“People say our Yun Village has very strong vitality,” said Chunli proudly.

“History unfolded before my eyes in the delivery room. I’m going home tomorrow. I really don’t want to leave Mrs. Yi. But I miss Milan, too. Oh, dear.”

“You can always come again. Do you see the lights on the mountain? They were hung there by a friend of Tauber’s. They were business partners, and born in the same year. He got here too late to see Tauber. He stayed in the log cabin, and hung the lights in the woods. He thought that at midnight he could follow the lights to meet his old friend,” Chunli said.

“These lights are much brighter than ordinary lamps! They will probably come into our dreams. When I was a kid, I once fell into a pond; in that moment I saw the same bright lights. Oh, their friendship is so moving! Yun Village is great.”

“Deserted Village is the same. When you become a barefoot doctor and your herb hill is thriving, you’ll discover the mysterious greatness of your village.”

“Thank you for saying that, Chunli. You’re the one who set me on the right track!”

The next day, carrying her belongings, Mia was in high spirits as she went home by bus.

The rosy-faced girl next to her was younger. She told Mia that she was going to Blue Mountain. There was a clinic at the foot of Blue Mountain. The old doctor in the clinic had fallen ill and could die at any time. She was going to learn medicine from him. Mia asked her where she got the information, and she told her it came from a medical journal. Mia mentioned the name of a medical journal she had borrowed from Mrs. Yi. The girl confirmed that it was the very one, and this piece of news was in the most recent issue.

“I’m taking everything I need with me. I’m prepared to stay for a long time, maybe forever. My mother was worried about me. She was in tears when I left, as if I would die over there.”

“What do you think of being a doctor?” Mia asked.

“I don’t know. I just heard it was tough. That’s the kind of life I want to live.”

Unlike Gray, this girl looked very stubborn, and her eyes were determined. She was a bit like Mrs. Yi.

The girl would have to ride the bus several more stops after Mia got off. She said it would be dark before she could reach Blue Mountain, and then she had to find the clinic in the dark. But she believed that there would be good people to help her.

“My heart has flown to the foot of Blue Mountain!” she said.

“You are very brave! You’re a wonderful girl!”

After getting off the bus, Mia was still feeling warm all over because of encountering the girl. In the vast wilderness, at the end of the horizon, she saw many little men coming toward her. Were these people coming from a certain legendary clinic? Was the place where Mrs. Yi had been trained a branch of that clinic?