Chapter 538: Huoxiang Zhengqi Shui

Chapter 538: Chapter 538: Huoxiang Zhengqi Shui

Ding’s Pharmaceutical Factory had spared no expense this time, booking a five-star beachfront resort in Nusa Dua.

The rooms were spacious and bright. Pushing open the French doors revealed a private pool and an unbeatable ocean view.

After settling their luggage, Song Sisi eagerly changed into a new Bohemian-style beach dress and pulled Li Xu outside. "Hurry, hurry! Let’s go to the beach before the sun sets."

Ding Kaifang and Lin Xiaoyu also changed into light summer clothes and followed close behind.

Although the afternoon sun was still intense, the sea breeze made it feel quite tolerable.

The sand on Jimbaran Beach was fine and soft, warm underfoot, like walking on a thick carpet.

Waves rolled in, one after another, washing over their ankles. The cool water seemed to wash away the fatigue of their journey.

In the distance, a few white sailboats drifted on the waves.

Closer to shore, people were surfing, playing beach volleyball, or lounging on chairs, sipping from coconuts, completely carefree.

"Ahhh—the ocean!"

Lin Xiaoyu spread her arms wide and shouted joyfully at the sea.

Song Sisi, though more reserved, couldn’t help but kick off her sandals, lift the hem of her dress, and run playfully through the surf, her laughter crisp and pleasant.

Li Xu followed behind, his eyes filled with tenderness as he watched her silhouette, rimmed with gold by the setting sun.

’This is what life should be like.’

...

The trip was planned for five days, so they had plenty of time.

Li Xu wasn’t in a hurry to go to Lombok Island to look for seahorses; he wanted to enjoy this rare vacation first.

The next day, the group decided to go hiking near Lovina Beach in northern Bali Island, an area known for its spectacular waterfalls and pristine jungle.

However, tropical weather is famously fickle.

By noon, the temperature was approaching 38 degrees Celsius, and the humidity was as high as 90%.

The entire jungle felt like a giant sauna, so hot and humid it was hard to breathe.

As Li Xu and Song Sisi were walking up a winding mountain path, they noticed a few people gathered around a rock up ahead.

Getting closer, they saw a well-built, blond young man slumped on the rock. His eyes were shut, his face was deathly pale, and he was covered in sweat, appearing somewhat delirious.

Beside him, a foreign woman in a sports tank top was frantically pouring bottled water on his head, shouting something in a panic, on the verge of tears.

’These are classic symptoms of heatstroke—and a precursor to a severe case, heat exhaustion.’

Li Xu recognized the problem at a glance.

Hiking in this high-heat, high-humidity environment could easily become dangerous if one didn’t rehydrate properly or had poor physical regulation.

If it developed into full-blown heatstroke, it could be fatal.

Saving a life was a race against time.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Li Xu shrugged off his backpack and rummaged inside for a small pouch filled with his usual medicines.

He pulled out a box of small, brown glass vials—Huoxiang Zhengqi Liquid.

"Excuse me! I’m a doctor!"

Li Xu pushed through the onlookers and crouched in front of the young man.

But when the woman saw the small glass vial in Li Xu’s hand, filled with a dark brown liquid and emitting a strange smell, she backed away in fright, shielding her boyfriend with a look of pure wariness and fear.

For a moment, she probably thought it was some kind of Eastern witchcraft potion or an unknown poison.

"No! No! What is this?" the woman asked in terror.

’This is awkward,’ Li Xu thought, feeling a little helpless. ’How do you say the technical terms again?’

"This is medicine! China water! Good water!"

Li Xu held up the vial, trying to explain with his broken English and exaggerated gestures. "For heatstroke! Drink it! He will be fine!"

He pointed at the sun, mimed fainting, pointed to the vial, and finished with a thumbs-up.

He had effectively turned "drink this medicine to save his life" into a cross-cultural game of charades.

But the woman still refused, staring at the vial with a face full of distrust.

The seconds ticked by.

The young man’s breathing grew more rapid. He began to convulse, and his eyes started rolling back in his head. The situation was critical.

’There’s no time.’

Li Xu’s tone grew stern. He thrust the vial into the woman’s hand. "Trust me! Do you want him to die?"

Those harsh words finally jolted the woman.

She looked at her boyfriend’s pained expression and fearfully took the vial. As if holding a grenade, she carefully poured the contents down his throat.

However, that wasn’t all. The medicine alone would take too long to work.

Li Xu pulled a Guasha scraper made of buffalo horn from his bag.

He grabbed the young man’s arm, applied some medicated oil to the crook of his elbow and around the Dazhui Acupoint on his neck, and then began to scrape forcefully.

"AHH!"

The woman watched Li Xu take a hard object and scrape it forcefully across her boyfriend’s skin. Patches of terrifying, purplish-red marks, like subcutaneous bleeding, rapidly appeared where he scraped. Seeing this, she completely lost it.

"Oh my god! You are hurting him! Stop!"

She screamed and tried to push Li Xu away, even pulling out her phone to call for help.

In her mind, this was abuse.

This was bloodletting.

Li Xu had to hold the young man down while fending off the woman’s interference. The scene devolved into chaos.

Song Sisi and Lin Xiaoyu rushed over to hold the woman back, trying their best to explain in English that it was "Guasha," a type of "Chinese Massage."

Just as the situation was about to spiral out of control, a turning point came.

The young man, who had been limp, exhausted, and barely conscious, suddenly took a deep breath, like someone breaking the surface after nearly drowning.

His eyes refocused, and a hint of color slowly returned to his pale face.

A moment later, he actually sat up on his own.

He shook his head, looking around in confusion, then glanced down at the purplish-red Guasha marks on his arm.

He touched the marks, then touched his forehead.

The burning fever was gone, replaced by a cool, refreshing sensation that seemed to seep from his very pores.

"Wow..."

The young man exclaimed, looking at Li Xu with utter disbelief. "Man! This is magic! This is really magic!"

"I feel so much better now! My head isn’t spinning, and the nausea is gone!"

He stood up, moved his arms, and even stretched his chest. He turned to his still-dumbfounded girlfriend and said, "Honey, don’t be scared. This stuff works way better than Red Bull. It’s like a real-life energy potion."

The woman was completely dumbfounded.

’He’s okay just like that?’

’A minute ago, he looked like he was dying. He drinks a vial of weird water, gets scraped a few times, and now he’s alive and kicking?’

Later, on the way down the mountain, they all started chatting.

The young man’s name was Jack. He was a fitness coach from the United States and was in excellent physical condition. A firm believer in scientific training and nutritional supplements, he had never believed in "herbal magic" or mysticism.

But this time, after witnessing his body temperature drop from 39°C to 36.5°C in just ten minutes, his worldview shattered.

"Chinese medicine, amazing!"

Jack kept giving a thumbs-up. Finally, he decisively pulled out his phone and took several pictures of the empty Huoxiang Zhengqi Liquid vial from every possible angle.

"I’m going to look this up on Amazon. From now on, if any of my clients get heatstroke during training, I’m giving them this. This is so cool."

Watching this, Li Xu and Song Sisi exchanged a smile.

This little export of traditional Chinese medical culture was a complete success.

’Huoxiang Zhengqi Liquid is the GOAT!’