(It's already New Year's, so first, happy New Year, everyone! Also, could I take a little break and only post one chapter?)
"It can still be cured, but it'll be fairly troublesome," Chen Yu said, rubbing his brow.
"Really?" Xiao Xi wanted to ask whether it really could be cured, but Chen Yu cut her off.
"Don't speak. Starting today, keep talking to a minimum, understand? Your treatment begins today, though you may need to relearn how to pronounce words later," Chen Yu explained.
Xiao Xi nodded and smiled at Chen Yu, a few tears rolling down her cheeks. After all these years, there was finally hope for her condition.
It wasn't that she hadn't sought surgery at major hospitals, but the odds of failure were high. In the worst case, she would never be able to speak again.
She hadn't dared take that gamble, so she had stayed like this, saying nothing. Eventually, many people had assumed she was mute, and she had suffered considerable discrimination because of it.
"All right, you three, come take a walk with me." Chen Yu stretched. Standing here for so long had left him a little tired. A walk would do him good.
"Sure thing, my idol!" Reiko said happily.
"Mm." Kitano nodded.
Perhaps that was simply her nature.
Then Chen Yu headed to the gathering place for people injured while hunting, with three very different women following him.
There was the mischievous, adorable Reiko, the cold-faced, unapproachable Miwa, and the sexy, mature, older-sister type, Xiao Xi.
"Come to think of it, your names are pretty strange," Chen Yu said as they walked.
"Strange?" Reiko looked at Chen Yu in confusion.
Miwa and Xiao Xi were intrigued too.
"If I only heard your names without seeing you, I'd think Miwa should be called Xiao Xi, and Xiao Xi should be called Miwa. Those names would suit your looks perfectly." Chen Yu mentally swapped their names and found that they really did fit.
"Me, me, me! What about me?" Reiko asked, raising her hand.
"You're just right as you are. All right, we're here. Remember, given your looks and the fact that most people here are men, come find me if you're in danger. If I'm not around, seek protection from Tsukasa, Taiju, or Yuzuriha. Understood?" Chen Yu turned to look at the three of them.
"Taiju? Yuzuriha?" All three looked puzzled.
"I forgot you only just revived and don't know them. That's fine. I'll introduce you later," Chen Yu said, tapping his forehead.
"All right, just come to me if anything happens." Chen Yu nodded.
The four of them then began checking everyone's injuries one by one, along with any other symptoms. If they found any, they memorized them first, then repeated them aloud. After all, without paper, relying on memory alone was difficult.
Before long, they had examined nearly everyone, but there seemed to be trouble on Xiao Xi's side.
By the time Chen Yu noticed, Xiao Xi was desperately clutching her clothes, on the verge of tears.
"What are you doing?" Chen Yu placed a hand on the man's shoulder and asked coldly.
"Huh? You talking to me, brat?" The man turned, saw an unfamiliar child, and snapped at him.
Then he went back to groping Xiao Xi.
Seeing that, Chen Yu didn't bother with anything else. He grabbed the man by his clothes and dragged him toward his specially built infirmary.
Those who knew Chen Yu immediately cleared the way. Those who had received his special treatment were so terrified that even if they fell, they crawled out of his path. Those who didn't know him saw everyone else making way and stepped aside too.
The man kept struggling and cursing.
"Let go of me, you little shit!"
Reiko and Miwa hurried over to Xiao Xi. Miwa comforted her, while Reiko watched the others warily, also curious about what was happening with Chen Yu.
At Chen Yu's earlier request, the injured had been gathered close to the dispensary, so he soon reached the infirmary beside it. Although called an infirmary, it was really just a clean cave.
Chen Yu threw him to the ground, then pulled the curtain across the doorway.
The moment the curtain closed, those in the know realized the man was in for it.
"This may be a primitive age, but that doesn't give you the right to do whatever you want. Do you know who has the most authority here besides Tsukasa?" Chen Yu walked aside and took out the bone needles he had prepared earlier.
