"But Heart Fire, I still don't want to die, is there really no way?"
"Spleen Earth, forget it, if Heart Fire had a way, we wouldn't be in this situation. We can only say that in the future, we'll have to rely on Hydronephrosis to slowly deplete to get by. Ah, what a disaster, truly undeserved."
"Every day, you're the most pessimistic. Everyone's already in a bad mood, and you're still whining here. I think if anyone's going to die first, it's you!"
"Ha, I'm the most pessimistic? It's not because of him! He's always worried about this or that, making it impossible for me to process these emotions, leading me to complain, and now it's my problem? Why?"
"You think I don't have it!? You think it's easy for me!? This disability has a temper bottled up every day without venting, how can I not feel bad? Ask Spleen Earth, whether it's uncomfortable, or Hydronephrosis, Heart Fire, everyone is affected. Who, like you, is so exaggerated, always pouring out grievances?"
"Ah, we're all brothers, no internal strife, let's all speak nicely!"
"It's okay, Spleen Earth, don't hold them back. Let them argue. In this situation, I can't control you anymore. Everyone just do whatever, at worst, we all won't live!"
"Don't scare me, I still want to live!"
"Exactly, Hydronephrosis and I still want to live!"
"..."
Whoa!
What chaos!
Lu Jiu took the pulse, and his brows couldn't help but furrow.
This was the most complex pulse he had seen so far. After feeling it for a full five or six minutes, Lu Jiu still couldn't figure out Wang Li's main symptoms.
Because in terms of the pulse, he had too many symptoms on his body.
Even if not asked, Lu Jiu could roughly tell that he had deficiencies of both Qi and blood, Spleen and Kidney Yang deficiency, Liver Qi stagnation, palpitations, insomnia, etc.
Because the Du Meridian is Yang, it is the largest channel through which Yang Qi flows, and when this channel is blocked, the Yang Qi has to find another way out.
It should normally circulate within the Ren and Du Meridians, but since the path is blocked, it can only go elsewhere. What would this lead to? The Five Viscera are Yin, capable of storing Yang Qi, but the Yang Qi they store is balanced with their own Yin; too little is not good, and too much is not good either.
Now that the Yang Qi in the Du Meridian has nowhere to go, it certainly has to go towards the Yin areas, leading to a state of Yin-Yang imbalance in the Five Viscera, where excessive Yang damages Yin.
At this point, symptoms of Yin deficiency appear.
For example, being afraid of cold, being intolerant to wind, etc.
When symptoms of Yin deficiency appear and are left unaddressed for a long time, they will transform into Yang deficiency.
Because the Five Viscera have the ability to self-regulate, when they find there's too much Yang, and they can't contain it, they can only expel the excess Yang to maintain the Yin-Yang balance and prevent their functions from being affected.
At this point, a state of Yang exuberance occurs, typically manifested on the skin surface, such as a rosy complexion, excessive oil secretion, or dryness, acne, etc.
The most direct manifestation of Yang exuberance is actually after an all-nighter, when some young people still feel energetic, excited, as if high on adrenaline, and have much oilier skin than after waking from a normal sleep. However, once this state passes, people start to feel exhausted, fatigued, and even after sleeping for over a dozen hours, they might not feel fully recovered.
This is actually the symptom of Yang deficiency after burning the midnight oil, displayed after damaging Yin.
But this is temporary. Young people have enough Yang Qi, and as long as sleep recovers, they can replenish the Yin damage.
Wang Li's condition isn't something a night's sleep can cure, and after Yang deficiency, even though the Yin-Yang balance of the Five Viscera is restored, the body has lost the displaced Yang Qi, reducing the overall amount.
Then Yang deficiency evolves into the next stage, excess Yin.
Because of Yang deficiency, the lack of Yang Qi causes an excessive presence of Yin, and the body's internal environment becomes colder, where Qi stagnates, and blood condenses when cold.
At this stage, it represents the body's tendency to accumulate certain things, becoming very dangerous.
