Chapter Summaries

Su Ziyang explained the Five Elements as a model of relationships among the zang-fu organ systems rather than as literal substances or fortune-telling. He then taught the theory of zang-xiang and its view of the organs as functional systems, leaving the audience convinced by his lesson.

• Su Ziyang told the audience to understand the Five Elements as categories of properties and relationships among the liver, heart, spleen, lungs and kidneys.
• Su Ziyang explained how mutual generation and mutual overcoming described nourishment and restraint among the five zang organs.
• Su Ziyang introduced zang-xiang as a way to infer internal organ function from outward signs, with zang-fu organs understood as functional systems rather than anatomical structures alone.
• Su Ziyang described the heart's and lungs' main functions, and the audience laughed at a joke about lard covering someone's heart.
• Su Ziyang summarized the lesson by warning against mechanically equating zang-fu organs with modern anatomical organs, and the audience nodded in agreement.

Su Ziyang taught the class about the causes of illness in traditional Chinese medicine, explaining how natural, emotional, and lifestyle factors could affect health. He ended by stressing the role of vital qi and rejecting supernatural explanations for illness.

• After the class took a break, everyone asked Su Ziyang to treat them and answer questions, and he told them to trust science.
• When class resumed, Su Ziyang explained the external, internal, and neither-internal-nor-external causes of illness, including abnormal climate, excessive emotions, improper diet, and imbalanced work and rest.
• A chubby man joked that his lower back pain and low energy might come from playing cards and lying around too much, and Su Ziyang agreed that people who rested often should do moderate work.
• Su Ziyang explained that strong vital qi helped the body resist and recover from illness, and that illness resulted from interactions between the body's condition and external factors rather than supernatural causes.

Su Ziyang taught his students how traditional Chinese medicine combined observation, listening and smelling, inquiry, and palpation to diagnose illness. He explained the limits and uses of each examination, including tongue and pulse diagnosis, and left them with the principle that all four had to inform a comprehensive assessment.

• Su Ziyang began the second day's lesson by explaining that diagnosis required combining the four examinations rather than relying only on the pulse.
• He described observation of a patient's spirit, complexion, physique, posture, and tongue, including how these could indicate illness and its severity.
• He explained how listening to sounds and smelling odors could help distinguish excess-heat patterns from deficiency-cold patterns.
• He outlined inquiry as a broad method of gathering information and introduced the traditional Song of Ten Questions.
• Su Ziyang taught that palpation included both physical palpation and pulse examination at the cunkou, and concluded that the four examinations had to be combined to identify a pattern accurately.

Su Ziyang taught his audience about Chinese medicinal decoctions, explaining how medicinal properties, processing, and combinations guided their use. He left them with an overview of the principles behind prescribing and preparing traditional medicines.

• Su Ziyang asked the audience which methods traditional Chinese medicine used to treat illness, and they named acupuncture, decoctions, cupping, moxibustion, and massage.
• Su Ziyang explained that Chinese medicinal ingredients came from plants, animals, and minerals and were used according to a system of medicinal properties and combination rules.
• Su Ziyang described the four natures, five flavors, directions of action, and channel tropism of medicines.
• Su Ziyang explained that processing could reduce toxicity, strengthen effects, alter properties, and aid preparation or storage.
• Su Ziyang outlined seven ways medicines could be combined, including mutual reinforcement and incompatibility.

Su Ziyang explained the main forms of traditional Chinese medicine preparations and how formulas could be adjusted to suit changing conditions. The audience took notes as he emphasized understanding formula logic rather than memorizing prescriptions by rote.

• Su Ziyang introduced categories of traditional Chinese medicines and asked the audience what forms they could take.
• Audience members named decoctions, pills, powders, and dan preparations, and Su Ziyang explained their properties and uses, along with paste preparations.
• Su Ziyang described three ways to adjust formulas: adding or removing ingredients, changing dosages, and changing dosage forms.
• Su Ziyang gave examples of basic formulas and urged everyone to understand their composition and underlying logic instead of memorizing them mechanically.
• The audience hurriedly took notes as Su Ziyang taught.

Su Ziyang taught the class about the eight methods of traditional Chinese medicine and explained how syndrome differentiation guided treatment and prescription choices. The students listened closely and felt that he treated them as adults by giving them substantive instruction.

