Twelve o'clock in the evening.

Except for the overnight guests, there were no strangers in the whole of Yoshiwara, and the streets that had been bustling a few hours ago were now silent.

The curfew that has been in place since the Edo period still plays a role today.

Whether it is the big view of the day of the gold, or the small view of barely getting by, they all tacitly close the door of the store, so that people who have worked hard all day can have some time of their own.

People in this line of work are always physically and mentally exhausted, and there are only a few people who may make a lot of money, and most of them must brainwash themselves in their free time in order to tenaciously continue their lives tomorrow.

However, before closing, the shopkeeper reminded the handyman not to forget to change the candles in the lantern outside the door.

So the question is, since there is no one outside, wouldn't it be superfluous to light candles?

Not really.

The Japanese like to pay attention to everything they do, such as the lights of Yoshiwara at night, which are originally lit for the dead.

In the deep darkness of the night, a board truck departs from Horiuchi Hospital in the second town of Edo.

This is the only regular hospital in Yoshihara Yukaku, and there are a few doctors in it, but they know everything about the diseases they treat, and most of them are infectious diseases that cannot be cured, so the mortality rate of patients is always very high.

An older, more sedate man holding a trolley on the handlebar, while two younger ones were propped up on either side of the cart, muttering words that were probably Shinto and Buddhist mantras, were slowly moving towards the edge of Yoshiwara.

When pressing over some uneven ground, the creaking sound of the wheels will be very harsh, and the windows on the upper floors of the women's house on both sides will open a gap.

However, they are not scolding the street because their beauty sleep is disturbed.

The wandering girls looked at the corpses swept up by the grass on the car, and the dying girls in the middle of it, their eyes were either afraid, mocking, or sympathetic, but eventually they all became like stagnant waters as the sound faded away.

Who knows if tomorrow they will be among the people who are lying in the car or wrapped in straw mats.

The end point of the cart is the banks of the Rashomon River, which is close to the outskirts of Yukaku (where Akihime and Taro Skin were born).

In Japan, torii means the junction between the divine realm and the human world; Rashomon, on the other hand, symbolizes the junction between hell and the world.

It can be seen that a place with these three words in its name is definitely not a good place.

After the older man stopped the cart, he clasped his palms together and muttered to the living and dead people in the cart, and then did not speak, and gestured to the other two to start moving.

There was no fear on the expressions of the two men, and the reciting of the incantation was just a habit.

Two of them, skillfully carrying straw mats over their shoulders, slipped through the low doorway, and then came to the most ominous street in Yoshiwara.

As long as you enter this small door, no matter who you are, you will feel a sense of urgency and restraint, and you can't believe that this broken place is actually a part of Yoshiwara.

There were no guiding lights on this "street", it was very dim, and the road was so narrow that one person could easily pass through, but the two of them had to rub their shoulders together.

The houses next to the castle were small and low, densely connected in a line, each of which looked less than 2 meters long and less than 1.5 meters wide, and could only allow two or three people to lie flat next to each other.

Most of these rooms were pitch black, and even if there was light, they were extremely dim, and from time to time there were bursts of crying, cursing, and occasional maniacal laughter, indicating that the people living in them had some mental problems.

When they heard someone passing by, some of them shouted, "Hurry up and go with the dead man in your arms!" There are still guests here! ”

"It's your turn tomorrow, what's the hurry."

The older man uttered a terrible curse, but his tone was not hostile, but rather a blessing.

"Then I can't wait for that! Get out of here! ”

The woman in the house heard the coachman's reply, and her voice was a little sharper, and then it turned into a whisper, apparently talking to the guest.

These small houses, which are also Yoshiwara's Wandering Girls' House, are nothing more than a very small number that does not enter the stream, and they are also the places where the "self-employed" receive shy guests in their pockets, and they are also known as the world.

It's just that these women, either infected with illness, or old age and decay, were driven out of the world, but they had no other way to make a living, so they stayed here to survive.

All the men and women who have fallen here have already realized that what awaits them must be a tragic death, a death of illness or a violent death, so most of them speak bitterly and cynically.

However, the three people who transported the corpse obviously did not take these bad words seriously, and skillfully responded to their cordial greetings, which made the journey of transporting the corpse more comforting.

