I Can Hear the Heart's Voice of Traditional Chinese Medicine-Chapter 262 - 116: Old Friends, From Today I, Old Zhou, Have a Teacher

The idea is that during the process of diagnosing diseases, the deciding factor for a patient's life or death is not the severity of the illness, but the survival of the patient's own Primordial Qi.

With sufficient Primordial Qi, one can recover even from serious illnesses; with weak Primordial Qi, even minor ailments can be deadly.

The real warrior against illness is not the doctor, not the medication, not the modern medical equipment, but the Primordial Qi that you inherently possess!

The duty of a doctor is to ignite the patient's Primordial Qi, bringing it back to a normal state. Once Primordial Qi is restored, it can deploy its forces, wield its weapons, and completely eliminate the disease, allowing the body to return to its original healthy state.

Tracing back to the origin, illness is caused by the damage to Primordial Qi, so the fundamental of recovery lies in restoring Primordial Qi to normal." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Having said this, seeing that Zhou Jiande still had doubts, Lu Xuan chuckled and said, "Old Zhou..."

"If it's hard for you to call me Zhou Jiande, just call me Old Zhou," Zhou Jiande interrupted Lu Xuan.

Lu Xuan chuckled, but heeded Zhou Jiande's words and called him Old Zhou: "But let's not forget, the Yang Qi we talk about in traditional Chinese medicine has two sources: one is congenital, from father and mother, and the other is acquired, mainly transformed from the essence of food absorbed.

Various human activities like normal bodily operation, work, exercise, sexual life, emotional fluctuations, adapting to temperature changes, and wound healing all require the consumption of Yang Qi.

Here, Yang Qi is also Primordial Qi, it's just called differently.

The function of Mountain Burning Fire is to guide the Yang into the body, so naturally, it helps in restoring Primordial Qi."

Zhou Jiande's eyes lit up, he patted his forehead and said with a mix of laughter and tears, "I almost forgot about this. If that's the case, Mountain Burning Fire indeed has this effect, and the function of this nearly lost skill is therefore significant."

"Otherwise, how could it be called an acupuncture ku technique?" Lu Xuan retorted with a smile.

Zhou Jiande laughed again and asked, "And what about Heart-piercing Cold?"

Lu Xuan explained, "Purging Yang and removing heat, it's a clearing method, also a purging method. Ancient medical texts record its effectiveness in treating ailments caused by wind-phlegm stroke, throat wind epilepsy, intermittent fevers, muscle fever, bone steaming and all heat syndromes, essentially meaning it can be used for all diseases of excessive latent pathogens transforming into heat, exuberant ministerial fire, and surplus of visceral meridian qi fire."

Compared to Mountain Burning Fire, Lu Xuan's understanding of Heart-piercing Cold was evidently much easier to understand, especially the last sentence which Zhou Jiande felt thoroughly summarized the function of Heart-piercing Cold.

Understanding these, while there were no patients for acupuncture, Zhou Jiande also picked up an acupuncture needle and tried it on his leg.

No matter how much you listen to theories, nothing beats the quick understanding gained from practical experience.

Of course, one needs to understand the principles; otherwise, just knowing how to needle without understanding the effects of the technique is equally useless.

Just now, Zhou Jiande also watched Lu Xuan perform Mountain Burning Fire and Heart-piercing Cold. The memory was vivid in his mind, coupled with Lu Xuan's explanation of the principles and practical methods, he found needling relatively smooth, but three levels into testing Mountain Burning Fire, he couldn't help but frown: "It seems there's no sensation of heat, did I do something wrong?"

Zhou Jiande looked up at Lu Xuan.

While Zhou Jiande was needling, Lu Xuan's attention was also focused on him. Hearing this, he corrected, "The key to successfully performing Mountain Burning Fire and Heart-piercing Cold lies in mastering the levels of inserting and withdrawing the needle, and the degree of thrusting and lifting. The levels must be distinct, and the thrusting and lifting must be even;

while thrusting and lifting, the range of the needle tip moving up and down should stay within one level, avoiding fluctuations between light and heavy or fast and slow, and each thrust and lift must clarify the tension and speed, not muddled, as this generally increases the likelihood of feeling heat or cold, sometimes achieving success in one go.

Second, stimulation must be appropriate, too intense for the patient to bear or too light to achieve the required stimulation will both reduce effectiveness.

