Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor Gao-Yuan

Hearing Gao-Yuan's urgent shout, Li Shengli scrambled off the ground, rolling and crawling towards the wheelbarrow. He grabbed the small emergency pouch and dashed back into the house. But in his haste, he tripped over the threshold, crashing to the floor.

Ignoring the pain, Li Shengli quickly held up the pouch. "I got it! But... can this person still be saved?"

When even the doctor showed doubt, the patient's family became even more desperate.

"We must not give up!" Gao-Yuan swiftly took out a large moxa stick from his pouch, lit it, and blew out the flame, leaving it smouldering. He carefully placed the moxa stick on the patient's Shenque acupuncture point. This point, located at the navel, is the connection between a foetus and its mother through the umbilical cord—where prenatal essence flows in, the gateway to life energy, and the refuge of true innate breath.

This point should never be pierced, but it can be treated with moxibustion. It has the power to restore yang and reverse collapse. The patient was in a state of extreme blood loss and yang depletion, teetering on the brink of death. To pull her back from the gates of death, they had to act swiftly and decisively to restore her vital yang energy.

Turning to the elderly woman, Gao-Yuan instructed, "Come here. You hold the moxa stick and keep applying it to your daughter’s Shenque point. Don’t stop, no matter what."

The woman, trembling with nerves, took the moxa stick, nodding earnestly to Gao-Yuan.

Gao-Yuan then opened his pouch, took out a pack of dried ginger, and grabbed some dragon bone powder. "Shengli, go roast this ginger until it becomes ginger charcoal, and quickly calcine the dragon bone powder. Hurry!" he ordered.

"Got it!" Li Shengli grabbed the ginger and rushed to the kitchen without hesitation.

Meanwhile, Gao-Yuan reached into another bag, pulling out angelica and astragalus roots. The patient had lost so much blood that replenishing it immediately was impossible. Therefore, the key was to stabilise the body’s vital energy, and Gao-Yuan decided to increase the dosage of astragalus to strengthen the qi.

He mixed the Angelica blood-replenishing soup with the previous life-saving prescription, then unpacked small pouches and began combining their contents carefully.

Just as he finished, Li Shengli came running back with the ginger charcoal and calcined dragon bone.

Gao-Yuan quickly added the final key ingredient.

Li Shengli, watching closely, widened his eyes in shock. "Isn’t that Aconite?"

Gao-Yuan nodded and poured the entire dose of aconite into the pot.

"That’s... that’s a lot!" Li Shengli exclaimed in disbelief.

"It’s less than half a jin. I brought everything the clinic had. Now go, boil it for the patient," Gao-Yuan replied firmly.

Li Shengli stood frozen, dumbfounded. "Huh?"

"No time for hesitation! Go!" Gao-Yuan barked.

"Yes, sir!" Li Shengli snapped out of it and rushed out.

Turning to the patient’s family, Gao-Yuan asked, "Do you have hot water and a fire?"

"Yes, yes, the fire’s been burning since the birth," they answered hurriedly.

Gao-Yuan instructed Li Shengli, "Pour everything into the boiling water. Use the hottest fire you can. Let it boil quickly, then take a small spoonful and bring it to me immediately. Do not stop the fire!"

"Yes, sir!" Li Shengli rushed to the kitchen to start the process. His efficiency was remarkable, far superior to Zhao Huanzhang, who would have hesitated and wasted precious time, possibly dooming the patient.

Once Li Shengli was gone, Gao-Yuan wasted no time. He snipped off a handful of the patient’s hair, found a bowl, and burnt it into charcoal.

Hair is the remnant of blood, and its vitality is tied to the kidneys, which store essence and generate marrow. Burning hair into charcoal stabilises the yin, making it especially effective in treating conditions related to blood loss in gynaecology. Hair charcoal stops bleeding without causing stagnation, invigorates blood circulation, and stabilises the yin—a potent remedy in this situation.

Gao-Yuan mixed the hair charcoal with water and carefully administered it to the patient.

Fortunately, the patient’s swallowing reflex was still functional, sparing them from having to use a feeding tube.

Just as the hair charcoal went down, Li Shengli returned with a spoonful of the medicinal soup.

Gao-Yuan quickly fed the soup to the patient. "Go get another spoonful. Don’t stop. Hurry!" he commanded.

Without hesitation, Li Shengli ran back to the kitchen.

This was emergency medicine at its finest—boiling powerful herbs over a roaring fire, quickly administering spoonfuls of life-saving heat.

Aconite, with its intensely hot and toxic properties, was their last hope. At this critical moment, it was a battle against time, a fight to snatch life from the jaws of death. Gao-Yuan knew, standing at death’s door, there could be no hesitation. Only firm, decisive action could save the patient.

This moment made Gao-Yuan truly understand the ancient phrase, "Breaking through the gates of life and death."

It was a battle to cut down the grim reaper inside the gates of death. Anyone who stood in the way of saving this life would be struck down without mercy. To break through the gates was to seize the only remaining chance for life, the last flicker of hope.

There was no time for doubts or light-handed measures now—it was a contest of strength.