No matter how miserable the living are, they are better than the dead.

Soon, they followed the narrow path to the outside of the Inari God torii at the end of the Rashomon Riverbank.

Outside the torii, there are two slightly larger rooms, and the one on the left is jet black, which is used to temporarily park the corpses of the dead.

In the room on the right, there is a flickering light, and there lives an old doctor with mediocre medical skills, known for his hatred of Western medicine. Those patients who are not completely dead, but Horiuchi Hospital does not want to save them, will be sent to him for rescue.

But most of the time, all this doctor can do is hospice services, after all, he is short of medicine and money, and he is very old, and his brain is sometimes not normal.

If these patients can't do anything about him, then after they die, they will be transported together to the Jingxian Temple to be hastily buried.

The three of them carried the straw mats with the corpses wrapped around their shoulders into the small dark room, and placed them on the ground somewhat casually. After doing this for many years, he soon lost his reverence for the dead.

"You guys search the body for anything that can be exchanged for money, I'll go next door and find Dr. Komori."

The older man said this without hesitation, as if he were telling someone to wash their hands before eating.

As the lowest level of Yoshiwara, the reason why they are willing to take this job is to see if they can get something from the dead, after all, they can't do the work that can make money from the living.

Sometimes it is a worthless hairpin or bracelet, and sometimes it is a complete cloth of clothes, although it cannot be rich overnight, but it adds up to a lot, and it is better than simply cleaning in the maiden's house.

After saying this, the older man went to the next door, leaving only the younger one to roll the straw mat back and begin to rummage through the corpses, and the corners of his clothes, the gaps in his hair, there was no place that would be easily missed.

One of the taller ones turned over and said, "Although you are dead, we are still alive, so that we can live a little better, and you can be at peace when you die." ”

The other shorter one continued: "Yes, tomorrow morning we will have to take you to the Jingxian Temple, and these things will be regarded as a reward." If you have any grievances, go to those black-hearted shopkeepers for trouble, but don't come to us. ”

With that, he took a necklace from the corpse's neck, pursed his lips and put it into his clothes.

"Alas, there is nothing good left, and most of the efforts are in vain today."

Beside.

The older man knocked on the door of the next hut, and the door opened quickly, but he was stunned for a moment, and involuntarily took a step back.

"Who are you? What about Dr. Komori? ”

He asked, a little nervously.

Standing inside the door was a stranger, dressed in a green yukata with vertical stripes, of an ordinary stature, with a pair of narrow yellow eyes.

So far, his appearance is quite normal.

But on both of his cheeks and forehead, there are strange X-shaped scars, which don't look like they were caused by accidental injuries, they should have been deliberately tortured by others before, and they look very tragic.

"Dr. Komori is terminally ill and will go home and die."

The man in green calmly spoke straightforwardly, without any sympathy, and even with some excitement in his eyes, "I'm his nephew." I'll take over his job from now on. ”

After that, he sniffled and said suspiciously: "Why, there are only corpses today, and there are no patients who are still alive?" ”

Can this person distinguish between the living and the dead just by smelling? The middle-aged man thought curiously.

Moreover, his uncle is terminally ill, so he pretends to be sad. Alas, it's really not ancient.

He wanted to talk about Dr. Komori's illness again, but the other party didn't seem to be interested in talking about it at all, and didn't even mention his own name, which can be said to be quite rude.

"There were two patients in the back, and the black-hearted shopkeeper didn't want to spend money to treat them, so Dr. Horiuchi asked me to bring them with me, and they are still outside the small door."

The middle-aged man replied.

"Then what are you waiting for, why don't you hurry up and bring them here?"

The man in green said arrogantly, his eyes full of impatience, "Don't delay the time, it's not good if it's overdue...... The disease is not curable. ”

As he spoke, he licked his lips, as if suppressing some desire not to tell outsiders.

The middle-aged man didn't feel the kindness of the other party's doctor at all, but felt a burst of creepy.

His many years of experience in Yoshihara told him that it was best not to have a relationship with the person in front of him in the car, and it would definitely not end well.

"Then you wait, I'll go!"

After saying that, he returned to the next door and left as if he were urging the two of them to escape.

"This guy is quite vigilant, but it's a pity that he won't live long."

