Li Xu gently parted the little girl’s lips. Her tongue was as red as a cherry, its coating dry and scorched yellow, covered in thorn-like protrusions.

He then took her pulse. It was thready and rapid, beating fast and urgently—a classic sign of "internal excess of pathogenic heat."

He also examined the venules on her finger. The network of vessels on her index finger had turned a purplish-red and extended to the "qi gate" position.

Her skin and the whites of her eyes were both a sallow yellow, like an orange peel;

Her body was scorching hot, yet her limbs were ice-cold;

Her head and forehead were constantly beaded with a weak, clammy sweat...

All the symptoms clearly pointed to a single, dangerous illness.

In the view of Traditional Chinese Medicine, this was a classic case of "acute jaundice." The cause was a blockage of the bile duct by roundworms, which obstructed the organ qi of the middle burner. This allowed damp-heat and toxins to build up and invade the Yangming organs.

The pathogenesis was perfectly clear.

The treatment plan immediately followed: the priority was to "promote bile flow to expel the roundworms, unblock the organs, and clear the heat."

"Quick, lay her flat on the table," Li Xu commanded in a low voice.

The girl’s mother heard him and quickly, carefully laid her daughter flat on the simple wooden table in Ye Mushen’s house.

In a situation like this, a medicinal decoction would be too slow.

Besides, he didn’t have the right herbs.

The only way to race against this disease was with the fastest-acting treatment—acupuncture.

Li Xu selected several filiform needles, as fine as hair, from his needle pouch.

His movements were as fast as lightning!

He first inserted one needle into each of four acupoints on the girl’s limbs: Quchi, Neiguan, Liangqiu, and Dannangxue.

These four points seemed scattered, but they held a hidden profundity.

They corresponded respectively to the Large Intestine Meridian of the Hand-Yangming, the Pericardium Meridian of the Hand-Jueyin, the Stomach Meridian of the Foot-Yangming, and the Gallbladder Meridian of the Foot-Shaoyang.

Inserting all four needles was like opening four great gates, instantly mobilizing the qi of the body’s most important meridians—upper and lower, internal and external.

Then, he took out the most crucial needle.

He located the "Lidanxue" point, in the depression anterior and inferior to the head of the fibula on the outer side of the girl’s right leg.

This was an extraordinary point outside the main meridians, an empirically effective point for treating biliary diseases.

He angled the needle almost parallel to the skin and, following the edge of the girl’s right rib cage, slowly inserted it outward and downward to a depth of about 1.5 inches.

When the tip of the needle reached the depths of the acupoint, Li Xu could clearly feel a faint sensation transmitted back through his fingertips—the feeling of "deqi," like a fish taking the bait.

He immediately began to twirl the needle, applying a strong stimulation!

"Ngh..."

Mayila, who had been unconscious, let out a painful moan under the intense stimulation. Her tightly furrowed brow seemed to relax slightly.

Li Xu left the needles in for five to ten minutes, twirling them two or three times during that period, before removing all of them.

A miraculous scene unfolded once again.

Just a few minutes after the acupuncture ended, Mayila’s stomach, which had been distended and taut as a small drum from the intense pain, began to slowly flatten at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The look of pain on her face also eased considerably.

By evening, her persistent high fever finally broke.

She even opened her eyes and weakly asked her mother for a little rice water to drink.

In the middle of the night, she had a bowel movement.

Mixed in the black, soy sauce-like stool was the horrifying sight of a half-dead, blackened roundworm!

Mayila’s symptoms were greatly alleviated, and her jaundice had also faded significantly.

Many villagers were watching from the doorway of Ye Mushen’s house.

They had witnessed with their own eyes as Li Xu, once again, used a few magical needles to snatch Mayila from the hands of Death. They all gave thanks to Allah.

In their eyes,

it was Allah who had sent Li Xu to save them.

...

In the evening, Snar, who was already able to get up and walk, came to Ye Mushen’s house again, supported by his two wives, to express his sincerest gratitude to Li Xu.

During their casual chat, Li Xu asked Snar about the specific events leading up to his "feigned death."

"Snar, do you remember where you were when you suddenly collapsed?"

At these words, a look of lingering fear appeared on Snar’s face.

He thought for a moment, then said:

"It was... it was by the Suerhan River, east of the village. There’s a bend in the river there where the current is slow and a lot of silt builds up. I went there that day to dig for some loaches to make our meals a bit better."

He continued, "I’d only been digging for a little while and hadn’t found anything when that patch of mud suddenly gave off... a horrible smell, fishy and foul. After I smelled it, I felt dizzy and nauseous. Then... then everything went black, and I don’t remember anything else."

’That’s the place.’

’A dark, damp riverbank, a silty riverbed reeking of a putrid odor strong enough to make one faint.’

’All the clues clearly pointed to that bizarre and sinister object—the Yabulu.’

Suppressing his excitement, he said eagerly, "Snar, can you take me to the place where you fainted tomorrow? I’d like to go have a look."

When Snar heard this, he was so frightened he waved his hands frantically.

"No, no, no, sir, that place is too cursed. The elders in our village all say that... that there’s something unclean there. I... I don’t dare go back."

"Don’t worry," Li Xu said, clapping him on the shoulder. "I’ll be there. I guarantee there won’t be any danger."

Snar was still hesitant.

Li Xu added, "If we don’t figure out what’s there, other people who go might also run into trouble. We have to solve the problem so everyone can be safe."

Snar hesitated for a moment but was ultimately persuaded.

’There are a lot of loaches in that area.’

’If the problem isn’t solved...’

’It’ll be hard to catch loaches there in the future.’

"Alright, I’ll take you there tomorrow."

...

The next morning, just as the sky began to lighten, Snar arrived at Ye Mushen’s house to wait for Li Xu, his heart a complex mix of fear and curiosity.

After a night of rest and the medicinal decoction, his body had mostly recovered.

Aside from still being a little weak, he was fine.

Li Xu was also ready.

He carried a simple backpack containing some essential tools and medicines.

"Let’s go."

The two of them set off toward the Suerhan River east of the village under the curious gazes of the other villagers.

The closer they got to the river, the more Snar’s steps slowed and hesitated.

’The memory of being on the verge of death yesterday still made his heart pound with fear.’

"Sir... th-this is it."

He pointed to a low-lying river bend ahead and stopped, not daring to take another step forward.

Li Xu looked in the direction he was pointing.

The river’s current and sedimentation had formed a muddy flat in that area.

A faint, swamp-like, putrid odor hung in the air.