After finding a spot where he could use his back for leverage, he shouted, "Dig! Dig along this opening. Slowly."

This support effort lasted a full twenty minutes. By then, the area was surrounded by people who had come to help.

By the time Wang Shizhen had carefully dug his way inside and could see Du Heng and the little girl, Du Heng was drenched in sweat. The sweat, mixed with dust, had turned into muddy water. But Du Heng paid no mind, simply saying loudly, "I’ll lower her slowly. You catch her from below. Whatever you do, don’t touch her neck. Just support her."

Working together, they slowly lowered the little girl. Then, people outside gently took her and laid her on the ground.

Wang Shizhen crawled out first. "Alright, Du, come on out."

"Alright," Du Heng replied. Just as he was about to move, he found his upper body stuck. His posture was so awkward that he couldn’t exert any strength. "Pull me a bit. I can’t seem to get any leverage."

Hearing Du Heng’s shout, Wang Shizhen immediately replied, "Alright, be careful. I’ll drag you out slowly."

After shouting, Wang Shizhen bent down, grabbed Du Heng’s ankles, and slowly began to drag him out. As he was being pulled, Du Heng felt something was wrong with his waist. It ached, a dull, suppressed pain.

His waist had been twisted; this was a qi deviation.

Du Heng endured it for a moment. Once his body was mostly out and he could adjust his position, he crawled out the rest of the way himself. The mere act, however, made him grit his teeth and grimace.

But he couldn’t be bothered with his own aching waist. He quickly knelt beside Xixi and began to examine her.

Xixi had now been laid flat. Her previously imperceptible breathing was slowly returning. Then came news that was neither entirely good nor entirely bad: Xixi’s cervical vertebra was dislocated.

It was good because it wasn’t the worst possible outcome. If it had been a cervical vertebra fracture, given her position earlier, it would most likely have been a severe fracture. Damage to the spinal cord and nerves would have been inevitable, and in such a case, the probability of paralysis would be extremely high.

As for the bad news, the muscles and tendons around the neck are well-developed. Once a cervical vertebra is dislocated, it cannot heal on its own and requires surgical treatment.

Furthermore, a dislocated cervical vertebra can put pressure on the spinal cord and nerves. They were currently in Wangjiazui, over a hundred kilometers from the city, and the entire road there was damaged and riddled with potholes. Therefore, transporting her would still involve significant risks.

Du Heng gritted his teeth and sucked in a sharp breath, enduring the pain in his side. He said to Wang Shizhen, "Wang, help me. Press down hard on Xixi’s shoulders. Make sure they’re completely still."

Wang Shizhen said nothing, simply doing as Du Heng instructed.

The onlookers’ expressions shifted from worry to surprise, and then to terror.

They watched as Du Heng gripped the girl’s neck with both hands and pulled outwards with all his might, as if stretching a thick rubber band. The strain on both Du Heng’s and Wang Shizhen’s faces showed just how much force they were exerting.

Just when everyone thought Du Heng might pull the girl’s head off, Du Heng’s right palm applied pressure, and then he gave a sharp tug to the left.

Du Heng’s face twitched slightly. He released his hands, checked the girl again, and then said to Wang Shizhen, "Wang, can you make a brace and apply traction to the right side of her neck? Can you manage that?"

"You get some rest. I can handle a small thing like this," Wang Shizhen readily agreed.

Finding good materials in the middle of the fields was certainly difficult, but there were plenty of things that could be used to make do.

Wang Shizhen took off his own shirt. He used a nearby shovel to rip it into strips of cloth. After looking around, he broke off a few thumb-thick branches from nearby. He measured them against the girl’s neck before snapping them into appropriately sized pieces.

Seeing Wang Shizhen at work, Du Heng looked away. He struggled to his feet and found a dirt slope to lie down on.

Lying on the slope, he pressed the painful area a few times. Only then did he realize it wasn’t just a qi deviation, but a qi deviation combined with a sprain. His entire left side, especially his waist, was throbbing with a swollen, aching pain.

Dong Yuezhang found Du Heng lying there, disheveled and covered in dust. He hurried over. "Du, are you alright?"

Du Heng shook his head. "My waist... it hurts. Now that I’m lying down, I don’t think I can get up."

