Because Bai Sui had once suffered an unfriendly encounter, he had studied relevant medical knowledge thoroughly in his Inner Landscape.
So although he had never put it into practice, he understood the theory.
For example, with this bandaging, although he had no medicine on hand to stop the bleeding immediately, the bandage could still help stem it.
Afterward, he had them choose two people to carry the injured man using a chair carry, and they set off toward the village.
The other two found a tree trunk, tied the black boar's limbs to it, and carried it back.
Seeing how much trouble they were having walking, Bai Sui also helped carry the three wild fowl they had apparently hunted earlier.
As they traveled, Bai Sui and the others chatted and exchanged names.
Their leader was Murai Sae, a man in his mid-thirties and one of the village's most experienced hunters—though the village itself hadn't been established for very long.
According to him, the village had been founded by people whose homes had been destroyed by war. They had all fled their homelands and found a place to live in peace here. He invited Bai Sui to join them, too, since a doctor was welcome wherever he went.
The injured man was named Kyosato. According to Murai Sae, he was a fine young man. He could be a little rash, but he was brave.
The man who had fallen from the tree was Miki Tatsunori. He had only recently taken up hunting, and this was his second time out, so he still lacked experience. Even so, he was a fine young man.
The other two carrying the black boar behind them were brothers, Yajima Yoshiaki and Yajima Yuta. They were rather taciturn, but hardworking, and the villagers often called on them for help.
Before long, they had walked for less than an hour when the village came into view.
Bai Sui kept close track of the time to avoid a repeat of what had happened to him before, when the wound fused with the bandage. There were no medical ninja among them, and treating an injury like that would be extraordinarily difficult.
The villagers spotted them and came out to greet them when they were less than a hundred meters from the village.
Their hunter leader explained what had happened. "We made quite a haul this time. Kyosato was injured, but Doctor Bai Sui has treated him. We'll continue his care once we get him into the village."
A man who looked to be in his forties stepped forward and drew Bai Sui aside.
"So you're Doctor Bai Sui. You're truly a remarkable young man. I'm the village chief. Kyosato and his family asked me to thank you on their behalf. I wonder if..."
The two left the main group and walked along as they chatted. Over the short distance of a hundred meters, they exchanged quite a bit of information and settled a few matters before entering the village.
The village chief was named Kase Sadahisa. He had a son, and the two of them could be considered the village's founders. They had been the first to settle here.
The village lay beyond a cave. The two had originally fled deep into the mountains to escape the war, only to encounter wild beasts. While fleeing, they discovered a cave about one meter in diameter.
They had planned to spend the night inside, but unexpectedly, it opened onto a plain beyond.
So they settled on the plain, but the cave was rugged and difficult to traverse, and supplies were scarce inside.
The two began taking in refugees who had fled to the surrounding area, and together they established a village. They gradually expanded the cave, making it possible for people to walk in and out instead of crawling.
The villagers not only made fires inside the cave but also built an outpost outside it. Bulky supplies were first stored at the outpost, then transported inside a little at a time.
The village Bai Sui had seen earlier was actually the outpost. It served as the first line of defense for the village, and a samurai was stationed there.
During his conversation with the village chief, Bai Sui agreed to join the village as a doctor. In return, the village would prepare a house and the necessities of daily life for him.
After a brief discussion, the two parted ways. The village chief went to prepare everything Bai Sui needed, while Bai Sui stayed at the outpost to treat the injured Kyosato.
Since he had no medicine on hand, Bai Sui gathered leaves from a Zhu Wood tree and a holly tree nearby, crushed them together, mixed them with white sugar, and applied the paste to the cleaned wound before bandaging it.
He also told Kyosato to avoid using his leg as much as possible for the next few days and to rest. He needed to change the dressing once a day until the wound had begun to heal.
Afterward, Kase Keiichi, the village chief's son, led him to the village beyond the cave.
Along the way, Bai Sui could see that the people here lived fairly well. Supplies might have been scarce, but everyone looked calm. They didn't have the numbness of people who had spent their lives surviving through war.
Before long, they reached the lodging the village chief had prepared for Bai Sui.
The house wasn't large, but the plot was spacious, enclosed by a simple fence. The total area was around ninety square meters.
The house itself was probably about fifty square meters, with a garden of roughly forty. It looked as though it had been prepared especially for Bai Sui, and he could use the garden to grow commonly used medicinal plants.
"Thank you. The surroundings here are wonderful, and I really like it. Please thank your father for me." After exchanging a few polite words with Kase Keiichi, Bai Sui said goodbye to him.
Kase Keiichi went back to consult with his father, while Bai Sui dropped down onto the tatami.
That was right: the bedroom floor was covered with tatami. It was much better than the house he had lived in with the Uzumaki Clan. The village chief and his son had clearly put real care into preparing the place and genuinely wanted him to stay.
Of course, Bai Sui knew they weren't welcoming him as a person so much as they were welcoming him as a doctor. After all, a doctor could bring enormous benefits to a village.
Take what had happened today, for example. It probably wouldn't have resulted in a death—ordinary people had their own ways of getting by—but in an era like this, if the wound wasn't treated promptly, it could easily become infected. Then it would be a matter of life or death.
By the standards of his previous life, what Bai Sui had done today would have been a serious violation of protocol. The cloth he had used to wrap the wound hadn't even been sterilized.
Bai Sui had simply had no resources at hand. On top of that, he had relied on his Ki, which he could use, and reluctantly carried on this way.
After all, sometimes the option available to you isn't the best one, but simply the only thing you can do right then.