The man in green looked at the backs of the three of them, and there were words in his mouth: "Beriberi (a serious disease unique to Japan, not Hong Kong foot), cancer and pneumonia, speaking of which, these flavors are a little tired of eating in those big hospitals, I hope you can send me some new flavors......

"Speaking of which, if you have had an infectious disease, the general taste level should be richer."

After a while, the two younger members of the trio returned with two dying figures, one large and one small.

As for the cart, he said that he didn't want to come back, so he just waited outside the door.

"Doctor, the people are here, a little girl is seriously injured, and another woman has Hanaya disease, and the people at Horiuchi Hospital said that they should not survive tonight."

"It's up to me whether I live or not."

The man in green smelled the scent that surprised him a few meters away, and his expression became impatient, "Help them in and let them lie down, and then you can go." ”

It's just that his tone of calling others like slaves immediately made the two young men angry.

They weren't happy, and just threw the two people on their backs to the ground rudely, and let them moan in pain without any response.

"Hey! What do you mean? Dr. Komori allowed us to take their stuff before, so you don't want to keep it to yourself, do you? ”

The other also helped: "Even if you are willing to give them no money to treat their illnesses is your business, we must have some remuneration for spending our efforts to move people, right?" ”

The man in green was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect these two people to dare to talk to him like this.

Originally, he was going to let them go, after all, according to the prostitute Taro-sama, there was still an important thing to do tonight, and he didn't have time to eat so many people.

"Since you want to be paid......

The man in green walked to the door and took out two 10 coins (0.1 yen?). He smiled kindly at the two of them: "How about if you get up tomorrow and give you so much money for every patient you bring me in the future?" ”

When the two saw the cash, their faces immediately turned from gloomy to sunny, and they quickly reached out to take the coin, and said with a smile on their faces: "It's not us who is sick, why can't we get out of bed?" I don't have a good tone just now, so I ask for your pardon. ”

Today, a worker's monthly salary is 2 yen.

10 money, which has caught up with their income from a day's chores.

"It's easy to say, it's easy to say."

As the man in green handed over the money, he poked their palms with his fingertips without a trace, and a hidden green mist took the opportunity to burrow into their skin.

What is there for the dead not to be forgiven?

Tomorrow before sunrise, the lesions in the other person's body will erupt and die in a rather disgusting way.

After the two of them moved the patient to the straw mat in the house, nodded and left, the man in green immediately closed the door.

He came to the older girl, whose chest was heaving violently, and knelt down.

"How are you feeling?"

His eyes were gentle, like the kind of doctor who cares for his patients, gently holding the girl's festering and pus-draining hand.

Immediately afterward, a green mist that was indistinguishable to the naked eye began to pour into his body in a steady stream.

The girl was so difficult to breathe one second that she couldn't even speak, but the next moment her eyes suddenly brightened, and even the ulcers on her face had a tendency to heal.

Then, she was surprised to find that she could actually speak!

"Doctor!"

She tugged at the arm of the man in green like a drowning person, not remembering that her illness could directly infect others through contact, "Please help me!" Please help me! ”

Her eyes were full of pleading.

Although she was not happy when she was alive and was miserable every day, she still had friends in the store that she couldn't let go. Those new children also need her protection to keep them from following in her footsteps.

"Don't you feel like you're much better now?"

The man in green smiled and brought her a mirror, and although the person inside looked very haggard, the face full of ulcers and scars had magically disappeared!

"This ......," she cried out in surprise as she looked at herself in the mirror, "how is this possible?" ”

"What's impossible, I'm not a charlatan."

The man in green took the mirror and looked at her at a quiet distance, the eyeball of his left eye slowly enlarged, and suddenly the two Chinese characters "Xialu" appeared.

"After all, I'm picky about taste, but I only eat healthy food."

In the next second, the girl, who had not yet recovered from the surprise, immediately had a painful look on her face, looking at her heart that had been plucked by her bare hands in disbelief, her lips trembled and she couldn't speak, and then, her pupils were surrounded by a blur.

And next to her, the one who witnessed all this with her own eyes was a blow from the fallen hime and seriously injured Juyin.

She couldn't make a sound out of fear, and could only desperately transmit a distress signal with her trembling eyes.

"Help, who's going to save me!"

"There's a monster here!"