I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 926: Okita Souji Suffering from a Terminal Illness [5800]

Amid flying bullets, roaring, and clanging swords, the battle between the two armies continued into the night.

It was not until night fell and the sky was covered with black gauze that the deafening shouts and cries of killing gradually died down.

Anyone who has seen the mountains at night knows how terrifying they are; it is literally "pitch dark as you stretch your hand out in front of you."

The forest is peaceful and tranquil during the day, but becomes dark and scary at night.

The darkness was as thick as ink and everywhere, and from time to time there were creepy sounds of insects and birds.

An unknown monster seemed to be lurking in this abyss-like darkness.

In such an environment, it is impossible to fight a night battle.

After breaking through the "rock wall", Qingdeng took the lead, charging fiercely and reaching the area halfway up the mountain in one breath - at this time, it was almost evening.

Looking at the sky dyed orange by the setting sun and the exhausted soldiers behind him, Qing Deng had no choice but to suspend the offensive and end today's battle.

He chose a suitable place, set up camp, and used it as a forward position.

Although the possibility of a night attack was low, no one could guarantee that the enemy would not become desperate and launch a desperate attack under the cover of darkness to regain lost territory.

Now, it's the turn of the dust-beating guys from the Shinsengumi General Recruitment Office to take the stage!

[Note: The General Recruitment Office is a department within the Shinsengumi that is responsible for civil engineering and building field fortifications. It has 120 people under its jurisdiction (basic positions in the General Recruitment Office)]

Seeing that the opportunity had come, the generals of the General Affairs Office set out from their main camp and rushed to the front line in a hurry to design and direct the construction of complete defensive fortifications.

After leaving Saito Hajime, Fujido Heisuke and Niimi Nishiki to guard the place, Qing Deng led a small group of people including Souji to leave Nangong Mountain and return to the main camp on Tenman Mountain.

As the general commander of the Shinsengumi, he has to pay attention to more than just the southern battlefield.

After returning to the main camp, he immediately asked about the battle situation on the northern battlefield...that is, the battle situation of the Shinsengumi's left wing.

It is reported that the left-wing army's advancement speed is not as fast as the right-wing army due to the lack of "humanoid Gundams" such as Aoto and Souji who can defeat thousands of enemies with one man.

However, even without the help of Niou and Tenken, the swordsmen of the left wing army - Kondo Isami, Nagakura Shinpachi, Serizawa Kamo, and Inoue Genzaburo - still frightened the enemy!
Except for Inoue Genzaburo who was relatively calm, the other three were all ruffians who would not take their own lives seriously once they entered the battlefield!
However, this is the essence of swordsmanship.

Apart from those fancy tricks that look good but are useless, the core essence of any swordsmanship school that focuses on actual combat is momentum.

Miyamoto Musashi, a great swordsman in the Warring States Period, has two key points in the "Water Volume" of his book "The Book of Five Rings":
The first is to "transform into a sword" - in actual combat, the body must be ready to fight back, and then the blade strikes. If in combat, the heart is too afraid of the enemy, the body will naturally retreat, and not only will it fail to kill the enemy, but it will also kill itself immediately. In combat, the body must be brave and decisive, and act before the blade.

The second is the "height comparison method" - as long as you are close to the enemy, your body must not show any retreat. You must stand up straight, straighten your waist, and stretch your neck, as if you are comparing your height with the enemy, and you must firmly believe that you will win.

In short, once you enter the battle, you must be ready to die!
This is not a spiritual theory, but a truth summed up by countless martial artists after countless actual combat: those who are brave and fearless are more likely to survive, while those who are afraid of the enemy like a tiger are more likely to lose their lives.

Therefore, when Kondo Isami and others showed ferocious and terrifying expressions and rushed into the enemy camp like evil spirits, they frightened many enemy soldiers before the battle even started.

Although their advancement speed was not as fast as that of the right-wing army, their results were equally impressive and could be described as "remarkable".

……

……

That night--

Tenma Mountain, Shinsengumi main camp, a certain tent—

A group of generals led by Qing Deng were waiting outside the tent.

Through the orange-yellow candlelight inside the tent, several figures could be vaguely seen running around anxiously - Yamanami Keisuke was receiving treatment inside.

As for these anxiously running figures, they were the doctors responsible for treating Shannan Jingsuke's injuries.

Since the life of the chief was in danger, the chief medical officer, Nanjo Aizaburo, took the lead personally.

After finishing all the urgent military affairs, Qing Deng rushed here as soon as possible, waiting for the results of Shannan Jingsuke's treatment.

On the surface, Qing Deng seemed relatively calm.

He folded his arms, leaned against the fence behind him, half-closed his eyes, and waited quietly with an expressionless face.

On the other hand, Nagakura Shinpachi, Harada Sanosuke and others were much more anxious. Every one of them was restless.

