Was that Gu Zheng?

Doctor Feng hurried the three of them along to collect their medicines, grumbling as he walked. "If I'd known there was another assignment, I'd have sent you off to rest sooner. How can anyone stand working nonstop like this? Ah! I offered to go myself, but they said I was too old..."

"Team Leader Feng, I think you've misunderstood something..." Song Ning said.

"Misunderstood? What did I misunderstand?" Doctor Feng looked surprised, his eyes full of curiosity.

"Maybe they don't think you're too old. Maybe they think you're... a little too sturdy?"

Song Ning eyed Doctor Feng's rotund figure as she teased him.

Zheng Chang'an rubbed it in from the side. "Think about it. If you couldn't climb any farther, the soldiers couldn't just leave you behind. They'd have to carry you!"

Doctor Feng glared at them. "You little brats! Calling me old wasn't enough, so now you're finding roundabout ways to call me fat!"

Everyone laughed, and the mood lightened considerably.

Battalion Commander Zhao's concerns were not unfounded.

In fact, not long after they left Gao Ping, the young doctor surnamed Wu slipped in the darkness on the slick path and injured himself. One of the arms of his glasses broke, too.

Although he was young and looked strong, he still struggled with the rugged mountain paths turned muddy by the rain.

Battalion Commander Zhao had no choice but to order one of the soldiers to distribute his supplies among the others, then escort Doctor Wu down the mountain.

Another doctor would be sent up after daybreak.

Song Ning turned to remind Zheng Chang'an, "Watch your step!"

Zheng Chang'an had already fallen several times himself. At her words, he silently tightened his shoelaces again.

As they crossed a ridge, the group passed a military outpost consisting of several tightly secured tents. Engines rumbled inside, and bright lights shone overhead.

Battalion Commander Zhao spoke briefly with the men there.

Listening from behind, Song Ning gathered that this was a communications company's outpost, equipped with diesel generators and radio equipment to maintain emergency power and communications.

From the sound of it, the company commander they had treated earlier had been injured while moving the equipment.

The mountain path was a muddy mess, making every step a struggle.

After Doctor Wu turned back, his bag of medicine was initially carried by Zheng Chang'an, but before long, it ended up on Song Ning's back.

Thanks to the training she had begun as a child, Song Ning had enough endurance to keep going, even though she was panting with exhaustion.

In particular, when they passed damaged stretches of the path and had to climb cliff faces using ropes, Song Ning managed on her own, earning the admiration of the soldiers.

Zheng Chang'an needed the soldiers' help, but fortunately, he did not hold them back much in other respects.

At the first faint light of dawn, the group finally reached Rockhorn Village.

But the scene before them was even more devastating than they had imagined...

The mudslide had struck only a short while earlier. With so many houses buried, the soldiers who had arrived first had gathered the villagers in an open area on higher ground, farther from the mountainside.

Even those whose homes were intact had been evacuated. Although the rain had eased, another mudslide was still possible.

The villagers huddled together in the open, shivering. Many had draped their only straw rain capes and plastic sheets over the children and elderly, but how could those keep out the damp chill of the night?

At a glance, they formed a vast, dark mass, silent and overwhelming.

As soon as Battalion Commander Zhao arrived, he ordered the tents erected immediately.

The soldiers had been carrying the supplies most urgently needed.

Song Ning looked at Zheng Chang'an, who was utterly spent. "You have five minutes to rest. We need to get to work right away."

This time, Zheng Chang'an saw an even more decisive side of Song Ning.

She contacted the village chief to announce that doctors had arrived, then reassured everyone that they would all receive care, provided they lined up in an orderly fashion.

Next, she rapidly triaged the patients and arranged for medicine to be distributed to those with minor conditions.

She treated the serious cases according to severity and picked out two steady-handed, attentive village women to assist her.

Faced with such an enormous mess, she seemed to know exactly where to begin. Even with only two doctors, she brought the treatment effort under control and kept everything orderly.

Throughout the process, her judgments were accurate and her movements brisk, every gesture confident and calm.

People instinctively wanted to follow her instructions.

Zheng Chang'an was run off his feet, his brain working so hard it felt ready to smoke, but that did not stop him from quietly reflecting...

Song Ning doesn't just seem like a doctor. She seems more like a leader.

The kind who oversees a lot of people, too.

While the treatment effort was in full swing, a young soldier came running over.

"Doctor! Where's the doctor?"

Spotting Song Ning and Zheng Chang'an in their white coats, he said urgently, "Hurry! Someone over there needs emergency treatment!"

Song Ning exchanged a glance with Zheng Chang'an, then turned and shouldered the emergency medical bag. "I'll go!"

Zheng Chang'an did not argue. He knew her medical skills surpassed his by far. In an emergency, she would be much more useful than he was!

Watching Song Ning save people back in Gao Ping had truly opened his eyes.

He had been an intern for almost two years, yet he had never known traditional Chinese medicine could shine so brightly. And acupuncture could actually be used alongside Western anesthetics-what an incredible combination...

He had been utterly awestruck and decided then and there to ask her to take him as her apprentice!

He turned and sat in the seat Song Ning had just vacated, continuing her work.

The farther they ran into the village, the more houses they saw buried beneath the mudslide, along with more and more soldiers still conducting search and rescue operations in the rain.

The young soldier led Song Ning through almost half the village. Ahead, lights and people clustered in a small area.

When she saw the scene before her, Song Ning could not help drawing in a sharp breath...

Because of the rain, the daylight was still dim.

Several soldiers stood beside a group of houses destroyed by the mudslide. A few hurricane lanterns and high-powered flashlights on the bank were trained on the center of the debris, where a child was trapped in the mud.

Burlap sacks, bamboo fence panels, wooden planks, and other materials had been laid over the mud between the bank and the child. A soldier with a rope tied around him was trying to step onto them to reach him.

But the child was at least a dozen meters from the bank. Although the mud and sand were no longer moving, they could not support an adult's weight.

When the soldier sank into the mud again, the people on the bank hurriedly hauled him back. Another rescue attempt had failed.

At the same time, cries broke out on the bank again.

"Tiedan! My Tiedan! Hang on!"

Only then did Song Ning notice several villagers on the bank, presumably the child's family.

An elderly woman sat collapsed on the ground, wailing, while an elderly man supported her, his trouser leg drenched in blood. All of them stared at the child in the middle of the river with grief and despair.

Song Ning rushed over and first bandaged the elderly man's wound.

"Song Ning! Is that you, Song Ning?!" someone called.

Song Ning turned and saw a figure sprinting toward her.

Through the fine, dense rain, he was tall and long-legged, his strides steady.

He wore a raincoat and carried a sandbag on his shoulder. A squad of soldiers followed him, every one of them carrying a load as well.

The closer he came, the more familiar he looked.

Song Ning peered closely...

Gu Zheng?!

At the same time-

Someone nearby shouted, "The child! He's fading fast!"