24: Chapter 24 One-Finger Acupressure? Wang Hai froze on the spot!

The Last Struggle of a Trapped Beast

The emergency lights at the Oriental Sports Center were still flickering. Seven underground thugs were dragged out of the venue by the special police like dead dogs, leaving dark red flower-like bloodstains on the shock-absorbing mats. The global live broadcast camera was locked onto the center of the stage. The number of online viewers on the bottom right of the holographic screen jumped to 9.37 million, and the barrage refreshed so fast it looked like a waterfall:

"Brother Wu's 'Golden Silk Wrist Entanglement' move just now was amazing! Textbook-level force neutralization!"

"Professor Wang Hai, where is he? Did he get scared and wet himself?"

"Look at the west passage! The special police are dragging him out!"

Chen Wu was helping Zhao Mengmeng's grandfather wipe the dust off his cane. The old man had used his cane to deflect the short sticks to protect a child who had been knocked down, leaving a small nick on the bronze tripod-headed cane. "Little Wu," the old man suddenly pressed his hand, a sharp glint flashing in his cloudy eyes, "That man surnamed Wang has bloodshot eyes; he's been pushed to the edge and is ready to bite back."

As soon as he finished speaking, a commotion broke out on the west side of the venue. Professor Wang Hai was being held by his arms by two special police officers. The sleeves of his custom-made suit were torn, his gold-rimmed glasses were crooked on the tip of his nose, and blood hung from the corner of his mouth—it was unclear if he had been hit or if he had bitten it himself. He struggled like a mad bull, making strange rattling sounds in his throat, his eyes locked onto Chen Wu, as if they were about to spit fire.

"Let me go! I want to expose him!" Professor Wang Hai suddenly broke free from the special police's restraint, pulled out a folding knife from somewhere, opened the blade, and charged toward the stage, "This is all fake! His Acupoints striking is magic! His Qi Sense is a pyramid scheme!"

The whole audience gasped. The audience in the front row shrank back in fear. Xu Hao grabbed a chair next to him and was about to rush up, but was pressed down by Chen Wu's shoulder. "Don't touch him." Chen Wu's voice was as calm as a deep pool, "He still hasn't seen the truth."

When Professor Wang Hai was five meters away from the stage, the special police caught up to him again, trying to take the knife away. In the chaos, the folding knife fell to the ground, but Professor Wang Hai used this gap to pounce onto the stage like a cannonball, spreading his arms to hug Chen Wu's legs—this was his last struggle, even if he was treated as a madman, he wanted to leave a scene of 'going down together' before the global broadcast.

Gold Light at the Fingertips

At the moment Professor Wang Hai's fingertips were about to touch Chen Wu's trouser legs, time seemed to have been pressed to slow motion.

9.37 million viewers worldwide saw a scene that would overturn their cognition through different screens—Chen Wu just raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers together, his fingertips glowing with a faint golden light, pointing toward Professor Wang Hai's chest as fast as lightning.

There was no earth-shattering collision, not even a clear sound. Professor Wang Hai's body, which had been pouncing over, suddenly froze in mid-air. His arms remained in a hugging posture, his legs still maintaining a lunging stance for the forward charge. The whole person was like a sculpture that had been cast with an immobilization spell, with only his eyes able to move, his pupils filled with horror and disbelief.

"This... what is this?" A slurred sound came from Professor Wang Hai's throat. His lips trembled, but he couldn't even straighten his tongue. He wanted to lift his hand, but his arms felt like they were filled with lead. He wanted to take a step, but his knees felt like they were nailed to the floor. His whole body, except for his eyeballs, could barely move.

The barrage in the live broadcast room stalled for a full three seconds, and then an unprecedented frenzy erupted:

"??? Did my screen freeze?"

"Freeze my ass! It's Acupoints striking! There really is Acupoints striking!"

"TCM haters, come out and walk a few steps! How do you explain this?"

"Coordinates: Beijing University of Chinese Medicine! This is striking the Danzhong Acupoints! It can instantly block the flow of Qi and blood!"

"9.5 million online! A historical record!"

Chen Wu withdrew his fingers, and the golden light at his fingertips gradually dissipated. He looked at Professor Wang Hai, who was frozen in place, a trace of pity in his tone: "Professor Wang Hai, you could have watched it properly."

He turned to the camera, as if giving a vivid martial arts lesson to the global audience: "Many people think that Acupoints striking is superstition, but it is actually the essence of the combination of traditional medicine and martial arts. There are 365 Acupoints in the human body, corresponding to the laws of the operation of heaven and earth, and 'Qi' is the key to opening these nodes."

To let the audience see more clearly, he signaled the technical department to switch to the 'Qi Sense Visualization' perspective. A 3D model of Professor Wang Hai immediately appeared on the holographic screen, red energy flowing through his body, but it was blocked by a golden light spot at the position of the Danzhong Acupoints on his chest, like a flood blocked by a dam.

"Just like this." Chen Wu's fingertips pointed in the air, and the golden light spot on the model moved accordingly, and Professor Wang Hai's body followed suit—when he pointed to the Jianjing Acupoints, his arm raised involuntarily; when he pointed to the Quchi Acupoints, his fingers suddenly twitched.

"This is not magic, it is the guidance of energy." Chen Wu explained, "Just like using a water pipe to guide the water flow, I just used 'Qi' to temporarily block his energy operation."

