Wilderness Survival with Druid System

Hua Yun picked up the bear pelt and said, ”This bear pelt has been left for quite a while. Feel it, isn’t it already a bit stiff?”

Chen Wen reached out to feel it.

Just as Hua Yun said, the bear pelt was indeed somewhat stiff, but not to the point where it couldn’t be bent.

”I previously just did some basic treatment on this bear pelt, cleaning off the fragmented meat and fat on it.”

Hua Yun continued to speak as she spread the entire bear pelt out.

The bear pelt was enormous, and Chen Wen felt like it could wrap around three of himself, with room to spare.

”This grizzly bear pelt is really stunning!”

Chen Wen couldn’t help but say, ”I bet it could fetch a decent amount of money.”

Hua Yun nodded, ”Certainly, grizzly bears are difficult to hunt, especially one this big.”

”Why not try to keep this pelt, see if we can take it with us later?”

Looking at the perfect grizzly bear pelt, Chen Wen was a bit reluctant to part with it.

Hua Yun thought for a moment and said, ”Even if we plan to keep it, we still need to tan it. Only by tanning can it be preserved better and longer.”

There was nothing wrong with that statement.

Chen Wen asked, ”So, Miss Hua, what method should we use to tan it?”

Hua Yun held back a laugh, cleared her throat twice, and said seriously, ”Given our current conditions, we can only use the Brain Tanning Method and the Smoking Method.”

Brain Tanning Method? Smoking Method?

This time, Chen Wen was even more puzzled.

Hua Yun directed Chen Wen to pick up the pelt of the Dall sheep they first encountered that died in a collision.

Intending to use practical action to help him understand.

Chen Wen picked up the stiff Dall sheep pelt, clicking his tongue.

That Dall sheep pelt was really hard, almost as hard as a rock.

At this moment, Hua Yun said, ”Let’s start with the Smoking Method. Both these pelts are quite stiff, so the Smoking Method is suitable.”

As she spoke, Hua Yun used the smokehouse that Chen Wen had built.

The smokehouse was already at the end of its lifespan.

The last bit of venison, Hua Yun and Chen Wen didn’t plan to smoke it.

After all, with the current weather, it wouldn’t make much difference whether they smoked it or not.

The Yukon River now acted as a natural freezer.

So, under Hua Yun’s command, Chen Wen modified the smokehouse.

The original multi-layered smokehouse was dismantled, leaving only one layer.

Hua Yun placed the bear pelt with the inner side facing down, spreading it on top of the smokehouse.

”Light the fire, add some damp wood, just like when smoking meat.”

Chen Wen nodded and followed her instructions.

After a while, smoke and heat started to rise, covering the bear pelt.

”This is the first step of the Smoking Method. Once it’s smoked for a while, we’ll proceed to the second step.”

As Hua Yun spoke, she had Chen Wen place the Dall sheep pelt over the fire at the shelter to smoke it as well.

While keeping busy, Chen Wen asked, ”What’s the purpose of this step? Can you explain, Miss Hua?”

”Of course, Chen,”

Hua Yun said with a smile, ”The simplest explanation is that the high heat causes the protein to denature, making the animal pelt softer.”

So that’s how it is.

Chen Wen nodded, knowing that proteins denature in high heat.

Snake venom works in the same way.

But he had never heard it could make animal pelts softer.

”What are we doing next?”

Chen Wen asked, ”We can’t just wait, right? I feel like we’d wait for a long time.”

Hua Yun nodded, saying, ”Of course, we don’t just wait. We’ll proceed with the practical application of the Brain Tanning Method.”

”The brains of these animals serve as the raw material for the Brain Tanning Method.”

Hua Yun picked up the freshest reindeer pelt and the reindeer’s head, ”Chop open the head, take out the brain, and spread it evenly on the leather.”

Chen Wen silently watched Hua Yun split open the reindeer’s head with an axe, feeling quite regretful.

If only the reindeer’s head could be preserved as a specimen to sell, wouldn’t that be great!

However, Hua Yun seemed to catch on to Chen Wen’s thoughts.

As she dug out the reindeer’s brain, she said, ”Let’s try not to do anything outside the program’s regulations. After all, we don’t know whether local laws allow trading specimens.”

When Chen Wen heard this, he said, ”We can sell the leather, so why not the specimens? They’re from the same animal.”

Hua Yun laughed and said, ”Still not familiar with foreign laws, that’s a tricky matter.”

”Foreign laws, especially around here, are different from back home. Some parts of an animal can be traded, while others are prohibited.”

”I remember in the United States, there’s a type of crab that can’t be sold whole, but their claws can be snapped off and sold.”

”The intent of this law is to prevent fishermen from completely depleting resources, but in practice, it’s quite absurd.”

”The survival rate of these crabs after losing their claws is very low, and only a few survive.”

”Moreover, fishermen, in pursuit of higher profits, snap off large numbers of claws, causing as much harm as catching and selling whole crabs. This method could even affect the crab’s evolutionary process.”

”Just like elephants might evolve to not have tusks anymore, perhaps one day these crabs won’t have claws either.”

These curious anecdotes piqued Chen Wen’s interest.

It was like listening to a math teacher talk about his ex-wife.

”The intention is good, but the execution is off, haha, this kind of thing happens a lot.”

Chen Wen chuckled, ”So let’s just follow what the program group says. That way, we’ll never be the ones taking the blame in the end.”

Abel, listening to the translation, quietly took a puff from his cigarette.

Worried! Why is the contestant I’m rooting for acting like this?

After the strange anecdotes, tanning returned to its course.

After applying the brains to the inner side of the pelt, Hua Yun folded the reindeer pelt.

She started to knead and pound it.

As she did so, she explained, ”This step is to...”

”I get it, to make the protein denature, give it a direct punch to denature it!”

Applied knowledge, perfect!

Chen Wen was quite pleased with his own intelligence.

Hua Yun nodded, smiling, ”That’s right, it’s to make the protein denature. But the fundamental reason isn’t the pounding. It’s the brains we applied. The pounding and kneading help the pelt absorb the protein.”

Chen Wen grinned.

Absorb it?

Why does Miss Hua always sneak in new points of knowledge during lessons?

Without saying much more, Hua Yun had Chen Wen try it out himself.

However, just as Chen Wen was about to get started, Hua Yun said, ”Fat can also substitute for brains. That’s why I had you prepare the beaver fat. Fat tanning is a variant of the Brain Tanning Method, with almost identical steps.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Wen decisively used fat instead of brains.

After applying the fat to the pelt, Chen Wen also began kneading and pounding.

He asked, ”How long do we have to do this?”

Hua Yun, with a calm expression, replied, ”As long as it takes!”

Chen Wen felt like coughing up blood.

Damn, how is this any different from when the English teacher said to keep reading words for as long as morning study lasts?

But that’s just how teachers are.

Students only need to study, memorize, do calculations, and get into college, but teachers have a lot more to consider.

Though what I said might not be entirely suitable, it overlooks the role of teachers.

But Chen Wen felt that his Miss Hua was quite suited to this comment.

However, seeing Hua Yun busy kneading and pounding alongside him, Chen Wen had no complaints.

The two began ceaselessly kneading and pounding.