Chapter 688: Nourishing the Spirit

Chapter 688: Chapter 688: Nourishing the Spirit

The next day, Li Xu went to the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine for his clinic hours.

Not long after he entered the consultation room, Li Lin slipped in, carrying two cups of hot soy milk.

"Senior Brother, try this. This place has especially pure soy milk."

Since no patients had been called yet, it was just the two of them in the room. Li Lin, his face flushed, excitedly lowered his voice and said, "Senior Brother, that... that potion is divine! I used it last night, and the effect... was absolutely mind-blowing!"

He was too embarrassed to go into detail, but his animated expression said it all.

Going from "Mr. Minute Man" to last night’s "God of War" was a complete transformation.

Li Xu took the soy milk and nodded. "It’s good that it worked. But remember, it’s just a supplement. The fundamental solution is to regulate your body. Nourishing the kidneys to consolidate the foundation is the long-term plan."

"I understand, I understand. I’ll definitely take my medicine on time."

Li Lin nodded repeatedly. At this point, he treated whatever Li Xu said as gospel, worshipping him like a god.

As the two were talking, Li Xu’s phone rang.

It was Ding Kaifang.

"Doctor Li, are you at the hospital? My aunt hasn’t been feeling well lately, and I’d like to bring her over for you to take a look."

After a pause, Ding Kaifang added, "I also need to give you an update on the potion. Old Luo is getting antsy."

"Alright, I’m in my consultation room. You can come straight over."

Before long, Ding Kaifang walked into the room with a woman in her sixties.

The old lady was well-dressed. Although a bit overweight, she had a good air about her. Her face, however, was pale, and her eyes revealed a deep exhaustion. She kept rubbing the back of her neck with one hand.

"Doctor Li, this is my aunt."

Ding Kaifang carefully helped the old woman sit down and made the introduction.

Li Xu smiled politely. "Hello, Ma’am. What seems to be the trouble?"

"Sigh, it’s an old problem." The old lady sighed, her voice a bit weak. "Lately, my neck has been so sore I can barely lift it, and my shoulders hurt too. The worst part is my head. I’m always dizzy, sometimes my ears ring, and my vision gets blurry—I see double."

"What kind of work did you do before, Ma’am?"

Li Xu asked while observing her.

"I was a clerk at my work unit for over thirty years. My whole day was spent in front of a computer, writing documents and organizing files."

The old lady said, "I just retired last year. I thought I’d finally get to enjoy a peaceful life at home, but my body decided to act up even more."

"You’ve had cervical spondylosis before, haven’t you?"

"Yes, I had it while I was working. It’s an occupational hazard; you can’t avoid it. When the pain got bad, I’d go for a massage, get some cupping, or have a few acupuncture needles put in, and that would bring some relief. But as soon as I worked a little overtime or the weather turned gloomy, it would flare right back up."

As she spoke, the old lady looked at Li Xu with concern. "I’ve heard that cervical spondylosis can’t be cured, only managed. I’m older now, and my bones are aging. Is there really nothing that can be done? Am I going to end up paralyzed?"

Li Xu smiled gently, reassuring her. "Ma’am, please don’t scare yourself. A degenerative condition like this is indeed difficult to ’cure’ completely. It’s unlikely you’ll recover to the state you were in when you were young. After all, this is the result of decades of accumulated strain. It didn’t happen overnight."

"In the words of modern medicine, many of the pathological changes are irreversible. However, that doesn’t mean it’s untreatable. We can use conditioning to improve the flow of your qi and blood, alleviate the symptoms, and get you to a point where you’re not in pain or dizzy. Living a normal life is entirely possible."

With that, Li Xu gestured for the old lady to place her arm on the Pulse Pillow. He extended three fingers and placed them on her cun-kou pulse point.

The pulse was deep and fine, with a downward, sinking sensation. It was weak under heavy pressure.

’A sunken pulse.’

