A Night at the Volcano

Lu Zhe's plan was to spend the night in the cave, and then he could go back the next day after the water temperature dropped. Then he could make tools or build a house without worry.

But it wasn't even midnight yet, and the three of them couldn't stand it in the cave.

At 8 pm, the water temperature rose to nearly 70 degrees.

A lot of steam was generated in the cave, condensing and dripping down their heads drop by drop.

In this situation, waiting half an hour and then coming out for an invigorating full body stretch, finishing up with a bottle of ice cold beer, would be an absolutely heavenly enjoyment.

But just waiting in there with no way out was like torture.

Lu Zhe wiped the droplets of water from his face:

"Why don't we go down to the bottom of the volcano and take a look."

Shen Bing immediately responded: "I agree, if we keep going like this, tomorrow morning we'll all be cooked through."

He looked back at Qian Qian.

Qian Qian lifted her head, her little red face full of bewilderment, truly looking like a steamed little crab.

Steamed silly!

"Qian Qian, Qian Qian?" Lu Zhe patted her cheek.

"Oh, little brother Zhe, sister Bing, I think I got my period..."

"Whether it comes or not, we can't stay here. We have to get out first."

"Okay..."

Lu Zhe and Shen Bing both stood up. Qian Qian tried to get up but shook her head: "I don't have any strength left..."

Was she not steamed unconscious!

"Sister Bing, you take the pack. I'll carry Qian Qian..."

Shen Bing put on the pack: "Okay, be careful!"

Lu Zhe carried Qian Qian. He only felt Qian Qian's thighs were very slippery. Thinking it was menstrual blood, he didn't think much of it.

The three of them passed through the bats' territory again and arrived at the mouth of the volcanic cave.

When they arrived at the mouth, they hurriedly took a couple deep breaths of the slightly cooler air. Then they were all stunned by the scene before their eyes.

By this time, the sky was completely dark.

But the bottom of the volcano was not dark. Thousands upon thousands of glowing fireflies were fluttering about in the night sky.

On the four walls of the volcano, in several places like the cave mouth they were in, plumes of misty white steam issued forth. The cooled steam condensed and settled around the lush vegetation at the bottom of the volcano, decorating the place like a fairyland.

And something hidden in the mist below the vegetation emitted patches of dim white light.

Shen Bing rubbed her eyes. She couldn't believe there was still such a secluded, mystical place in the world!

"Good heavens, is this paradise?"

"Definitely not. We have to get down there!" Lu Zhe thought for a moment: "Let's do this: I'll go down first to test things out. If anything happens, I'll climb back up and we can think of another way. If there's no danger, I'll signal you to tie Qian Qian up and have her climb down, then you come down after her."

"The plan itself doesn't have any problems... But sister is still a policewoman. Could we not use criminal slang when we talk? I keep feeling like we're committing a crime!"

"Yes madam!"

Shen Bing smiled wryly: "Alright alright, hurry and get down there."

Lu Zhe opened the pack and took out a rope. He found a jutting rock to tie it tightly to!

"Lu Zhe, we're at least 3-4 stories high from the ground. Is the rope long enough?"

"Let's try it out. If it's not long enough I'll climb back up and we can think of another way!"

"Okay, be careful!"

Lu Zhe made a light salute with two fingers at his brow, then shimmied down the rope. In no time he was enveloped in the mist.

Shen Bing worriedly asked: "Hey Lu Zhe, is it long enough? Have you reached the bottom?"

Lu Zhe was taken aback!

Why did he feel a bit offended?

"Reached the bottom, send Qian Qian down!"

Shen Bing was also helpless!

The déjà vu of a demon couple kidnapping a young girl!

"Alright!"

Shen Bing pulled the rope back up and tied it around Qian Qian's wrists, instructing her: "In a bit when you go down, just pull on the rope and Lu Zhe will catch you below!"

"Oh..." Qian Qian nodded blankly, obviously not fully recovered yet.

As it turned out, the end of the rope was still one meter from the ground.

The three of them stepped onto solid ground, and their hearts settled!

Lu Zhe looked left and right. Overhead there was some mist, but it was mostly suspended above them in the lush vegetation. But 2-3 meters from the ground, it was a refreshing open space.

Lu Zhe breathed a sigh of relief. This was a place fit for people to be in!

Next he noticed that growing thickly on the layer of fallen leaves underfoot were clusters of small white flowers. Their whole bodies were snow white without any green leaves, yet they emitted a dim white glow.

Viewed from above, the white lights in the steam were given off by them.

Shen Bing crouched down to examine them closely: "What kind of flowers are these, like ghosts!"

Lu Zhe reached out his hand, and she hurriedly stopped him: "Don't touch, what if they're poisonous?"

"Even if poisonous, it's very difficult for the alkaloids in plants to penetrate human skin. At most there would be some itchiness."

He picked one. Information about the flower entered his mind.

"Oh I remember now! These really are called 'ghost flowers,' scientific name Habenaria radiata, not poisonous!

It's an orchid family perennial herb saprophyte, growing on rotting fallen leaves in the forest, all white without any green leaves!

It's the model for moonflowers in Plants vs Zombies! They're found in the mountain forests of Yunnan and Guizhou in China, also distributed in North America and Southeast Asia. They can glow at night but don't photosynthesize..."

Shen Bing was surprised: "How did you suddenly remember so much?"

"That's how I was with memorizing texts when I was little. I'd memorize them well one day but forget it all the next day. The teacher would give me a hint and I'd remember it all again in a flash."

"I've seen people recite texts and the ten thousand whys, but someone who can recite like you, I only know one!"

"Let's see how Qian Qian is doing!"

"Qian Qian, are you feeling better?"

"I've been great the whole time..."

Shen Bing nodded: "Alright, this kid still needs more time to recover! What should we do next?"

Lu Zhe thought for a moment: "Although there's light here, it's still too dark. And without a fire I feel uneasy, so let's think of a way to start a fire. We can cook some python meat too."

"The matches should be used up by now!"

"Let's see."

Lu Zhe took out the matches from his pack!

As expected, the matches were extinguished.

Some of the matches had gotten wet!

They must have gotten in water and extinguished when passing by the hot spring with the backpack!

Want to try making fire another way?

Sorry, with all the water vapor around, the wood was damp throughout.

Go further inland?

He decided against it after thinking about it!

The forest was too overgrown, and who knew how many mosquitoes and bugs there were!

The foul hydrogen sulfide odor in the moist air was unpleasant, but it could play a role in keeping away mosquitoes and bugs.

No matter what, they'd have to rough it for one night. Anything else could wait till tomorrow!

The three of them found a relatively flat area and hastily tidied it up a bit before lying down to sleep on the grass.

Lu Zhe and Shen Bing soon fell asleep, but strangely, Qian Qian couldn't fall asleep!

She sat up and looked at the sleeping Lu Zhe and Shen Bing, her heart thumping wildly.

Thinking of what happened in the hot spring, her little face turned red!

Actually, she had secretly watched everything Sister Bing and Brother Zhe did in Dongwai!

Thinking of that scene made her feel a strange sense of happiness.

She pursed her lips in a smile: "Little Brother Zhe must have some uncommon little interests like me, otherwise he wouldn't have peeped at me for so long and always look for chances to hug me..."