• A student asked Su Ziyang about medicines that induced sweating and acted as laxatives, prompting him to explain the eight methods of medicine.
• Su Ziyang described the purposes and uses of sweating, vomiting, purging, harmonizing, warming, clearing, dispersing, and tonifying methods.
• Su Ziyang explained that the eight methods could be used individually or combined according to a patient's condition.
• Su Ziyang taught that different syndromes in the same disease could require different treatments, while different diseases with similar syndromes could receive the same treatment.
• Su Ziyang explained that prescriptions were structured combinations of medicines based on syndrome differentiation and treatment principles.
• The students listened attentively and felt valued because Su Ziyang taught them substantial material instead of treating them like children.

Su Ziyang used his final class to explain a structured path for self-studying traditional Chinese medicine, combining textbooks, classics, and practice while avoiding common dangers. He ended the course by urging learners to recognize traditional medicine’s limits and follow legal requirements before treating patients.

• Su Ziyang advised beginners to study four foundational textbooks before moving on to clinical subjects.
• He recommended studying the four great classics gradually and critically, using annotated selections alongside textbook knowledge.
• He encouraged learners to gain practical experience through clinical observation or safe personal health care.
• Su Ziyang listed five pitfalls: trusting miracle doctors and secret formulas, confusing medicine with superstition, self-administering potent substances, assuming traditional medicine could treat everything, and practicing without a license.
• Su Ziyang concluded the final class by emphasizing health management and disease prevention as practical goals for most learners.

Fairy Li made medicinal lamb congee with the seventy-year-old wild mountain ginseng Daoist Jin had left, while Su Ziyang lamented the waste and watched her cook. Mr. Mengfei arrived, tasted the congee, and praised its restorative effects before serving himself another bowl.

• Fairy Li chopped up the seventy-year-old wild mountain ginseng and prepared lamb with poria, jujubes, and astragalus.
• Su Ziyang complained about the costly ingredients, and Fairy Li slapped him and made him take over the cooking.
• Fairy Li discarded the stewed lamb and medicinal dregs, then cooked rice in the broth and added diced lamb to finish the congee.
• Su Ziyang tried a discarded piece of lamb, spat it out, and kept pestering Fairy Li about the dish until she sent him from the kitchen.
• Mr. Mengfei arrived to speak with Su Ziyang, then learned the congee contained wild ginseng and ate several bowls, praising its nourishing effects.

Mr. Mengfei taught Fairy Li how to make nourishing rice oil and invited her and Su Ziyang to prepare for an upcoming trip. As Fairy Li packed practical and work-related supplies, Su Ziyang worried that his master might leave him behind, then realized the outing was likely connected to his studies.

• Fairy Li reassured Mr. Mengfei that Daoist Jin had left two hundred-year-old items, and Mr. Mengfei worried she was wasting them.
• Mr. Mengfei demonstrated how to make rice oil and explained its nourishing effects to Fairy Li.
• Mr. Mengfei invited Fairy Li to accompany him and told her and Su Ziyang to pack because they could leave at any time.
• Fairy Li packed clothes, daily necessities, talismans, a compass, red cords, and a small copper sword while Su Ziyang questioned why she was bringing them.
• Fairy Li told Su Ziyang that Mr. Mengfei had his own affairs and would not stay with him forever, leaving Su Ziyang worried that his master was departing.
• Su Ziyang asked where Mr. Mengfei was going, then hurried to pack after Fairy Li suggested the trip might be for his studies.

Mr. Mengfei took Su Ziyang and Fairy Li on a trip southwest to meet an old friend who would give Su Ziyang one final lesson before his apprenticeship ended. After the car reached the city, Mr. Mengfei told Su Ziyang to address the friend as Brother Chu.

• Mr. Mengfei explained that Yang Tianzheng had stayed behind at the clinic, and Fairy Li revealed that Su Ziyang was upset because he feared his master would leave him.
• Mr. Mengfei told Su Ziyang that he was taking him to an old friend for one last helping hand before completing his apprenticeship.
• Fairy Li remembered that she had forgotten to buy her master poria, then reached him by video call and learned he had bought an electronic incense stick for her to use while kneeling.
• Su Ziyang teased Fairy Li about the electronic incense stick, and the three chatted until his mood improved.
• Mr. Mengfei, Su Ziyang, and Fairy Li reached the city, where Mr. Mengfei told Su Ziyang to call his friend Brother Chu.

