Injuries

With the Red Ant Bandit Group no longer obstructing them, Yizhe and his party crossed Cold Wind Bridge and soon arrived in the Land of Iron.

Beneath the thick snow lay rows of low houses. Unless one got close and looked carefully, it was difficult to find the residential districts where the people of the Land of Iron lived.

Having just settled down in the Land of Iron, the caravan began all kinds of trade in an orderly fashion under Qing Shi's arrangements.

During this time, Yizhe intentionally or unintentionally let slip to Qing Shi that he came from Konoha. He feared that once Qing Shi had safely arrived in the Land of Iron and paid the reward, he would simply cast Yizhe aside.

After all, he had been seriously injured because of their caravan.

So, he needed to borrow Konoha's prestige to dispel some of Qing Shi's less honorable thoughts.

Seeing that the caravan's operations had stabilized, Qing Shi hurriedly took Yizhe to the best hospital in the Land of Iron.

It seemed Konoha's name still made Qing Shi wary enough that he did not dare handle things carelessly. Yizhe breathed a sigh of relief.

"Doctor, how are Lord Yizhe's injuries?" Before the doctor had even finished examining him, Qing Shi anxiously asked from the side.

"The situation is not very optimistic. Although his life is not in danger, but..." The doctor hesitated.

"But what? Just say it..." Qing Shi urged anxiously.

Rather than answer, the doctor turned to Yizhe, his eyes carrying a questioning look.

"It's fine. Go ahead and say it!" Yizhe said indifferently from the hospital bed.

"My lord, your injuries can roughly be divided into three parts!"

"First, there are external muscle injuries and minor fractures throughout your body. Those are easy to treat; after two days of rest, you will be fine. Second, there are injuries to your internal organs. Those are also easy to treat and should not pose much of a problem. As for the third..." The doctor still hesitated.

"What is the third part? Just say it!" The doctor's halting speech made Qing Shi as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

"Say it." Yizhe stared into the doctor's eyes and spoke firmly.

"Third are your hands, which are also the most seriously injured part of your body. Our examination found multiple comminuted fractures in both hands, with many bone fragments mixed into the muscles and ligaments. They have even damaged the meridians in your hands. If those fragments cannot be removed, I fear they will affect your hands' recovery!"

"Even after your hands heal, forming hand seals may still be extremely inconvenient!" the doctor said softly, his expression grave.

"Then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and operate on him!" Qing Shi pressed.

"Captain Qing Shi, don't worry. Since the doctor did not immediately treat me and instead explained all this here, I am afraid there must be some difficulty, right?" Yizhe smiled, soothing Qing Shi's emotions.

He understood his own injuries very well. He just did not know how far the doctors here could treat them.

"My lord is correct. If it is merely removing bone fragments from the muscles, that will not trouble us. The ligament injuries are difficult, but we still have a fifty-percent chance of handling them. Only the injuries to the meridians are beyond our current medical standards. We simply cannot treat them!"

"I fear there are only a handful of people in the entire Ninja World who can handle such injuries!" the doctor explained regretfully.

"So serious..." Yizhe lay with his head tilted back, staring at the ceiling as he fell into thought without moving.

Neither Qing Shi nor the doctor knew how to comfort the young man, so they could only remain silent. For a moment, the ward was astonishingly quiet, so quiet it seemed they could hear each other's breathing.

"Lord Yizhe..." In the end, Qing Shi could not hold it in any longer and softly called out.

"Hmm?" Yizhe came back to his senses and responded.

"What do you plan to do next?" Qing Shi asked cautiously.

"Treat the major injuries first! Don't operate on my hands for now. Just help them heal so I can regain temporary mobility first!"

"Who can stand lying in bed all day?" Yizhe immediately made his decision based on the current situation.

"My lord, then your hands... are you really just going to leave them alone?" Qing Shi probed.

Though he was merely an ordinary merchant and not a ninja, he also understood that hands were of unquestionable importance to a ninja.

"They already said they cannot treat them, so there is no need to force it! Once the injuries elsewhere on my body have mostly healed, I will seek out some other renowned doctors and give it a try!" Yizhe said helplessly.

If they rashly performed surgery and failed to heal him, they might instead cause even more damage to his hands, damage far harder to repair.

He was not stupid. Why would he be willing to become someone else's guinea pig and gamble his hands on some illusory luck?

"Then... we will do as you say, my lord!" Qing Shi agreed quietly.

Originally, when he heard the doctor say Yizhe's hands could not be cured, Qing Shi had been uneasy, fearing Yizhe would vent his anger on the caravan. Now that Yizhe was actively cooperating with treatment and had not pursued the matter of his hands excessively, Qing Shi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and treat him!" Qing Shi hastily urged the doctor.

"Understood, understood!" The doctor nodded repeatedly.

It was not until half a month later, when Yizhe had basically recovered and was discharged, that Qing Shi came to bid him farewell.

The caravan had already sold all its goods, purchased merchandise for the return journey, and long since prepared for its next trip.

Qing Shi believed he had acted honorably enough. He paid all of Yizhe's treatment expenses and added another five thousand to the fifteen-thousand commission reward.

Now that Yizhe had been discharged, Qing Shi planned to part ways with him.

"My lord, yesterday I learned that there is a reclusive renowned doctor in the city! I heard he even lived through the Third Ninja World War and saved countless lives on the battlefield! I just don't know whether it is true!" Before leaving, Qing Shi gave Yizhe some welcome news and mysteriously handed him a note with an address written on it.

"Mm, thank you. I will find a chance to go and try! Travel safely!" Yizhe gratefully accepted the note.

"My lord, take care! Until we meet again!" Qing Shi waved, then turned and left.

"Goodbye!" Yizhe waved his heavily bandaged hands, watching the caravan disappear farther and farther into the distance.

After Qing Shi and the others left, Yizhe rested for some time before slowly finding the residence of the reclusive renowned doctor the stout captain had introduced.

It was an extremely spacious estate. Even covered in snow, its true appearance obscured, Yizhe could still sense a faint smell of money from its outline.

This recluse must have been living very comfortably. What extravagance! Yizhe clicked his tongue inwardly.

Knock, knock, knock! Yizhe knocked on the gate, and at the same time noticed that it was actually decorated with ornaments inlaid with pure gold.

What incredible wealth!

"Who is it?"

The one who opened the door was a rather delicate-looking girl, around seventeen or eighteen. Her complexion was not very good, and she seemed somewhat unhappy.

Perhaps Yizhe had interrupted something she was doing.

"May I ask if Mr. Miyamoto is here?" Yizhe asked respectfully.

"Are you here to seek treatment too?" The young girl immediately noticed Yizhe's hands, wrapped so tightly that only a few fingers showed.

"I am Yizhe. Having heard of Mr. Miyamoto's superb medical skills, I came specially to seek treatment. I hope this young lady might introduce me!" Yizhe said with a smile.

"You certainly know how to talk. Come with me!" At Yizhe's form of address, the young girl's annoyance vanished at once.

She led the way ahead, bringing Yizhe into the courtyard and straight toward the main hall.