141: Chapter 141 Ronin's Trouble

[You intend to stay at Matsushita Sanatorium to treat the sick and save lives.]

[However, you are in no rush to reveal your thoughts to Red Beard. Red Beard hasn't even spoken a few words to you before he is called away by those old and infirm patients.]

[He asks A-Xin to take you around, and tells you to wait a while, as he wants to treat you to a drink.]

[A-Xin is a woman in her forties who works as a volunteer at the sanatorium. She has been working there for three years without a monthly salary, receiving only meals.]

[She takes you on a tour of the sanatorium. This place was originally a fairly large temple that had been abandoned due to years of disrepair. Since Red Beard took it over, he renovated and improved it, transforming it into a sanatorium. Because there is a thousand-year-old pine tree growing on the hill behind it, it was named "Matsushita Sanatorium."]

[The sanatorium has over 30 rooms in total, but each room houses at least three or four patients. The total number of patients is over 100. Most of them are elderly and, due to poverty, have no money to pay for medical fees, so they come here to recuperate because treatment here is free.]

[In addition to the inpatients, nearby villagers also basically come here for medical care. The reputation of Red Beard's benevolence and righteousness is widely spread in this area.]

[When you walk to the small courtyard exclusive to Miyamoto Saya, you discover that both her room door and the courtyard gate are locked. You then ask A-Xin why this is done.]

[A-Xin tells you that Shaya is mentally unstable. When she wakes up, she sometimes bites people for no reason or even attacks people with a Sharp Weapon. That is why she is locked in a separate small courtyard, with a female caregiver specifically responsible for her care. Usually, no one dares to go near her. Only when her condition is serious does Red Beard come to diagnose and prescribe medicine. This morning, however, due to the caregiver's negligence, Shaya accidentally ran out and was caught by those people, who treated her as a girl cursed by the gods and almost burned her to death...]

[After hearing A-Xin's words, you are left speechless, sighing in your heart. You never expected that such a beautiful and gentle-looking girl would actually be a mental patient...]

[After a while, Red Beard walks out of the ward laughing heartily. Having just finished a surgery, he comes to invite you for a drink...]

[You accompany Red Beard to drink and eat. Only then does Red Beard ask about your native place and family background. You make up one randomly, saying you are from the north, the son of a merchant, and falsely claim to be traveling here.]

[Seeing that you can actually fly, comparable to those generals on the battlefield, Red Beard advises you to join the army, saying you might become a general, receive the Shogunate's attention, and become a great Daimyo.]

[You just smile and tell him that you only want to practice medicine and save lives.]

"Hahahaha! Su-san! Actually, it's enough that you helped me drive away those ruffians. As for treating the sick and saving lives, I can handle it on my own. I'm only fifty-seven, and I still have plenty of strength! Sigh, speaking of which, it really is worrisome... Ever since I took Shaya in, there have always been many Ronin coming to cause trouble!"

Red Beard heartily drinks a large bowl of wine and curses with a frown: "...These good-for-nothing lechers! Perverts! Bastards! I will absolutely not allow them to defile my friend's daughter! Don't think I can't see what these perverts are up to!!"

Su Fan promises Red Beard that he will definitely drive these perverts away.

But after a pause, he still states his true intention. He tells Red Beard that he wants to treat patients here, not be a bodyguard.

Su Fan's words cause Red Beard to pause in surprise.

It also instantly dispels his doubts about whether Su Fan is a hypocrite.

He was originally a bit suspicious, wondering if this formidable warrior from another country with a strange hairstyle was also coveting Shaya's beauty.

Having heard Su Fan's declaration, he completely lets go of this thought...

However, Red Beard also voices the worry in his heart: "Su-san, the thing is, you don't know how to practice medicine. If you are willing to study under me for three or five years, you should be able to treat patients clinically."

Three or five years?

Su Fan thinks to himself, three or five years is too long!

He then says to Red Beard: "I know Acupuncture. Why don't you let me try?"

Red Beard is delighted upon hearing this: "You actually know Acupuncture?"

He immediately goes to fetch a pouch of silver needles and finds a medical book, saying to Su Fan: "I once accidentally obtained a medical book on how to perform Acupuncture, but I can never find the right Acupoints..."

As he speaks, he hands the pouch of needles to Su Fan.

Afterward, he takes off his upper garment: "I've had back pain these past few days and haven't been feeling very energetic. Come, perform the needling on me and let's see the effect!"

Su Fan smiles slightly, takes the needles, and begins to perform the needling on Red Beard...

Red Beard's back is pricked with many needles by Su Fan. After a while, Su Fan removes the needles and asks him: "How do you feel?"

Red Beard instantly feels invigorated and slowly exhales, saying: "I feel refreshed all over! Su-san, your Acupuncture is truly excellent!"

Just as Red Beard finishes speaking, A-Xin suddenly runs in. She looks very anxious, accidentally stumbles and falls, but after climbing back up, she points outside and stammers:

"No, no, no... This is bad! A lot of Ronin have come outside!"

"Red Beard, what... what... what should we do!?"

Upon hearing this, Su Fan says nothing, gets up directly, and walks out of the sanatorium.

Red Beard and A-Xin also follow.

They see seven or eight Ronin wearing light armor, with shaved tops of their heads in the chonmage style, carrying samurai swords, looking like ruffians. They are chattering away, making gestures as if to barge into the sanatorium.

At a glance at their tattered light armor parts, one knows they are rogue soldiers who escaped from the battlefield.

When they see Su Fan, Red Beard, and A-Xin come out together, the scarred-faced Ronin leading them points at the three and shouts aggressively:

"Baka! Hand over that girl cursed by the gods!"

Red Beard is so angry he points at them: "It's you again? Don't think I don't know what you are plotting? Shaya is my patient. Even if the authorities came, I wouldn't hand her over, let alone to you shifty-eyed scoundrels!"

The scarred-faced Ronin licks his lips and chuckles: "If you don't hand her over, we will snatch her away, ravish her, and then sell her to the pleasure quarters!"

"What is a pleasure quarter?" Su Fan asks A-Xin quietly on the side.

A-Xin replies in a low voice: "It's a brothel."

Upon hearing this, Su Fan steps forward a few paces, has Red Beard retreat behind him, and then stares at the group of Ronin in front of him, saying in a deep voice: "I'll give you three seconds. If you don't leave by then, you will all... die!"

"Haha, where did this strange man come from!"

These Ronin just laugh, completely ignoring Su Fan's warning.

"...Three!"

Su Fan suddenly makes his move.

As his palms flip, he condenses a huge fireball and violently hurls it at these Ronin.

Before these Ronin can even react, they are instantly engulfed by the flames, not even having time to let out a miserable scream.

Seeing this scene, both Red Beard and A-Xin are stunned...

Meanwhile, in the small courtyard not far away, the stunningly beautiful girl by the window, having witnessed this scene, stares blankly at Su Fan's figure. Suddenly, the corners of her mouth curl into a hair-raising, eerie smile...