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Inquiring about the method of treating Sha (Sha syndrome): For those suffering from fatal types of Sha, is there any possibility of rescue? The answer is: Yes. I will not even discuss fatal cases of other hundred diseases, as many of them also have a reality of being curable. However, according to the *Shanghan Lun* (Treatise on Cold Damage Disorders): Red macules indicate five deaths for every one survival; black macules indicate nine deaths for every one survival. Yang syndromes presenting with Yin pulses indicate death. Yin-Yang toxicity not treated after six or seven days indicates death. Two-gan Shanghan (simultaneous involvement of exterior and interior) indicates death. After sweating, if the fever does not subside but increases, it is called "Yin-Yang Jiao" (intermingling of Yin and Yang), indicating death. Inability to sweat indicates death. Fever, rapid and restless pulse, delirious speech, and inability to eat are called "Three Deaths". Unremitting cough and counterflow qi indicate death. Zang燥 (Zang dryness/restlessness) indicates death. Jueyin disease presenting with curled tongue and retracted testicles indicates death. Intermitting pulse (Dai pulse) indicates death. Shaoyin disease presenting with vomiting, diarrhea, restlessness, and cold extremities indicates death. Fever persisting for seven or eight days, with cold skin and restlessness without any momentary relief, is called "Zang Jue" (Cold of the Zang organs), which is incurable. Combined Shaoyang and Yangming disease, inevitably accompanied by diarrhea, with a large, long, and wiry pulse, is named "Fu" (Defeat), where Fu indicates death. Yin-Yang Yi disease (recurrence due to sexual activity after recovery from major illness), presenting with heavy head, blurred vision, limb contracture and urgency, severe abdominal colic, and convulsive pain in hands and feet, indicates death. Pulses at all three positions (Cun, Guan, Chi) being deficient, with unremitting heat, indicates death. Shanghan lasting more than seven or eight days with high fever is difficult to treat. Loss of control over urination and defecation indicates death. Picking at clothes and bedrails, internal binding of pathogenic heat, with wiry and choppy pulses, indicates death. Unremitting panting indicates death. Soft sweat (cold sweat) with yellow complexion indicates death. Reversal of lips and mouth corners turning cyan indicates death. Blackening around the mouth indicates death. Nose resembling soot indicates death. Fixed staring and shaking of the head indicates death. These severe conditions often coexist with Sha. Previous clinical experiences provide clear evidence. However, the number of patients I have rescued is too numerous to list completely. The key when facing such fatal conditions, like falling into an abyss, lies in early detection and urgent rescue.

Mr. Yan Yuan described this type of Sha in great detail, thereby saving countless lives. I have not personally witnessed it and dare not speculate. Recently, I heard Brother Yuan Danzhen describe what he personally observed upon returning from the North. This condition presents with several wool-like hair growths on the chest. People in the North also use a method placing a copper coin on the affected area, burning moxa above the coin, and covering it externally with a clay jar or bamboo jar, immediately extracting sweat to achieve cure. Northerners call this "Fire-Striking Cupping," which can also treat Sha pain. Additionally, it is heard that Northerners push up two tendons on the back, pinch them tightly for about the time it takes to eat a meal, which can also treat Sha pain. Although I have not personally verified these two methods, I believe they would be beneficial and harmless if practiced. Therefore, I record them together as a lifeline for those in remote, barren regions lacking medical treatment.