Chapter 26: Unexpected Discovery

  Cong Ye hardened his scalp and followed the newcomer into the room. He saw that there were already many people gathered around the bedside, apparently all of them being the younger generation of the patient on the bed.

  "Make way, the doctor is here."

  The person in front of the bed dodged to the side and let Cong Ye pass by.

  The patient's appearance on the bed scared Cong Ye, thinking what kind of illness is this?

  All that could be seen was an old man in his seventies or eighties, with sparse white hair and eyebrows that had also turned white. His face, like the skin of an orange, looked particularly pale. None of these things were what shocked Cong Ye, however. What shocked Cong Ye was the old man's distended abdomen. To be more accurate, it was his upper abdomen. At this point, Cong Ye could only pretend not to notice, anyway, the 120 emergency car couldn't arrive quickly, and with the doctor's previous warning, no one dared touch the patient. So now he could at least let the patient's family relax before the ambulance arrived, which was a good thing.

  "Can I see my previous medical records?"

  "Give."

  A man in his fifties handed over the medical records to Congye. Congye opened the file and, thank goodness, it wasn't a doctor's handwriting, but rather standard running script that he could still understand.

  "Pneumothorax"? Congye only understood the final diagnosis at the hospital, and realized why he wasn't allowed to move the patient's body without medical knowledge. Generally speaking, pneumothorax is more common in young and middle-aged people, and it's rare for older adults to contract this disease. When older adults do get pneumothorax, it's usually because of a rupture of lung bullae near the pleural cavity. At this point, Congye also understood why the doctor had given such instructions to the family members last time. Indeed, without understanding why the old man's lung bullae ruptured, moving his body arbitrarily could easily exacerbate the rupture and worsen the condition. As an elderly person in their 70s or 80s, their internal organs should be very fragile, and if they were to receive further pressure from air filling the pleural cavity, it could easily lead to more severe problems.

  Fortunately, Congye had previously read many books on qigong and Chinese medicine's meridian theory, as well as Western anatomy, in order to understand the mysterious hot flow in his own meridians. So, he could still think clearly about these things.

  After reading the medical records, Cong Ye reached out and gently grasped the old man's wrist. His intention was to try the old man's pulse and see if it was normal. At the moment he grabbed the old man's wrist, Cong Ye suddenly thought that if he were to channel the hot flow from his own body's meridians into the old man's body as depicted on the internet, what would happen?

  As soon as this idea occurred to Cong Ye, he hesitated for a moment, thinking that if he could lead it into the other person's body, just a thread of it would follow the meridians and absolutely not harm the old man. Thinking of this, Cong Ye guided the flow of people in the meridian with his intention, concentrating on the Laogong point in the center of his palm. At the same time, he pressed the center of his palm tightly against the old man's palm, but no matter how hard Cong Ye tried, not a single thread of warmth could be emitted, let alone enter the old man's body.

  Congye's movements were swift, although the patient's family saw that this young doctor's actions were somewhat strange. Before they could get a clear look, Congye had already changed the position of his hands to press the three acupoints on the patient's wrist with his index finger, middle finger, and ring finger. Congye made this movement purely to cover up his previous action, but what he never expected was that as soon as the tips of his three fingers touched the patient's three acupoints, a mysterious hot flow from the meridians in the palm of his hand suddenly overflowed from the tips of his fingers and instantly entered the old man's meridians.

  Congye was initially surprised, then calmed down and carefully controlled the amount of hot air flowing in, as well as the speed at which it traveled through the old man's meridians. Congye knew that the hot air was currently running along the patient's Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian, which starts at the Zhongfu point and exits at the Shaoshang point, with a total of eleven acupoints. When the hot air reached the Zheze point, he felt a noticeable blockage, and slightly increased the amount of hot air to slowly break through it. As soon as the old man's Zheze point was opened up, Congye heard a "gurgling" sound coming from the old man's throat. It was as if a mouthful of air that had been stuck in his throat suddenly burst out.

  "Grandpa is making a move."

  That twenty-something young man who pulled over the curtain shouted in surprise.

  "Shut up."

  A middle-aged woman in her forties standing beside the patient's bed scolded in a low voice.

  The Cong Leaf carefully guided the hot flow to continue, after all eleven acupoints of the Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian were opened, it went through the inside of the elbow (the inner side of the upper arm), passed through the lung system, and reached the mouth of the stomach and the middle burner. At this time, the old man on the bed was seen to open his mouth and exhale a long breath, and the bulge in his abdomen gradually returned to its original state at a speed visible to the naked eye.

