The warm spring steam rose in a faint mist as the six companions soaked in the pool, savoring the long-awaited tranquility.
Of course, everyone was wearing underpants and crop tops.
After all, among companions, one must present a modest side.
Bathing completely naked in the hot spring was something only a drunken Tang Xiaoguo could do.
"I feel like my life has been sublimated!"
"Yeah, way better than before, and no monkeys to bother us."
"The rock must have sealed off the entrance, to prevent monkeys from entering. Maybe we should make a door, or tie a bear at the entrance."
"Yeah, this will be our new territory from now on."
As they chatted idly, Ning Shu suddenly asked, "By the way, didn't you go get the aircraft? Where is it?"
"When we saw that cave, we thought the gorilla might crawl out from there, so we left the aircraft at the bird's nest shelter to explore the new opening. It turned out the tunnel led here."
"Does this mean it's the red gorilla's home?"
"Unlikely, its size can't fit through the narrow passage. There must be another entrance."
Lu Zhe and Shen Bing recounted their findings about the "treasure" to the girls.
Unable to restrain their curiosity, everyone decided to take a look.
Seeing the cave full of gold and silver, the girls were all stunned.
Tang Xiaoguo exclaimed, "Wow, so much money!"
Qian Qian said, "We could make so many pieces of jewelry!"
Ning Shu nodded, "I can say with confidence that we'll have enough capital to open a scrap metal collection station, no matter what."
Jiang Yao shook her head, "With so much gold as ours, why open a scrap station? A hardware store would be much better, wouldn't it?"
...
The girls chattered animatedly, while Lu Zhe and Shen Bing exchanged helpless glances and shook their heads.
"Calm down, ladies."
Shen Bing smiled as he picked up a gold ingot, "Actually, for us now, these things are less useful than what's in a hardware store."
Lu Zhe nodded, "The most useful thing to find here is this pickaxe."
The girls pondered and indeed couldn't think of what to do with the treasure, except perhaps smuggling it back to modern society once they returned.
So the girls shifted their thoughts to smuggling plans, even roping in Shen Bing the policewoman to scheme, to her annoyance.
But it was better than nothing; gold was stable, so it wouldn't spoil just sitting there.
They didn't need to worry about it.
Fortunately, Lu Zhe found a new passage.
This way, they didn't have to go through the hot spring to reach the bottom of the volcano.
Although it would be quite a hassle inside, they'd need to reinforce and widen the rocky tunnel.
With the girls' help, Lu Zhe made a ladder and climbed back out through the horn-shaped opening to retrieve the aircraft.
Along the way, they didn't see the pangolin or the giant gorilla again.
It was time to return to camp.
Sunlight streamed into the cave mouth, as if the rain had cleared.
Yet when they reached the entrance, the sky was bright but rain was still pouring down.
Not a heavy downpour, but not light either.
One patch of dark clouds had dissipated, but an endless stretch was still slowly drifting over.
A whole month of scorching heat with no rain had been maddening, and now the relentless rain was just as maddening.
Fortunately, this cave was at a higher elevation, providing a slightly more spacious rain shelter than the stone cave.
The only issue was the hot spring mist billowing out, making it unsuitable for storing supplies.
"Why don't we stay here for a couple of days?" Ning Shu suggested.
The other three girls all voted in favor, "Yeah, the camp is too cramped, we're suffocating."
"Exactly, a change of environment and mood is needed!"
"I agree!"
Lu Zhe also felt that changing environments occasionally would help relieve the oppressive mood.
Lu Zhe nodded, "If my ladies have decided, then Your Majesty decrees that we shall stay here..."
"Wait!" Jiang Yao suddenly froze. "This place isn't good..."
"Why not?"
"There's a dead emperor lying inside, and Lu Zhe, with you calling us 'ladies', it feels like you've been possessed."
Lu Zhe paused, "Sis, what an imagination!"
But thinking about it, he did seem to have misspoken; it wasn't appropriate to joke like that in this situation.
Ning Shu shuddered, "If Yao hadn't pointed it out, I wouldn't have thought of it, but now I feel a chill down my spine!"
Qian Qian said nervously, "Are... are you really Lu Zhe?"
As soon as she said it, apart from Shen Bing, the other girls shrank back in fright.
"Aah, a ghost!"
"Hey, hey, you... get out of our beloved man's body!"
"Don't defile his body!"
Shen Bing smiled wryly, "What kind of talk is this?"
"Want to test it out?"
"How?"
"Whoever needs to pee, see if he dares drink it. Only the real Lu Zhe would dare!"
"Don't be ridiculous! Who knows if ancient emperors had hentai tendencies."
"I've got an idea!"
"What idea?"
"We'll ask about our little secrets, then we'll know if it's him!"
"Yeah, good idea!"
Tang Xiaoguo sidled up, batting her eyes at Lu Zhe, "Remember that one time in a fair duel, you lost to me for the first time ever? Do you still recall..." Mmph!"
Before she could finish, Lu Zhe had clamped her little mouth shut, muffling her cries.
Lu Zhe sternly and angrily pointed at her little nose, "Guo, if you say another word, I swear I'll tie you up and whip your ass with a little leather crop!"
An ordinary threat, yet it made Qian Qian's eyes light up.
That's right, there was always a legitimate excuse for improper conduct - who else could it be but him?
So Qian Qian concluded seriously and confidently, "No doubt, it's Lu Zhe!"
Lu Zhe was speechless. "I'm telling you, enough already."
"Still, it is quite creepy, with a dead emperor and his ladies inside, so maybe don't talk like that anymore, okay?"
Lu Zhe nodded, "Okay, wives!"
"Yeah! That feels much better!"
Lu Zhe added, "But with the body remains and rocks inside, it'll still feel uncomfortable, right?"
The girls all nodded.
Lu Zhe pondered, "Well, since there's nothing urgent now, let's take those remains and rocks out and give them a proper burial. That way, the ancestors can rest in peace, and we can stay here with peace of mind."
Shen Bing said, "That's a good idea!"
"I'm in favor!"
"Me too!"
"Once we bury the emperor, we won't feel guilty about spending his money."
"Right, if he's properly buried, he won't turn into a ghost."
Lu Zhe couldn't help but marvel, "Look at that, you've all found justifications that I couldn't even think of!"
The proposal was unanimously passed, and everyone began discussing how to bury these people who had died hundreds of years ago.