Dantian Fibrillation
Dantian fibrillation is a common ailment in the modern world. The atria beat irregularly irregular. But regardless of how common it is, it absolutely requires management. Why? Because blood clots form.
The irregular atrial beating creates turbulence, and if you leave that turbulence alone, it turns into a clot.
What happens if that clot escapes the heart?
If it heads to a limb, it blocks a vessel there. If it goes to the brain, it's a stroke. Either way, not a pleasant outcome.
Coming back to our world, the dantian corresponds to the heart of the meridian system. So if the dantian is beating irregularly...
'That's Dantian Fibrillation.'
A condition not listed in the Yakwang Valley textbooks that Hong Yak studied. But considering the pathophysiology, isn't this naming spot on? To explain it in this world's medical terms...
"Your pulse is erratic. This is an irregular pulse, which can harm your primary circulation if left untreated, so it must be managed."
Irregular pulse. A general term for when the qi pulse beats abnormally. Think of it like arrhythmia.
"Huh? Irregular pulse? I've seen plenty of doctors, and that's the first I've heard of it."
Well, fibrillation can be paroxysmal or persistent. Persistent if it's always there. Paroxysmal if it happens sporadically. Looks like he got lucky and I caught it during an episode.
"Irregular pulse? Do you need medicine for irregular pulse?"
Cho Hyang? When did she overhear me again? She suddenly ducks into the herb room, rummages around, and comes out with a few unfamiliar pill bottles.
"Here, I've got three packets of Pulse-Calming Pills! Need 'em?"
"No... even if you shove medicine in my face and tell me to buy it..."
The man waves his hands awkwardly, looking troubled.
Pulse-Calming Pill. It calms a qi pulse that's racing out of control. Seems it's known as a standard treatment for irregular pulses...
Tsk, that's scraping the surface. I can't agree it's a true treatment. Symptom control, maybe.
If your qi pulse sometimes races uncontrollably? Sure, you'd want Pulse-Calming Pills for prevention.
But this man's qi pulse rate is normal right now. So there's a more urgent treatment needed.
As I mentioned earlier, fibrillation disrupts smooth flow. Just like blood pooling leads to clots, if the qi that should flow cleanly stagnates in the dantian...
It'll fester and clump up. That's stagnant qi.
So, just like how atrial fibrillation patients get anticoagulants to prevent clots, this man needs a prescription to stop stagnant qi from forming!
But does medicine like that even exist? I rummage through Hong Yak's knowledge in my head again. As I'm doing that, the man stands up.
"Forget it. Just wrap up the Golden Injury Ointment too. I thought you were diagnosing me for real when you checked my pulse, but it's all just a sales pitch!"
"What? What are you talking about? With an irregular pulse, you obviously need Pulse-Calming Pills!"
"I said forget it."
Oh no. Cho Hyang's aggressive sales pitch backfired.
Most men can't handle bad news easily. It's not simple to deliver.
Since she pulled off that tough feat, his resolve must be ironclad. No chance he'll accept any prescription besides the ointment.
"Cho Hyang, just pack the Golden Injury Ointment."
"Huh? But Clinic Master..."
"Do it."
As the dejected Cho Hyang packages the ointment...
"Jeez. Grabbing a healthy guy out of nowhere, saying he's got irregular pulse and needs meds... This is why backwater clinics suck."
Hm? Looks like he can't accept that he has an irregular pulse at all.
"It's clearly an irregular pulse. Why do you think it's not?"
"You think I'm an idiot? You didn't even properly check my pulse!"
Hm. I can guess why he's saying that, but explaining at length now would be amateur hour. A pro uses the Socratic method.
"When circulating your inner power, has your true qi ever bounced around uncontrollably for no reason?"
"Huh?"
"Has your qi pulse ever thrown off your control suddenly?"
"Well..."
The man falls into thought.
