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Wu, who had once been wealthy but later became poor, had a weak constitution and was prone to depression. He suffered from intermittent malaria (Shi Nue, 时疟) but firmly refused medication for half a month. One night, he suddenly developed persistent fever, chest tightness, and dry retching. The physician prescribed Xiaochaihu Tang (Minor Bupleurum Decoction), but it was ineffective. His heat intensified with profuse sweating, leading to coma, physical fatigue, a fine and forceless pulse, and mumbling speech in a low voice. I was urgently summoned to diagnose him. According to Zhang Zhongjing: Delirious speech (Chan Yu, 谵语) can be either deficiency or excess; excess manifests as Chan Yu, while deficiency manifests as Zheng Sheng (repetitive speech). The *Suwen* states: "Speaking faintly, only repeating words after a whole day, this is depletion of Qi." I used Buyuan Jian (Tonify Origin Decoction) combined with Shengmai San (Generate the Pulse Powder). After two doses, he recovered miraculously.

My clan uncle, Xiaotang, had previously traded in the Wu region. Due to emotional distress and depression, he fell ill with mental confusion, delirium, and madness. Various physicians failed to cure him. Fearing an adverse outcome, his peers sent him back to his hometown. His pulse was wiry, rapid, and bounding against the finger. I determined that his condition arose from depression generating fire, and fire generating phlegm. Phlegm-fire disturbed his Shen (Spirit) and clouded his heart orifices, causing abnormal speech and behavior. This differed from the mania caused by Yangming stomach excess, which explains why previous physicians' use of purgatives was ineffective. Having been ill for a long time, his healthy Qi was deficient; tonification might aggravate the phlegm-fire. Therefore, I imitated the formula Fuman Jian, adding pear tips, iron rust, Amber, and Cinnabar as guides. After the first dose, his delirium stabilized slightly; after two more doses, his sleep and appetite gradually improved. After a total of twelve doses, his spirit cleared, speech normalized, and behavior returned to usual. This formula clears heat from the Heart and Liver and unblocks the Shen, hence its rapid effect.

Another clansman, Liansheng, suffered from dysentery with remissions and exacerbations (Xiuxi Li, 休息痢) for two years. Treatments such as clearing heat, astringing, tonifying the Middle, and lifting yang were tried without success. Upon meeting him on the road, I observed his sallow complexion and timid breath, recognizing signs of blood loss. I told him, "Your illness is deep; if untreated, it will be fatal." He explained his history. I said, "I have medicine at my residence that can cure you. Why not go fetch it?" He followed me, received the prescription, and was cured after two doses. Having endured two years of illness with hundred treatments failing, he marveled at the speed of this remedy, calling it a divine pill. The formula consisted solely of Brucea javanica (Yadanszi, 鸦胆子). The shells were removed, the kernels taken, wrapped in Longan aril, and formed into pills. Each morning, thirty pills were taken with rice gruel, followed immediately by food to suppress the taste. This formula was transmitted by its original discoverer, specifically treating Xiuxi Li and also intestinal wind with bloody stool. One to two doses, or three to four doses at most, were invariably effective. This herb is not recorded in the *Bencao*, so its origins are unknown. Its taste is extremely bitter, suggesting a cold nature. Later, reading the book *Youyou Jicheng*, I found: "In chronic dysentery, pathogens attach to the tortuous parts of the large intestine where medicinal power cannot reach; this herb yields miraculous results." Reflecting on cases where massive amounts (several jin) of Ginseng, Angelica sinensis, and Rehmannia cured chronic deficiency, or several liang of Dried Ginger, Aconite, Mirabilite, and Rhubarb cured Shanghan febrile diseases, it is puzzling why such a small amount (two or three fen) of this herb cures chronic ailments with god-like efficacy. The principles of nature are truly unfathomable. As the ancients said, "Thousands of formulas are easy to obtain, but one effective result is hard to seek." This is indeed true.