Merchant and doctor

Chapter 2000 A Matter of a Single Needle's Difference

The so-called "dissociation between spirit and form" refers to the inability of a person's inner essence, energy, and spirit to maintain the innate, harmonious natural rhythm with the five internal organs and the body's internal blood and qi.

It's getting cooler, and everyone else is wearing two layers of autumn clothes, but hey! One patient feels incredibly hot all over, running around in just a big T-shirt on rainy days and still feeling slightly sweaty on his back; or, late at night, when all the lights are off and everyone is fast asleep, some patients are wide awake, tossing and turning in bed for most of the night, unable to fall asleep, only to find out at the hospital that they don't have insomnia; and then there are patients who almost never stay up late and don't have any bad habits like drinking, yet they're always sleepy at work, but as soon as they get home they're wide awake, watching TV and playing games with great enthusiasm! The next day at work, they can't muster any energy even by mid-morning.

Even worse, some people not only have no appetite at mealtimes, but forcing themselves to eat can also cause vomiting. In the middle of the night, they feel hungry, and it's a kind of ravenous hunger. They can easily cook frozen dumplings, instant noodles, or poached eggs and eat them with relish. When they go to the hospital for a checkup, their stomach, digestive system, nervous system, etc. are all found to be fine. Doctors often recommend that they see a traditional Chinese medicine doctor.

More severe cases may involve amnesia, an inability to see continuously moving objects (such as the movement of knitting needles), vomiting upon seeing them, vivid dreams accompanied by hallucinations, and so on.

In layman's terms, it refers to the "spirit" within the human body, the innate divine energy that cannot be reproduced or imaged using advanced scientific instruments. This energy has temporarily separated from the human body, is no longer in sync with its rhythm, or is out of place...

The vast majority of ordinary people will likely never contract this disease in their lifetime, especially those who engage in heavy physical labor for many years. As the ancients said, "Those who are physically exhausted are spiritually at ease!" This refers to this kind of thing.

Patients suffering from similar diseases are often educated, and their mental capacity is mostly above average. Their personal characteristics are more pronounced than those of their relatives and friends. They often disdain wasting their lives in a daze, and whether they are realistic or idealistic, they have certain pursuits in life and are highly purposeful in their actions.

Once these patients experience prolonged disruption to their normal lives due to some subjective or objective factor—which is, of course, what they perceive as a normal life and does not represent the normal life of most people—their minds gradually become disordered, and over time, this can lead to illness. Their inner spiritual energy gradually separates from and becomes disordered with their bodies, and their normal lives are gradually disrupted.

When encountering such patients, most skilled TCM practitioners would first choose acupuncture as the treatment option, focusing on "treating the spirit and guarding the qi" and using their respective strengths to gradually integrate the spirit and body, allowing them to return to their previous normal life trajectory, like a satellite returning to its normal orbit, happily striving towards their small goals...

Bian Mu felt that Dian Shuhua should be able to handle this mission of acting as a needle-maker.

The three were enjoying their meal when a beautiful little bird, which was showing signs of illness, suddenly landed on the table, and all three immediately focused their attention on it.

"What bird?! It's so beautiful!" Dian Shuhua exclaimed softly.

"It looks like a spotted dove. There's a bird in my hometown that looks a lot like it, but... it's a bit bigger and its tail is even more vibrant..." Luo Zhanqi casually remarked, putting down his soup spoon.

“Qiangzi said that doves look like pigeons. This thing seems to be some kind of bird… a kingfisher, right! A red-cloud kingfisher! The feather on its head seems to be called ‘red cloud feather.’ Could this thing be some kind of protected animal? It looks so listless… sick? It looks so pitiful…” As she spoke, Bian Mu gently waved her left hand in front of the beautiful little bird a couple of times, and with her right hand, she made a “cloud hand” gesture and gently and skillfully held the little bird in her right palm.

Bian Mu spends all his time with San Qiangzi, and he's quite skilled at training birds.