After taking her pulse, Li Xu had an idea of the situation.

’This is a classic sign of sunken middle qi.’

In Chinese medicine, it is said, "what has sunken must be raised."

Generally, when encountering this type of pulse, the first thing that comes to mind is Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang, a formula to raise the middle qi.

However, the key to treatment is to seek the root cause.

’To truly solve the problem, I have to figure out how the ’qi’ sank in the first place, and where the root of the illness truly lies.’

Ding Kaifang, standing to the side, saw Li Xu pondering silently and asked nervously, "Doctor Li, is this a difficult illness to treat?"

"It’s not overly complicated."

Li Xu withdrew his hand and said slowly, "I was just considering the most stable approach. Ma’am, the root of your illness isn’t in your cervical spine, but in your ’qi’."

"The Inner Jing says: ’Labor consumes qi.’ This lady’s qi has been excessively depleted. She has engaged in too much mental labor."

"I see."

Ding Kaifang nodded thoughtfully. "Doctor Li, please continue."

Li Xu looked at the old lady and explained, "When you were young, you worked hard, which is ’physical labor.’ But a clerk’s job is more mentally taxing, which is ’mental labor.’ Mental labor consumes blood, while physical labor consumes qi."

"So, often, when people feel tired or drowsy, they drink coffee, strong tea, or even energy drinks to perk themselves up. They feel instantly energized after drinking them."

"But these things are fundamentally ’spirit-lifting,’ not ’spirit-replenishing.’ They are like a whip lashing a tired horse, forcibly drawing up and consuming what little Primordial Qi is left in the body. If you don’t replenish it in time, you’ll eventually run out."

"Therefore, the more you use these methods to perk yourself up when you’re exhausted and overdrawn, the more you deplete your vital spirit. It’s no different from draining the pond to get the fish, or drinking poison to quench your thirst."

"You’re absolutely right."

The old lady nodded repeatedly as she listened, her eyes filled with agreement. "When I was younger, I relied on coffee and strong tea to survive when rushing to meet deadlines. I thought it worked well back then, but in recent years, it stopped working no matter how much I drank. In fact, the more I drank, the more tired I got, and my heart would even palpitate."

This is the wonder of Chinese medicine.

A truly skilled TCM doctor can often discern not only your physical ailments but also your lifestyle and even your mental state, just by reading your pulse and observing your complexion.

This feeling of being truly understood, as if by a kindred spirit, is what touches patients the most and builds trust.

The reason Li Xu could be so accurate was that he had detected the faint but taut, string-like quality in the old lady’s pulse, as well as the anxiety and exhaustion revealed in her eyes.

"Doctor Li, you just said that tea and coffee are ’spirit-lifting.’ So what is ’spirit-replenishing’? Eating Ginseng?"

Ding Kaifang asked curiously.

"The spirit cannot be ’replenished,’ it can only be ’nourished’."

Li Xu shook his head and slowly uttered sixteen words: "Movement nourishes the body, stillness nourishes the spirit; poverty nourishes ambition, wealth nourishes virtue."

"To nourish the spirit, the mind must first be still. You must be able to clear away distracting thoughts and not exhaust your mind over trivial matters. This is more effective than any tonic."

"Nowadays, people’s mental and physical exhaustion doesn’t just come from work."

Li Xu looked at the old lady and continued, "I heard just now that you’ve been retired for a year, Ma’am?"

"Yes, I completed the paperwork last year," the old lady nodded.

"You’ve been retired for a year. Logically, during this time, you haven’t had to punch a clock or stay up all night writing reports. Your body should have gotten a good rest. But based on your symptoms, your dizziness and tinnitus have actually gotten worse than when you were working. That doesn’t make sense."

...

P.S. Some parts of Chapter 686 were removed by the censors, and Chapter 687 is a direct continuation, so some cuts there are likely unavoidable... Please forgive me if the story feels disjointed.