The Temperature of Truth

Professor Wang Hai froze in place, his whole body's blood seemingly solidified. He could clearly feel a cold point on his chest, all his strength sucked into that point, and even breathing became difficult. What made him collapse even more was that he could hear the comments of the whole audience, could see his own disheveled appearance on the live broadcast screen, but he didn't even have the right to close his eyes and escape.

"Do you believe it now?" Chen Wu walked in front of him, his voice not loud, but it hit Professor Wang Hai's heart like a heavy hammer, "Martial arts is not a scam; it's that you didn't want to believe it yourself."

Two lines of tears flowed down the corners of Professor Wang Hai's eyes—not crying, but fear. He suddenly remembered the old TCM doctor he met ten years ago during his first anti-fake campaign who could use silver needles to stop pain. At that time, he determined it was psychological suggestion; only now did he understand what a precious thing he had missed.

"Un... Unlock..." Professor Wang Hai squeezed out two words with all his strength, the movement of his lips not even as big as a mosquito flapping its wings.

Chen Wu shook his head: "It cannot be unlocked. You have to wait for the 'Qi' to circulate naturally, which will take about two hours. During this time, you can think about what is true and what is false."

He turned to the special police: "Please take good care of Professor Wang Hai, don't let him fall."

Lin Xue took two policewomen onto the stage and carefully supported Professor Wang Hai's arms. She looked at this 'anti-fake fighter' who had been baring his fangs just now, now like a puppet, and couldn't help but cast an admiring look at Chen Wu: "This skill is much more useful than handcuffs."

Chen Wu smiled and his gaze swept over the audience under the stage. Zhao Mengmeng's grandfather was surrounded by a group of foreign reporters. The old man was drawing meridian charts on the ground with his cane, muttering "The Lung Meridian belongs to Metal, the Heart Meridian belongs to Fire"; the blind Awakened person who had been guided by him before was using 'Listening Energy' to help the special police identify the items in Professor Wang Hai's pockets; even the few fighting bloggers who had questioned him most fiercely were holding up their phones to film close-ups of Professor Wang Hai being struck on his Acupoints, saying "This needs to be studied carefully."

The global online number exceeded 10 million. This number stood like a milestone in the upper right corner of the holographic screen, witnessing the opening of a new era.

"Dear audience," Chen Wu's voice sounded again, with the power to penetrate people's hearts, "Today's live broadcast is coming to an end, but I want everyone to remember that true martial arts is not used to defeat others, but to understand oneself. Just like Acupoints striking can block Qi and blood, it can also clear blockages. Its essence is balance, not destruction."

He walked to the bronze tripod and placed his palm on the tripod body. The Taotie pattern suddenly lit up, shooting a golden light straight into the sky, opening a circular skylight on the dome of the sports center, and the sunlight poured down like a waterfall, just shrouding Professor Wang Hai who was frozen in place.

A wonderful thing happened—the stiffness in Professor Wang Hai's chest began to ease, and he could feel a warm current flowing down his throat, carrying a faint medicinal fragrance.

"This is the 'Qi' in the tripod helping you clear the blockages." Chen Wu's voice seemed to come from far away, "Remember this feeling; it is called 'the temperature of truth'."

The Curtain Falls and the Prologue

Two hours later, Professor Wang Hai was finally able to move. The first thing he did was not to run away, but to walk to Chen Wu and bow deeply. This once arrogant 'anti-fake fighter' now bent his waist like a mature ear of rice, his voice hoarse: "I... I was wrong."

Chen Wu supported him: "Do you know where you were wrong?"

"Wrong in... wrong in treating everything I don't understand as fake." Professor Wang Hai's tears mixed with snot flowed down, "I used to always say traditional martial arts were flowery, but it was actually me who was blind and couldn't see its good."

The global live broadcast camera faithfully recorded this scene. On the holographic screen, 10 million viewers' barrages merged into one sentence: "Admitting one's mistakes and correcting them is the greatest virtue."

When Professor Wang Hai was taken away by the special police, he suddenly looked back and shouted: "Mr. Chen, when I get out, can... can I take you as my teacher?"

Chen Wu smiled: "Wait until you truly understand what martial arts is before talking about that."

The sunset shone on the stage through the skylight in the dome, plating the bronze tripod with a layer of warm gold. Chen Wu watched Professor Wang Hai's back disappear at the entrance of the passage, and looked at the online number slowly decreasing on the holographic screen, sighing softly.

"Brother Wu, System notification!" Xu Hao's voice trembled with excitement, "The number of global Awakened has exceeded 100,000! The System has rewarded the Complete Manual of 'Acupoint Striking' and the recipe for making 'Qi Needles'!"

Chen Wu nodded, his fingertips sliding across the new seal script on the inside of the tripod lid: "The Great Dao is simple, evolution is complex." He knew that Professor Wang Hai's curtain call was just the prologue to the revival of martial arts. When 10 million people witnessed the magic of Acupoints striking, and 100,000 Awakened found their belonging, the rules of this world had already quietly changed.

"For the next live broadcast," Chen Wu waved to the camera that was gradually darkening, "we will talk about how to use 'Qi' to massage family members and relieve fatigue."

When the last audience left, the lights in the sports center had already gone out, and only the bronze tripod was still emitting a faint golden light. Chen Wu sat by the tripod, listening to the city's hustle and bustle from afar, and suddenly felt that the so-called legend is actually turning things that others think are impossible into reality step by step.

And his steps had just begun.