The hospital room fell silent in an instant. All eyes focused on the elderly man.

Dean Song introduced in a low voice, "This patient is Zhang Weiyuan, 78 years old. He was admitted a year ago for a cerebral infarction and later developed multiple concurrent infections. His condition is extremely grim now. It’ll just be a matter of days..."

This was a classic case of a patient just waiting to die.

Professor Yamada stepped forward and observed him closely.

He checked the patient’s pupils, then looked at the strange, flushed color of his face, frowning slightly.

As a Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner, he naturally understood the four diagnostic methods, but he relied more on data from modern medicine.

Looking at the string of abysmal biochemical indicators on the chart at the head of the bed, Professor Yamada had already pronounced a death sentence in his mind.

"With this degree of organ failure, coupled with severe damage to the nervous system, in Japan, we would recommend palliative care for the family to reduce the patient’s suffering."

Professor Yamada shook his head and turned to Li Xu. "Doctor Li, with a case like this, I imagine that even with Chinese medicine, it’s beyond saving, no? I’m very curious to see what brilliant ideas you might have when faced with such a hopeless situation."

’This was a checkmate.’

He had thrown Li Xu an impossible, no-win situation.

He had already stated that he couldn’t treat this kind of illness.

If Li Xu said he couldn’t treat it, it would be an admission that Chinese medicine was inadequate.

That it wasn’t superior to his own methods.

If Li Xu forced himself to try and failed, he would just become a laughingstock.

Li Xu paid no mind to the barbs in Yamada’s words.

In a doctor’s eyes, there is only the patient.

He stepped forward.

He placed a hand on the old man’s abdomen, pressing down gently with his fingertips.

He immediately felt a tautness under his hand, like pressing on the skin of a drum. It was a sign of extreme muscle tension—a distended and tender abdomen.

This was an excess pattern.

"What about his bowel and bladder movements?"

Li Xu turned and asked a middle-aged woman waiting by the bedside.

She was the old man’s daughter. Her face was haggard, and she was clearly running on fumes.

She quickly replied, "It’s... it’s been half a month since his last bowel movement."

"He’s incontinent, urinating seven times a day, about 1400 milliliters in total."

Hearing this, Li Xu nodded.

He then placed his hand on the old man’s wrist.

Internally, however, he grew more solemn.

Delirium, rigid limbs, no bowel movements...

This was clearly no ordinary patient.

And...

Looking at the unnatural flush on the old man’s face, only four words came to Li Xu’s mind.

"A final burst of life."

That was it!

This flush was unnatural, like rouge smeared on a skeleton—eerie and dangerous.

In diagnosis by inspection, observing form and color is the surface level; what’s crucial is observing the spirit.

Right now, the patient’s organ qi was blocked, his consciousness was clouded, and his Yang Qi, while on the exterior, showed signs of separating and departing.

The yin qi was not being contained within...

This was a manifestation of yin and yang battling, of true yin being on the verge of exhaustion, causing the isolated yang to float upward and manifest on the surface.

This was Li Xu’s initial conclusion from his inspection.

Then, Li Xu quietly focused on feeling the pulse.

Meanwhile, Dean Song and the others stared at Li Xu, wanting to see how he would proceed with his diagnosis.

When they saw Li Xu’s first reaction was a slight shake of his head, their hearts all skipped a beat...

’Even Li Xu is shaking his head?’

The head of internal medicine, Lin Guorui, stood to the side, fighting the urge to ask a question. But when he saw Li Xu begin to take the pulse, he held his tongue, his heart filled with anxiety.

At that moment, Li Xu was carefully sensing the pulse.

The moment his fingers touched the pulse point on the wrist, Li Xu immediately frowned...

Because the pulse there was almost nonexistent.

There was nothing but emptiness under his fingers. Only by pressing extremely deep could he faintly perceive a thready, rapid pulse, as fine as a silk thread.

But...

This made it impossible to sense the circulation of qi and blood throughout the body.

Li Xu’s expression changed instantly.

’Is the pulse really this weak, even at the wrist?’

A faint pulse on the verge of disappearing... This was a sign of expiring Yang Qi.

...

Lin Guorui watched from the side without a word.

He had examined the patient before and knew his pulse was already very difficult to feel. This was why they hadn’t dared to prescribe strong medicine in the past few days, fearing that a single dose might be enough to kill him.

’In a situation like this, how will Li Xu make a diagnosis?’

Li Xu mulled it over for a moment, then suddenly said, "Open his mouth. I need to see his tongue."

Lin Guorui nodded. "Okay."

He stepped forward to help. The patient’s jaw was clenched shut, and it took a great deal of effort to pry open a small gap.

Li Xu carefully used the light from a flashlight to get a clear view inside the patient’s mouth.

And then...

A foul, greasy tongue was revealed. The root of the tongue was red, a vivid, dripping crimson, but the surface was covered in a thick, putrid, greasy coat, mottled yellow and white. It was a terrifying sight.

Everyone was now staring at Li Xu, waiting for his reaction.

To everyone’s surprise...

After examining the tongue, Li Xu didn’t become more serious. Instead, he let out a soft sigh of relief, as if he had just confirmed something.

Seeing this, Lin Guorui couldn’t help but say helplessly, "Doctor Li, we’re truly at a loss. It’s expiring yang, but also excess heat. A mix of deficiency and excess. It’s full of contradictions."

Li Xu nodded. "Indeed."

"It’s quite serious."

His words caused no stir; everyone was already well aware of this fact.

The patient’s daughter trembled, and tears instantly welled up in her eyes. "Doctor Li... is... is there still hope?"

Her voice trembled, afraid that her last sliver of hope would be shattered.

Li Xu smiled and comforted her, "Don’t worry."

"It’s not all bad news."

"At the very least..."

"His Stomach and Kidney Qi are still present. He can be saved."

The moment he said this, everyone turned to stare at Li Xu, utterly shocked.

’He can be saved?’

They had clearly noted his choice of words.

Not "let’s give it a try," nor "I’ll do my best," but "he can be saved."

’But how could he even begin?’

’He couldn’t even get a proper reading from the pulse on the wrist. How could he possibly treat him?’

Even Professor Yamada couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows, thinking Li Xu was just spouting nonsense.

Just then, Li Xu suddenly said, "Take off the patient’s socks."

Everyone was taken aback.

’Take off his socks?’

’What’s the point of taking off his socks at a time like this?’

’Is he going to do a foot massage?’

Although she was confused, the patient’s daughter was very cooperative. Desperate to save her father, she would have agreed even if Li Xu had suggested performing a shamanistic ritual. She quickly removed the patient’s socks, revealing the old man’s thin, withered, sallow feet.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at Li Xu, wondering what he was going to do.

And now, Li Xu began to take the pulse again.

But this time, he didn’t feel the wrist. Instead, he reached out and pressed on the top of the patient’s foot, at the location of the pulse on the instep.

Next, he pressed his hand behind the patient’s inner ankle bone, at the location of the pulse there.

The pulse at the wrist had been thready, rapid, and weak.

But when he felt the pulses on both insteps, they were smooth, full, and forceful.

The beat under his fingers, while somewhat hurried, had a resilient strength to it—proof that the Stomach Qi was still present.

And the pulses behind both ankles, though deep and thready, were also faintly forceful, indicating that the Kidney Qi was not yet exhausted.

This was a good sign.

With Stomach Qi, there is life; without Stomach Qi, there is death.

Since both Stomach and Kidney Qi remained, there was a chance.