The jungle was pitch black and mysterious at night, yet not at all quiet!
Most tropical animals were nocturnal, and the continuous downpour had left them feeling restless and hungry, venturing out for a stroll and to forage for food!
Lu Zhe held Shen Bing's hand, wading through makeshift streams and moving forward slowly.
Shen Bing had a feeling that countless pairs of malicious eyes were watching them in the darkness, waiting to see them make fools of themselves.
Well, yes!
Come to think of it, this was originally the territory of the animals, and the two humans were the trespassers who had barged in.
Back at the camp, in the cave, four girls were glued to the screen, ready to scare off any gorillas that approached.
But none came near; one just sat not far from the bird's nest shelter, cautiously watching them.
And when girls are together, there's always an endless stream of conversation topics.
Jiang Yao asked curiously, "Why doesn't it go inside the bird's nest shelter?"
"Two possibilities!" pondered Ning Shu. "One, the shelter is too small for its large size, and it might damage it!"
"And the second?" Tang Xiaoguo asked.
"The shelter has Lu Zhe's scent, which might make it feel a slight... sense of danger!"
Lin Qianqian asked, "Is Lu Zhe... dangerous? I feel very safe with him around!"
Ning Shu nodded. "For peace-loving wild animals, Lu Zhe is probably very reassuring. But for those with malicious intentions, I think he can be quite dangerous... right?"
She waved toward the cave entrance. "Sun bear?"
The sun bear, confused, emerged from the "fridge," yawned, and looked around for food.
But upon seeing two disemboweled alligators, it let out a yelp and retreated back inside.
Ning Shu remarked with exasperation, "Such a big coward, not even worth the effort?"
After a while, Tang Xiaoguo asked, "Hey, Class Rep, do you think Bing and Little Zhe might... do some things out there?"
"What kinds of things?"
"You know, the naughty stuff between guys and girls!"
Tang Xiaoguo's question piqued the curiosity of Lin Qianqian and Jiang Yao as well.
Ning Shu pondered for a moment. "Bing seems proper on the surface, but she's actually quite experienced. She might make certain... excessive demands of Lu Zhe!"
"Ah?" Tang Xiaoguo made a sour face. "Our naive Little Zhe wouldn't be able to resist the seduction of such a formidable woman!"
Jiang Yao considered this. "Today is Sunday. Saturday and Sunday are Lu Zhe's single days, so our relationship with him is just as classmates and friends. Out of respect for a classmate, we shouldn't engage in any naughty behavior!"
Ning Shu thought about it. "In theory, yes, but what if Bing is sly and breaks the rules?"
"Oh, that's right, Class Rep! When you and Lu Zhe went to the volcano bottom last time on Saturday, you were also just friends in theory. No naughtiness, right...?"
Ning Shu's face flushed, and she felt a twinge of guilt, but quickly regained her composure. "What are you all thinking? I'm a proper girl; I would never cross any lines before a relationship is established!"
"Is that so?"
"I swear to God!" Ning Shu raised three fingers solemnly. "By the way, you all need to maintain distance from Lu Zhe too when it's not our duty shift. It's for respecting yourselves and cherishing our friendship as classmates!"
The other girls found Ning Shu's words reasonable and nodded in agreement.
Just then, the gorilla seemed to have noticed something and cautiously crawled toward the spacecraft.
"Look, it's coming!"
"Get ready to scare it away..."
"Here it comes!"
But instead of approaching the spacecraft, the gorilla stopped some distance away and picked something up from the grass.
It examined the object curiously, then held it up.
The four girls stared wide-eyed at it.
It looked... familiar!
A long plastic pouch, with a fastener at the top and what appeared to be liquid at the bottom...
Ning Shu's jaw nearly dropped.
Tang Xiaoguo: "Is that..."
Jiang Yao: "TT?"
Lin Qianqian exclaimed: "The complete scientific application?"
Jiang Yao wondered: "Why would it be discarded here?"
Then, the three girls slowly turned their heads, shooting puzzled looks at Ning Shu.
"We got the TT from the plane, and it ended up there, seemingly used!"
"Bing and Lu Zhe haven't arrived yet, and it seems only you and Lu Zhe went there last Saturday!"
"Unless there's someone else in this cave! Otherwise... care to explain, Class Rep?"
"Didn't you say you're a proper girl who maintains distance from Lu Zhe when not on duty?"
Ning Shu's mouth hung open as she recalled carelessly discarding one of the two TTs she had used, unable to find it afterwards.
She never expected a gorilla to stumble upon it.
What was going through that ape's mind?
Picking up something like that out of boredom?
"I..."
Faced with the three girls' accusatory glares, Ning Shu didn't know how to explain herself.
"Just admit it, you're the least proper one among us!"
"Telling us to keep our distance, while you were sneaking around behind our backs?"
"Yes, Class Rep, you're so sly..."
"Hey! You're all misunderstanding!"
"Misunderstanding what?"
"Misunderstanding that you and Lu Zhe were innocent?"
"Well, not exactly!" At this point, Ning Shu had no choice but to come clean. "That day, we did... but there was a reason!"
"Of course there was a reason - you were being naughty, Class Rep!"
"No, of course not!" Ning Shu shook her head. "It's because I thought Lu Zhe might be... impotent!"
Jiang Yao remarked, "How could that be? He may be skinny, but his body is as strong as an ox!"
"Huh??"
"I'm his partner, so I would know, wouldn't I?"
"But I didn't know that! I thought he might be sick, so I wanted to probe a little and see if he had... that kind of problem!"
Tang Xiaoguo exclaimed in awe, "That actually makes sense!"
Lin Qianqian marveled, "I just imagined all sorts of reasons, but never this one!"
Jiang Yao shook her head helplessly. "Class Rep, you've taken the phrase 'talking nonsense' to new heights!"
"Believe me, that's really what happened!"
As they were arguing, Lin Qianqian suddenly said, "Hey, look, the gorilla's gone!"
The four girls turned their attention to the screen but saw no trace of the gorilla.
"Where did that thing run off to?"
Ning Shu controlled the camera, panning in different directions.
However, the surroundings were eerily still, with no sign of the gorilla anywhere.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhe and Shen Bing had made their way through the raging stream and arrived at the hot spring cave!
They exchanged a smile, shared a gentle kiss, then secured their equipment and dove into the hot spring.
It didn't take long for them to find the spacecraft, putting Lu Zhe at ease.
But there was no sign of the gorilla.
Lu Zhe's heart skipped a beat. "Maybe it escaped through another cave entrance?"
Then, addressing the screen, "Hey, did you see where the gorilla went?"
Ning Shu's apologetic voice came through the speaker, "Well... no idea?"