CHAPTER 491: 439 PRESERVE THIS QI_2

This time, the woman understood. She muttered, "So, surgery is needed..." Then she looked at Du Heng again. "Doctor, aren’t you a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine? Why do you also use machines for examinations?"

Du Heng sighed and could only explain once more, "Injuries like bone fractures and muscle strains are all under the skin, enveloped by muscle. We can determine where you’re injured and what the problem is, but we can’t determine the severity of the injury. In your case, if the medication dosage doesn’t match the severity of your injury, you could end up with a permanent disability. Besides, who decreed that traditional Chinese medicine doctors can’t use machines for examinations? Especially for bone injuries, machine examinations are definitely more reliable than human assessment."

The woman finally stopped asking questions, and Du Heng could proceed with writing the inspection sheet in peace.

"Dean, there’s an ambulance call from Shangzhuang Village! Do you have a moment?" Just as Du Heng finished writing the inspection sheet, the office door was flung open by Wang Lili, who rushed in and called out urgently to Du Heng.

Du Heng frowned, handing the inspection sheet to the woman. "Go to the fourth floor for your check-up. Afterward, go find Dr. Wu next door."

With that, he grabbed his bag from the table and headed out. "Where’s Director Yu?"

"He just took two consecutive calls, one for heart disease and one for hypertension. Director Yu and the newcomer, Doctor Song from the Emergency Department, have both gone out," Wang Lili said, her words tumbling out.

Du Heng paused for a moment. "Both ambulances are out?"

"Yes, both of them. We’ve got a first-aid kit and we’re waiting for you in the courtyard, but we couldn’t bring a stretcher this time."

"Never mind that. Let’s go," Du Heng said, already moving.

When Du Heng reached the backyard, he saw a nurse standing by his car, holding a large box. It seemed they had planned to use his car all along. He didn’t say much, just opened the door and got in.

"What’s the patient’s condition?"

"The family member who called said the patient went out an hour ago. She hadn’t paid it much mind, thinking her husband had gone to visit someone or to do some work. It wasn’t until the patient’s wife went to the toilet that she found him collapsed there, and then she quickly called us."

"How long ago?" Du Heng’s heart pounded.

"An hour."

If it were any other illness, it might be manageable. But if it’s heart disease or a cerebral hemorrhage, an hour... That could be too late, Du Heng thought.

"Who in Shangzhuang Village?"

"Qi Cai, from No. 16 Shangzhuang Village."

"Contact Qi Gang, the village doctor, and ask if Qi Cai has any pre-existing conditions. If he’s at the scene, tell him to start emergency treatment immediately. If not, tell him to hurry over." Du Heng handed his phone to Wang Lili and focused on driving.

Wang Lili quickly dialed Qi Gang’s number, but no one answered. She tried again, with the same result.

Just as Wang Lili was about to dial again, Du Heng said grimly, "Stop calling him. Call the Health Clinic. Tell Doctor Xia to go check immediately."

Wang Lili immediately picked up the phone and called Doctor Xia from the Department of Health Care at the Health Clinic.

Five minutes later, Doctor Xia called back. "Qi Cai, male, 44 years old, suffers from secondary hypertension. He currently works in sanitation, responsible for two streets in Cheping."

This was the information system Du Heng had implemented after taking over the job Li Qingde had assigned him last year. Since taking office, Du Heng had required village doctors to update this information every three months.

Now, the system’s effectiveness was clear. Even though Du Heng couldn’t reach the village doctor and hadn’t arrived at the patient’s home yet, he already had a basic understanding of the situation.

But today, this knowledge was more troubling than reassuring.

Secondary hypertension, collapsed in the toilet for an hour... The thought alone sent a chill down his spine, Du Heng mused.

"Call the patient’s family. Instruct them on the emergency procedures for a cerebral hemorrhage."

Wang Lili immediately pulled out the emergency call log, found the family’s registered phone number, and quickly dialed. But, just like with Qi Gang, no one answered.

Du Heng’s face was dark as he drove in silence, while Wang Lili kept trying both numbers repeatedly.

Twenty minutes later, Du Heng and the two nurses finally arrived. The scene that greeted them, however, made their hearts sink and a sense of urgency grip them.