The pretty little bird didn't seem afraid of Bian Mu. It looked around a few times with its little head turned around, then tucked its neck in and nestled in Bian Mu's palm, looking like it was about to sleep peacefully.

Bian Mu probed with his left index finger for a moment, then muttered to himself, "It's a bit weak. It's probably exhausted from chasing some kind of bird. It's lost its appetite. Unlike humans, it's pitiful that it doesn't seem to know how to replenish its energy. I wonder if acupuncture will work..."

Luo Zhanqi didn't take it seriously at first, but after hearing Bian Mu's words, his eyes darted around, and he seemed to be guessing something.

"Old Dian! You've been practicing on mangoes all the time lately! Those things are inanimate, but this is a living thing! Let's try a few needles. Let's help it retain some of its life force first, otherwise, it might really freeze to death here first thing in the morning! We're doctors, you know! That would be a huge mistake!" Luo Zhanqi said casually.

Hearing this, Bian Mu was slightly startled. She knew that Dr. Gong was privately practicing the Six Techniques of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Luo Zhanqi seemed to specialize in bone setting, massage, and other TCM therapies. How come he also seemed to have made significant progress in acupuncture?! And this improvement in his insight was no small feat…

"He's usually so quiet, but judging from his tone, he must have put in a lot of effort in acupuncture behind the scenes!" Bian Mu couldn't help but think to himself, increasingly convinced that Luo Zhanqi was indeed quite cunning.

Luo Zhanqi really hit the nail on the head.

Upon hearing Luo Zhanqi's words, Dian Shuhua immediately perked up.

"Then I'll go back and get the needles!" Feeling that this was a rare opportunity, Dian Shuhua happily got up to go back and get a set of acupuncture needles.

"What a coincidence! I happen to have one on me." As he spoke, Bian Mu took out a bamboo syringe from the pocket of his jacket and handed it to Dian Shuhua.

Without thinking too much, Dian Shuhua smiled and opened the syringe. Like shaking out a cigarette, he shook the steel needles while selecting three needles of different sizes, finally choosing three needles of different lengths.

All three of them carried lighters. Luo Zhanqi cooperated perfectly, readily pulling out a windproof lighter to help Dian Shuhua extinguish the flames on the three acupuncture needles.

Bian Mu temporarily took on the role of nurse, using her right palm as a bed, and skillfully helped Dian Shuhua identify the relevant acupoints.

Dian Shuhua was relatively simple-minded. While recognizing the acupoints, he asked Bian Mu a few questions. Only after Bian Mu fully approved his needling plan did he select a long needle and gently insert it.

The pretty little bird seemed to know that the three old men were helping it out of its predicament, so it didn't struggle wildly and let Dian Shuhua heal its wounds.

Bian Mu gave Luo Zhanqi a wink, and Luo Zhanqi immediately understood. Without asking, he knew this must be a "test" set up by the academy owner and the three strongmen to test the extent to which Dian Shuhua's acupuncture skills had recovered. Luo Zhanqi took out his phone, turned on the camera, and pretended to casually take a picture, secretly recording the "acupuncture" process...

……

“Two needles are enough. Medium-sized acupuncture needles are actually not necessary, but... looking at the whole of Lijin City, the number of people who can get acupuncture to this extent is probably only in the 30s at most, right?! It certainly won’t be over a hundred.” Mu Xin thought to herself as she observed.

After the needles were removed, the little bird was naturally fine. The shop owner's granddaughter had been watching it for a long time. Seeing that the bird was alright, the girl quickly asked her family for a bowl of warm water and, after asking her three uncles, carefully fed the beautiful little bird some water...

Without making a sound, Luo Zhanqi forwarded the recorded video to Bian Mu.

Hearing the noise, Bian Mu smiled slightly and then forwarded it to Dean Lu.

The food had long since gone cold, so Bian Mu ordered half a portion of hot food again. Watching the little bird spread its wings and fly away into the distance, everyone in the crowd praised Dian Shuhua's medical skills as superb and remarkable!
Dian Shuhua's face was slightly oily, and he was in a great mood. He looked into the distant sky and felt incredibly happy!