Chapter 5
The next few days passed by quite peacefully for Megumi.
The latest news and rumours of the rebellion were that currently, they were building up on their strength in their hideout in the mountains. Many had been rumored wounded and killed in the last attack, but it was also rumored that many more were joining the rebels and that their numbers were increasing by the hundreds per day. It was also said that so far the Emperor's soldiers had had few successes in searching for the rebel groups, and that some of the soldiers had also defected to the rebel groups.
Megumi thrived on this gossip. She often listened to her patients while they talked among themselves, and occasionally chatted with the nurses and the people at the markets. As time went by, she also became friends with these people. She got to know old Lim, the meat seller, who always gave away extra meat whenever he wanted to pack up early. She made friends with Xiaoling, the little girl at the corner of the clinic who sold biscuits from morning to night. Everyone soon came to call her by Doctor Megumi, and she became quite well known around the district, so much so, the town magistrate even came to pay her a visit.
" Devil! These rebels! The whole lot of them!" he had complained to her, when he had come to her clinic complaining of a cold. Megumi had wisely kept her mouth shut and let him ramble on as she examined his chest.
" I swear to god that one day I will get all them, especially that Wang guy and his Japanese friend… fancy using those freaking Japanese to help fight his war!!!" At that, Megumi's hand had slipped a little, and the magistrate looked down at her.
" Oh, I'm so sorry, but I forgot that you are Japanese. But you don't look one anyway, so you don't count…" then he smiled at her, giving her a full view of his yellow stained teeth. She bent her head, making it seem as if she was paying closer attention to his chest, which was quiet ugly as well. The magistrate carried on talking to himself
" You know, you haven't seen my house yet right? Why don't you come over for dinner the day after tomorrow? You could even stay the night if you wanted to…so what do you say?"
" I have a lot of patients to tend to sir, I'm afraid that I do not have the time at times to even step out of this place." Megumi replied then.
" Nonsense, there must be day when there are no patients, besides, its customary." The magistrate replied then, his eyes on her chest.
Megumi doubted very much then that it was a customary thing to eat at the magistrate's house, however, knowing that he would persist till she agree, she nodded her head, agreeing to come for dinner only, on the pretext that she had to go back to the clinic afterwards.
She learnt from most people afterwards, that the magistrate had a total of four concubines in his home. He was a flirt, and loved to spend taxpayer's money on wine and girls. Whatever Megumi learnt about him only served to confirm her suspicions, that the magistrate was a lecher and he was just interested in having fun with her. He was a corrupt official who collected a lot of taxes, and spent it on building new extensions to his residence. It was after learning this that Megumi partly began to understand why the rebel group was so active in this area. In fact, they were supported and helped by most of the villagers. Food and clothing were often smuggled secretly to the rebels through some middlemen, who knew that secret path to the hideout. In fact, it was a well-known secret around that most rebel groups thrived on the help of the peasants. In this matter, the government was quite helpless to do anything about it, as they had already lost the support of the people a long time ago. The most they could do was to impose food and movement restrictions, which most of the time, didn't hinder much at all.
As to her own medical classes, Megumi attended them dutifully, picking up the finer points of medical surgery. Soon, she was equipped enough to perform minor operations at the clinic. She was the only female doctor in the medical school. In her class, there were five other doctors, all of whom were male. At first, they had tried to bully her, but after Megumi had showed them a thing or two, such as pulling their ears, they gradually left her alone. However, there were one or two male doctors who sometimes popped by her clinic on the pretext of borrowing a medical book, but Megumi saw through them easily. There was this very persistent person named Ming Shen, who turned up at her clinic a few times, but she always chased him away.
After living in Xinjiang for a month already, she had taken to dressing up like the Chinese. She now wore the pleated Chinese skirt and silk blouse daily, and she usually tied her hair up into a slipknot at the back. She had also acquired the accent that the villages spoke in, though her Chinese still sounded a bit wobbly, after lack of practice.
Two of the magistrate's henchmen came to fetch her the night she was supposed to have dinner with him. She wore a plain light blue pleated skirt with a white blouse, and as she wasn't working, she let her hair flow freely around her shoulders. They took her to the magistrate's residence on a sedan chair, even though it was just a twenty-minute walk from the clinic. In truth, she hadn't wanted to go, the magistrate being the lecher that he was, but he was the magistrate, and she had to be polite.