The man had already been carried out of the toilet by villagers. His wife was busy trying to clean him, but despite her efforts, an overwhelming, nauseating odor clung to him.

But what made Du Heng’s heart turn cold and his frustration flare was not just that they had moved him. Seeing them jostling and turning the man to change his clothes, Du Heng’s hope plummeted.

If this man truly had a cerebral hemorrhage, the delay combined with this rough handling... Even if he wasn’t dead before, they might have just finished him off, he thought grimly.

"Don’t move! Stop moving him!" Du Heng shouted, rushing towards Qi Cai.

Reaching his side, he firmly grasped the arm of the relative supporting the patient’s head. "Don’t move him carelessly! Slower, be gentle! Gently lay his head down. Keep it flat."

While steadying the patient’s wife with one hand, he carefully controlled the movement as they lowered the patient.

The patient’s wife looked utterly distraught, her face a mask of terror, and her body trembling uncontrollably. But her current focus made Du Heng want to explode. "Doctor, my husband still has feces on his head! I need to clean him!"

Clean your ass! Du Heng fumed internally.

Ignoring the filth, as soon as the patient’s head was flat, Du Heng pried open his eyelids. He saw pupils constricted to pinpoints. Looking at the slightly rigid right side of the body, Du Heng was certain: it was a cerebral hemorrhage, likely a brainstem hemorrhage.

"Lili, prepare five long needles. There’s medicine in the box in my back seat. Get one Supreme Jewel Elixir. Quickly!"

Wang Lili and the other nurse hurried to prepare, while Du Heng took the patient’s wrist again.

The moment his fingers touched the patient’s skin, his expression changed.

The patient’s pulse was floating, palpable right at the surface of the skin, yet it felt rootless when pressed and was beating extremely fast. This starkly contrasted with his breathing, which was as faint as a thread. Crucially, Du Heng couldn’t count the pulse beats.

Seething cauldron pulse!

The man’s qi had already scattered.

One of the seven expiry pulses!

The pulse of impending death!

Du Heng exhaled heavily, steeling himself. Stay calm, stay calm. The patient is still breathing, he still has a heartbeat. There’s still hope. You can do this.

The young nurse ran over with the Supreme Jewel Elixir Du Heng had requested and quickly handed it to him.

Supreme Jewel Elixir—its functions are to resolve turbidity and open the orifices, unblock the meridians, and disperse stasis.

The priority now was to lower the patient’s blood pressure; the intracranial pressure had to be reduced.

Act fast. If it goes down, he lives. If it doesn’t, or if they’re too slow, he dies, Du Heng thought, the urgency pressing down on him.

Therefore, medication alone wasn’t enough. The most important and fastest-acting treatment was acupuncture.

After administering the elixir, Du Heng reached out and took the long needles Wang Lili had prepared.

He chose Baihui (GV20) for the first point for one simple reason: its ability to lower blood pressure. Then, he swiftly took more long needles from Wang Lili and, without hesitation, inserted them into points like Shangxing (GV-23) and Shenting (GV-24). Each needle was inserted deeper than he had ever done before.

When he had finished, Du Heng checked the patient’s pupils. The pinpoint pupils from moments ago were now slowly dilating.

But this dilation brought Du Heng no relief. Instead, a knot of tension tightened throughout his body.

This was the dilation that precedes death!

****!

"Lili, more needles!"

Du Heng was desperate. In this condition, if the patient was jostled even slightly, they probably wouldn’t even be able to get him into the car before he was gone.

Taking another needle from Wang Lili, he again chose nearby acupoints. This time, he was not only bold, selecting points like the temples, but he also employed a penetration technique, one needle transfixing two acupoints, such as from Qucha (BL4) penetrating towards Meichong (BL3).

Du Heng utilized twisting, lifting, and thrusting manipulations to their absolute limit, working with both hands simultaneously.

If this weren’t happening right before their eyes, involving people they knew, everyone would have thought they were watching a TV drama.

But no one noticed that in that short time, Du Heng’s forehead had become drenched in sweat. And no one saw that Du Heng’s arms were already beginning to ache and tremble.

He had only one goal now: to preserve this man’s last breath.