Filtering all the honeycombs on a large wooden barrel, North, along with Tiger and Biaozi, went out to bring back the honey-collecting cages and boxes. Only then did he invite everyone to return to the courtyard together to prepare for dinner. In the honey-collecting cages were the queen bees, and there were quite a few bees gathered. North filled a new box and placed it among several others, settling them in the midst of the tea tree grove. It was spring, the season when camellias were in full bloom, and the newly relocated bees to their "new home" should soon settle down happily.
At the dining table, the children enjoyed their meal while sipping the fresh fruit juice honey water North had prepared. They discussed the plan to hunt a few deer tomorrow for honey-glazed meat. The elders also praised the crispy and fragrant honeycomb, especially winning the heartfelt approval of Old Yao Ye. He repeatedly instructed Tong Liduo to make more beehives. People say the old enjoy small pleasures just as the young do; when Grandpa encounters a taste he loves, he's as enthusiastic as little Master Sina. In just two days, North had deeply fallen in love with the rustic charm of this otherworldly mountain.
Though the quantity of bee larvae was limited, the family enjoyed it fresh. However, the amount of honey, comb honey, and beeswax was considerable. If they brought it all back, they could add it to Qiao Er's shipment to Southeast Asia. The Tong family only needed to sell it in bulk, leaving the delicate packaging to Qiao Er. In North's mind, he envisioned a series of outer packaging: bamboo and wooden boxes, woven baskets, clay jars, white glass bottles, and glass flasks. The sweetness of this era should still be considered a "soft gold" commodity for Europeans. He wondered if those Southeast Asian merchants had encountered Westerners who came around the Cape of Good Hope? Oh, honey wine! The appearance of those honey wines most popular among Westerners in later centuries would have to wait for a millennium. North suggested asking Grandpa for some fermenting starter tonight, and he would start brewing in the space.
The discussion on the table had shifted from honey-glazed meat to deer hunting and sheep hunting. The enthusiasm of everyone quickly ignited North's anticipation for tomorrow's hunting. After putting down their chopsticks, they joined others in the hall, helping to prepare the tools needed for tomorrow while listening to Tong Chen and Li Shu arranging routes and tasks. However, when it came to setting specific locations, the two of them hesitated. Li Shu used to go to several mountain valleys with hot springs and streams in the deep mountains. Many wild animals would come there to drink water in the morning and evening. Tong Chen thought that there would be many people going tomorrow, including children, so it might not be suitable to venture too far into the mountains. However, although many places on the mountain could be seen covered in thick fog all year round, there had never been any discovery of hot springs nearby in recent years. In the early spring, the mountains were cool, and animals liked to stay in warm valleys. So, avoiding going too far into the mountains was understandable to avoid limited gains.
North was also a bit puzzled, so he used his divine sense to carefully search in the space. In fact, the geothermal resources in this mountain were quite abundant, with many ravines and slopes having hot springs. In the eastern valley, many stone cracks emitted hot water, with a waterfall hanging down from the cliff, forming a large water pool below. The surroundings were lush and vibrant, with two exits – a broad, approximately five-meter-wide mountain slope extended eastward from the water pool into the deeper mountains, while another smaller slope ran southwestward for two or three miles along the stream flowing out of the pool, disappearing at the foot of the mountain. This spot resembled the valley where North had fallen before arriving here, and there were several such places within a radius of about forty miles. No wonder Old Tong had stayed on this high mountain for over thirty years. It was simply a natural and precious medicinal garden. North focused on the small stream at the foot of the mountain, which disappeared into a stone cave. The cave was only about ten meters long, and its exit on this side of the valley was only wide enough for two or three people to pass side by side. It pointed towards the sky, hidden behind the bushes, resembling a crack in the mountain. This cave was just a corner of a huge karst cave within the mountain. The cave had a complex network of channels, and its depth and breadth were unknown, but this corner was located not far from the Tong family, about ten miles to the east among the group of peaks.