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Among the four desires, lust is the most intense; even sages cannot be entirely free from it. Thus, Confucius said, "I have never seen one who loves virtue as much as they love beauty." Mencius also stated, "There is no better way to cultivate the mind than to reduce desires." He further said, "When blood and qi are not yet settled, one must guard against lust." From this perspective, lust is indeed difficult for people to control. Today's wealthy and idle individuals indulge in licentiousness day and night, finding pleasure in it, much like those who crave meat without satiety. They will not stop until their essence is exhausted, marrow dried up, and qi and strength depleted. Being ignorant and failing to regulate themselves, how can they avoid death? How tragic!

Those who are awakened, would they act thus? Once the True Water (Kidney Yin) is depleted, fire flares upward and phlegm accumulates, leading to the formation of consumption (chronic wasting diseases such as tuberculosis). At this juncture, the treatment principle should be to preserve essence and water. However, with fire lurking within and water boiling, the spirit floats and wanders, and deficient yang moves recklessly. One fails to exert control and leaks essence again. This is akin to guiding water when the source is nearly dry and the flow is about to cease; would this not lead to complete exhaustion? Alas, when the disease reaches this stage, unless the physician possesses miraculous skill, calming their own mind and thoughts to address the patient's desire, and if the patient also cuts off emotional attachments and severs love to align with the physician's intent, there may be a chance of cure.

Among all desires, only wealth benefits many people, as humans cannot sustain life without money. Hence, the proverb says, "Wealth is linked to life." Although wealth is certainly necessary, comparing its weight to that of life, wealth is lighter. Why? Because once a person suffers from fire disease, their condition is as precarious as stacked eggs. Proper regulation leads to survival, while neglect leads to death. How can such a case be treated as an ordinary illness? One must calm the mind, reduce desires, focus the spirit, and steady the thoughts, avoiding letting trivial matters disturb the Heart Monarch (Heart/Shen). Only then will the fire subside, the water become tranquil, and the illness perhaps heal. If one remains diligent and anxious, busy all day long, causing the Heavenly Monarch (Heart) to lose peace and allowing Minister Fire (Liver/Kidney Fire) to usurp authority, the situation will inevitably spread like a prairie fire. How can profit be pursued then?

Qi values smoothness over reversal; smoothness ensures the unimpeded flow of all vessels, while reversal causes disharmony in the four limbs. If one suffers from fire disease and adds anger, it is like a dilapidated ship encountering waves; few escape capsizing. Why? Because this constitutes "making deficiency more deficient," leading to yin-yang discordance and separation of the zang-fu organs. Few remain safe. Moreover, today's ignorant people only know that anger harms others, but do not realize that there are nine ways anger damages the heart's qi: Anger causes qi to ascend, joy causes qi to slacken, grief causes qi to dissipate, worry causes qi to knot, fear causes qi to descend, shock causes qi to scatter, labor causes qi to consume, cold causes qi to contract, and heat causes qi to leak. These various qi alterations are actually self-inflicted. Furthermore, phlegm-fire disease originates from the injury of true qi due to overexertion and the depletion of Kidney Yin, allowing pathogenic heat to take advantage. It is not that true qi is excessive, but rather that true qi is diseased and collaborates with pathogenic fire, causing yang to hyperactive and yin to diminish. The concept of "yin deficiency generating internal heat" refers to the scorching of Lung Metal by fire when fire holds power. Additionally, the seven emotions cause qi to reverse upwards. Extreme movement generates fire; fire carries blood upward. All these arise from nothingness and are truly caused by extreme activity.