At this moment, there was no time for me to think. Our situation was dire. Luo Yaqin was shivering uncontrollably, clearly freezing.
The blizzard had only subsided two days prior, leaving residual snow and ice by the sea. Everyone had just emerged from the water, their clothes soaked through.
With the sea breeze blowing, even a Superman would struggle, let alone a group of women.
Whether we could even leave later was a question.
Everyone's condition was far from good. If we continued to stay by the sea like this, lives would be lost!
I made a decisive move. I scooped up the now immobilized Luo Yaqin in a bridal carry and led the group towards the cave.
Fortunately, the blizzard had passed, and the temperature had risen considerably. Otherwise, we might not have even made it to the cave.
Back in the cave, sitting by the fire and warming ourselves, I felt a wave of relief wash over me as my body temperature gradually returned.
Guan Haier sat by the fire, her hand patting her chest with lingering fear. "It's a good thing we didn't go too far. If the boat had capsized out at sea, we would have all perished!"
My gaze followed her hand to her considerable bosom. Her wet clothes clung tightly to her skin, causing my old face to blush. I coughed lightly and turned my head away.
As I turned, I nearly bumped into Su Yunran's towering chest. Su Yunran's face was flushed, and she shot me a shy, defiant glance. But she said nothing, merely scooting a little further away from me and shielding her chest.
In the urgency of the moment, I hadn't paid attention to anything else. Now, back in the cave, all the women were drenched, their individual charms accentuated. I found myself staring!
Good heavens, I felt like an emperor from ancient times, with all the women in this cave seemingly my harem!
I awkwardly touched my nose.
Xia Liuli, who hadn't spoken since I rescued her, suddenly her eyes reddened, and tears began to stream down her face.
"Wuuuuhuhu, now the boat is gone, and our hope of leaving is gone too. Are we going to be trapped on this island forever?"
Her sole support, the hope of one day returning to the outside world, had been her driving force.
Now that her only conceivable means of escape had been dashed, the hope that sustained her was gone.
Shangguan Yao, usually so strong-willed, was also speechless, her eyes vacant as she stared out of the cave.
The atmosphere inside the cave was so quiet, as if the world had fallen silent.
Disappointment etched on everyone's faces, they looked as if they were in the calm before a storm.
I truly couldn't imagine what people would do when they lost all hope.
As the central figure of our team, I had to do something to lift everyone's spirits.
We had already lost most of our supplies due to the shipwreck. If things continued like this, we might not even last a day.
Glancing at everyone, I raised my voice. "Can everyone pull themselves together? It's just one setback! How many failures have we faced since arriving on this island? Are we afraid of this one?"
"In a couple of days, after we've gathered supplies, we'll build another boat and set sail when the time is right!"
I tried to ignite their fighting spirit with my words. No one knew when the right time would be, and with all the strange occurrences on this island, who knew what tomorrow would bring.
But in times of helplessness, people always need a role model!
They need a new goal to cling to, to provide psychological comfort, even if that goal is illusory.
I firmly believed that I would find Qu Xiangyun and survive!
I would lead her and all the women off this island together!
After hearing my words, Shangguan Yao's expression improved slightly.
In truth, they all understood that this was just my attempt to comfort them. But they needed something to sustain them.
And I was that pillar of support!
Shangguan Yao finally withdrew her gaze from outside the cave and noticed me occasionally sneaking glances at the other women. She clutched her chest protectively and said with a hint of shy anger, "Lu Zi Ye, just talk. Turn your head away! If you keep looking, I'll gouge your eyes out!"
"I can't exactly talk with my back to you!"
Seeing that my peeking had been discovered by Shangguan Yao, I could only offer a weak excuse and turned away sheepishly.
"Actually, our current situation is much better than when we first washed ashore on this nameless island. We have our own base, a water source, and food. We even survived that terrifying blizzard, so what can't we overcome now?"
With my back to them, I analyzed our current situation in detail. As I said, if our situation a month ago were like this, I would have woken up laughing from sheer joy.
Though I couldn't see their faces, I could clearly sense that some of them had visibly relaxed after hearing my words.
Yet, in my heart, the most genuine feeling was one of unease.
Could things really be as simple as I thought?
If there were no other dangers on this island, why did Qu Xiangyun leave without a word?
Why did she warn us to leave this island immediately?
Even though I had reassured everyone, I still had a nagging feeling that an unseen claw was reaching out to envelop us...