By the way, because the cavalry units (the 7th and 10th squads) are unable to perform effectively in mountain warfare, Harada Sanosuke has been staying at the main camp today to serve as the general reserve in case of emergency.

For this reason, he was the most energetic person at the scene. It was as if there was fire burning under his feet. He walked back and forth, circling everywhere, and never stopped.

In fact, it's no wonder they are so anxious.

Shannan Jingzhu's good popularity is obvious to all.

Who would hate a gentleman who is both virtuous and talented and has a kind character?

Even Kamo Serizawa and Niimi Nishiki, who have grievances with the "Shiweikan faction", show rare kindness when facing Yamanami Keisuke.

Nagakura Shinpachi and Harada Sanosuke had great respect for Yamanami Keisuke.

Although they are rough and uncultured, they are not the kind of barbarians who take pride in their lack of education.

They have always wanted to perfect their inner cultivation and improve their own quality, but due to their ordinary background, they have never had the opportunity to come into contact with high-level cultural knowledge.

Fortunately, after meeting the knowledgeable Shannan Jingsuke, he helped them.

Shannan Jingzhu spontaneously organized "cultural classes" to teach them cultural knowledge from time to time.

Although due to their limited talents, Nagakura Shinpachi and Harada Sanosuke...especially the latter, their academic improvement was very limited, but no matter what, they did receive his kindness after all.

Shannan Jingzhu was injured by a shell... How could they not be anxious? How could they not be worried?

Finally... after waiting for who knows how long, the blood-stained Shinsengumi medical chief Nanjo Aizaburo lifted the curtain and walked out slowly.

Seeing this, Qing Deng and others rushed forward.

Harada Sanosuke asked first:
"Mr. Nanjo, how is Mr. Yamanami?"

Nanjo Aizaburou spoke succinctly:

"The commander was injured in two places, one is the left upper arm and the other is the left thigh."

"Two pieces of shrapnel were embedded in his upper left arm."

"His left thigh was injured by the flame wave."

"Fortunately, his bones and tendons were not injured, and he will not be disabled as long as he recuperates properly."

"I have dug out the two shrapnel and applied medicine to the burn on my leg."

"His bleeding has stopped and he is now in a deep sleep."

Upon hearing that Shannan Jingsuke seemed to be fine, Qing Deng and others breathed a sigh of relief, with a look of relief on their faces.

But unexpectedly, Nanjo Aizaburo had not yet finished speaking.

"only……"

He suddenly changed the subject.

There is actually a twist... Harada Sanosuke got anxious:

"Hey! Stop hesitating when you speak! Just say it all in one breath!"

Nagakura Shinpachi said impatiently:

"Shut up, Sanosuke! Just listen to what Mr. Nanjo has to say!"

Facing everyone's nervous gazes, Nanjo Aizaburo sighed softly:

"Wounds from firearms are very susceptible to inflammation."

"One of the conditions we doctors fear most is when a patient's wound becomes inflamed."

"It's no exaggeration to say that once the wound becomes inflamed and festers, there is no cure."

“Even if Hua Tuo and Bian Que were reborn, they couldn’t save him.”

"For those who died from serious injuries, most of them died from wound inflammation."

"Whether it's the two shrapnel wounds on the commander's left upper arm or the burns on his legs, they are all wounds that are very likely to become inflamed."

"To be honest... Based on my personal experience, the commander-in-chief will be in great danger..."

Hearing this, Qing Deng and the others' expressions changed several times.

Their moods were like a roller coaster.

As soon as I reached the top, I fell straight down with a "whoosh".

However, they never expected that this "roller coaster" had not reached the end yet, it suddenly climbed the hill and started moving upwards again!
Because Nanjo Aizaburou hadn't finished speaking yet:

"Now that things have come to this, I can only try my best to save the situation."

"I have applied my family secret medicine to him."

"I've done everything I can."

"Whether the chief lives or dies is entirely up to God's will."

When these words came out, Qing Deng and the others were all stunned.

After hiring him for so long, this was the first time Qing Deng heard that he had a "secret medicine".

He couldn't help asking:
"'Family secret medicine'? What kind of secret medicine? A secret medicine that treats inflammation of wounds?"

Nanjo Aizaburo nodded:
"Well, you could say that."

"During the Tang Dynasty in Tangtu, tailors in Chang'an would apply green-haired paste to fingers cut by scissors to help the wound heal."

"Based on this story, my grandfather speculated that the green-haired paste contained an ingredient that promotes wound healing, so he tried to use it as a raw material to make a powerful healing medicine."

"I won't go into the details of what happened."

"In short, my grandfather worked hard on this research for more than 20 years and finally succeeded in making this secret medicine."

"After repeated tests, this medicine does have unique effects in healing wounds."

