Since the Heilong Gang and more than a dozen related criminal organizations suffered devastating blows, the underworld in Country U was shaken to its core. Only then did they realize the immense power hidden behind what seemed to be an unremarkable chain of clinics. In the history of this country, hardly any gang had ever been targeted so directly by the federal government. Any organization that managed to take root here typically had its own agents within the government. Thus, the clinic was jokingly dubbed the “poison of the underworld,” and gangs collectively agreed to stay far away, to avoid being caught in the crossfire again.
Now, all clinic staff wore standardized identification badges. They soon discovered that having this badge allowed them to walk tall anywhere, and in Chinatown, they were met with even more respect.
The New York clinic suddenly drew nationwide attention. After some media digging, details about the other clinics gradually came to light, and the name of the founder, Mu Lin, appeared before the public for the first time.
However, since Mu Lin had always kept a low profile, most people only knew his name but had never seen him in person. Combined with the clinic’s clientele, its staff, and its unusual treatment policies, the public gradually realized this was a clinic specifically serving the upper echelons of society. In this so-called democratic nation, citizens began staging open protests, demanding access to the same level of medical care enjoyed by the elite. Eventually, the government dismissed the protesters by stating the clinic was a private enterprise.
Nonetheless, the term “acupuncture therapy” suddenly became widespread across Country U, and the demand for acupuncturists soared. The high salaries and generous benefits offered by Mu Lin’s clinic attracted the attention of many young students. In response, several universities began offering acupuncture programs. For the first time in the Western world, traditional Chinese medicine was officially recognized.
Meanwhile, the man at the center of this storm, Mu Lin, had already returned to his home in Boston to celebrate the traditional Chinese Spring Festival. Here, both the black and white factions regarded him as one of their own, so he easily fended off reporters trying to dig into his past.
Most journalists left empty-handed. Some who managed to secretly photograph Mu Lin’s daily life and work were intercepted by police at train stations, airports, and hotels. Journalists jokingly referred to Boston as the city with the most efficient police force in the entire country. They began calling Mu Lin the “poison of journalism,” and from then on, no reporter was willing to cover stories related to him, because any published reports were always generic and superficial—there was no chance of exclusive or in-depth coverage, so these journalists saw no point in risking their reputations.
Back home, Mu Lin remembered he had long intended to craft some protective artifacts for the women in his family, and now was the perfect opportunity. All the preparations for the Spring Festival were naturally handled by the two elderly housekeepers, who had more experience with traditional celebrations.
Meifang and Daisi, along with their two younger sisters, kept him busy. Perhaps because they had grown older, Meifang and Daisi, though excited to see him, maintained a composed and reserved demeanor. But Meizi and Bisi were overjoyed. Especially Meizi, who had always believed her older brother could do anything since the day she met him. After hearing from Finny and others about what happened in New York, she was never satisfied and constantly begged Mu Lin to retell the story. After he told it once, she would find an excuse to come back the next day and ask again, leaving Mu Lin both amused and exasperated. Whenever Mu Lin was home, they always found reasons to stay in his room. He understood this was their way of expressing their affection after being apart for so long.
The Spring Festival passed joyfully for the family. This time, Mu Lin firmly rejected the request of two young female officers who wanted to accompany him to Boston. Their performance during the Heilong Gang incident had not met his expectations, so he used this as a way to express his dissatisfaction. At the same time, he gave them some time to reflect and carefully reconsider their future actions.
After the Spring Festival, Meifang and the others returned to school, giving Mu Lin some free time. He went down to the basement and told the housekeeper he would be in retreat for a while—actually, he was preparing to craft a batch of artifacts to give to the women in his family.
Among various materials, he finally decided to use jadeite to create a series of jewelry.
Jadeite is a gem-grade material among Hetian jade, the purest and whitest of white jade, possessing the finest luster and texture. It is described as warm, smooth, translucent, and as delicate as congealed fat. According to archaeological findings, jadeite artifacts have been discovered in the tomb of Fu Hao from the Shang Dynasty over 3,500 years ago, proving that jade from the Kunlun Mountains had already spread into central China.
Most of the jade Mu Lin possessed were river stones collected by him during his travels in Kashgar, from the Yurungkash River and Karakash River—anciently known as the White Jade River and the Black Jade River.
Through years of research, Mu Lin discovered that the human body itself possesses various biological fields: temperature fields, electric fields, magnetic fields, and wave-related magnetic fields, with the biological magnetic field being the most dominant. When someone’s temperature field experiences abnormal changes beyond their control, it could lead to spontaneous combustion. Those who could control it, however, might develop abilities related to controlling temperature—such as fire or water manipulation.
Those who could control their bioelectric fields could learn to wield electricity. Those who could control their bio-wavelengths could manipulate spatial abilities. Combined, these form a person’s biological magnetic field.
Everyone has their own biological magnetic field. In young people, it is vibrant and beautiful; in the elderly, it is dim and weak. The more elegant and beautiful a woman is, the stronger her magnetic field, and the more attractive she becomes to the opposite sex.
In his research, Mu Lin also found that jade could emit a certain magnetic field. Especially when specific talismanic engravings were carved into it, jade could store that magnetic field. Different talismans caused different magnetic changes, with jadeite being the most effective.
Due to its fine texture and uniformly aligned molecular structure, jadeite could stably maintain the effects of various talismans without the molecular disorder causing the talisman to fail. Through multiple experiments, Mu Lin also found that other materials like rubies, sapphires, natural diamonds, emeralds, and agate also had similar effects. Moreover, these materials inherently contained energy. However, he currently didn’t have these materials stored in his ring. He knew these materials had long been popular in the Western world, and their prices were quite high.
With no choice but to work with the materials he had, he decided to use jadeite for now, planning to replace them with better materials in the future. He crafted jade pendants engraved with a protective talisman, an offensive talisman, and a short-range earth-teleportation talisman. The pendants were heart-shaped, worn as necklaces with silver chains, combining a sense of classical elegance.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage