A divine healer, a general, a young marquis! Who can rival them!

His reputation as a doctor spread throughout the city, and the strange illnesses that came to him for treatment became increasingly unusual.

That afternoon, a young man helped a pale-faced man into the clinic. The man was about forty years old. As soon as he entered, he leaned on the table, panting heavily, looking terrified, as if he had suffered a great shock.

"Dr. Yang, please save my father!" the young man pleaded. "My father's illness is very strange. It flares up every few days. When it does, he feels a surge of energy rushing up from his lower abdomen, all the way to his heart and throat, making it hard for him to breathe. He writhes on the ground in pain, feeling like he's about to die. But after about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the energy dissipates on its own, and he's as good as new. The doctors in the city have examined him, but they all say his pulse is normal and they can't find the ailment. They say it's probably... that he's been possessed by something unclean, and they tell us to go and get a shaman to exorcise it."

The man added, trembling, "I'm constantly on edge, afraid that anger will surge up again... I'm afraid I'll really lose my life."

The young man's eyes also reddened: "To cure this illness, we consulted doctors all over the city, but they all said they couldn't find anything wrong; we also consulted two groups of shamans, burning talismans and performing rituals, spending a lot of money, but my father's illness not only didn't get better, but he became more and more frightened every day, and he didn't even dare to leave the house. Today, we heard that Doctor Yang in the east of the city is omnipotent, so we helped my father, as a last resort, to try our luck."

Yang Hu stepped forward, first pressing the man's pulse, and then asked carefully: Does this upward rush of qi always originate from the lower abdomen? Before and after the onset of the attack, are you particularly prone to being startled or flustered? On ordinary days, are your hands and feet cold and intolerant to the cold?

The man answered each question, his eyes filled with surprise and doubt—this young doctor hadn't touched any evil spirits, but his questions had all hit the nail on the head.

I understand now.

This isn't some kind of evil spirit possession. It's the cold, damp energy in the lower abdomen, carrying a rebellious force, rushing upwards from the lower abdomen to the chest, causing extreme fear and anxiety. The ancients called this "running pig qi"—the energy comes on fiercely, like a mad pig rushing upwards from the lower abdomen, hence the name. The root cause is a deficiency of yang energy, an excess of cold, damp energy, and the aggravation of fear. By calming the upward-rushing energy, dispersing the cold, damp energy in the lower abdomen, and soothing the frightened mind, the illness can be cured.

"It's not some evil spirit," Yang Hu said in a deep voice. His voice wasn't loud, but it calmed the panic in the room. "It's because you have cold in your lower abdomen and insufficient yang energy. You were also frightened, which caused a surge of cold energy to rush upwards. This disease has a name and a name; it's called 'running piglet,' and it can be cured."

"Really...really not possessed?" The man felt as if he had been granted a pardon, yet he still couldn't quite believe it.

"If you're really possessed by an evil spirit, what good will it do for the sorceress to ring her bell for three days and three nights?" Yang Hu said. "You're ill; you need medicine."

As he spoke, he picked up his pen and wrote down a prescription to warm the Yang, descend the rebellious Qi, calm the mind, and soothe the nerves. He then took silver needles and applied them to the man's Qihai and Guanyuan acupoints to guide the rising rebellious Qi downwards little by little.

"Why would you use medicine and acupuncture instead of consulting a shaman to exorcise evil spirits?" The young man was skeptical.

"Trying to cure this 'rushing energy' with exorcism won't cure the illness, you'll waste money, and the person will still be so scared they can't sleep every day," Yang Hu said calmly. "His illness is three parts physical and seven parts mental. The more you treat it as an evil spirit, the more panicked he will become, and the easier it will be for that energy to be released. Once you understand the root cause of the illness and use the right medicine, his mind will calm down, and the 'rushing energy' will naturally subside."

Ah-ji, who was helping out, listened intently. When he returned, he couldn't help but ask, "Master, why does this qi rise up from my stomach?"