  "I'm so frustrated I could die."

  "Dad, Dad, wake up."

  As the old man finally came to and the air in his pleural cavity was also expelled, everyone standing by the bed couldn't help but feel extremely delighted. The young man who had dragged Cong Ye over excitedly tried to pounce on the old man's body, but was stopped by the man beside him who handed Cong Ye the medical records.

  "Xiao Li, you're crazy! Grandpa can't move now."

  "It's all right, it's all right."

  The old man who was actually ill did not pass out, but was squeezed by the gas in the pleural cavity and other organs in the thoracic cavity, making it difficult for him to bear the pain brought about, so he persisted silently.

  "Doctor, thank you so much. Thank you very much, Doctor."

  First, he expressed his gratitude to Cong Ye, and then instructed his family members to thank Cong Ye. After his family members thanked Cong Ye one by one, the old man asked Cong Ye again:

  "Little doctor, have you practiced qigong?"

  Cong Ye knew that the old man had already sensed the heat flow he had introduced into his body, so he could only nod along with the old man's words.

  "It's been practiced for several years."

  "It's not easy, it's really not easy. I've always heard people say that qigong can cure illnesses, but I've never seen it with my own eyes before. Today, thanks to you, if it weren't for you, I'm not sure if I could have held on until 120 came."

  The old man said so much in one breath that he was obviously tired. He stopped for a moment before asking again:

  "I don't even know what to call the doctor yet?"

  "Old man, I'm Cong Ye, 'Cong' from forest, 'Ye' from leaves."

  The old man wanted to speak again, but Cong Ye hastily stopped him:

  "The old man should rest for a while longer, the ambulance should arrive soon, it's getting late and I should head back too."

  "Little Li, help me send this to Doctor Cong, and I'll go thank him in person tomorrow."

  "The elderly don't need to bother, it's better for you to rest more at home, goodbye."

  Under the escort of all the patient's family members, Congye and Xiao Li came out of the building.

  "Dr. Cong, I'm Qi Jiali, and at home they call me Xiao Li. If there's anything in the future, just give a shout and I'll have the diagnostic fee delivered to you after breakfast tomorrow."

  "It doesn't matter if you don't believe me, I didn't do anything anyway."

  "How can it be? Cong Dafu, I won't see you off far, and soon we'll have to help Grandpa get on the ambulance."

  Cong Ye returned to the medical hall, lay down on the bed without changing his clothes, and thought to himself: Originally, he wanted to keep it from his sister-in-law, but tomorrow when Qi Jiali comes to deliver the diagnostic fee, wouldn't it be impossible to keep it a secret? How should he explain it to his sister-in-law?

  As soon as he thought of tonight's experience, Cong Ye was surprised again. It turned out that the hot flow in his body had such an effect. Wouldn't it be possible for him to diagnose diseases for others in the future? According to traditional Chinese medicine theory, all symptoms will eventually be attributed to blockages in the meridians. So, no matter what disease, as long as he introduces the hot flow from his own meridians into the patient's body and unblocks all the blocked meridians, wouldn't it be possible to bring people back from the dead?

  "Will it be like this?!"

  Cong Ye thought of this and suddenly sat up.

  "If it's really like that, then what's the point?! Impossible, impossible, absolutely impossible."

  At this time, the sound of an ambulance came from the street. Cong Ye knew that the 120 called by the Qi family had arrived. Looking at his watch, it was already two o'clock in the morning. Cong Ye got out of bed and walked out of the room. He wandered aimlessly on the streets, thinking about the other use of the hot flow he had just discovered in his meridians. For a while, Cong Ye couldn't decide whether to publicly reveal this or not. If he did, there were obvious benefits - he wouldn't have to look for work again and wouldn't need to do odd jobs anymore. But what excuse could he use to make it public? Qigong? How many people believed in that sort of thing? And if he started treating illnesses, would he also need a medical license?

  After some thought, Cong Ye decided not to make it public for the time being. For now, using the hot flow in the meridians to cure people is just a coincidence, and if he really makes it public, what if something unexpected happens? He doesn't want to be forced to leave Guan Hai City by himself, and have Yu Xiao Peng staring at him with ill intentions, only to have the law and relevant departments deal with him.

  "It's still more reliable to earn money by working hard."

  After figuring it out, Cong Ye was left with just explaining to his sister-in-law. He simply followed the old man's words and said he had practiced qigong before, and this time it just happened to be a coincidence.