Sauichiro: rebuilding Ashina from the obliteration of the pillar

Chapter 76 I Only Eat Healthy Food

Twelve o'clock at night.

Except for the overnight guests, there were no outsiders in the entire Yoshihara. The streets that were extremely bustling a few hours ago were completely silent now.

The curfew that has been in place since the Edo period is still in effect today.

No matter whether it is Da Jianshi, who is making money every day, or Xiao Jianshi, who is struggling to get by, the store is tacitly closed, so that people who have worked hard all day can have some time for themselves.

People in this industry are always physically and mentally exhausted. There are only a few people who may make a lot of money. Most people have to brainwash and stimulate themselves in their spare time, so that they can tenaciously continue their lives tomorrow.

But before closing the door, the shopkeeper still reminded the handyman not to forget to replace the candles in the lanterns outside the door.

So here comes the question, since there is no one outside, wouldn't it be superfluous to light candles for lighting?

Actually not.

The Japanese like to be extravagant in everything they do. For example, the lights at night in Yoshiwara were originally lit for the dead.

In the deep night, a scooter set off from Horiuchi Hospital in the second town of Edo.

This is the only regular hospital in Yuguo, Yoshiwara. There are a few doctors in it, but they know all about the diseases they treat. Most of them are infectious diseases that cannot be cured, so the mortality rate of patients is always high.

An older and more stable man was holding a trolley, and the other two younger men were standing on both sides of the cart, chanting words, probably some Shinto and Buddhist mantras, and they were slowly moving towards the edge of Yoshiwara.

When rolling over some uneven ground, the creaking sound of the wheels will be very harsh, and the windows on the upper floors of the women's houses on both sides will also open a gap.

They're not cursing for interrupted beauty sleep, though.

Looking at the corpses rolled up by straw mats in the car, and the half-dead girls among them, the wandering girls looked at them with fear, sarcasm, or sympathy in their eyes, but eventually they all became as if the sound faded away. A pool of stagnant water.

Who knows if there will be them lying in the car tomorrow or among the people wrapped in straw mats.

The end of the cart is the bank of the Rashomon River close to the periphery of Yuguo (the place where Fallen Princess and the prostitute Taro were born).

In Japan, Torii means the junction of the gods and the world; and Rashomon means the junction of hell and the world.

It can be seen from this that a place with these three characters in its name is definitely not a good place.

After the old man stopped the scooter, he clasped his palms together and chanted to the living and dead on the scooter, then he didn't speak, and gestured for the other two to start.

There was no fear on the expressions of the two of them, and it was just a habit to chant the spell.

One by one, they carried the straw mat on their shoulders skillfully, got through the small door opening, and then came to the most ominous street in Yoshiwara.

As long as you enter this small gate, no matter who you are, you will feel a sense of urgent restraint, and you can't believe that this broken place is actually a part of Yoshihara.

There are no guiding lights on this "street", not to mention it is very dim, and the road is extremely narrow. One person can pass easily, but two people have to squeeze their shoulders and rub against each other to move forward.

The houses next to the city wall are small and low, densely connected in a line, and each one looks less than 2 meters long and 1 meters wide, which can only allow two or three people to lie flat next to each other.

Most of these rooms are pitch-black, and even if there is light, they are extremely groggy. There are bursts of crying and cursing from time to time, and occasionally there is crazy laughter, which indicates that the people living inside have some mental problems.

When they heard someone passing by outside, some people shouted loudly: "Hurry up and go with the dead! There are still guests here!"

"It's your turn tomorrow, so why worry?"

The older man said a terrible curse, but his tone did not contain hostility, but rather a blessing.

"Then I can't wait! Get out, get out!"

When the woman in the room heard the coachman's reply, her voice became sharper, and then it became a whisper, obviously talking to a guest.

These small houses are also Yoshihara's house for traveling girls, but they are just very small houses that are not popular, and they are also places where "self-employed" receive cash-strapped guests.

It's just that these women are either infected with diseases, or are old and decrepit and have been driven out of the world, but they have no other way of making a living, so they stay here to linger on.

All the men and women living here have already realized that what awaits them is a tragic death, death of illness or violent death, so most of their words are harsh and cynical.

However, the three people who transported the corpse obviously didn't take these bad words seriously, and skillfully responded to their kind greetings, which made the journey of transporting the corpse more comforting.

