“You’ll need new bandages,” the ancient medicine woman muttered, unwrapping the pristine white gauze from Li Wei’s hands. Despite working in the most prestigious investment firm in Shanghai, he had sought out this peculiar healer in a cramped alley shop after conventional doctors failed to cure his mysteriously bleeding palms.

“But there’s nothing there,” Li Wei protested, examining his unblemished skin in the dim light filtering through paper lanterns.

The old woman’s eyes crinkled with knowing wisdom. “The wounds we can’t see cut the deepest.”

Li Wei scoffed, straightening his designer tie. As a rising executive, he had orchestrated the downfall of countless colleagues through carefully crafted rumors and manipulated data. Just last week, his latest victim - a promising young analyst named Chen Ming - had been fired after Li Wei planted false information in his reports.

“Your hands bleed with the pain you cause others,” the medicine woman continued, producing a roll of yellowed bandages covered in faded Chinese characters. “These ancient wrappings reveal the truth we hide from ourselves.”

“Superstitious nonsense,” Li Wei muttered, but allowed her to bind his hands.

The next morning in his corner office, Li Wei noticed red seeping through the bandages during a crucial presentation. His colleagues gasped as crimson droplets splattered the earnings projections.

“Are you alright?” his supervisor asked with concern.

“Just a minor cut,” Li Wei lied, hiding his hands.

But the bleeding wouldn’t stop. Each act of sabotage against his coworkers made the bandages weep darker red. When he forged documents to steal credit for a junior associate’s breakthrough deal, the bandages became sodden. After spreading vicious rumors about his main competitor for an upcoming promotion, the bleeding spread up his arms.

Li Wei returned to the medicine woman in desperation. “Make it stop!”

She simply shook her head. “The bandages show what’s in your heart. Only you can stem the flow.”

That evening, watching Chen Ming clear out his desk while his colleagues whispered and pointed, Li Wei felt an unfamiliar pang. The young analyst’s shoulders slumped with defeat as he carried his personal items past the corner office.

“Wait,” Li Wei called out, hands dripping. He approached his supervisor’s office and confessed everything - the fabricated reports, the stolen credit, years of calculated sabotage.

As the truth poured out, the bleeding slowed. When he finished speaking, his hands were completely dry.

The medicine woman smiled knowingly when Li Wei visited one last time. “Some wounds need exposure to heal,” she said, removing the bandages to reveal unmarked skin. “Remember this lesson well.”

Li Wei nodded, touching his smooth palms. He had lost his job and reputation, but gained something far more valuable - a chance to bandage his soul with truth instead of lies.

As he stepped into the sunlit street, the old woman’s shop shimmed and vanished like morning mist. But Li Wei knew the magic would stay with him, a permanent reminder that our actions leave invisible scars only honesty can heal.