Chương 40: Santa Claus with Some Martial Arts Skills

The next night.

In a leather tanning workshop in the southern part of Phoenix.

The leatherworker, in his thirties, was huddled under his workbench, his hands pressed tightly against his cramping abdomen. Each spasm was accompanied by excruciating dry heaving, and bodily fluids dripped from the corners of his mouth, forming a small puddle of sour, rotten water on the stone floor.

Hearing the commotion, his wife quickly brought over water, fed it to the leatherworker, and then took out a rag to wipe up the dirt on the ground.

Halfway through, she couldn't help but sigh, "I'll go buy you some anti-nausea medicine tomorrow..."

The cobbler shook his head vigorously, and after a long pause, he finally managed to suppress the nausea in his body and replied, "No, please don't! The shop window tax will go up again in the second half of the year. If you buy me the medicine, we won't have any money for food at the end of the year!"

"But you now..."

"It's just stomach worms. I'm still young, it won't kill me. I'll be fine in another month..."

The cobbler, halfway through his story, couldn't help but gag again.

Boom boom boom!

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

The wife helped the cobbler to a chair, went to open the door, but saw no one, only a small cloth bag on the ground.

Curious, she picked up the bag and opened it in front of her husband.

Immediately, they discovered that it contained about ten silver coins and a small note!

"By the gods!"

"This... this is!"

The cobbler and his wife exclaimed in surprise.

Then the wife patted her face to make sure she wasn't dreaming, and then carefully reached out and unfolded the note, only to see that it read...

Oh, she can't read.

However, the cobbler did recognize some letters. He took the slip of paper and read:

"I hope you... like... my gift... my friendly neighbor, Robin Hood?"

"Robin Hood? I've heard that name before... the Robin Hood who stole all the gold teeth?"

"It must be him, it must be that chivalrous thief! Thank you, thank you so much, you're a truly remarkable chivalrous thief!"

The tanner's hands trembled with emotion, then he took his wife's hand and they prayed together for Richard.

On the street outside.

Richard and Grace continued distributing the silver coins.

At that moment, he felt like Santa Claus.

If he does this every year for decades, and as more and more people take his money and hear his stories, will he truly gain faith and become a Santa Claus in some sense?

It seems feasible.

It's a bit like the Phoenix family.

As Richard pondered, Grace whispered, "I heard the word 'stomach worms' again. What does it mean? It seems like a lot of people have it."

Richard explained:

"It's normal that you're from out of town and haven't heard of it, because it's a disease that only occurs in the southwestern Gulf region."

"Legend has it that it was also created by the Plague Cult and was inspired by the parasites in the stomachs of fish, which is why it is called stomach worm disease."

"Compared to wilt disease, its symptoms are milder, usually only causing vomiting, but it is much more contagious. The transmission route is unknown, but it breaks out on a large scale every year when the seawater is warm."

"The good news is that there is a specific treatment for this disease called an antiemetic. If you take it regularly for a week, the disease will be cured."

"The bad news is that anti-nausea medication isn't cheap either, especially for people in the southern part of Phoenix."

"The worse news is that the so-called mild symptoms of stomach worm infection only apply to the first infection. If you get the disease for several years in a row and don't get timely treatment, the symptoms will continue to worsen until..."

Richard paused slightly, not stating the conclusion, and instead said:

"In short, the silver coins we are distributing at this time can really save many people, not all of them, but a lot of them."

Grace glanced at Richard, nodded approvingly, and refrained from making any jokes at that moment.

suddenly.

Three burly men emerged from the intersection ahead, blocking the poet's and the dragon's path.

They pulled out daggers and wooden sticks and shouted:

"Hey, you two!"

"Hand over everything you have!"

"Don't try to be clever, I heard the sound of silver coins!"

Richard blinked.

I thought it was something special, but it turns out to be a street thug, a specialty of the South District.

He waved to Grace, indicating that he should take over everything, then twisted his wrist and walked over to the three thugs.

Just as the thugs thought he was about to obediently reach into his pocket and thus lower their guard, Richard made his move!

He instantly closed in, his right fist carrying a powerful gust of wind, and struck the wrist of the man wielding the stick with pinpoint accuracy!

With a sharp crack, the thug screamed and dropped the wooden stick.

The remaining two were stunned for half a second, then angrily retaliated, aiming their daggers at Richard's chest.

Richard remained calm, turning his body to avoid the attack. Then, he elbowed the second thug in the ribs, causing him to wince in pain. Finally, he tripped the third thug with his right foot, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground with a thud.

And so, relying on the Water Flow Rock Shattering Fist technique, without Grace's help or using magic or combat skills, he took down all three thugs in the blink of an eye!

This is something he absolutely couldn't have done just two weeks ago!

At this moment, the thugs realized they had messed with the wrong people and hurriedly tried to get up and run away.

However, Richard had no intention of letting them go. He smiled and took half a step forward, then took the brass-tipped leather belt from his waist.

Hehe, tonight's spinning tops are all yours...

"Ouch! That hurts!"

"My butt! My butt! It's going to split into four pieces!"

"I was wrong! I'll never do it again! Please, please stop smoking!"

Soon, the screams of humans echoed through the slums at night.

Grace, watching from the sidelines, had a playful expression.

She admired Richard's improved skills, but she also suspected that he might have been practicing too hard and had developed some strange fetish...

A few hours later, as the sun rose, Richard and Grace stopped their work as "Santa Claus".

After carefully checking their surroundings and making sure they weren't being followed, they changed direction and arrived at Cinderella's house.

Richard stepped forward and knocked softly on the door.

crunch.

The door opened a crack, and a small gray head peeked out from the gap, cautiously looking around.

Upon recognizing Richard and Grace, she immediately smiled, practically skipping as she opened the door, and announced loudly:

"Brother David, Sister Grace! Welcome!"

The person who opened the door was Elsa Cinderella.

Compared to half a month ago, the little girl's complexion has improved significantly, and even her hair has changed from a dry, dull gray to a more beautiful silver-gray.

Richard greeted him with a smile, then entered the house and said:

"We've come to treat your mother as promised!"

There's not much to say about what happened next.

Grace donated another drop of blood, completing the second treatment amidst the gratitude of Elsa and her mother Mary.

But just as Richard turned to leave, a sudden rumble of thunder sounded outside, followed by a torrential downpour, accompanied by howling winds, as if shrouding the entire city of Phoenix in a damp, cold curtain.

"Ugh, what kind of weather is this..."

Richard looked out the window and started smacking his lips.

Inside the house, Elsa and her mother exchanged a glance, then Elsa ran forward on her short legs, tugging at Richard's sleeve and saying:

"Brother David, why don't you stay at my house?"