"Look at that boiling water," Yang Hu said. "The fire is blazing, and the water is full. The steam trapped in the pot can't escape, so it keeps bouncing and banging against the lid. In his lower abdomen, the cold water is trapped, and the yang energy can't be suppressed. When that rebellious energy is startled and hit, it's like the steam hitting the pot lid, rushing straight up from his lower abdomen. We're warming the yang to add a little fire to calm the water; we're suppressing the rebellious energy to guide it back to where it belongs; and we're calming the mind to soothe the fright caused by the banging energy. Once the fire is enough, the energy flows smoothly, and the mind is at peace, this 'running piglet' will naturally stop banging."

Aji seemed to understand, but he remembered it firmly.

The man took the medicine and received acupuncture with some skepticism. After the first acupuncture treatment, he felt the suffocating feeling that had been pressing on his chest and was about to surge up at any moment was relieved; that night, he slept soundly for the first time ever, and was not awakened by that urge again.

After taking several doses of medicine and receiving two acupuncture treatments, the sudden, violent urges that had terrified him every few days, which had made him wish he were dead, gradually lessened day by day. Eventually, they wouldn't recur for half a month at a time. Most importantly, his heart, which had been constantly on edge and on guard, finally settled down. As his condition improved, his breathing became smoother, and the paleness on his face returned to a rosy hue.

The man's wife had previously prayed to gods and Buddhas, kowtowed and burned incense to cure his illness, almost emptying their savings. Watching her husband grow closer to death each day, she spent her days in tears. Now, seeing her husband alive and well again, she was overjoyed and wept. She insisted on setting up a longevity tablet for Yang Hu to worship every day, but Yang Hu persuaded her to stop.

The man came to express his gratitude, carrying two of his own old hens. He held Yang Hu's hand, smiled憨厚ly, and kept repeating the same sentence: "This life was saved by Doctor Yang from the evil spirits."

Those doctors who had been convicted of "possession by evil spirits and consulting shamans" didn't dare leave their homes for days after hearing about this. The two shamans who had previously encouraged people to consult shamans were even confronted by the victim, who berated them mercilessly. Not only had they swindled the victim out of their offerings, but they had also nearly caused a death.

The news spread like wildfire. Families in the city suffering from inexplicable and strange illnesses, accused of being caused by evil spirits by other doctors, cheated out of their incense money by sorcerers, and with nowhere else to turn, heard that Yang Ji in the east of the city could even cure strange illnesses caused by evil spirits with acupuncture. So they brought their old and young to his door.

From then on, Yang's clinic in the east of the city acquired a unique reputation: specializing in treating intractable and strange illnesses that other doctors couldn't diagnose or that sorcerers couldn't cure. One day someone might be suffering from epilepsy, foaming at the mouth; the next day, someone might be inexplicably trembling and unable to stand; and the day after that, someone might be unable to sleep for three to five days and become emaciated. These strange illnesses, which were elsewhere diagnosed as caused by "evil spirits" and left unresolved by numerous doctors, could always be clearly diagnosed and treated by Yang Hu after a thorough examination. He could then prescribe the right medicine, and most cases would improve.

The doctor's reputation spread far and wide, and strange illnesses came in droves. The threshold of Yang's clinic in the east of the city was almost worn down by the constant stream of patients.

Nighttime, backyard. Lu Yan poured Yang Hu a cup of hot tea, her eyes crinkling with a smile: "These days in this city, if a doctor can't cure it or a sorceress can't heal it, they all send it here."

"Illnesses are not distinguished by whether they are common or strange." Yang Hu held a cup of hot tea. "As long as the root cause of the illness is found, the so-called strange disease or evil spirit is nothing more than an illness that has not yet been understood by others."

The lights were warm and inviting. These cases in the eastern part of the city, where strange illnesses caused by "evil spirits" were cured and dangerous cases were averted, are the duty of doctors, and are new additions to the city's renowned reputation.

Yang Hu knew in his heart that the more renowned his doctor was, the more difficult it would be to discern his true abilities from those who came to him. Sooner or later, this clamorous reputation would attract some people who came not only for medical treatment.