Mr. Mengfei brought Su Ziyang and Fairy Li to meet his mysterious friend Qi Chu, and the group shared a meal before discussing a trip to a mine. The chapter ended with Qi Chu warning that whether Su Ziyang saw anything there would depend on luck.

• Mr. Mengfei introduced Su Ziyang and Fairy Li to Qi Chu, who welcomed them into his home.
• Qi Chu prepared a large hot pot meal, and all four ate together before helping tidy up.
• Qi Chu praised Su Ziyang, while Su Ziyang remained unable to sense anything unusual about him.
• Mr. Mengfei and Qi Chu agreed to take Su Ziyang to a mine to broaden his horizons.
• Qi Chu cautioned that Su Ziyang might not see anything there, but Mr. Mengfei said he had come to Qi Chu precisely because luck would not be an issue.

Qi Chu trapped Su Ziyang and Fairy Li in a Bewildering Formation as a test, and Su Ziyang broke it with a Zhuyou spell. After they escaped, Su Ziyang eagerly asked Qi Chu to teach him the technique.

• As Su Ziyang and Fairy Li followed Mr. Mengfei and Qi Chu, they realized they could not get any closer to the two men.
• Fairy Li tried a talisman to break the formation, but it failed, and she and Su Ziyang remained trapped at the same distance from Mr. Mengfei and Qi Chu.
• Su Ziyang recited a Zhuyou spell and broke through the formation after sensing its backlash.
• Su Ziyang and Fairy Li found themselves back at the building entrance, where Mr. Mengfei and Qi Chu revealed the formation had been made with a bamboo pole and gravel.
• Mr. Mengfei warned Fairy Li about the dangerous Vermilion Bird Talisman she had taken out, and she admitted she had grabbed the wrong one.
• Su Ziyang ran over to Qi Chu and asked to learn how to make the formation.

Su Ziyang learned that Qi Chu had once met his grandmaster, Yan, and wondered how old Qi Chu was. Qi Chu took Su Ziyang, Fairy Li, and Mr. Mengfei to an abandoned mine to search for genuine kongqing.

• Su Ziyang asked Qi Chu to teach him, but Qi Chu said he could not pass on his methods because Su Ziyang had learned the Heavenly Physician Lineage.
• Qi Chu recognized Su Ziyang as the granddisciple of Yan, whose disciple Luo had been Master Luo.
• Su Ziyang and Fairy Li realized Qi Chu might be an old monster after comparing his story with Master Luo's past.
• Qi Chu drove the group on an electric tricycle to an abandoned mine to look for kongqing.
• Su Ziyang recited descriptions of kongqing from ancient books, and Qi Chu praised his knowledge and said the genuine mineral could be found at the mine.

Qi Chu led Su Ziyang and the others to an abandoned copper mine, where a livestreaming martial artist accidentally cut his arm during a Golden Bell Shield performance. Qi Chu stopped the bleeding with golden dog fern rhizome, gave the herb to Su Ziyang, and led the group onward through the mine.

• Su Ziyang and the others watched livestreamers pretend to dig up jade and meteorites at the abandoned mine before joining a crowd around a martial arts performer.
• The performer chopped his own arm with a machete, badly cutting himself, and his companion’s advertised medicinal wine failed to stop the bleeding.
• Qi Chu used golden hairs from a large golden dog fern rhizome to stop the wound from bleeding, then gave the rhizome to Su Ziyang.
• Su Ziyang offered to carry Qi Chu’s backpack, and Mr. Mengfei teased Qi Chu until he handed it over.
• Qi Chu warned the group to stay close and watch out for hollows left by mining as he led them onward.

Su Ziyang, Mr. Mengfei, and Fairy Li followed Qi Chu through the mountains, where Qi Chu used modified dragon-seeking rods to find azure hollow. After accepting gifts from Mr. Mengfei and Su Ziyang, Qi Chu agreed to take them into the mountains the next day.

