<h4>Chapter 1008: Chapter 1008 River</h4>


    Watching Bai Jian and Bai She carrying the little child back, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.


    Xiaoyu looked at Bai Xiao with eyes full of admiration.


    "Doctor Bai, you’re amazing."


    Bai Xiao nced sideways, this girl!


    "Pack your things, we still need to go to the next vige."


    They pushed on along the road today and might reach the next vige by nightfall.


    Zhang the doctor also packed with a smile, because of the baby incident, they gained experience this time and specially prepared more things, even surgical knives.


    Complex andrge surgeries are impossible, but if any simple surgical injuries require cutting treatment, they have to be done.


    They couldn’t rush patients to the hospital in the middle of the night like yesterday.


    Once being inexperienced was one thing, but if such a situation happened again, they couldn’t just spend all their time rushing along the road.


    Once everything was packed, the three of them continued their journey.


    Originally, there were two teams, one heading east and the other west.


    Each direction covered more than a dozen viges.


    The three of them were heading west and had only reached the first vige before returning to the hospital.


    The vige they were going to this time was much fartherpared to Xin Vige they visited earlier. Traveling from Xin Vige onward, they still had to cross a mountain and a river to reach the next vige, and here, there were no roads—only mountain paths.


    These so-called mountain paths are actually trails formed by people walking them for a long time and are not genuinely developed roads.


    The concept of building roads to bring wealth is unrealistic here, as the locals simply don’t have the ability to build roads.


    The three of them, carrying heavy luggage, embarked on a new journey.


    This time, as they reached the road junction outside Xin Vige, they merely nced at the vige with smoke spiraling from chimneys, and the three continued on.


    Though the mountain paths were rough, having trudged back and forth several times, they were gradually getting used to walking them.


    Though Bai Xiao was now too tired to speak or think, she hadn’t walked such paths for a long time, butpared to the border mountain roads with sniper fire and sudden explosions, this was like paradise.


    Seeing Zhang the doctor exhausted and panting, she and Xiaoyu almost pushed him forward.


    Otherwise, this old man might really just sit down.


    It was indeed difficult for him at his age to walk such mountain paths while carrying such heavy loads.


    But there was no choice; if they didn’t reach the vige before nightfall, they might face troubles far more serious than this.


    With only the currentbat capability of the three of them, encountering wild animals would be akin to offering themselves as food.


    Finally, as dusk descended, they arrived at the riverside.


    ording to Xiaoyu, once they crossed the river, the vige would be on the other side—so they would soon reach the vige and find a safe haven.


    But seeing the river, Bai Xiao felt a surge of despair.


    She initially thought it would be a small river, but now saw a swift and turbulent stream.


    Suddenly, deep down inside, she truly admired Dean Li and the doctors he led, along with his daughter, for persevering under such difficult conditions.


    They were here asionally, while Dean Lu undertook such long treks almost annually withoutint.


    This was the most admirable thing.


    This path led by Bai Xiao and Zhang the doctor was hard to distinguish with the naked eye, directing them straight to the water’s edge.


    The water cut through to create a narrow gorge, with the river barely twenty meters wide, yet the banks were high, making the river tumultuous.


    Rapid waters surged over rocks at the riverbed, sshing white foam and sending white flowers of water bloom, asionally flicking sparkling diamond-like droplets.


    Unfortunately, now was not the time to appreciate the scenery.


    Xiaoyu led them along the riverbank for a short distance; the hurried sound of flowing water seemed to grow louder, as the width of the river narrowed until it was no more than about ten meters wide.


    She stopped, raised her voice, "We cross here."


    Bai Xiao looked at the empty river surface, perhaps once there had been a bridge, but now all that was visible were remnants that might have been bridge pirs.


    And Xiaoyu was talking about crossing the river?


    How would they cross the river?


    Xiaoyu cupped her hands and shouted in anguage they didn’t understand toward the opposite bank.


    She then noticed a small wooden house on the other side of the river.


    Heh, to call it a "wooden house" was ttering.


    It was a simple dwelling made from roughposite board covered in ck tar paper.


    Clearly, nature was trying hard to reim its own territory, as moss had grown wild around the house and vine hung from the roof.


    The ck tar paper blended well with the nts, revealing the wooden house’s location almost exclusively through a small window and a coarsely built stone chimney.


    Otherwise, Bai Xiao wouldn’t have noticed it earlier.


    After a minute, the rough door finally opened, and a gray-haired head popped out.


    The person scrutinized them suspiciously for a while, finally fixing his gaze on Xiaoyu.


    Her presence seemed to reassure him, he let go of the door, stepped out—a man in his sixties.


    "Xiaoyu, here again for medical consultation? This time I don’t recognize these two people?"


    Exchanging greetings with Xiaoyu, then he pulled a lever, and next to the two towering trees in front of the wooden house suddenly a fifteen-meter-long log fell from above. It was an unadorned log, even with the bark.


    "These are new city doctors; we’re heading to the vige to see if anyone needs treatment."


    The log must be heavy, but the old man manipted the rope handle with ease to tten it.


    He aligned one end of the log into a groove dug on the riverbank, kneeling down to incline and secure the other end to the opposite bank.


    "It’s ready," he said. "You can cross now!"


    "Xiaoyu, why do you do this; isn’t the log meant for people crossing between banks?" Bai Xiao was puzzled.


    Xiaoyuughed, "This river hasn’t reached the true rainy season yet, otherwise when it rains, the river swells, and any bridge would be washed away. To ensure people’s convenience, the viges discussed it and decided on this bridge.


    We put it down when needed and take it up when not, preventing it from being destroyed—they can’t afford to build another bridge here."


    She nimbly hopped onto the log and walked briskly forward.


    "Don’t worry, if you fall, I’ll dive in after you."


    Xiaoyu teased Bai Xiao.


    Bai Xiao looked at the log, thinking—though it was wide enough for two people to stand—its round shape challenged anyone walking on it. Seeing the bubbling water below, she found it hard to breathe, inhaled deeply, "I’m ready. Hopefully, I won’t need you to jump in after me."