"According to our careful observations over three generations, after applying this medicine, the likelihood of wound inflammation is reduced by about 10%."

"This medicine is extremely difficult to make, so the quantity is very scarce."

"I am only going to use this medicine in the most urgent moments - and now is the time to use it."

"The chief has taken great care of me, and I cannot fail to repay him."

"But... I'd better be frank with you first."

"My secret medicine is by no means a panacea."

"As I just said, even if you use this medicine, it will only reduce the possibility of wound inflammation by 10%. It doesn't mean that everything will be fine after applying it."

"Whether the chief can make it through this depends entirely on his luck."

The so-called "turn of events" probably refers to this situation.

After Nanjo Aizaburo finished speaking, the facial lines of Qing Deng and others relaxed slightly.

Although I am still worried, I am no longer as nervous as before.

Qing Deng remembered the story of applying green-haired paste to fingers cut by scissors.

In his previous life, he had read this story in the chapter on "Penicillin" in his junior high school biology textbook.

The reason why the green hair paste can heal wounds is that the substance produced by the green hair has a bactericidal effect. In the 20th century, this substance was discovered due to a lucky mistake by a scientist.

Later, this substance was purified and made into mankind's first antibiotic - penicillin.

According to Akizobu Nanjo's description, his family secret medicine should be a bactericidal drug similar to penicillin.

Of course, this drug cannot be compared with real penicillin.

If it is real penicillin, then its healing effect cannot be just reducing the probability of inflammation by 10%.

If penicillin was available, curing Shannan Jingsuke's injury would be a piece of cake.

What a pity... Qing Deng knows nothing about medicine.

With his extremely shallow medical knowledge of only "wash hands frequently and ventilate more", it was simply nonsense for him to develop penicillin in feudal Japan in the 19s.

After a while, Qing Deng let out a long sigh and calmed himself down a little.

He looked around and found that Nagakura Shinpachi, Harada Sanosuke and others all had gloomy faces and sorrowful expressions on their cheeks.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

So he clapped his hands vigorously twice to attract everyone's attention.

"Okay, everyone, raise your heads!"

"Don't give me that 'Yamanami Keisuke is dead' expression, he's not dead yet!"

"Keisuke may not be out of danger, but we all know that he is a master swordsman with a strong physique!"

"What can a mere injury do to him?"

"He will definitely recover!"

"Since he has already gone to bed, let's not stand here and disturb his rest!"

"Everyone, go away and do what you need to do!"

Hearing what Qing Deng said, Nagakura Shinpachi, Harada Sanosuke and others looked at each other, then nodded and dispersed.

Nanjo Aizaburo picked up his medicine box and prepared to leave.

But he had just taken two steps when Qing Deng called him:
"Mr. Nanjo, please stay."

Qing Deng took two steps at a time to catch up with Nanjo Aizaburo.

"Lord, what's wrong?"

"Mr. Nanjo, could you please come and see Xiao Si again tonight?"

Last night, Nanjo Aizaburo went to Souji's tent on Qingdeng's orders, but was turned away.

In desperation, Nanjo Aizaburo could only go back and report to Aoto that "Captain Okita is resting, and we can only treat her later."

Qing Deng always kept in mind Souji's long-lasting cough.

At this time, Souji must not have slept yet, so he asked Nanjo Aizaburou to go find the other party now.

Nanjo Aizaburo nodded immediately after hearing this:
"Okay, I'll change my clothes first, and then I'll go to Captain Okita."

……

……

In Mt. Tenma, a forest far away from the main camp.

"Cough! Cough cough cough! Cough cough cough cough!!"

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, Souji coughed loudly - only when she was away from everyone else would she dare to release the pain in her body.

Because she coughed so violently and too hard, she couldn't help but bend down, get on all fours, and face the earth.

Tick, tick, tick...

Drops of blood flowed down his lips and teeth and fell to the ground.

After coughing for a long time, she gradually stopped coughing and recovered.

She took out a tissue from her waist and wiped the blood from her mouth.

Looking at the piece of paper stained red with blood, she crumpled it into a ball as if she was used to it and threw it into the grass at her feet.

Then she took out a bamboo tube and a paper bag she was carrying - which contained gray-brown medicine powder - and drank the powder in one gulp with the clean water in the bamboo tube.

After taking the medicine, her complexion improved slightly.

She rested for a while, then dragged her tired feet and slowly walked back to the camp and her tent.

In a moment, the light of the main camp came into his sight.

After a while, her tent appeared before his eyes.

At this moment, she suddenly heard a loud shout:
"Captain Okita, you're finally back!"

Hearing this voice, Souji was stunned on the spot, staring blankly at Nanjo Aizaburo who was striding towards him.

"Mr. Nanjo, why are you here?"

