As more people attempted to practice the Taotie Art, the number of those who managed to grasp its basics grew, and based on this foundation, it began to spread rapidly among a larger cancer population.
Most cancer patients are not isolated; they have friends and acquaintances they communicate with. It is perfectly normal for people with the same type of cancer to have support groups where they discuss the latest treatment methods. For patients who are desperate to live and willing to try anything, even something suggested by a stranger, they are more likely to trust advice from a familiar fellow patient, especially for a free method.
However, these methods of propagation ultimately led only to limited spread and did not cause much of a stir. Let alone a nationwide sensation.
What truly brought the Taotie Art into the spotlight and caused a nationwide sensation was when cancer researchers, based on the results of practicing the Taotie Art and the cases of over a dozen living individuals, wrote several papers and published them.
Of course, it wasn't the papers themselves that were sensational.
Those papers were not published in any internationally renowned medical journals. They were published in domestic medical magazines where payment could get an article published.
Few people, even among medical professionals, subscribed to those journals, let alone how many people actually read them.
But by sheer coincidence, these contents were discovered by some public intellectuals who specialized in finding fault and criticizing various aspects of China's shortcomings and backwardness. Then, someone specifically took pictures of the relevant content, posted it online, and paid for traffic and hired internet trolls to mock the fact that decades into the new century, people were still reviving scams from the end of the last century.
Most importantly, someone actually conducted research and published papers on this topic, which was considered utterly absurd!
This was followed by mockery and disparagement about the prevalence of paper fraud in China and how inflated the results were.
So, in essence, the Taotie Art first came into the public eye due to being implicated and ridiculed by those papers.
Discussions on the internet were rampant. Although most netizens focused on the papers, the Taotie Art was unwillingly dragged into the trending topics and became the subject of criticism. Even with many people offering defenses, it was difficult to withstand the self-righteous attacks from passersby.
"My God, isn't this just the internal energy scam from decades ago? Someone pulled this stunt during the martial arts craze back then, and it was proven false by ironclad facts. Everyone who claimed to have internal energy was a fraud. Judging by current trends, shouldn't these scammers at least update their methods? Maybe something about cultivation or even national martial arts? Oh, right, I forgot, 'national martial arts' were debunked long ago!"
"Taotie Art. To be honest, the name of this technique sounds like something from a low-tier fantasy novel. Any protagonist with a bit of power would have a technique called the 'Taotie Sky-Swallowing Art.' Hahahaha, this is hilariously funny."
"I'm not really surprised that people fall for this kind of scam, but the key point is that someone actually did research on this technique and claimed it was effective. This is too outrageous..."
"While it sounds a bit far-fetched, and it still looks a bit far-fetched, I can't quite figure out the purpose of this scam. Logically, the ultimate goal of creating a scam should be to make money, but based on the information I have so far, there are no profit channels. The techniques are free, the explanations are free, and the videos are free. At most, you'd spend a little money to print it out, use some data for videos, and pay for electricity. But the scam creators shouldn't be able to earn anything from these. So far, there are no peripherals being sold, no drugs or courses being peddled. It doesn't seem very reasonable!"
"Could it be that they're not trying to scam for money, but for people, or waiting until more and more people fall for it?"
"Even if you're scamming people, you'd scam useful ones. What's the use of scamming people with late-stage cancer? To put it bluntly, no one would even want them for organ harvesting or as mine slaves."
"Don't spout nonsense. I can testify, this Taotie Art is genuinely effective for cancer. I've been practicing it for a month, and not only has my condition been controlled, but the lesions have also significantly reduced. Some in our group who started earlier have completely cured their cancer and have recovered their health!"
"Is this your first time working as an internet troll? Your whitewashing skills are too poor. At least start with phrases like 'I heard from someone' or 'let me say a fair word.' Who directly whitewashes like this? Be careful not to lose money."
"I can also prove that the Taotie Art is absolutely effective. If you haven't practiced it, don't just spout nonsense. Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth. If you haven't practiced it, how can you say it's useless? That's too self-righteous. Let me show you my examination reports. Cancer Diagnosis Slip.jpg, Physical Examination Slip.jpg..."
"This is hilarious. For things that are obviously fake and don't conform to scientific logic, why would you need to personally verify them by practicing? It's foolish to go and verify them!"
"Could it be true!"
"Um, I suggest some people don't speak too definitively. Really. I'm a doctor, and my father has pancreatic cancer. I also thought this Taotie Art was an obvious sham and not worth trying, a waste of time. But my father, for some reason, started practicing it on someone's advice, and the latest examination results show that his condition has been controlled. Although I want to believe in science and medicine, the examination results don't lie. This Taotie Art doesn't cost money, nor does it require stopping medication. It only requires an hour or two each day to follow the videos and try practicing. So I think everyone doesn't need to be so hostile towards it. Just treat this Taotie Art like Tai Chi. It doesn't hurt for cancer patients to practice it. Why the need to shout and attack?"
"Speaking of which, has no one considered that maybe the papers aren't fake, and all the data is real?"
"Impossible, how could that be? So many experts and researchers haven't found a cure for cancer, yet some random health preservation technique can cure cancer? Isn't this just messing around?"
"My grandmother has already recovered..."
"I think what the previous person, who claimed to be a doctor, said makes sense. Just treat this Taotie Art as a health preservation exercise like Tai Chi and try it. What's the big deal? It's best if it works, and there's no loss if it doesn't!"
"Let me tell you, it's genuinely effective."
...
Although, overall, the Taotie Art became a trending topic because it was ridiculed, it did gain significant exposure. Many cancer patients who had never had the opportunity to learn about it before now knew of its existence. Even if only a small portion decided to try practicing it, the final number was still considerable.
From this point on, the promotion of the Taotie Art officially entered high gear, no longer progressing at its previous slow pace.