Like how atrial fibrillation patients feel palpitations, I figured dantian fibrillation would be similar. Glad it hit home.
"The symptoms aren't constant. They come sporadically, and since they resolve on their own, you probably didn't think much of it."
"Wait, now that you mention it, last time... Does that mean then...?"
He makes a face like it's dawning on him. His eyes slowly drift toward the Pulse-Calming Pills. Cho Hyang's expression brightens too—just then.
"Escort Kang, are you still far?"
Someone peeks in through the slightly open door.
Who's that?
Glancing over, it's a woman hiding her face with a sedge hat. Her robes are neat, made of fine fabric. She seems quite wealthy or high-status...
"You said you were just grabbing ointment—why's it taking so long? We don't have time to dawdle if we're heading to the county office today."
"Ah, miss. I'm coming now! How much for the Golden Injury Ointment?"
"...Three packets for fifty coins."
"Here."
The man fumbles through his pouch and hands over the coins. Ah, can't let him go like this.
"Sir hero, hold on a moment."
"Hm?"
He pauses at my words as he turns to leave.
"Come back after you're done. I'll prescribe something for you."
"Pulse-Calming Pills? You want me to buy those too?"
"No, you don't need those right now. But irregular pulse can cause stagnant qi, so you need medicine to prevent that."
"Stagnant qi? Irregular pulse hardens the qi meridians?"
"Something like that. In severe cases, stagnant qi can block the meridians entirely, so it must be managed in advance."
The problem? No such medicine in Yakwang Valley's standard curriculum. So how do I make it? I'd have to check the pharmacy or medical texts...
"D-don't jinx me! If there was such medicine, you'd prescribe it now. You're just trying to get me to come back!"
Bam!
The man slams the clinic door and leaves. Cho Hyang turns to me.
"What a waste! You should've just pushed the Pulse-Calming Pills! They're way pricier than Golden Injury Ointment!"
"Enough. He doesn't need Pulse-Calming Pills. Not right now."
"Huh? Irregular pulse means Pulse-Calming Pills. Pulse-Calming Pills mean irregular pulse! Clinic Master, you really top of Yakwang Valley?"
Cho Hyang questions my authority.
I'm used to it by now. Doesn't bother me. It's not me getting ignored anyway—it's this body's owner, Hong Yak.
"Pocket the fifty coins properly, Cho Hyang. Oh, and let's inventory the pharmacy today. See what we've got."
"Huh? Suddenly? We have a bunch stocked... but it hardly sells anyway."
"Still, we should check regularly."
With that, I tallied the earnings and moved to the pharmacy.
"This is sanqi. That's dansam, and this is..."
Ugh, herbal medicine smell.
After a while inspecting herbs with Cho Hyang. Lots of them look different from Hong Yak's knowledge. I diligently memorize their shapes and effects one by one...
"By the way, Clinic Master."
"Yeah?"
"That patient earlier said you didn't even properly check his pulse. Why's that?"
Cho Hyang's question is valid. No one could miss it if I took their qi pulse.
There are two main kinds of pulses: blood pulse and qi pulse.
Blood pulse is just the vascular beat. Not much pulse-taking in modern times. EKGs, echoes... better tests abound.
Taking qi pulse is different...
"Cho Hyang, do you know how to take a qi pulse?"
"Wow, underestimating me? You send inner qi and scan, right?"
Exactly. In this medieval murim world, qi pulse diagnosis involves the doctor extending a thin thread of their inner qi into the patient's meridians to examine.
Like a meridian endoscopy, roughly.
"You know it can be harmful, right?"
"Huh? Of course. It's letting someone else's qi in, even a tiny amount."
Since foreign qi isn't good for you. Like judging a chef by how cleanly they pull noodles, a doctor's skill is gauged by how finely and steadily they extend a small amount of qi.
Anyway, the point: whether it's thin noodles or udon strands, you feel it invading your body.
So the man's complaint was justified.