Seeing Du Heng struggle to get up, Dong Yuezhang quickly reached out to support him. "Alright, if it hurts, don’t force yourself. Just lie down for a bit. Rest for a while."

Du Heng didn’t insist, simply lying flat on the dirt slope again. After taking a deep breath, he asked, "Did you find out? What exactly happened?"

Dong Yuezhang sighed softly. "The boy said he brought Xixi here to pick wild berries. When they reached this spot, they suddenly saw a wild rabbit. Xixi chased after it, lost her footing, and fell."

Du Heng’s brow furrowed slightly. Was it due to the pain, or something else? "Then why didn’t he say anything? And why did he try to bury her with the shovel?"

"He said he was scared. He was the one who brought her out. He called her name several times but got no answer and didn’t hear her cry. So, he thought she was dead. He was afraid the adults would blame him, so he didn’t dare say anything. Later, when he saw so many people searching for Xixi, he got even more scared and decided to bury her so no one would find her."

Dong Yuezhang sighed. "Country kids are timid. When they see someone not making a sound, they assume they’re dead. It’s understandable they might do something irrational when terrified."

But Du Heng’s frown deepened. After a moment of thought, he said, "No, that boy is lying."

"Why?" Dong Yuezhang asked, puzzled.

"If she had merely slipped and fallen, she should have landed feet first, or at least not headfirst. But Xixi clearly went down headfirst, like an inverted green onion. That doesn’t fit an accidental fall." Du Heng’s facial muscle twitched again. "And another thing: even for a village child, the first instinct when something like this happens is to call for adult help, not to get scared and lie. Besides, his actions with the shovel... there’s no logical explanation for that. A normal person wouldn’t do such a thing."

As Du Heng finished speaking, Dong Yuezhang’s brow furrowed as well. "You mean...?"

But Du Heng shook his head. "I don’t know. I think it’s best to let Brother Gong handle this. That way, there’s a proper accounting for everyone involved."

Dong Yuezhang’s eyelid twitched. "Alright, I’ll call Director Gong."

With that, he took out his mobile phone to make a call. But seeing so many people around, he changed his mind and sent a text message instead.

While Dong Yuezhang was sending the text, Wang Shizhen had already fashioned a simple brace and traction device. "Du, take a look. Will this do?"

Du Heng glanced at it. "Yes, that’ll work for now."

"So, what now?"

"Let’s get her to the hospital. Drive slowly, and try to avoid jolting her. Once you’re at the hospital, get her checked for any damage to her spinal cord or nerves."

Wang Shizhen paused, slightly taken aback. "You’re not going to treat her further?"

"HISS~" Du Heng winced, gritting his teeth. "No, I’m not feeling too well. You should take her to the Orthopedics Department at the Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. I’ll call a classmate of mine; he’s a spine specialist."

The specialist Du Heng mentioned was Jin Zan. His department was indeed the Spine Department. So, after speaking to Wang Shizhen, Du Heng called Jin Zan right there in front of him and the others, explaining the situation.

"Okay, take her there right away. I’ve already spoken to him. I’ll send his number to your phone, Wang. Just contact him directly when you arrive."

Wang Shizhen looked at Du Heng’s pained expression and his generally battered state, then said softly, "Are you okay? Why don’t you come to my place and wash up first?"

Du Heng shook his head. "I’m fine. The important thing is to get the child to the hospital quickly."

Just as Du Heng finished speaking, Wang Shiyuan, who was nearby, immediately said, "You go take Xixi. President Du can come to my house."

Hearing Wang Shiyuan, Wang Shizhen stopped hesitating. He quickly picked up Xixi and left, with Xixi’s father stumbling along behind him.

The father still hadn’t recovered from the shock.

Once Wang Shizhen left, Dong Yuezhang helped Du Heng to Wang Shiyuan’s house. However, since a Baby Steps celebration was underway there, Du Heng only washed up briefly before leaving with Dong Yuezhang.

Dong Yuezhang escorted him downstairs. Wu Shengnan, who had received a call, was already waiting at the door. Seeing Du Heng clutching his waist, looking so battered, she felt a rush of both anger and heartache.