At the magistrate's residence, they had dinner, and then he invited her to look at his garden, while he attempted to quote some literary works in order to impress her. Megumi fixed a polite smile on her face, but most of the time, her mind was somewhere else. When her pocket watch struck ten, she stood up and announced that she had to go back to the clinic.
" So soon! Stay a bit longer, I'll send one of men to stand in for you!" the magistrate had argued.
" No, I'm afraid not, I'm expecting a couple of patients tonight." Megumi replied politely but firmly.
The magistrate gave a sigh, then he shouted for his servants to get the sedan chair prepared. However, after waiting for a while, there came no response, and the magistrate got irritated
" Where are those fools! Are you all sleeping on the job! Wait till I dock your salary!"
However, instead of a servant response, there came a shout of laughter from around them and before Megumi knew it, she was surrounded by several masked men, who had leapt out from the surrounding trees and bushes
" Your servants are all lying in the cellar as we speak now, we had been watching you for the past ten minutes, by the way, sir, you recite pretty lousy poetry." One of the masked men came forward and spoke.
The magistrate turned red in the face and bellowed
" This is preposterous! How dare you storm into my house like this! I demand you leave at once!" In anger, he stamped his foot.
The masked man laughed.
" Haven't you realized it now, you dumb ass! You are being kidnapped! You and your mistress…"
Megumi then realized that the man was referring to her.
" I'm not…" she opened her mouth to say, however, before she could say it, a bag was pulled over her face, and she became trapped in a sack which was easily tied up as she was wrestled to the ground. Wildly, she kicked at the sack, however, her efforts were futile and she felt herself being carried up and carried out of the residence. " I'm not his mistress! I'm a doctor!" she screamed, but the sack was too thick and her words came out muffled.
It seemed hours later, when she awoke to the sound of muffled voices. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was darkness, and for a moment or two, she panicked and she began to struggle. The stale air that she had been breathing in for the past few hours clogged up her throat and she found it impossible to scream
" Let me out…" she screamed hoarsely, and kicked at the sack once more. She hit something and she heard a muffled curse. Then she felt the top of the sack being untied, and found herself looking into the eyes of Sanosuke Sagara.
The next few days passed by quite peacefully for Megumi.
The latest news and rumours of the rebellion were that currently, they were building up on their strength in their hideout in the mountains. Many had been rumored wounded and killed in the last attack, but it was also rumored that many more were joining the rebels and that their numbers were increasing by the hundreds per day. It was also said that so far the Emperor's soldiers had had few successes in searching for the rebel groups, and that some of the soldiers had also defected to the rebel groups.
Megumi thrived on this gossip. She often listened to her patients while they talked among themselves, and occasionally chatted with the nurses and the people at the markets. As time went by, she also became friends with these people. She got to know old Lim, the meat seller, who always gave away extra meat whenever he wanted to pack up early. She made friends with Xiaoling, the little girl at the corner of the clinic who sold biscuits from morning to night. Everyone soon came to call her by Doctor Megumi, and she became quite well known around the district, so much so, the town magistrate even came to pay her a visit.
" Devil! These rebels! The whole lot of them!" he had complained to her, when he had come to her clinic complaining of a cold. Megumi had wisely kept her mouth shut and let him ramble on as she examined his chest.
" I swear to god that one day I will get all them, especially that Wang guy and his Japanese friend… fancy using those freaking Japanese to help fight his war!!!" At that, Megumi's hand had slipped a little, and the magistrate looked down at her.
" Oh, I'm so sorry, but I forgot that you are Japanese. But you don't look one anyway, so you don't count…" then he smiled at her, giving her a full view of his yellow stained teeth. She bent her head, making it seem as if she was paying closer attention to his chest, which was quiet ugly as well. The magistrate carried on talking to himself
" You know, you haven't seen my house yet right? Why don't you come over for dinner the day after tomorrow? You could even stay the night if you wanted to…so what do you say?"
" I have a lot of patients to tend to sir, I'm afraid that I do not have the time at times to even step out of this place." Megumi replied then.
" Nonsense, there must be day when there are no patients, besides, its customary." The magistrate replied then, his eyes on her chest.
Megumi doubted very much then that it was a customary thing to eat at the magistrate's house, however, knowing that he would persist till she agree, she nodded her head, agreeing to come for dinner only, on the pretext that she had to go back to the clinic afterwards.
