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When children have sores on the head accompanied by lice, mercury (Niveum Argentum) must absolutely not be applied. Mercury can enter the meridians and collaterals through the sores, leading to flaccidity and atrophy of the sinews and bones, rendering all medicines ineffective. Medical texts state that if a person suffers from lacquer dermatitis (Qi Chuang), one should not use red-lacquered vessels heated for moxibustion or hot compresses, as it is feared that mercury contained in cinnabar (Zhu Sha) might enter the meridians and collaterals. However, black-lacquered vessels are harmless. The principle of this prescription is similar to applying raw Aconitum carmichaelii root (Sheng Cao Wu) to treat tinea capitis (Bai Tu), or fumigating hemorrhoids with Croton seed (Ba Dou) which resulted in death (from *Sui Suo Lu*).

Yan Huangqi, a citizen of Nanfeng, suffered from sores on both feet that were foul-smelling and ulcerated. Everyone drove him away and would not allow him to step into their shops; he was not allowed to stay near market stalls selling utensils, nor could he rest in villages or wilderness, and even inns refused him lodging. He secretly entered the capital and took shelter under the Shrine of the Fifth Lady. In the middle of the night, he was scolded and driven away by a yellow-robed official who asked, "Who dares to pollute this place with rotting and filthy feet?" Yan Huangqi replied, "Unluckily afflicted with a malignant disease, I have nowhere to find refuge, so I come here risking my life." Amidst the commotion, the Fifth Lady loudly ordered that he not be driven away and called him forward, saying, "I will impart a miraculous prescription to you. Take one dried *Lobelia chinensis* fruit (Lou Lan Zi), dry it thoroughly, grind it into powder, add a small amount of calomel (Ni Fen), mix with well water, and apply externally. It will be effective." Yan Huangqi bowed in thanks and treated himself according to this method, and indeed recovered (same source, *Lei Bian*).

When Emperor Renzong of Song was Crown Prince, he once suffered from a sore on his cheek/jaw. He ordered a Daoist priest to treat it. The priest took forty-nine adzuki beans (Chi Xiao Dou), recited incantations over them, mixed them with other herbs into a powder, and applied it as a plaster, after which the sore healed. The eunuch Ren Chengliang, who was present, learned of this. Later, Ren Chengliang himself suffered from a malignant sore and was near death. A Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs (Shangshu Lang) passed on this medicine to him, and he recovered immediately. When asked what the prescription was, he was told it was adzuki bean. Ren Chengliang then realized that the Daoist's skill, specifically the recitation of incantations, was merely a way to mystify his technique. Some time later, while passing through Yuzhang with officials, Ren Chengliang encountered someone suffering from a carbuncle on the flank that had nearly reached the five zang organs. The physician treated it very rapidly. Ren Chengliang asked, "Did you perhaps use adzuki beans?" The physician, surprised, bowed and said, "I have used this to save thirty people; I beg you do not spread this news again." Zhou Shaoyin fell ill, and Zongshi Yanfu relayed a story about him: "For various severe and benign sores that no medicine could cure, [the priest] could treat them all. A monk suffered from a back carbuncle resembling a rotten melon; a wet nurse in a neighboring family also suffered from a carbuncle. Using his method, both were cured miraculously. The method involves grinding the medicine finely, mixing with water, and applying it to the sore and surrounding swollen areas. Once the medicine falls off, reapply it." (Same source).

Previously, there was a person whose finger webs developed sores due to scratching, forming a small orifice from which blood splashed uncontrollably. Hemostatic drugs and dragon's blood resin (Xue Jie) were ineffective, and he died after a few days. Later, another person scratched an itchy spot behind the ear near the hairline, resulting in a small orifice bleeding similarly, but no one recognized the condition. Fortunately, a Daoist priest appeared and said, "This is called 'Fa Quan' (Hair Spring). Simply take the hoop band from an old chamber pot, dry it, burn it to ash, and apply it to the site. It will heal." Indeed, it worked as he said. If the previous person with bleeding from the finger web had encountered this method, he too would surely have recovered.