Warring States Survival Guide
Chapter 59 - 32: 3rd Class Loser_2

Chapter 59: Chapter 32: 3rd Class Loser_2

"It should be a toxic carbuncle." Nozawa answered with his mouth, but he seemed thoughtful inside.

Previously, the "Tiger of Owari," Oda Nobuhide, led the strength of Owari to attack Saito Dosan of Minoh, and Maeda Rikyu probably got mixed in and fought too. Not only did he get shot with an arrow at close range, he also fell into the Changliang River when fleeing, a third-rate unlucky fellow—first-rate unfortunates already had their heads made part of the "Capital," second-rate ones all drowned, so Maeda Rikyu making it back alive was already decent luck, a classic third-rate unlucky guy.

But understanding it is one thing; there’s no need to rub salt in the wound. Nozawa didn’t ask if that was truly the case and, holding to his role as a doctor, explained the condition thoroughly to the patient and his family: "The wound wasn’t handled properly in the beginning, the filth inside wasn’t cleaned out, which led to damp-heat generating internally, the Ying and Wei couldn’t circulate, moving contrary to the flesh’s order, the Yang energy floated upward, so the heat overpowered the flesh, leading to rot and pus, which is why it’s never healed."

Simply put, this is a case of persistent inflammation spreading through subcutaneous fat into the subcutaneous tissue, the infected hair follicles and underlying glands fusing together to create a traumatic poisonous ulcer—a great big boil full of pus.

This illness doesn’t look like much, but it can’t be underestimated. At best, you lose some ability to work, can’t rest day or night; at worst, it leads to cervical spine disease, respiratory infections, infertility and other complications; if it gets really bad, your back rots away, causing massive inflammation, and death isn’t unusual.

Nozawa’s explanation was way too technical, like reciting a textbook, and he was mixing Japanese and Chinese. Maeda Toshimasa and his son, plus Okumura Iefuku, all sat there bewildered. After a moment’s silence, Maeda Toshimasa finally asked carefully, "So, this illness..."

Nozawa examined the carbuncle again, even pricked it lightly with a needle. Seeing that only yellow fluid came out, no black blood, it was definitely a yang carbuncle—relatively low risk—so he said, "It can be treated, but you have to use medicine to slowly draw out the pus and detoxify. It’ll take some time, and frankly you can’t really afford to wait. If you want it fast, you’ll have to go under the knife. But you’ll suffer for it."

As the saying goes, if the sore is as big as a bean, it’s as big as a fist inside; if the sore is as big as a fist, it’s as big as a plate inside.

This sore on Maeda Rikyu’s back was already about the size of a child’s fist; trying to get rid of that much pus slowly is not a matter of a day or two, and there’s every chance complications will set in before the pus ever clears up.

"I’m not afraid of suffering, please operate!" Maeda Rikyu finally spoke. Maybe because Nozawa used so many Chinese medical terms, it sounded like a Divine Doctor to him, and filled him with hope. He gazed earnestly at Nozawa and said, "With this thing on my back, I can’t sleep, can’t eat, can’t even ride a horse—I’m as useless as a cripple. Please, Lord Nozawa, cure it as soon as possible! Any method is fine, I really beg you!"

"Please!" Maeda Toshimasa also clearly loved his eldest son; he immediately sat up properly and bowed his head, sincerely pleading. Okumura Iefuku followed suit, not caring that Nozawa was "some wandering Samurai who stumbled in for a place to stay"—no matter how badass you are, if your kid’s sick, you’ll kneel in front of the doctor like anyone else, same in any era.

"I understand!"

Nozawa didn’t refuse. He’d cut abscesses before back in Hibi Village, so he had a bit of experience. This wasn’t some dangerous operation anyway; in later times, a modern doctor would charge maybe fifty bucks for it. For this kind of carbuncle, ancient Chinese medicine would also cut it out; the technique is mature. If it were something else, he wouldn’t dare, probably just prescribe a couple potions and call it a day.

He immediately had Okumura Iefuku call for some maids, boil water, boil cloth, boil knives, and sterilize small tweezers. He repeatedly washed his hands with soap in hot water, and also fished out a dose of "Scattering God and Healing Soup" medicine from his travel stash, and told someone to start brewing it—surgery alone isn’t enough, you need medicine to match.

Looking at the sore, it was obvious the Maeda Family had previously tried stabbing it with needles and squeezing out the pus, but it only treated the symptoms, not the cause—totally useless.

When everything was ready, he stuck a piece of cloth in Maeda Rikyu’s mouth, had Maeda Toshimasa, Okumura Iefuku, and Akiyo hold him down, and just like slaughtering a pig, as soon as Rikyu was held in place, he started cutting.

