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Ms. Zhou Luting suffered from epigastric pain, with heat in the palms of her hands, vomiting and inability to eat for four days. She cried out in pain day and night without ceasing, and her pulse was slippery and rapid in both hands.

I believed that clearing heat and stopping pain should be the priority, so I first administered two qian of a powder for clearing heat and stopping pain. Within the time it takes to finish a meal, the pain ceased, and she fell asleep. Her family members were delighted. I said, "Not yet. This fire pathogen has only temporarily subsided; the phlegm accumulation within is very solid. If we do not purge it at this opportune moment, it will inevitably recur." Therefore, I prescribed three qian of Zongguan Wan (General Manager Pill). After taking it, she experienced slight abdominal pain. After taking another two qian, she slept until dawn when she woke up, and the abdominal pain also stopped. A large amount of phlegm accumulation was passed in the stool. The next day, I prescribed Erchen Tang (Two-Cured Decoction) added with Zhishi (Immature Bitter Orange), Jianghuang (Turmeric Rhizome), Xiangfu (Cyperus Rhizome), Shanzhi (Gardenia Fruit), and Huanglian (Coptis Rhizome). After ingestion, the epigastric pain completely ceased, leaving only a slight sensation of distension in the lower abdomen. I stated that the phlegm accumulation had not been fully cleared. I again prescribed three qian of Zongguan Wan, taken at night. At dawn, she defecated once more, passing as much phlegm accumulation as before, and the epigastric pain never recurred.

Mr. Wang Wenchuan's son originally suffered from dietary injury and further injured himself by consuming cold water caltrops and other foods. His whole body turned yellow, his eyes appeared golden, he had fever at night which subsided at dawn, severe abdominal pain that could not be touched, and he wailed throughout the night. Local physicians, seeing the jaundice, diagnosed it as Hu Zhu (Fox Malaria/Infectious Disease). The crowd discussed using herbal remedies (grass-head medicines). Upon my arrival, I urgently stopped them, saying, "Previously, using herbal medicine nearly harmed your mother; do you now wish to harm your son? The Spleen and Stomach prefer warmth and dislike cold. Moreover, this condition is caused by food stagnation fermenting, while the jaundice is induced by damp-heat. The treatment method should be to strengthen the Spleen and use warm agents to purge [the stagnation]. Once the damp-heat is removed, the jaundice will naturally recede. Herbal medicines are mostly cold in nature; using them would damage the Spleen Earth and exacerbate the disease. How can they be used?" I therefore prescribed one qian of Baohe Wan (Preserve Harmony Pill) mixed with five fen of Beijji Wan (Emergency Preparation Pill), taken at once. After a short while, he had one bowel movement; after another short while, he had three consecutive movements. A large amount of stagnant matter was expelled, and the abdominal pain completely stopped. He then took Tiao Zhong Wan (Regulate Middle Pill) for one month. Not only did the jaundice on his entire body completely recede, but his gait became light and swift as if flying. His father rejoiced, saying, "The Divine Spirit has not misled me." When asked why, he replied, "Nineteen out of twenty initially proposed using herbal remedies, but only Master Sun alone condemned their error. I could not decide, so I decided through the Divine Spirit. The Divine Spirit agreed with Master Sun, and the medication proved effective. Wu Wofeng, Xiaolou, and others said, 'It is also due to Master Sun's divine skill in prescribing! If there were no Master Sun, where would the Divine Spirit's efficacy be manifested?' Everyone clapped their hands and laughed."