Xu Mingxuan saw Chen Lan still looking around at the commotion, and it seemed she had no intention of leaving anytime soon. He raised his wrist to check the time on his watch. It was getting late, so he took Chen Lan's hand and whispered, "Lan'er, it's getting late. Let's go quickly!"
Seeing that Chen Lan still didn't react, he said again, "Lan'er, it's already two-thirty in the afternoon. We have to rush back there. It's a long mountain road. If we don't leave now, we won't make it back. Spending a night in the deep mountains and old forests in winter is very dangerous!"
Chen Lan thought it made sense, so she stopped delaying. She immediately turned around and, with Xu Mingxuan, they left Pogranichny town with their baskets on their backs. The couple walked quickly back along the path they had come.
After walking at a brisk pace for a while, Chen Lan's forehead began to sweat. She panted as she walked, and asked breathlessly, "Mingxuan Ge, are we really rushing back now and then rushing back here before dawn tomorrow morning?"
Xu Mingxuan heard Chen Lan and stopped. He wiped the sweat from her forehead with his sleeve and asked with a puzzled expression, "Otherwise? Lan'er, do you have a better idea?"
Chen Lan also stopped, adjusted her breathing, and continued to walk slowly forward, explaining to Xu Mingxuan in detail, "Mingxuan Ge, if we keep running back and forth across the border between these two countries like this every day, it's easy to be discovered, which will affect our subsequent actions. Secondly, besides exhausting us to death, if the border guards here discover us sneaking over here, we'll be in great danger. Thirdly, it will be inconvenient for you to sneak out every day after returning to the camp. If this continues, it's very easy to attract attention and suspicion."
After listening to Chen Lan, Xu Mingxuan lowered his head and pondered for a while. He then said, "Lan'er, you're right. If that's the case, we'll have to find a relatively dry cave in the mountains to spend the night. Camping outside is definitely not an option. Didn't you hear Grandpa Chang say that there are wolves, Siberian tigers, and Siberian leopards in the eastern mountains?"
Chen Lan was immediately excited when she heard that Xu Mingxuan had agreed to spend the night in the mountains and no longer had to rush. She said, "Mingxuan Ge, I know where there's a cave in the mountains. It's near the big rock where we ate. There's a not-too-small cave where I hunted pheasants and rabbits this morning. I haven't really paid attention to whether it's dry, but I'll take you to see it when we get there later."
Since they had decided not to rush back, the couple no longer hurried their steps. Hand in hand, they walked at their usual pace for another half hour and arrived at the big rock.
With not much time left before dark, Chen Lan didn't delay any further. She pulled Xu Mingxuan and walked towards the woods where she had hunted that morning. When they reached the cave, just as Chen Lan was about to step inside, Xu Mingxuan grabbed her.
Chen Lan looked up at Xu Mingxuan in surprise. Xu Mingxuan explained, "Lan'er, you can't just go into a cave in the deep mountains and old forests like this. There might be other dangerous animals inside. It's very dangerous for you to just barge in like this. Do you know that?"
Chen Lan asked anxiously, "Mingxuan Ge, what should we do?"
Xu Mingxuan calmly comforted her, "Lan'er, don't worry. Get out your sickle. Let's cut some dry grass and chop some dry branches. We'll make a few torches and throw them into the cave to burn and smoke it out. If there are any venomous snakes, bats, or other creatures inside, the fire and smoke will surely drive them out."
Chen Lan immediately started to act. She took a sickle from the system warehouse and handed it to Xu Mingxuan, while she held a chopping knife in her hand.
The couple then divided the labor. Chen Lan was responsible for chopping dry branches, while Xu Mingxuan was responsible for cutting dry grass. Both of these things were abundant in the mountains. The couple quickly completed the initial preparation work.
The remaining tasks were to make torches and smoke out the cave. This glorious and arduous task was assigned to Xu Mingxuan. Chen Lan continued to chop dry branches nearby. It was estimated that they would need a lot of firewood to spend the night in the mountains today. Firstly, the temperature in the mountains would drop sharply once the sun went down. Spending the night in the wilderness would likely be much colder than at home, so a fire would be needed for warmth. Secondly, it was said that wild animals like wolves, tigers, and leopards were afraid of fire, so lighting a campfire at night while spending the night in the deep mountains and old forests could prevent these ferocious animals from attacking humans.
By the time Chen Lan returned with enough branches, Xu Mingxuan had already smoked out the cave. The cave was no longer emitting smoke. He was holding a large torch and was about to enter the cave to inspect the situation inside. Seeing Chen Lan return, he stopped and called out, "Lan'er, you're back. Do you want to come in and take a look together?"
Chen Lan immediately agreed, "Okay! Mingxuan Ge, just a moment." With that, she opened the system warehouse with her mind, took out two miner's caps, put one on herself, turned on the power switch on the cap, and then handed another cap to Xu Mingxuan to wear.
Chen Lan then lit a torch and raised it, saying, "Mingxuan Ge, let's go in!" Xu Mingxuan reached out and pulled Chen Lan, whispering, "Lan'er, follow behind me."
The couple entered the cave one after the other. The cave didn't look very big from the outside, but after walking through a narrow passage, they saw that it was quite spacious inside, about eighty to ninety square meters. The distance from the ground to the cave ceiling was estimated to be five to six meters. The space inside the cave was quite large. The only drawback was that the ground inside the cave was uneven and bumpy.
The couple inspected every nook and cranny of the cave. They found nothing else inside, nor did they find any other exit.
Chen Lan felt that the air inside the cave was no different from the outside, with no feeling of stuffiness. It seemed as if the air in the cave was circulating with the outside air, which made Chen Lan very puzzled and bewildered. She wondered if it was due to her unusually sensitive senses or just a psychological effect.
At this moment, Xu Mingxuan said, "Lan'er, it's getting dark outside. Come on, let's quickly go outside and cut more dry grass to make our beds, and then find something to eat!"
Chen Lan then stopped worrying about the air problem. The most important thing now was to solve the problems of sleeping and eating.