She learnt from most people afterwards, that the magistrate had a total of four concubines in his home. He was a flirt, and loved to spend taxpayer's money on wine and girls. Whatever Megumi learnt about him only served to confirm her suspicions, that the magistrate was a lecher and he was just interested in having fun with her. He was a corrupt official who collected a lot of taxes, and spent it on building new extensions to his residence. It was after learning this that Megumi partly began to understand why the rebel group was so active in this area. In fact, they were supported and helped by most of the villagers. Food and clothing were often smuggled secretly to the rebels through some middlemen, who knew that secret path to the hideout. In fact, it was a well-known secret around that most rebel groups thrived on the help of the peasants. In this matter, the government was quite helpless to do anything about it, as they had already lost the support of the people a long time ago. The most they could do was to impose food and movement restrictions, which most of the time, didn't hinder much at all.
As to her own medical classes, Megumi attended them dutifully, picking up the finer points of medical surgery. Soon, she was equipped enough to perform minor operations at the clinic. She was the only female doctor in the medical school. In her class, there were five other doctors, all of whom were male. At first, they had tried to bully her, but after Megumi had showed them a thing or two, such as pulling their ears, they gradually left her alone. However, there were one or two male doctors who sometimes popped by her clinic on the pretext of borrowing a medical book, but Megumi saw through them easily. There was this very persistent person named Ming Shen, who turned up at her clinic a few times, but she always chased him away.
After living in Xinjiang for a month already, she had taken to dressing up like the Chinese. She now wore the pleated Chinese skirt and silk blouse daily, and she usually tied her hair up into a slipknot at the back. She had also acquired the accent that the villages spoke in, though her Chinese still sounded a bit wobbly, after lack of practice.
Two of the magistrate's henchmen came to fetch her the night she was supposed to have dinner with him. She wore a plain light blue pleated skirt with a white blouse, and as she wasn't working, she let her hair flow freely around her shoulders. They took her to the magistrate's residence on a sedan chair, even though it was just a twenty-minute walk from the clinic. In truth, she hadn't wanted to go, the magistrate being the lecher that he was, but he was the magistrate, and she had to be polite.
At the magistrate's residence, they had dinner, and then he invited her to look at his garden, while he attempted to quote some literary works in order to impress her. Megumi fixed a polite smile on her face, but most of the time, her mind was somewhere else. When her pocket watch struck ten, she stood up and announced that she had to go back to the clinic.
" So soon! Stay a bit longer, I'll send one of men to stand in for you!" the magistrate had argued.
" No, I'm afraid not, I'm expecting a couple of patients tonight." Megumi replied politely but firmly.
The magistrate gave a sigh, then he shouted for his servants to get the sedan chair prepared. However, after waiting for a while, there came no response, and the magistrate got irritated
" Where are those fools! Are you all sleeping on the job! Wait till I dock your salary!"
However, instead of a servant response, there came a shout of laughter from around them and before Megumi knew it, she was surrounded by several masked men, who had leapt out from the surrounding trees and bushes
" Your servants are all lying in the cellar as we speak now, we had been watching you for the past ten minutes, by the way, sir, you recite pretty lousy poetry." One of the masked men came forward and spoke.
The magistrate turned red in the face and bellowed
" This is preposterous! How dare you storm into my house like this! I demand you leave at once!" In anger, he stamped his foot.
The masked man laughed.
" Haven't you realized it now, you dumb ass! You are being kidnapped! You and your mistress…"
Megumi then realized that the man was referring to her.
" I'm not…" she opened her mouth to say, however, before she could say it, a bag was pulled over her face, and she became trapped in a sack which was easily tied up as she was wrestled to the ground. Wildly, she kicked at the sack, however, her efforts were futile and she felt herself being carried up and carried out of the residence. " I'm not his mistress! I'm a doctor!" she screamed, but the sack was too thick and her words came out muffled.
It seemed hours later, when she awoke to the sound of muffled voices. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was darkness, and for a moment or two, she panicked and she began to struggle. The stale air that she had been breathing in for the past few hours clogged up her throat and she found it impossible to scream
" Let me out…" she screamed hoarsely, and kicked at the sack once more. She hit something and she heard a muffled curse. Then she felt the top of the sack being untied, and found herself looking into the eyes of Sanosuke Sagara.