• Fairy Li identified Qi Chu's walking pattern as the Pace of Yu while Su Ziyang struggled to imitate it.
• Qi Chu used his modified dragon-seeking rods to locate azure hollow, and he gave Su Ziyang the first piece they found.
• Qi Chu found a larger piece of azure hollow, and Su Ziyang and Mr. Mengfei teased him until Su Ziyang offered it back in exchange for the rods.
• At Qi Chu's home, Su Ziyang and Mr. Mengfei gave him Buddhist treasure beads and a Small Demon-Breaking Knife, which Qi Chu recognized and appreciated.
• Qi Chu said they would set off in two cars the next day and take advantage of two suitable days to enter the mountains.

Qi Chu took Su Ziyang, Fairy Li, and Mr. Mengfei from a meat-heavy dinner to a village courtyard to handle an errand before their mountain trip. There, they met a child and reunited with Qi Chu’s enormous dog, Bones, while they waited for the child’s grandfather.

• Qi Chu ordered eight meat dishes, told the group they would have to eat vegetarian in the mountains, and paid the bill in cash.
• Qi Chu said he had an errand to handle, packed a large duffel bag, and drove the group to a village in an army-green Wrangler.
• Qi Chu entered a family’s courtyard and learned from a child that his grandfather had gone to treat someone and would return later.
• The child told Qi Chu that Bones had gone out with his grandfather, and Qi Chu said the dog would return now that he was there.
• Bones rushed into Qi Chu’s arms, and Qi Chu fed him beef in sauce and a whole braised chicken.

Qi Chu bought the hollow azurite and golden dog spine rhizome from Lao Men'er for seventy thousand yuan, and took Bones along for a hunting trip. Su Ziyang and the others drove south into greener, hilly country, with Qi Chu leading the way.

• Bones obeyed Qi Chu and dragged Lao Men'er away from an acupuncture treatment to meet him.
• Qi Chu offered Lao Men'er the hollow azurite and negotiated for seventy thousand yuan and the right to take Bones.
• Qi Chu added a golden dog spine rhizome to the deal, and Lao Men'er handed over seven bundles of cash and let him take Bones.
• Qi Chu, Su Ziyang, Mr. Mengfei, and Fairy Li set off south, with Fairy Li driving the Wrangler and Qi Chu leading.
• After a day of driving through increasingly green scenery, Su Ziyang asked how much farther they had to go, and Qi Chu told him to keep driving.

Qi Chu led Su Ziyang, Mr. Mengfei, Fairy Li, and Bone into a mountain village, where he borrowed an heirloom crossbow and prepared the group for their journey. After performing a mountain-entry ritual and handing out centipede cages as snake warnings, the group continued into the mountains.

• Qi Chu waited out a sudden mountain rain, then led the group to a village at the foot of the mountains.
• Qi Chu paid an old woman for rice and to watch their cars, then borrowed her family's heirloom crossbow.
• Qi Chu assigned the group their positions and had Bone obediently wait while he prepared to enter the mountains.
• Qi Chu tied five-colored silk around a stone, performed the Pace of Yu, and led everyone across a line he had drawn.
• Qi Chu gave the group cages containing centipedes and explained that they would warn them if snakes came near.
• The group chatted as they continued into the mountains.

Su Ziyang used his prohibition arts to suppress the venomous snakes in the mountain, and the group continued deeper into the forest. During a rest by a stream, Gutou howled after an unseen creature stung his paw, and Mr. Mengfei spotted something nearby.

• Su Ziyang cast a scarlet Qi prohibition that spread across the mountain and suppressed the venomous snakes.
• Qi Chu released the centipede he had carried in a cage, and the group continued into the dense forest.
• Qi Chu led the group to a streamside rest stop while Su Ziyang and the others gathered firewood and water.
• Gutou jumped into the stream, then howled when his paw swelled around a small red bump.
• Qi Chu applied wound medicine to Gutou's paw, and Mr. Mengfei warned the group that something was there and drew his Ucchusma Vajra.

Su Ziyang used the Restraining Method to capture a Shegong after it injured Bones by spitting Qi at his shadow. The group released the insect back into the water, and Qi Chu treated Bones with medicine before explaining how Shegong poison could be treated.

• A Shegong attacked Bones by spitting Qi at his shadow, and Qi Chu warned the group to stay quiet and avoid its venom.
• Su Ziyang used the Restraining Method to make the Shegong fall, then examined it with the others and tossed it into the water.
• Qi Chu applied medicinal powder to Bones's injured paw, and Bones soon began walking on it.
• Qi Chu explained the symptoms of Shegong attacks and described remedies for both painful sores and recurring fever.