If there happens to be an accumulation in the Five Viscera, it's even worse.
The Five Viscera are Yin after all, they have the capability but lack the capacity for storage.
If there's a substantial presence in the Five Viscera, it might be as minor as stones, or as severe as tumors or even cancer!
The "Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor" states, "Cold Qi occupies between the small intestine's membranes, within the blood channels, the blood cannot inject into the main channels, blood stagnates and cannot flow, thus accumulations form over time!"
In the past, traditional Chinese medicine called stones "accumulations" and tumors or cancer "masses," and this phrase from the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor explains how stones form, and the principles for tumors and cancer are similar.
Many Chinese medicine practitioners know this, but knowing and treating are two different matters.
Stones are easier to talk about, as traditional Chinese medicine has methods to dissolve them; an ordinary Chinese medicine practitioner like Lu Jiu can handle it, but when it comes to cancer, it's better to wish for luck.
Around 99.99% of Chinese medicine practitioners nationwide can't handle it.
Meeting the 0.01% among the 1% is purely a matter of fate.
At least so far, Lu Jiu only knows of one traditional Chinese doctor who successfully treated a late-stage lung cancer case, and that doctor is the one who founded the Chinese Medicine Home, Master Huang Fusheng.
There might be others, but until seeing their medical records, Lu Jiu remains skeptical because there are too many fake Chinese medicine practitioners these days.
In 2014, a report from the Huaxia Social Science Academy's National Holiday survey on Chinese medicine pointed out that among the 300,000 registered Chinese medicine practitioners nationwide, fewer than 3,000 use the four diagnostic methods and eight guiding principles for patient treatment.
The remaining practitioners almost exclusively use methods like CT, X-ray, and lab tests, which fundamentally don't differ from Western medicine.
Of course, these numbers have some bias. Many folk Chinese medicine practitioners were likely not included in this report, like those in remote areas, where many old Chinese medicine practitioners who aren't registered or even don't hold a practitioner's certificate.
But once this generation of old practitioners passes away, how many can inherit their skills is a matter for debate.
Over the past decade, the scale of Chinese medicine must have increased significantly, with genuine practitioners likely on the rise. However, compared to the vast number of seven to eight million registered Western medicine practitioners nationwide, the number of Chinese medicine practitioners is insignificant.
This is why many citizens believe in Chinese medicine but often fall for fraudulent ones.
With so few knowing about it, if you're not scammed, it almost seems fake.
Another five minutes passed, Lu Jiu released Wang Li's hand, feeling quite complex.
He sighed, then asked, "Have you been experiencing a headache, tinnitus, dizziness, memory decline, nocturia, sudden awakening at night, palpitations, indigestion, irritability, and a series of symptoms over the years?"
Wow, it sounds like a shopping list.
But as soon as Wang Li heard it, he couldn't help but give a thumbs up.
"It's absolutely right, just missing a bit. Sometimes my leg cramps, and I catch a cold easily."
Lu Jiu smiled helplessly, well of course, when the Du Meridian is involved, half the person's vitality is gone, and all problems come tumbling one after the other.
Ah... it's really tricky!
But no matter how tricky, it has to be tried.
Let's start with the back pain!
The "Four Master Acupoints Song" mentions, "For abdominal issues, press Zusanli; for back pain, press Weizhong; for headache and neck stiffness, press Lieque; for facial and oral problems, press Hegu."
The idea is that stomach and intestinal problems can be alleviated by massaging the Zusanli Acupoint; back pain can be alleviated by massaging the Weizhong Acupoint; headaches and neck stiffness can be relieved by massaging the Lieque Acupoint, while facial and oral ailments can be addressed by massaging the Hegu Acupoint.
Lu Jiu intends to attempt Acupuncture on the Weizhong Acupoint to see if it can provide any help to Wang Li.
If not, then he can only think of other methods.
Lu Jiu looked deeply at Wang Li, almost wanting to ask why an operation was necessary, but swallowed the words back and then grinned, "Let me give you a needle first and see how it works..."