Mystery | Acupuncture | Past Lives | Medicine | Souls
The book is made up of over a hundred short stories, including "Secrets of the Underworld," "Tragedy at the Pear Garden," "The Two-Faced Lover," "The Ventriloquist's Revenge," and "The Sister Who Stole Lives." Each tightly crafted tale combines to reveal the redemption and karmic cycles of ordinary people.
The story begins at an apothecary run by a young woman named Madam Liu. She lives alone with her young daughter, who suffers from a strange condition: her intellect remains that of a child, and she cannot speak, only smile. Though Madam Liu knows nothing of medicine, she possesses an extraordinary acupuncture technique passed down through her family. With a single needle, she can cure the hidden ailments of those fate brings to her.
Madam Liu's acupuncture is no ordinary medical art. She must gather the nightmares and regretful memories of those who come to her, using their emotions to bind her daughter's soul and keep her forever in a child's form. Madam Liu believes that as long as her daughter's soul remains intact, she will one day find a way to cure her and let her become a normal child.
A distinctive fragrance always drifts from the apothecary's entrance, but only those with hidden ailments who are fated to meet Madam Liu can smell it. They enter the shop, drink a cup of specially prepared tea, and gradually fall asleep amid the mysterious scent. In their dreams, their souls return to the depths of their fears, where they see the mistakes they once made and the grievances they left unresolved. These karmic debts are the true source of their illnesses in this life.
But where does Madam Liu's own story begin? The silver needles are not only the remedy that heals them, but also the key to unraveling the mysteries of fate.
Xiaotang, who loves bread, uses a unique suspenseful imagination style to build a world full of fantasy. The author cleverly combines acupuncture with elements such as cause and effect from past lives and secrets from the underworld. Each short story is short and concise but has ups and downs in the plot. For example, a hunter in the previous life was cursed when he hunted a white deer, and the second-generation rich man became ill due to his romantic relationship. They were resolved through Lady Liu's acupuncture, showing the theme of reincarnation of cause and effect, which is thought-provoking. The characters in the book are vivid, and the image of Lady Liu as a doctor with great love comes to life on the page. She works tirelessly to save her daughter and collects memories to treat illnesses. The setting is full of novelty. Other characters, such as patients who reform after being tortured by illness, also show the complexity and transformation of human nature. However, the novel also has some shortcomings. The explanation of cause and effect relationships in some plots is a bit blunt. But overall, the novel brings readers a different reading experience with its novel subject matter and unique narrative method. It is a suspense masterpiece worth savoring.