"Who?" The man grew interested. He was just about to get up when Chen Yu kicked him down.
Then Chen Yu pinned him directly onto the wooden bed. The man hadn't expected him to be so strong.
Chen Yu deftly tied him up, pulled his clothes open, and measured out positions with his hand.
"Wh-what are you going to do?" Unable to move, the man watched Chen Yu nervously.
Chen Yu didn't answer. Once he found the right spot, he drove a needle straight in.
"Aaaaargh!" The man screamed.
Even with Yuzuriha's craftsmanship, bone needles were genuinely difficult to make, especially ones this thin. At some point, he would have to see whether teeth could be used instead.
"They're still a little too thick, but they'll do," Chen Yu said, taking out a few more.
Yuzuriha had made these bone needles with the utmost care, shaping them much like acupuncture needles. But they were far too rigid, leaving a huge gap between them and silver needles.
"I'm going to make you understand that even without law enforcement, there's still someone here to pass judgment," Chen Yu said, driving in another needle.
At first, the man had thought each needle would only hurt as it went in, then stop. He hadn't expected the pain to come in waves, and he began begging for mercy.
"P-please spare me. I know I was wrong," the man wailed.
Chen Yu ignored him and kept inserting needles.
Without the internal energy he had cultivated, inserting them really would have been difficult. They were too thick, and the slightest mistake would leave a little bleeding hole.
He had no choice but to use his internal energy to temporarily protect the bone needles and the man's body, while also doubling the pain the man felt.
Outside, everyone listened to the screams with frightened faces. The kindly doctor from earlier had turned into the demonic doctor inside. If he took notice of them in the future, wouldn't they just be asking for suffering?
Better to seek out the new female doctors. As long as they behaved themselves, they could enjoy the view. Keep their hands to themselves, and they would survive.
If anyone's heart had been shattered, it was Chen Yu's number-two fan, Reiko.
Reiko stared blankly, the man's screams ringing endlessly in her ears. She couldn't utter a word.
Now Xiao Xi, who had been the one receiving comfort, had to come over and comfort Reiko instead.
Miwa, meanwhile, watched in Chen Yu's direction with interest, her thoughts unreadable.
After the punishment ended, the man emerged completely unharmed, but his trembling body fooled no one.
Afterward, the Tsukasa Empire's Medical Team was officially established, and it also became the group no one dared provoke.
Because if anyone bullied even one of its members, the most dangerous doctor backing the three women would emerge to deliver justice. And if he wasn't around, the biggest man would stand up for them instead. Though his methods were gentler than Chen Yu's, they were physically exhausting.
They would also get only one meal, with no meat. Still, ending up in either man's hands was unpleasant.
So everyone could only submit obediently to examinations, not daring to try anything else.
Still, to be safe, Chen Yu sought out Ukyo.
"What do you want?" Ukyo asked coldly when he saw him.
In his eyes, Chen Yu, who was so close to Tsukasa, probably wasn't a good person either.
"I'd like to ask you a favor. If my other companions don't have a chance to intervene, I hope you can save them." Chen Yu meant the three women on the Medical Team.
"Why?" Ukyo asked, looking at Chen Yu.
He knew about the three women on the Medical Team, but he rarely had contact with them, so he hadn't paid them much attention.
"Because they're the support team for the future revival of civilization," Chen Yu explained.
"The revival of civilization? Support? Hah. Right now, everything comes down to one word from Tsukasa. Why don't you go to him?" Ukyo scoffed after hearing that.
"Tsukasa's pretty busy too, you know. I've heard you have the sharpest hearing, so you'd hear their cries for help. Please pay particular attention to the older woman who doesn't speak," Chen Yu said after a moment's thought.
"I'm not interested," Ukyo refused.
"Then we'll see in time." Chen Yu waved and left.
Seeing that, Ukyo put the matter aside and headed off to carry out his patrol duties.
Before you continue