No matter how miserable the living are, they are always better than the dead.

Soon, they followed the cramped path and came to the torii gate of the Inari God at the end of the Rashomon River.

Outside the torii, there are two slightly larger rooms, the one on the left is pitch black, and they are used to temporarily store the dead bodies.

In the room on the right, with flickering lights, lived an old doctor with mediocre medical skills, known for his hatred of Western medicine.Those patients who have not yet died completely, but Horiuchi Hospital does not want to save them, will be sent to him for rescue.

But most of the time, the only thing this doctor can do is end-of-life care. After all, he is short of medicine and money, and he is very old, and sometimes his mind is not normal.

If even he can't do anything about these patients, after they die, they will be transported together to Jingxian Temple for a hasty burial.

The three of them sent the straw mat with the corpse wrapped on their shoulders into the small black room, and placed them on the ground somewhat casually.After doing this for many years, I soon lost my reverence for the dead.

"Search the corpse for anything that can be exchanged for money. I'll go next door and find Dr. Komori."

When the older man said this, he didn't hesitate at all, it was as normal as telling someone to wash their hands before eating.

As the bottom of Yoshihara, the reason why they are willing to take this job is to see if they can get something from the dead. After all, they can't do the job that can make money from the living.

Sometimes it is worthless hairpins and bracelets, and sometimes it is clothes with complete fabrics. Although it is not possible to get rich overnight, it is better to accumulate more than to simply clean up in the house of the playboy.

After saying this, the older man went to the next door, leaving only the young one who rolled up the straw mat and began to rummage through the corpse. There was no corner of the clothes or the gaps in the hair that he would easily let go of. .

The taller one turned over and said, "Although you are dead, we are still alive. Let us live a better life. You can feel at ease when you die."

The other shorter continued: "That's right, we have to take you to Jingxian Temple tomorrow morning, and these things should be regarded as rewards. If you have any grievances, you can go to trouble those black-hearted shopkeepers, but don't worry." Don't come looking for us."

After speaking, he took off a necklace from the corpse's neck, curled his lips and put it into his clothes.

"Well, there's nothing good left, and today's effort is probably in vain again."

next to.

The older man knocked on the door of the next hut, and the door opened quickly, but he was stunned for a moment, and took a step back involuntarily.

"Who are you? Where is Dr. Komori?"

He asked a little nervously.

Standing inside the door was a stranger, wearing a green vertically striped bathrobe, with a normal build and a pair of narrow yellow eyes.

So far, he looks normal.

However, there are weird X-shaped scars on both cheeks and forehead on both sides of his face. They don't seem to be caused by accidental injuries. They should have been deliberately tortured by others before, and they look very tragic.

"Dr. Komori is terminally ill, he went home and waited to die."

The man in green spoke calmly and plainly, without any sympathy at all, and even had some excitement in his eyes, "I am his nephew. I will take over his job from now on."

After saying that, he sniffled and said suspiciously: "Why, there are only corpses today, are there no patients who are still alive?"

Can this person tell the difference between the living and the dead just by smell?The middle-aged man thought curiously.

Moreover, his uncle was terminally ill, so he pretended to be sad too.Alas, people are really not old.

He originally wanted to talk about Dr. Komori's illness, but the other party didn't seem to be interested in talking about it at all, and he didn't even mention his own name, which can be said to be quite rude.

"There are two patients in the back. The black-hearted shop owner is unwilling to spend money to treat them. Doctor Horiuchi asked me to bring them here. They are still outside the small door."

The middle-aged man replied.

"Then what are you waiting for, why don't you hurry up and bring them here?"

The man in green said commandingly, his eyes full of impatience, "Don't delay the time, it won't be good after the expiration date...the disease won't be cured."

As he spoke, he licked his lips, as if he was suppressing a certain desire that he couldn't tell outsiders.

The middle-aged man didn't feel the benevolence of the other party's doctor at all, but felt a burst of horror.

His many years of experience in Yoshiwara told him that it is best not to have any relationship with this person in front of him, it will definitely not end well.

"Then just wait, I'll go right away!"

After finishing speaking, he went back to the next door, and even hurried away with the two of them as if fleeing.

"This guy is quite vigilant, but unfortunately he won't live long."