Generally speaking, the stimulation of Mountain Burning Fire needs to be stronger, but the duration of the procedure can be shorter; the stimulation of Heaven-piercing Cold can be lighter, but the duration should be suitably extended.

Third, instruct the patient to focus their attention and carefully experience, but do not suggest any sensations, to avoid overlooking subtle responses.

Fourth, the procedure must be done on the basis of obtaining qi, otherwise it is not easy to succeed."

After speaking, he looked at Zhou Jiande: "Try again."

Zhou Jiande contemplated for a moment, and then proceeded to needle his thigh again. With Lu Xuan's guidance, this time was much smoother. At the second level, a sensation of heat emerged at the needled point, and it was quite distinct.

At this point, Zhou Jiande couldn't help but raise his head, his face full of joy: "Got it."

"Deserving of being an acupuncture ku skill, it's truly amazing, unlike any other method. No wonder the teacher says it can restore the body's Primordial Qi, this sensation of heat, if needling more points, will make restoring Primordial Qi a piece of cake."

At this moment, Zhou Jiande deeply understood what it meant that without firsthand experience, there is no right to speak.

Earlier, when Lu Xuan mentioned that Mountain Burning Fire could help restore Primordial Qi, he was slightly skeptical, although he understood the explanation Lu Xuan provided, understanding did not diminish his doubts.

But now, having experienced it firsthand, his understanding of Mountain Burning Fire was evidently beyond what it had been moments ago.

"Wanna try Heart-piercing Cold next?"

"Precisely."

Zhou Jiande quickly withdrew the needle, not lingering longer. He wasn't feeling any discomfort, after all, too much Yang Qi isn't exactly desirable either.

Switching to a different point, Zhou Jiande continued the needling following the Heart-piercing Cold method and soon enough felt a cooling sensation.

After successfully performing Heart-piercing Cold, Zhou Jiande withdrew the needle, not dwelling much on the sensation.

Just like that, the two spent the entire morning studying.

During this time, a few patients came for acupuncture in the room, and Zhou Jiande used Heart-piercing Cold, finding that it worked surprisingly well, much stronger than ordinary methods, leaving him full of various emotions again.

As lunchtime approached, Zhou Jiande had a matter to tend to, so he tasked two students with accompanying Lu Xuan to the cafeteria.

"Master…"

The pair hesitated to speak for a moment.

Lu Xuan smiled, "Just call me Dr. Lu."

The pair immediately seemed relieved. Had Lu Xuan insisted on being addressed as Master, they would have had no way to refuse. Although Zhou Jiande doesn't frequently reprimand them, he is exceptionally strict when it comes to respecting teachers and morals, reflecting his own conduct, and being equally strict with his students.

In other matters, a friendly and relaxed manner was fine, but not in this particular matter.

"Dr. Lu, you're truly impressive to be able to revive the two acupuncture ku techniques."

"I can tell, the teacher is genuinely pleased, please don't mind if he's insistent on becoming your disciple. He's simply a bit rigid, but an excellent person nonetheless, he hardly ever scolds us."

"I can see that."

Lu Xuan smiled slightly.

The three exchanged smiles and headed toward the cafeteria.

Meanwhile, Zhou Jiande, busy for a while in the consultation room, heard someone at the entrance saying, "Old Zhou, time to go, stop being so busy, let's eat first."

It was Elder Zhang's voice.

"Coming, coming."

Zhou Jiande smiled helplessly. Looking up, he saw Elder Zhang and a few others waiting for him at the door to head to the cafeteria together.

"I originally had a meeting planned with someone else, but since you all are here, I'll go with you."

"Who were you meeting?"

"Old Ye?"

"No, I'll tell you at lunch."

"Alright then."

Zhou Jiande put down his work and followed Elder Zhang and the other three to the cafeteria.

As soon as Zhou Jiande entered, he spotted Lu Xuan dining with his two students. After a wave of greeting, he found a spot to sit with the other three.

The group chatted for a while, and Elder Song, who sat opposite Zhou Jiande, seemed to recall something and abruptly asked, "By the way, Old Zhou, who were you planning to meet?"

As soon as this question was asked, everyone else also looked up at Zhou Jiande.

Seeing everyone's gaze on him, Zhou Jiande smiled slightly, "Old friends, from today onward, I, Old Zhou, have a teacher."

???

The three faces almost simultaneously displayed questioning expressions.

What do you mean?