Taking the fate of Chen Shi, a failed scholar in 1977, as the axis, a life epic spanning forty years unfolds. He was burdened with the curse of "five evils and three deficiencies", inherited the Qixuan Bell and the "Qixuan Sutra" containing secret skills, and embarked on the thorny road of hanging the pot to save the world and solving the mystery of his life experience.
The novel runs through major historical events such as reform and opening up, state-owned enterprise restructuring, SARS, and the Wenchuan earthquake. Chen Shi used Qihuang's skills to prescribe food stamps in cholera shantytowns, give needles to save people in the ruins of mining disasters, and ring bells to comfort souls in SARS quarantine areas. He illuminated the darkness with "shocks" many times, but he was repeatedly criticized for using forbidden skills. Behind the unjust case of his father, Chen Huai'an, who is a "reactionary academic authority," involves the Yongxin Group's poisonous mines, counterfeit medicines, and new drug conspiracies symbolized by "Lanyinzi". It is also closely related to the lost secret technique of "U-P particles" of Qixuanmen.
Chen Shi and Western medicine doctor Lin Wan went from confrontation to cooperation, and sparks of the integration of Chinese and Western medicine collided in the cancer building, blood cancer ward, and the ruins of Wenchuan. The growth and choices of the adopted daughter Xiaoman, the scar-faced "Brother Scar" in the mine, and the pursuit of Lu Youde, the mastermind behind the scenes, push the story to a climax. In the end, Chen Shi used his body as a key to dance with the heart stent and silver needle in the ICU, used U-P particles to counteract the "heart bell" sonic weapon in the explosion ruins, exposed the truth that Lu Youde stole his father's research on poisoning, and completed the redemption of Qi's mysterious technique.
The novel ends with the implementation of the "Traditional Chinese Medicine Law" in 2017. Chen Shi donated the blood-stained Qixuan Ling and his father's research notes to the museum, and opened an integrated Chinese and Western medicine clinic with Lin Wan. The bronze bell belongs to the long river of history, and the spirit of "hanging the pot to startle the giant" has finally been tempered into the eternal glimmer of light that protects life in the fission of the times.
Purpose: In the era of drastic changes, true medicine transcends sectarian disputes and takes the dignity of life as the highest criterion; the fire of civilization needs to be guarded by flesh and blood, and in the depths of darkness, the brilliance of humanity can be used to complete the redemption of trauma.