The man in green looked at the backs of the three of them, and murmured: "Beriberi (a severe disease unique to Japan, not Hong Kong's foot), cancer and pneumonia? Speaking of which, these flavors are a little different in those big hospitals. I'm tired of eating, I hope you can bring me some new flavors..."

"Speaking of which, those who have suffered from infectious diseases should generally have a richer level of taste."

After a while, the two younger members of the trio returned here with two dying figures, one large and one small.

As for the cart pusher, he didn't want to come back after saying anything, but was willing to wait outside the door.

"Doctor, I'm here now. One little girl was seriously injured, and the other girl got Hualiu disease. The people in Horiuchi Hospital said that they probably won't survive tonight."

"I have the final say on whether I live or not."

The man in green smelled the smell that surprised him a few meters away, and his expression became impatient, "Help them in and let them lie down, and then you can go."

However, his tone of treating others like slaves immediately angered the two young men.

They were not happy, and directly put the two on their backs on the ground roughly, even though they groaned in pain, there was no response.

"Hey! What do you mean? Dr. Komori allowed us to take their things before, you don't want to take them all for yourself?"

The other also chimed in: "Even if you are willing to give them money or not, it's your job to treat them, but we have to get paid for the effort we put in to move them?"

The man in green froze for a moment, he didn't expect these two people to dare to talk to him like that.

Originally, he planned to let them go. After all, according to the prostitute Taro-sama, there is an important thing to do tonight, and he doesn't have time to eat so many people.

"Since you want to be rewarded..."

The man in green walked to the door, took out two 10-cent (0.1 yen?) coins, and smiled kindly at the two of them: "If you can still get up tomorrow, every time you bring me a patient, How about giving you so much money?"

When the two of them saw the cash, their expressions immediately changed from cloudy to sunny. They quickly reached out to take the coins, and said with smiles on their faces: "We are not the ones who got sick, so why can't we get out of bed? I was not in a good tone just now, please forgive me." .”

Now a worker's monthly salary is about 2 yen.

10 yuan, which has already caught up with their daily income from doing odd jobs.

"Good talk, good talk."

When the man in green handed over the money, he poked their palms with his fingertips without any trace, and a hidden green mist took the opportunity to penetrate into their skin.

What can the dead not forgive?
Before sunrise tomorrow, the lesion in this other person will erupt and die in a rather disgusting manner.

After the two moved the patient to the straw mat in the house and left with a bow and bow, the man in green immediately closed the door.

He came to the older girl whose chest was heaving violently and knelt down and sat down.

"how do you feel?"

His eyes were gentle, just like the kind of doctor in the novel who cared for the patient, gently holding the girl's festering hand.

Immediately afterwards, green mist that was difficult to distinguish with the naked eye began to pour into his body continuously.

The girl had difficulty breathing one second before she couldn't even speak, but the next moment her eyes suddenly brightened, and even the ulcers on her face seemed to heal.

Then, she was surprised to find that she could actually make a sound!
"doctor!"

She held onto the man in green's arm tightly like a drowning person, not remembering that her disease could directly infect others through contact, "Please save me! Please save me!"

Her eyes were full of pleading.

Although she was not happy when she was alive and suffered every day, she still had friends in the store that she couldn't let go of.Those new children also need her protection, so as not to follow in her footsteps.

"Don't you feel that you are much better now?"

The man in green smiled and brought her a mirror. Although the person inside looked very haggard, the festering and sores all over his face miraculously disappeared!
"This..." She looked at herself in the mirror and exclaimed in surprise, "How is this possible?"

"It's impossible, I'm not a charlatan."

The man in green took the mirror and looked at her at a quiet distance. The eyeball of his left eye slowly enlarged, and the Chinese characters "Xialu" suddenly appeared.

"After all, although I am very picky about taste, I only eat healthy food."

In the next second, the girl who hadn't recovered from the surprise immediately had a look of pain on her face, she looked at her heart that had been taken out by hand in disbelief, her lips trembled and she couldn't speak, and immediately, her pupils were covered in a ball Surrounded by blur.

And next to her, the one who witnessed all this with her own eyes was the one who was severely injured by Luo Ji's blow.

She couldn't make a sound because of fear, and could only use her trembling eyes to send the distress signal desperately.

"Help, someone help me!"

"There are monsters here!"

(End of this chapter)