Nanjo Aizaburou shook the medicine box in his hand.

"Of course I'm here to see you!"

"My lord cares about you very much and specifically asked me to come and treat you to make up for the regret of last night."

"So, after changing my clothes, I rushed to see you."

"I didn't expect you to be out at such an unfortunate time."

"Now that things have come to this, if I return empty-handed, it is really inconvenient for me to errand with the main bus, so I can only wait for you slowly."

"Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long before you came back."

Souji looked at Nanjo Aizaburou, then at the medicine box in his hand. His expression changed slightly, his eyes rolled around, and his ten fingers were tightly twisted together in front of his chest.

"Um, umm... um, um! I'm really tired now! I want to rest! So let's talk about seeing a doctor later! I'm so sorry to have made you come here for nothing again!"

Nanjo Aizaburo laughed:
"Captain Okita, you don't have to worry!"

"I can treat patients quickly, so it won't disturb your rest!"

"Since you are in a hurry to rest, we must hurry up so as not to delay your rest."

Seeing that her words didn't work, her cheeks gradually became filled with anxiety.

In a hurry, she could only blush and stiffen her neck:

"Let's save it for later when we have time to see the doctor. I'm really tired now and want to go to bed and rest."

Such a lame excuse would make anyone suspicious.

As expected, Nanjo Kizaburo frowned slightly when he heard this.

After a moment of silence, he slowly said:

"...Captain Okita, I have been practicing medicine for decades and have seen countless patients."

"It's not uncommon to see patients like you who try to avoid treatment."

"Generally speaking, patients who behave like this are those who know they are ill but are reluctant to see a doctor."

After hearing this, Souji's eyes flickered slightly.

Nanjo Aizaburo continued:

"If you insist on doing this, I will report it to the lord."

"I believe that after the lord learns about this, he will definitely be happy to stand up for me."

"By then, whether you like it or not, you won't be able to hide away."

He has said so much... Now that things have come to this, Souji is completely helpless.

"……plz follow me."

She lowered her head and led Nanjo Aizaburo into her tent.

After lighting the candles, Nanjo Aizaburo said to Souji:
"Captain Okita, please sit still and turn your back to me."

As he spoke, he took out a homemade stethoscope from the medicine box - a small trumpet-shaped object, wide at one end and narrow at the other.

Souji seemed to accept his fate and stopped resisting. He sat down calmly with his back to the other person.

Nanjo Aizaburou pressed the wide mouth of the stethoscope against her back and put her ear against the narrow mouth of the stethoscope.

"Please breathe in slowly. Yes, just like that. When you have fully inhaled, exhale slowly... Do it again. Breathe in slowly... Exhale slowly..."

Inside the huge tent, the only sounds were the soft sound of burning candles, Nanjo Aizaburou's instructions, and Souji's breathing.

At first, Nanjo Aizaburo looked very relaxed - he came here with the intention of curing a cold.

But gradually, his expression changed.

It's becoming more and more solemn and serious.

In a short while, his brows were furrowed into the shape of the Chinese character "川".

"...Captain Okita, your condition is so serious, why are you still enduring it?"

As he put away his stethoscope, he cast a sharp look at Souji.

The chief laughed dryly and turned to look at him:
"'Hold it back'? What are you talking about, Mr. Nanjo? I'm not holding back anything."

As soon as he finished speaking, Nanjo Aizaburo said loudly:
"Captain Okita, please stop lying in front of a doctor like me."

"Your words may deceive me, but the sound of your breathing cannot deceive me!"

"A normal cough doesn't make such a horrible breathing sound."

"Captain Okita, you are suffering from 'hemorrhage'!"

At the end of his words, Nanjo Aizaburou could not hide the horror on his face.

Bloody cough - this disease is called "tuberculosis" in modern times, but in Edo period Japan, it had another name: "Red terminal disease"!
As the name suggests, once you suffer from this disease, you will keep coughing up blood until you die, and there is no cure!
It was not until the advent of antibiotics such as penicillin that this terrible disease that killed countless people was finally conquered.

Souji remained calm in the face of Nanjo Aizaburou's diagnosis, with neither shock nor fear on his pretty face.

Nanjo Aizaburo was stunned at first, then asked tentatively:

"Captain Okita, did you... already know that you have hemocough?"

The General Manager smiled:

"I cough up blood every day. It's hard not to know, right?"

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Asking for a monthly ticket! Please vote for recommendation! (Leopard head crying.jpg)

PS: Leopard doesn't understand medicine and doesn't know how much blood a person will cough up after contracting tuberculosis, so he might have exaggerated Souji's condition. Don't take it too seriously.

By the way, Leopard has no intention of abusing women. In historical facts, Okita Souji unfortunately suffered from tuberculosis, and Leopard could do nothing about it.

(End of this chapter)