The ancient doctors likened using powerful drugs to wielding a general’s Green Dragon Crescent Blade. Now, Gao-Yuan stood at the gates of death, brandishing his blade, ready to fight his way in to save the patient. Whoever blocked his path, whether human or ghost, would be cut down.

This was truly breaking through the gates of life and death!

Time passed slowly. Li Shengli was running so much that his legs gave out, and he collapsed. The patient's family members took over, delivering spoonful after spoonful of the medicinal soup from the kitchen to the bedroom. Eventually, they too collapsed, and new family members took their place. After a brief rest, Li Shengli got back on his feet and continued.

Gao-Yuan kept administering the potent medicine without pausing or doubting his approach.

The old woman holding the moxa stick at the patient’s Shenque point had long since lost all feeling in her arms, but she didn’t dare move a muscle.

Forty minutes passed.

Everyone watched anxiously.

Even the villagers outside remained, holding their breath.

The mother-in-law, who had been expecting her daughter-in-law to die by now, noticed something. Lifting the blanket to check, she exclaimed, "Hey! Hey! The bleeding stopped!"

"What? The bleeding stopped?" The family gasped in astonishment.

"Has she bled out?" someone asked nervously, recalling the terrifying amount of blood that had pooled earlier.

The mother-in-law wasn’t sure what to think. If the blood had truly run dry, the patient would already be dead. Yet she still seemed to be alive.

Gao-Yuan quickly checked the patient's arms. The coldness and stiffness had begun to recede, and warmth was returning to her limbs. Overjoyed, he immediately felt for her pulse and checked her lower pulse points.

The pulse at the Taixi point was clear!

Both the stomach and liver pulses were also present!

"She’s got a pulse! She’s got a pulse!" Gao-Yuan shouted in excitement.

"What? The pulse is back? Can she live?" Li Shengli asked, stunned.

"There’s hope!" Gao-Yuan announced.

At his words, the entire room exploded in jubilation.

Gao-Yuan quickly added, "But we’re not done yet! Keep administering the medicine. Don’t stop!"

"Yes!" The family was even more determined now.

The news spread outside, and the village erupted in cheers.

The fake Taoist priest, who had recently regained consciousness, heard the news and was dumbfounded. He had claimed the patient wouldn’t recover for seven days, yet here they were, showing signs of life after only half an hour.

He solemnly nodded, pretending to remain composed, and declared, "It seems I underestimated these two doctors. They must also be immortals."

"Get lost!" the father of the newborn shouted, slapping the charlatan across the head.

The con men looked ready to retaliate, but the villagers quickly surrounded them, fists ready, making it clear that any resistance would result in a serious beating.

The fraudsters immediately backed down, cowed by the angry crowd.

Inside the house, the rescue continued.

As the patient’s limbs warmed and her pulse stabilised, her breathing also grew stronger.

Everyone was exhausted beyond measure, having worked non-stop from dusk until midnight.

"What time is it?" Gao-Yuan asked.

Li Shengli checked the time. "It’s almost midnight."

Gao-Yuan felt the patient's hands and pulse again. "We’ve given all the medicine. Now we just have to wait for her yang energy to fully return."

Everyone collapsed onto the floor, too tired to stand, anxiously watching the woman.

The elderly woman holding the moxa stick hadn’t moved a muscle the entire time. She was frozen in place, unable to respond when others called her name.

Li Shengli collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily. He glanced at the time and said, "It's past midnight."

After a while, seeing that the woman was still unconscious, Gao-Yuan walked over and gently tapped her shoulder: "Comrade, comrade..."

But there was no response.

"Is it still not working?" someone asked in despair. Everyone's heads lowered as quiet sobs filled the room.

Outside the door, a crowd remained, unwilling to leave. A murmur of sighs echos through the air.

The mother, with her arms still rigidly outstretched, had a blank expression on her face, unresponsive even as people called her name.

The mother-in-law, seeing the heartbreaking state of her daughter-in-law and her own daughter, couldn't contain her grief any longer. Holding the newborn baby, she began to sob. As if responding, the baby, who had been sleeping soundly, suddenly cried out loudly, its voice sharp and clear.

At that moment, the woman on the bed heard the baby’s cry and, to everyone’s astonishment, quickly opened her eyes. Her gaze was filled with concern.

"She’s awake!" Gao-Yuan shouted excitedly as he rushed over. He saw the woman’s lips moving, though no sound came out. But from the movement of her lips, Gao-Yuan could tell she was saying one word: "Child!"

The people in the room quickly gathered around.

The young man, overcome with emotion, held the woman in his arms, crying uncontrollably.

At that very moment, the woman’s mother, who had been holding the moxa stick with her arms stiff in front of her, suddenly collapsed to the floor. Her hands, which had been frozen in place, finally relaxed.

The people nearby hurried to help her up.

Li Shengli, who had been lying on the ground, began to laugh and cry at the same time, overcome with emotion. Flat on his back, he wiped his tears while smiling broadly.

Outside, the villagers were just as overwhelmed with excitement.

Gao-Yuan, struggling to stand, pushed himself up. His physical strength had long since been depleted. Slowly, he walked over to the baby’s grandmother, gave her a faint smile, and couldn’t help but shed a tear himself. He wiped it away, gently touched the crying baby, and said, "Little one, you have your mother now."