A New Dawn for the Whitlocks Chapter 18

The broad Songhua River rolled forward, with waves rising and falling, and the water was turbulent. There was a large raft parked on the shore, about 15 meters wide and 150 meters long. This raft was made up of more than 20 small rafts, tied together with thick logs. A barge was tied to the back of the raft, and the barge was loaded with various daily necessities for the wood gangs. Cao San, the leader of the team, was bossy and directed everyone to sort out the boat affairs.

At the front of the raft, there was a flower shed. Lily Summers hid in the flower shed, coughing from time to time, and poked his head out to secretly look at the shore. There was a huge altar on the shore, on which were placed various fruits picked from the mountains and forests, and many incense sticks were lit, with smoke curling from the incense burner. About twenty male raft workers, young and old, knelt on the ground facing the altar and the river. The leading old man was thin but capable, with a sleeve without an arm tied around his waist, which was very conspicuous. Needless to say, this man was the "head man" of the raft gang, the old one-armed man. Following closely behind the old one-armed man was a heroic young man, with a fierce look on his face, but he looked haggard due to running around for a long time, but he was a martial artist. The old one-armed man sang loudly: Cutting down big trees, tying rafts,

Let it down along the river,

Even if the waves rush thousands of miles,

Bury where you die!