Yeah, no anesthesia. Just cutting the thing open—not exactly gentle.

Even lightly pressing on a yang carbuncle hurts to the bone, let alone slicing it open. Maeda Rikyu broke out in a cold sweat from the agony, body twisting uncontrollably. Nozawa didn’t hold back, shouting at Toshimasa and Akiyo to press tighter while he squeezed out the pus with all his strength.

First came yellow fluid, then tons of stinky, white, paste-like stuff, and a little dirty blood. Only when nothing more could be squeezed did he poke around with tweezers, yanking out the bits of broken, pus-filled membrane, making Maeda Rikyu jolt and twitch like he’d been electrocuted.

It sounds quick, but in practice it was slow going. Nozawa’s skill level wasn’t great, hands a bit clumsy, and it took close to two hours to finish.

A little modern surgery, he turned into a pig-slaughtering session—especially the last bit cleaning out the membrane tissue, poking around with tweezers through blood and flesh. Rikyu was bleeding nonstop and almost passed out from the pain. Like having seven or eight teeth pulled at once without anesthesia. The kind of thing you only understand if you’ve been through it.

Nozawa didn’t care. Right now, he was East Sea County’s only "Divine Doctor." Monopoly on skills—why should he care about customer experience?

As far as he could recall, Maeda Rikyu seemed to have no kids, or maybe once had a daughter but after this injury never sired another. In the future, the heir would all be from his wife’s previous marriage—that is, Maeda Keiji, full name Maeda Keisuke Ritaro, the so-called "number one Oddity of the Sengoku Era." Later Japanese folks made a semi-illiterate manga, "Flower of Keiji," and just changed his name to Maeda Keiji.

Maeda Rikyu’s infertility was almost certainly caused by this carbuncle. So no matter how much he bled or hurt now, if he knew his future, he’d bow to Nozawa twice in gratitude.

Once the carbuncle was dealt with, Nozawa carefully cleaned the wound, applied his homemade "Antibacterial Anti-inflammatory Powder" and Hemostatic Powder, and by now the "Scattering God and Healing Soup" was brewed. He stepped aside for someone to feed the dazed Maeda Rikyu his medicine.

Maeda Toshimasa was soaked in sweat, and asked with concern, "Lord Nozawa, how is Shinichiro doing? Will this completely cure him?"

Now he was glad he’d managed to invite Nozawa here—even though the illness wasn’t cured yet, just for daring to cut such a big carbuncle open and pick around in the flesh, all whilst looking confident and sure he could heal it, there wasn’t a soul in all Owari who could’ve managed it.

A true master of medicine, no question! A 100% medical prodigy!

Nozawa took off his mask, had them change out the water, and as he scrubbed his hands with soap, replied softly, "There should be no problem. Tomorrow we should already see improvement. Keep taking the medicine for a while and there’ll be no aftereffects."

Maeda Toshimasa breathed a massive sigh of relief, repeatedly exclaiming, "That’s wonderful! Truly wonderful!"

After all, Maeda Rikyu was his heir, his first-born, his favorite. With this huge carbuncle on his back, he’d tried every oddball remedy over the years, even drank his own urine, but the more he tried, the more depressed Rikyu became—almost useless as a man. If he could recover, it would take a huge weight off his heart.

After thanking Nozawa, he ordered his children and maids to keep watch, and quickly summoned Nozawa to the banquet, determined to treat him well. After all, Nozawa was at least "half a life-saver" for Maeda Rikyu, and had rescued his "Samurai career." Along with Okumura Iefuku, he tried to persuade Nozawa to stay at Hosokawa Castle for a while, in case Rikyu’s condition relapsed.

Nozawa didn’t mind—if it was just a day or two, it was fine. After all, with Ah Man and Yayoi at home, he didn’t have much to worry about.

So, the atmosphere between host and guest got even better—even better if Nozawa wasn’t so insistent about not drinking alcohol.

Once the cups and bowls were in disarray, Nozawa felt things were settled and was just about to request a room to rest. At that moment, a member of the Hosokawa Family’s Lang Faction rushed in, knelt, and reported to Maeda Toshimasa, "Lord, the young monk Chiru is here."

"Oh? What’s he here for? Invite him in." Maeda Toshimasa was puzzled, then turned to Nozawa to explain, "He’s the young disciple of Master Hai Xin, abbot of the Hosokawa Guanyin Temple. Master Hai Xin probably sent him here on some business."

Nozawa nodded silently, but was a little curious. He’d been in Japan’s Middle Ages for over a month, and hadn’t yet seen what old-time monks looked like!