Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 618: Chapter 618: The Work is Done

「1:00 PM. The treatment room.」

Li Xu took out a small porcelain bottle, poured out a pinch of pale yellow powder, and dissolved it in warm water.

"Here, drink this."

Although the man was a bit hesitant, he drank it obediently at his mother’s urging.

「About a quarter of an hour after he took the powder.」

The man, who had been sitting anxiously in his chair with a wandering gaze, found his eyelids growing heavy. His head started to bob, like a chick pecking at grain.

"Mom... why am I so sleepy..."

He mumbled drowsily, then his body slumped to one side against the back of the chair, and he began to snore, deeply and evenly.

"He’s really asleep."

Hu Qiming watched in amazement. He waved a hand in front of the man’s eyes, but there was no reaction.

There was no agitation, no struggle. He looked as peaceful as if he had fallen asleep naturally.

Li Xu walked over and firmly pinched the man’s philtrum.

No reaction.

He then pinched the He Gu point, even digging in with his fingernail.

Still no reaction.

His sense of pain had indeed vanished, or rather, it had been deeply suppressed to an extremely low level.

"Tsk, tsk. Is this medicine really that effective?"

Director Zhu from the acupuncture department had also rushed over. Looking at the sleeping patient, he asked Li Xu with great interest, "Dean Li, isn’t this the knockout powder written about in old novels? Is it made from the same ingredients?"

"That, I really don’t know." Li Xu smiled and shook his head.

Knockout powder is a staple in *Water Margin* and wuxia novels. It’s described as colorless and odorless, capable of knocking someone out with a single sip.

Whether it actually existed and what its components were remains a historical mystery.

However, Li Xu guessed that when Shi Naian wrote about knockout powder, he probably drew inspiration from traditional Chinese medicine’s Mafei San or Sleeping Saint Powder, adding his own artistic embellishments.

"But the principle should be similar," Li Xu said with a smile. "The idea that knockout powder is colorless and odorless is a fictional dramatization. Sleeping Saint Powder has the distinct smell of herbal medicine, so it’s easy to identify."

As they spoke, Li Xu had already begun preparing for the moxibustion.

He cut a specially made moxa stick into several moxa cones, each the size of a jujube pit.

"Let’s begin."

Li Xu lit a moxa cone and placed it on the man’s Juque point.

A wisp of blue smoke curled upward, carrying the unique fragrance of moxa.

Li Xu held the moxa stick, his focus entirely on the burning tip. He constantly adjusted its height and angle to ensure the heat could penetrate the acupoint steadily and continuously without burning the skin.

It looked simple, but it was actually very mentally taxing.

After Li Xu had applied three cones, about half an hour later, his wrist began to feel sore, so he had Director Zhu take over.

"This looks easy, but it’s not easy at all."

Director Zhu sighed as he performed the moxibustion. "You have to watch it constantly and get the distance just right. Too far and it’s ineffective; too close and you’ll burn the skin. Holding one position like this is more tiring than surgery."

Director Zhu thought for a moment and said, "This won’t work. Just the two of us isn’t enough. We have fifty cones to get through. We need to call someone else, or my arm will be useless tomorrow."

He called over another young, strong doctor from the acupuncture department to help.

Hu Qiming watched from the side, his hands itching to try.

Li Xu noticed his eagerness and said with a smile, "Don’t be impatient. Watch a couple of rounds first and get a feel for it. This is a great opportunity to learn heavy moxibustion. Once you’ve mastered this technique, you’ll have the confidence to treat severe cases of cold-dampness."

Hu Qiming nodded happily, standing by and observing intently like an elementary school student.

An hour passed, and they had already switched operators twice.

"Have you learned it?" Li Xu asked.

"I have," Hu Qiming replied, full of confidence.

"Alright, you give it a try. We’re just doing the Juque point for now. Once we’ve done fifty cones, we’ll switch to the Xinyu point."

Hu Qiming took the moxa stick and began to operate it cautiously.

The moxibustion procedure itself wasn’t difficult; the hard part was maintaining a calm mind and a steady hand.

Director Zhu watched from the side for a while and nodded. "Not bad. His hand is quite steady, and his control of the heat is good too."

"Mm."

Li Xu also showed his approval.

With Hu Qiming and the other doctor joining in, the four of them took turns. Each person would apply three cones, which took about half an hour, before swapping out to rest.

This ensured both the continuity of the treatment and the stamina of the doctors.

Time slipped by unknowingly amidst the swirling smoke.

Soon, it was five in the afternoon, quitting time.

Director Zhu saw there were still a few cones left and was about to finish them in one go.

"Wait," Li Xu suddenly said, stopping him. "Let’s pause for now. The patient should be waking up soon."

"Huh?" Director Zhu was stunned. "We’re not finished yet, and he’s waking up already?"

"The medicine’s effects are about to wear off."

Li Xu glanced at his watch and said with certainty.

"You can calculate it that precisely?" Director Zhu asked in astonishment.

’Can herbal anesthesia really be timed down to the minute?’

Hu Qiming was even more shocked. He never imagined Li Xu could calculate even this so clearly. It was incredible.

Sure enough, after waiting for a little less than twenty minutes, the man, who had been sleeping like a log, suddenly twitched his eyelids, slowly opened his eyes, and let out a confused groan.

"This..."

Director Zhu’s eyes went wide. He stared at Li Xu as if he were looking at some kind of monster.

’He really woke up?’

’That timing... it’s more precise than an alarm clock!’

...

"Whew, we’re finally done."

The next morning, the last moxa cone finally burned out.

Director Zhu let out a long breath and stretched his stiff neck and shoulders, his joints making cracking sounds.

「The entire night.」

Starting yesterday afternoon, they first applied fifty cones to the Juque point, a process that took over eight hours.

After the patient woke up, had dinner, and rested for a bit, Li Xu and the other three also hastily shoveled down a few bites of food before beginning the second half.

They administered the Sleeping Saint Powder again, and once the patient was asleep, they started on the fifty cones for the Xinyu point.

After that whole ordeal, it was now past five in the morning.

The Juque point is the front-mu point of the heart, and the Xinyu point is the back-shu point of the heart.

These two points, one on the front of the chest and one on the back, are like the two main gates to the heart.

Applying moxibustion to these two points is excellent for unblocking heart qi, clearing the heart and opening the orifices, and calming the spirit.

For mania caused by the heart’s orifices being clouded and the spirit being in disarray, this is a classic clinical therapy in Chinese medicine.

However, a treatment like Li Xu’s—applying fifty cones of heavy moxibustion in one go, attacking from both the front and back—was a massive dose that was truly rare. It was also an extreme test of a doctor’s stamina and patience.

"This feels even more exhausting than performing a major surgery that lasts over ten hours."

Director Zhu lamented while rubbing his lower back, "I’m starting to get a taste of how hard it is for surgeons. At least we could take turns. I’ve heard that sometimes in surgery, the assistant holding the retractors has to stand still for hours on end. That’s real torture."

"You’re right, Director Zhu."

Although Hu Qiming was young, he was also dead tired, with dark circles under his eyes. "But it was manageable with the four of us taking turns. If it had been just one person, they probably would have collapsed from exhaustion long ago."

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