone was at a loss for words after hearing this, and it turned out that Lao Gu had become a deserter. What's more unexpected was that Lao Gu had risked his life as a deserter but still hadn't seen his old mother one last time...

  "I'm really sorry, old Gu. Look at my stinky mouth." Xiaoliu had lost his parents since he was young, and upon hearing about old Gu's situation, tears almost fell from his eyes. He felt that he shouldn't have brought up the painful past of old Gu, so he wanted to slap himself a few times to help old Gu vent his anger.

  Lao Gu hurriedly stretched out his hand to stop Xiao Liu Zi, waving his hand and saying "It's all in the past, it's been so many years, I don't mind anymore. This time Old Chen pulled me out again, it's also good for me to let this old bone still be useful...".

  At this time, Chen Hua also found some needles and thread outside and brought them back. He entered the barracks and saw a group of people gathered together sighing and groaning, thinking that something bad had happened, so he hurried over to ask what was going on. Xiao Liu told him about his own mistake, and Chen Hua also sighed and said:

  "It's all old news, I've gotten through it with my old bones. Let's just not mention it again from now on. Oh, and Zhang, this is the needle you asked me to find, so can you finally tell me what you're planning to do?"

  Chen Hua handed the needle he had found to Zhang Feng, who once again asked curiously. Zhang Feng took the needle and observed it against the candle holder, finding its length to be just right, nodded his head, and began to heat up the tip of the needle in the candle flame.

  "Everyone, take off your clothes, I'll come over and give you a few injections to relieve fatigue, which also has the effect of promoting blood circulation and removing stasis."

  "Ah! Is Zhang Xiaoqi still a doctor? But what's with the acupuncture?" The crowd asked in confusion.

  "I, Zhang Feng, have grown up in Wudang Mountain since I was a child. I have some understanding of acupoints and needling techniques." It turned out that Zhang Feng not only learned martial arts on Wudang Mountain but also studied some medical books due to the Wudang point-striking technique, and today he can use his skills in identifying acupoints.

  Although Zhang Feng didn't know what the training content was, after careful consideration, he thought that no matter how one trains, a person's spirit is the most important thing. This gave him confidence to win the bet, which was also the harvest of his sixteen years as a Taoist.

  It was the first time for many people to see that acupuncture could make a person feel spirited, and they were suddenly filled with interest. They took off their clothes one after another, leaving only a pair of underpants on.

  Zhang Feng made everyone lie down and brought needles to Xia Liu's place where he was beaten.

  Xiao Liu Zi smiled and looked at Zhang Feng, saying: "Zhang big brother, you can come at me, I absolutely won't cry out in pain."

  "Hey kid, don't worry, it won't hurt at all. Just lie still."

  Zhang Feng swiftly picked up the silver needle and tapped it a few times on Xiao Liu's body. After half a day, Xiao Liu looked puzzled and asked, "Is that all? I don't feel anything at all, are you cheating me?"

  "Raise your hands and take a look, is there a small red dot on the tiger's mouth of both palms?"

  Xiao Liu raised his hand and examined it carefully, "Huh? It's really there. What's going on?" Xiao Liu discovered that he indeed had two small dots on both hands and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

  "This is the Hegu acupoint. Apart from these two, there are five other points on your body: Guanyuan, Zusanli (both left and right), and Taichong (both left and right). By applying pressure to these points, you can alleviate fatigue, so even if you've trained for a whole day, you won't feel too tired the next morning."

  Zhang Feng smiled and explained to Xiao Liu, then continued to help others with their acupuncture points. Except for Da Niu's skin being a bit too thick and hard, which made it slightly more difficult, everything else went smoothly.

  Everyone who received the acupuncture felt extremely relaxed and soon fell asleep one after another. This left Chen Hua standing by, stunned, never expecting that this small silver needle could have such a miraculous effect. In his heart, he also couldn't help but feel grateful for his own quick thinking in secretly sending wine to Xiao Li after Zhang Feng's assessment that day, asking him to assign Zhang Feng to his own team, which might be the most correct decision he had made all these years.

  After Zhang Feng had administered injections to everyone, he also felt somewhat weak. Fortunately, there were only forty or so people in this camp, if there were any more, he wouldn't have been able to cope.

  Chen Hua saw Zhang Feng's forehead sweating and couldn't help but ask: "They have Brother Zhang's acupuncture and tonifying, what about you, Brother Zhang? I won't be able to do acupuncture either, old brother..."

  Zhang Feng silently looked at Chen Hua, who was getting agitated, and said: "It's okay, I'll just meditate for a while to adjust my breath. In the past, when I practiced martial arts on the mountain, it was much more bitter than this." After speaking, Zhang Feng ignored Chen Hua and sat down cross-legged with his eyes closed, starting to cultivate his energy.

  Chen Hua saw that Zhang Feng seemed to be fine, so he also took off his clothes and prepared to sleep. He had also been training for a day, although not as tired as the new recruits, but it was good to rest early.

  Before going to sleep, Chen Hua once again gave a hundred likes (if he knew what "likes" were!) to his own wise and powerful decision to bring Zhang Feng under his wing...

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