"That's why I don't inject qi."
"Huh? How is that... possible?"
"There's a way."
No invasive qi sensation, so he assumes I didn't check the pulse.
But the medical art I—no, Hong Yak—learned.
The Pulse-Probing Hand from the Yanluo Life-Seizing Art makes it possible.
You can examine the qi pulse at a spot just by touch, without sending qi.
"So you can tell the pulse condition or blockages without injecting qi?"
"I feel the pulse right away. Blockages or narrowing? Gotta touch multiple spots."
Of course, there are downsides.
No qi sent means I know the flow at the touched point, but not if it's narrowed. Compare flow and speed across wrist and other spots...
"Ha, no wonder... Last time, that martial artist ran without paying! Said groping his limbs was perverted!"
"Groping? It was just diagnosis..."
"Then you should've explained upfront! Weird rumors are flying around town. 'Doctor Groper,' they say. Even warning you to watch out for me..."
"...? There's rumors like that?"
Doctor Groper? What kinda pervert nickname is that!
Medicine's first principle: do no harm. I went non-invasive, and this is the thanks I get?
Infuriating.
My mind reels, but no time to dwell. My explanations were lacking, what can I do?
"...That's shocking. I'll explain better next time. Anyway, this herb—is it peach kernel?"
"Yes! And next to it is sanleng! Didn't they teach you at Yakwang Valley?"
"Yunnan herbs look different, so I'm confirming."
At that, Cho Hyang suddenly straightens up proudly. What's up with her?
"Why would they look different?"
"Variants?"
"No way! They're better quality! See the root thickness?"
"Lemme see. Oh, this... is pretty good."
Definitely thick and solid. Night and day. No wonder Yunnan has so many herbs and poisons. Local produce power?
"Right? Right?"
Cho Hyang beams excitedly.
"Our Namgye Village has been famous for good herbs since forever. And who gathered these?"
Her eyes sparkle. Easy answer. I've seen her foraging plenty.
But you don't feed straight answers.
"Hmm, old man Jeong from next door?"
"Huh? He can barely move with his back issues."
"Neighborhood kid then?"
"Argh, you're doing this on purpose! Me! I gathered them!"
"No wonder the roots were caked in dirt. Or was it all your greed?"
"That's it! No more foraging for you!"
We inventoried herbs late into the night.
And it clicked.
That dantian fibrillation earlier. Treatments to thin forming stagnant qi. And to break up existing stagnant qi.
I had a solid idea of what herbs and how.
Deep night.
Mountain nights are dead silent. Dense trees block moonlight. Only insect chirps all around.
Cho Hyang's long gone home. I'm deep in cultivation.
After running the Yakwang Valley basic art, Life-Saving Art, through primary circulation.
The rest of the time, I focus on the Yanluo Life-Seizing Art.
Helps with clinic work, but more importantly. Maybe a clue to getting home.
The moment Hong Yak tried learning it, I possessed this body. So the way back might be in the Life-Seizing Art too?
"Let's see, Pulse-Probing stage 1 down. Life-Pursuing, Insight, Disruption... still don't get them."
Only one of four parts, and just stage 1. Regrettable progress. No choice but to grind harder.
After a while, back starting to ache, I head for bed.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
"What? This late..."
Someone's pounding the treatment room door like they wanna break it.
What? Emergency patient in this backwater? Nah, bandit more likely. I grab a staff and stand.
"Clinic Master! You there? Please open the door!"
A woman's urgent voice.
What, real emergency? Thought residency hell meant no more ER shifts ever. Wiping tears, I open the door.
Two people: a woman and a man she's supporting.
"Clinic Master, Escort Kang suddenly collapsed...!"
The woman stammers. Looking closer, it's the man from earlier. The one who bought ointment.
One leg dragging, sweat pouring like rain.
The man cracks his eyes open. Looks at me weakly and speaks.
"My leg... my leg won't move..."