Chapter 727: Guiding

Chapter 727: Chapter 727: Guiding

"We are medical students; healing the sick and saving lives is our bounden duty. Accumulating experience and improving ourselves in the process—isn’t this the best opportunity for discussion?

"If you don’t even dare to act as a guinea pig to personally experience the evolution of a disease and the pros and cons of its treatment while under the shelter of your teachers at school, will you dare to prescribe medicine to patients when you enter clinical practice later?"

The male student blushed a little at the question and kept his head down in silence. Li Xu did not press the issue further, knowing when to stop. Bringing the topic back to the case, he said, "This classmate just mentioned a dull pain around his armpit and ribs. Everyone, think about it: what area is this?

"This is the pathway of the Foot Jueyin Liver Meridian and the Foot Shaoyang Gallbladder Meridian, which is what we commonly refer to as ’the Liver Meridian distributing over the chest and hypochondrium.’ The liver governs the free flow of Qi; it prefers unhindered movement and abhors stagnation. As long as liver Qi stagnates and its mechanism is obstructed, this area will bear the brunt of it, resulting in distending and wandering pain."

"Exactly! You’ve learned traditional Chinese medicine for nothing, kid. You couldn’t even identify liver Qi stagnation and actually went for an ultrasound to check your lymph nodes," a familiar classmate teased from the side.

The male student grew even more embarrassed by the remark and quickly asked Li Xu for advice. "Senior Li Xu, how should my condition be treated? Do I need to drink herbal medicine? Or should I take some Carefree Pills?"

"There are many ways to soothe the liver and regulate Qi. As the saying goes, ’All roads lead to Rome.’" Li Xu didn’t just give a single direct answer; instead, he guided everyone to broaden their thinking. "You can take medicine. For mild cases, you can brew tangerine leaf tea or rose tea as a substitute for water. For more severe cases, you can take Carefree Pills or Chaihu Shugan Powder. You can also use acupuncture, such as needling the Qimen and Taichong acupoints. Qimen is the Mu-alarm point of the Liver Meridian. Applying acupuncture here is like pricking a Xiao Kong in an inflated balloon, directly ’deflating’ the swollen Qi of the Liver Meridian.

"Aside from conventional methods like medication and acupuncture, there is actually a more proactive external treatment method in traditional Chinese medicine—Guiding."

"Guiding?"

Some students in the audience softly repeated the word, a trace of confusion flashing in their eyes. In the modern university education system for traditional Chinese medicine, formulas and acupuncture were the mainstream. A technique like "Guiding," which carried ancient health-preserving undertones, was usually only occasionally mentioned in elective courses, and very few people actually used it in clinical practice.

"Yes, Guiding." Li Xu nodded, effortlessly explaining. "The term ’Guiding’ isn’t some mysterious metaphysics.

"Detailed descriptions of it can be found as early as the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor.

"The Suwen: Discourse on the Different Methods of Treatment and the Appropriate Prescriptions states: ’In the central regions, the land is flat and damp... the diseases are mostly flaccidity, reversal cold, and fever. The appropriate treatment is Guiding and massage.’ This means that under specific environments and physical constitutions, Guiding and massage are the preferred methods for treating diseases.

"Furthermore, the medical sage Zhang Zhongjing also clearly pointed out in the preface of the Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Cabinet: ’As soon as the limbs feel heavy and sluggish, immediately employ Guiding, breathing exercises, acupuncture, and ointment massage, so as not to let the nine orifices become blocked.’ This places Guiding on the frontlines of disease prevention and treatment."

Following that, Li Xu quoted from various sources, elaborating on the discussions of Guiding in successive traditional Chinese medicine classics like the Treatise on the Causes and Manifestations of All Diseases and the Essential Formulas for Emergencies Worth a Thousand Gold. He combined them with the principles of Qi and blood circulation, recounting them with immense familiarity as if listing his family’s valuables.

"Holy crap, Senior Li Xu is incredible."

"I know, right? He actually remembers so many original classical Chinese sentences so clearly without even stuttering."

Some senior students in the audience, and even a few young lecturers sitting in the back row, keenly realized just how "terrifying" Li Xu was. It had to be known that Li Xu wasn’t just reading from a prepared lesson plan. He was improvising and analyzing a minor ailment brought up randomly by a student on the spot. To be able to instantly mobilize a massive knowledge base of traditional Chinese medicine, quote the classics, and maintain rigorous logic completely unprepared was absolutely not something that could be achieved through rote memorization. It showed that he had truly absorbed the classics of traditional Chinese medicine into his very blood. Even some old professors might not be able to display such a profound foundation in national studies and traditional Chinese medicine so effortlessly.

"Simply put, Guiding involves using specific intentions and physical movements combined with breathing exercises to create regular convection and circulation of the Qi mechanism inside the body," Li Xu explained with a smile. "The Qi and blood in the human body are actually like flowing river water in nature. ’Running water is never stale, and a moving door hinge never rusts.’ Only when the flow is smooth can it generate a continuous life force and carry away the body’s metabolic waste—which is what traditional Chinese medicine refers to as ’stasis’ and ’toxins.’

"We all know a golden saying in traditional Chinese medicine: ’If there is free flow, there is no pain; if there is pain, there is no free flow.’

"When the locally stagnated Qi and blood are unblocked through the method of Guiding, allowing them to flow again, the local pressure decreases, and that distending pain will naturally ease or even disappear entirely."

At this point, Li Xu looked at the male student who had asked the question. "Does your right armpit still hurt?"

The male student felt around and nodded. "It still aches dully, like there’s a pocket of air trapped in there that can’t get out."

"Alright, then get out of your seat now and stand in the aisle." Li Xu pointed to the empty space nearby. "Just as I say, try forcefully stomping your feet on the spot."

"Stomping?" The male student was taken aback. What kind of medical treatment was this?

"Yes, stomp hard. After stomping your left foot, switch to your right foot. Stomp a hundred times on each side." As Li Xu spoke, he personally performed a standard demonstration.

Although the male student felt a bit awkward, under the watchful eyes of the entire class and the school leaders, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and do as told.

STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!

Rhythmic stomping sounds echoed throughout the seminar room.

About ten minutes passed. The male student finished his two hundred stomps, panting from exhaustion, a fine layer of sweat seeping from his forehead. However, he was surprised to find that his initially rapid breathing had actually become increasingly smooth. He came to a complete stop and rested on the spot for less than a minute.

PFFT—

An extremely loud sound echoed in the quiet seminar room. The male student had unexpectedly let out a massive, drawn-out fart. Instantly, his face turned completely red, and he wished the ground would swallow him whole.

However, embarrassment aside, he then touched his right flank and his eyes suddenly widened. "Huh?" He patted his ribs in surprise, then twisted his waist, shouting in disbelief, "Senior Li Xu, it doesn’t hurt anymore! I feel incredibly refreshed all over, and my chest feels light and clear!"

"This Li Xu is indeed remarkable," Director Liang muttered, sitting in the back row with a flash of admiration in his eyes. It was only at this moment that he truly began to take this young graduate seriously in the professional field. Previously, although Dean Song highly recommended him, as the leader in charge of teaching, Director Liang had guided too many outstanding master’s and doctoral students under his wing.