Take the Bear Cave

"Throw the pottery and stone tools down the well. They will sink to the bottom and the water won't wash them away. Bring all the other tools with you!"

"Bring as much food and clothes as you can to keep warm."

"And tools, bear skins... Don't worry about the shelter!"

Lu Zhe realized most things had already been packed by the few girls.

No one brought those quirky pieces of pottery.

It seemed after living in the wilderness these days, they knew what was more important to them.

After getting ready, Lu Zhe grabbed the three heaviest packages with one hand and held Shen Bing's hand with the other.

The four girls felt somewhat puzzled.

Why hold the hand of an older sister instead of one of the four cute girls of similar age?

His taste seemed off!

"What are you still waiting for, let's go!"

"Oh, okay..."

The four knew it was an emergency. No time to sulk. They hurriedly held each other's hands and followed behind.

The rain grew heavier!

Just now, they were only drenched. But now they were almost completely soaked. It could almost be called a downpour.

Everyone's clothes stuck to their bodies, their hair plastered to their scalps. They staggered with every step, looking wretched beyond words!

And as the rain grew heavier, everything around turned misty white with decreasing visibility.

If someone fell behind, they might never find the team again.

Lu Zhe quickly stopped and gathered everyone together. He put down the packages and tied the middle of the three ropes into a tight knot, leaving six ends.

Lu Zhe picked up one end of the rope and shouted, "Everyone, hold one end of the rope and tie it around your arm. See?"

Even at such close range, Lu Zhe had to gesture wildly while yelling at the top of his lungs for them to understand.

If he only spoke, his voice would be instantly drowned out by the roaring rain!

Luckily, the five girls understood. They all nodded and tied one end of the rope around their arms!

This way, even if someone fell, their companions could immediately pull them up.

The heavy rain had washed some slippers away. They had to walk barefoot. No matter, they could just walk barefoot.

Their drenched clothes clung to them, revealing sights usually unseen. No matter, Lu Zhe had no time to appreciate the scene.

He needed to determine direction in the misty, rain-drenched world relying on memory alone!

If they wandered much longer, even if no one became hypothermic, they might still get swept away by a flash flood caused by the downpour.

And judging from the girls' miserable shivering, hypothermia didn't seem far off either.

Luckily after half an hour in the torrential rain, Lu Zhe finally found the bear cave!

By now, the rain rushing down the mountain had turned the cave entrance into a water curtain cave.

They had to break through the water curtain to get inside the cave.

Whether the lingering bear smell inside had dissipated mattered little now.

As long as no bear hid inside.

Lu Zhe led the girls under the "water curtain cave".

Since the cave mouth loomed four to five meters above the ground, they needn't worry about flooding even in this heavy rain.

Getting inside would just take some effort.

They had to face the water flow, climb up the rocks on the side, then have their companions outside push them in.

Lu Zhe first threw the packages in from the side.

No items came back out.

"Guo Er, you first... Which one is Guo Er?"

With hair plastered over their faces, ordinary people might identify companions by their clothes. But Lu Zhe had a better method.

The one with the smallest chest must be the right one!

Lu Zhe pulled her to the rock on the side, picked her up, lifted her high, then supported her butt with his head while grabbing her ankles to boost her up.

She finally crawled up with great difficulty.

She cried out happily, "I'm up!"

With the first one up, the rest became easy.

Lu Zhe gave them a boost from below while Guo Er pulled from above. Soon all the girls successfully entered the cave.

Only Lu Zhe remained. He focused his mind and leapt up toward the mouth against the water flow. Grabbing the edge of the cave mouth, just as he tried to push up into a graceful leap, the girls didn't give him a chance. They dragged at his clothes, arms and hair, grabbing him every which way until he was heaved unceremoniously up too.

His attempt at coolness ended in slight embarrassment, but his heart still felt warm.

At a time like this, them not bothering to grab you would be true failure!

"No one missing, right?"

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven... Seven, no one missing!"

"Wait?"

"Seven?"

"Why is there one more?"

Everyone looked deeper into the cave together.

There sat an additional figure at the very back!

"Ah, a ghost..."

The girls hugged each other in fear!

Lu Zhe peered closely. "I'll be damned, it really is?"

On closer inspection, he breathed a sigh of relief. "What ghost! It's just a monkey taking shelter from the rain!"

Ning Shu cried out, "Why does it have that thing growing on its face?"

"Is that right?"

Lu Zhe walked over to take a better look. This monkey had a long, fleshy strip hanging from its face. Seeing it unexpectedly like that, it could easily lead to strange ideas.

Right then, the monkey blinked its eyes in confusion at the people suddenly intruding.

Ning Shu pointed at the monkey's nose and shrieked, "Ah! It got hard!"

Lu Zhe remained perfectly calm. "Don't worry. It's a proboscis monkey. That's its nose. When faced with human invaders, it gets angry and its nose will swell up while letting out low roars. Actually this kind of monkey is much more docile than macaques."

"Why isn't it roaring then?"

"I reckon it's scared of our greater numbers, fear outweighing its anger!"

"What should we do about this guy?"

Lu Zhe thought that of almost all edible animals in the world, he wouldn't mind eating any, save primates.

Unless facing imminent starvation, he was unwilling to dissect monkeys for food.

No time to reason with it!

Lu Zhe grabbed its four limbs and picked it up. The monkey struggled violently to no avail against Lu Zhe's strength. He swung it twice at the cave mouth. "Off you go!"

With a swoosh, the pitiful proboscis monkey sailed far into the pouring rain.

Soon disappearing without a trace.

Good, now the cave fully belonged to humankind.

Although they successfully entered the cave, the situation still seemed dire.

The drenched clothes and ongoing chill caused violent shivering among the girls!

Lu Zhe particularly worried about the pregnant Shen Bing and menstruating Ning Shu.

With no fire or easy means of starting one, maintaining body heat became imperative.

Currently, only one method existed for that.

Lu Zhe spoke gravely, "Although hard to accept, you must now take off your wet clothes and huddle together! Remember to apply herbal paste, there might be fleas and lice here."

The girls gave a collective "Mm".

Their gazes turned as one toward Lin Qianqian.

Lin Qianqian understood everyone's concern and said with blushing face, "I'll control myself."

On further thought, propriety mattered little now to the rest too.

They all took off their outerwear, leaving only the innermost layer.

Although still damp and uncomfortable, it was already much better with no other choice.

Just then, Lu Zhe noticed the remaining bear fur.

Having Malayan bear genes, the fur stuck together in stacks about 1.8 meters tall, roughly a queen-sized blanket for a 1.8 meters tall bear.

These past days, the girls had cleaned all blood and fat from under the fur. Being soft and dense with rich oils, the rain hadn't soaked the fur one bit despite the downpour.

Lu Zhe spread out the huge fur hide and actually wrapped up all five huddled girls!

Although still shivering, their situation already showed marked improvement against hypothermia.