Discovering Hot Springs in the Mountains

During the process of making the fence, Lu Zhe discovered new problems again.

First was the planning of the camp area, namely their small courtyard.

Lu Zhe planned to enclose an area of one thousand square meters from the banyan tree to the foot of the mountain into the yard.

This would require a lot of timber and bamboo strips to make the fence.

There were plenty of materials, but there were no handy tools.

The Japanese Type 30 bayonets were too thin. They could still cut bamboo and small tree branches the thickness of a wrist, but anything thicker would damage the blade too much.

Should he make a stone axe?

Such a thing would become blunt when used for chopping and sharp edges would break easily, requiring sharpening after a period of use. It would work as an initial makeshift tool, but wouldn't be realistic as a long term tool.

There was no way to achieve everything at once. He could only reduce the scope first and expand later when he had the proper tools.

From the initial plan of building a 1,000 square meter fence for the camp, they had worked hard for two hours before lowering the target to 500 square meters, and after another half hour, everyone unanimously decided to aim for an even smaller target - 100 square meters!

By noon, Lu Zhe and the five exhausted beauties looked at the half finished fence and half earthen wall, deep in thought.

Sure enough, some things seem easy when planning but reveal their difficulty when actually doing them.

"This is called...a courtyard??"

"The fence isn't even waist high."

"The area is less than 30 square meters!"

"It’s not even as big as my living room at home."

Lu Zhe smiled and said, "It may be small, but it can basically prevent snakes and crocodiles from entering. With a campfire and mosquito coils, we can sleep at ease at night."

Ning Shu pointed at the cows, "What about those two? What will we do?"

Lu Zhe sighed. "Let's leave them outside for now. There's nothing we can do if they get eaten." As long as my beauties aren't eaten, it will be fine."

After a short rest, the girls had to go make lunch again and cut more grass to feed the cows.

Lu Zhe went to check on the bicycle. After soaking overnight, a lot of the rust had been etched away.

He wrapped the bark rope around the screws and then applied force to turn them, and with his powerful strength and physique he was actually able to unscrew them!

Lu Zhe was overjoyed to be able to disassemble everything removable.

The aluminum tubes, wheels, sprockets, spokes, chain links, rusty bearings, and the steel balls inside the bearings covered in rust.

Although they were unremarkable items, Lu Zhe knew they would play an extremely important role in their future lives.

He collected the items first. Lu Zhe began planning his next steps!

In the afternoon, he would explore the volcanic peak again, continuing to look for usable plants, while also determining the nature of the volcano.

If he could find some minerals, that would be fantastic.

Since he might carry back some supplies, Lu Zhe decided to bring one more person this time.

After discussing, Shen Bing and Qian Qian went with Lu Zhe, with Shen Bing mainly assisting Lu Zhe and Qian Qian responsible for record keeping.

The three brought the Type 30 bayonets, entrenching tools, lunch boxes, water canteens and other tools, entering the jungle from the north slope.

Half an hour later, as they neared the freshwater lake again, Lu Zhe reminded Shen Bing and Qian Qian.

The lakeshore was prone to predators coming to drink water. Watch your step for snakes on the ground. Be careful what you grab onto on the tree trunks in case of centipedes. The swamps and wetlands were also full of danger.

To put it this way, people without survival experience who entered such a jungle should be prepared to be served their funeral meals directly.

To avoid danger, Lu Zhe walked in front, with Qian Qian in the middle.

Sure enough, they passed without incident all the way.

The three climbed up the hillside and arrived at a mountain stream.

This mountain stream was quite wide, over three meters across, flowing steadily without rushing. It had already carved out a stable waterway.

The creek water was clear to the bottom, occasionally revealing unknown freshwater fish and shrimp swimming in pools by the gentle slopes.

The stream was covered with oval pebbles, all indicating this was a perennial creek that would not dry up even in drought seasons.

The three washed their faces and continued forward.

Up ahead was a large swamp that could not be bypassed, so they could only take the risk and go over it.

As expected, when they climbed over the swamp using the tree trunks, the trunks broke and all three of them fell into the swamp.

But there was no need to panic. Lu Zhe had anticipated this possibility happening, and had tied lifelines in advance. He told Shen Bing and Qian Qian to use the ropes and tree trunks to spread their bodies out wide over the swamp and slowly pull out their sunk legs.

This was a method Uncle Bei had taught.

Because the human body density is usually less than the swamp density, as long as you don't struggle, you won't sink too deep.

Many who had fallen into swamps had not drowned fully submerged in the swamp, but had sunk up to their chests while struggling, and the tremendous pressure caused suffocation and death.

If only the legs were sunk in without sinking too deep, they could still get themselves out of the swamp.

Although it took some time and effort, the three were able to crawl back to safety without incident.

They themselves were safe now, but the plan to reach the volcanic crater through here was not feasible.

Also, now all three of them looked like mud monkeys, dirty from head to toe.

Well, they should go back and wash up in the creek first.

But just then, Lu Zhe faintly smelled a stench of rotten eggs.

If not for his keen sense of smell, he would never have noticed it.

Hydrogen sulfide?

No!

It wasn't that pungent.

"Wait, let's go this way first!"

"What is it, Lu Zhe?"

"I may have discovered something good!"

Shen Bing and Qian Qian looked at each other, and could only follow Lu Zhe.

The three went around a gorge, and discovered there was a small natural cave on the mountainside not far away.

Unlike a bear cave, this cave was a fissure that seemed to be naturally formed. The cave entrance was wet, and faint white mist could be seen billowing out from the fissure.

That's right, this was it!

Qian Qian said worriedly, "What is this cave? It won't be dangerous, right?"

"I'll go in and take a look. You two wait here for me!"

"Wait a moment!" Shen Bing took out a rope and tied it around Lu Zhe's waist. "Yell if something happens and we'll pull you out."

Lu Zhe nodded. "That works too!"

Then, supporting himself on the walls, he walked inside. After just a few steps, he discovered a oval-shaped space of 7-8 square meters. The wet walls enclosed a pool of milky water tinged with green, giving off faint steam.

That faint rotten egg smell came from this pool.

Toxic?

He held his breath, bent down, and lightly dipped his fingers in the pool water. Information came to his mind.

"Ding! Congratulations host, you have discovered an important resource - Sulfur Spring. Water temperature 40°C, containing 39 mineral substances! +1 potential point!"

Lu Zhe was overjoyed!

You say this smell is toxic?

There is some toxicity, but the concentration is too low to cause much negative impact on the human body. But the benefits it provides are countless!

Sulfur springs can soften skin, dissolve keratin, sterilize, kill insects, and relieve muscle pain and neurological and metabolic diseases.

"Haha, there's no need to go wash in the creek. Let's soak in this hot spring!"

"Is this spring water safe?"

"Don't worry, it's much safer than public baths."

Both Shen Bing and Qian Qian nodded.

But now there was an issue - all three of them were dirty, yet there was only one pool. How should they wash?