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The red public bus stopped at Nanching Pai Loo the road that led to Mr. Huang’s address.

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I walked into the lane, looking for number 201. The path meandered for a long time; I was counting through all the numbers from 110 to 201 to get to his home. And, there it was the brown door with scratched red paint, with a yellowish blue door bell, not the buzzer kind. The entrance of the door was filled with incense mixed with strong alcohol spirit.

 

Taking a deep breath I waited for the door to open, I was nervous and scared but didn’t want to return home, after,  I had heard he was just incredible at his art, and I had traveled on the bus for an hour to get there. A short man, with circular rimmed glasses, scraggly hair, blue and gray Chinese, checkered shirt with gray trousers opened the door. Mumbling in Chinese, he led me in and pointed to a stool. While I took my seat,  he moved to a counter to fix himself some Chinese tea. He asked if I wanted some, I refused. Pouring himself a cup of tea in a white ceramic tumbler with red dragons on it on a spirally cloudy sky, it was pretty. My eyes moved to the wall filled with beakers and bottles of all sized. Seemed to be filled with alcohol, spirit, herbs, toads soaked in some acids or alkalines, who knows what.

 

Mr.. Huang turned to me in his Chinese-English language asked, why I was there.

 

The question put the focus on me, and I blurted out, “My head hurts, and I’m drowning in pain. The pain from my head splits into two pathways, the excruciating pain, the first one, runs from my throbbing head, through my temples, winding down to my left neckline, through my shoulder blades to my fingertips.” My eyes are now dripping with tears. I took another breath and said, “My second pain runs like a gushing river  from the neck to the left side all the way down to my left first toe.”

 

He sipped his tea calmly, dragged on his herbal essence cigar and came close to me. My heart raced, and I'm beginning to tremble. No one was around and the room was eerie, crowded and quiet with no noisy neighbors.

 

He came close asked me to open my mouth and placed his fingers on my pulse. His breath reeked of alcohol and some awkward gingery smell. The air was still. The thick scent of herbs and dried roots pervaded the room. He asked me to lay down on a narrow bed to his left and with a casual tone told me to lie on my stomach and bare my back. Now, my pulse was racing again; I didn’t know how to react. I only laid on my stomach and waited for him; my head turned towards his direction.

 

Mr. Huang came close, pulled my shirt up and opened his draw and very gently pierced a needle on my neck, in my ear lobe, my arms, my back and on my toes. When I saw the thin needles, it frightened me, but surprisingly the needles gently pricked me without pain. I guess I was already in immense pain. He had pierced 14 needles on my body. I laid there for 20 minutes watching Mr. Huang carried on working with his bottles of herbs. He looked old but healthy and sharp. He walked to his table, crushed brown seeds with some dried roots, added some alcohol, stirred it and set it aside. Now, I noticed the soft Chinese classical opera music played in the background.

 

He came up to me and asked me how I felt. I was surprised, the pain was gone, and I was feeling cheerful in my heart and head. He pulled out the needles, placed it into a colander of boiling water. He pulled out a cigar, which he lit and allowed it to burn for a while. I watched the tip of the cigar melt away, it seemed waxy and released some herbal aroma, spicy and rooty. He then put it off and placed the hot cigar on my soles.  Oh! Ow! It was hot, again my heart racing, but in a few seconds, I could feel the warmth penetrating my sole of my foot reaching my calves of my leg. He held the cigar for about 5 minutes and looked into my eyes as if he was hypnotizing me.   I was feeling good and a little nervous.

 

Before I could analyze his thoughts and intention, he released the cigar from the sole of my foot and walked towards his tea. I now, knew he was done with me. I stood up, thanked him profusely and walked out his door feeling light, cheerful and vigorous.