Wilderness Survival with Druid System

Chapter 357: Chapter 28: Shelter Completed, Hippo’s Night Inspection

After making up his mind, Chen Wen took a detour, skirting about a hundred meters from the original path towards the river.

Seeing that the hippo was still soaking in the water, Chen Wen quickly fetched water and washed his hands.

Then he left.

As for going to the swamp to find plants, Chen Wen gave up on that task.

The swamp terrain would severely limit his speed, and it was too close to the hippo.

Chen Wen decided to go for the next best thing, using the leaves that had wrapped the roasted crocodile yesterday as a substitute for the swamp plant leaves.

Leaving the river, he returned to the campsite.

As planned, he started today’s work.

...

Roofing the treehouse wasn’t difficult.

It’s like laying a new platform on top of the treehouse, then adding a layer of leaves, and finally capping it with a layer of mud.

The roofing work kept Chen Wen busy all morning and midday.

It wasn’t until the afternoon that he completely finished building the shelter.

Two and a half days, a complete shelter!

Looking at his treehouse, Chen Wen was very satisfied.

This speed exceeded his expectations.

After providing himself with a brief moment of emotional satisfaction.

Chen Wen threw himself into new work: crafting wooden spears.

Crafting wooden spears wasn’t difficult, mainly sharpening one end and then hardening it by charring it over a flame.

Chen Wen used the steel spear tip as a blade and began sharpening wooden sticks.

Not difficult, but very time-consuming.

Not having a dagger was indeed a bit uncomfortable.

While working, Chen Wen couldn’t help but think.

By late afternoon, only ten wooden sticks had been processed.

As a person with a regular schedule, Chen Wen planned to roast the tips of the wooden sticks after dinner.

Dinner was slow-roasted crocodile.

The soft crocodile meat filled his stomach, and Chen Wen instantly felt rejuvenated.

While he’s full of energy, he continued processing the spears!

Chen Wen picked up the sharpened wooden sticks and continued crafting.

As he crafted, he occasionally explained the crafting precautions.

However, while Chen Wen was working near the end.

He suddenly heard a faint sound of footsteps.

Not human, the footsteps were heavy.

Like a large animal!

Chen Wen immediately became vigilant.

In Caprivi, any large animal has the potential to kill a human, which cannot be ignored!

He quickly climbed into the treehouse, watching the surroundings vigilantly.

The footsteps came close and then drifted away, making it hard to pinpoint the exact location.

However, Chen Wen roughly confirmed the direction from which the footsteps came.

He picked up the drone, activated night vision mode, and sent the drone in that direction.

Moments later.

Chen Wen saw the silhouette of a hippo on the screen.

”Damn, isn’t that the hippo that was soaking in the water during the day? Why is it here now?”

Chen Wen couldn’t help but mutter softly: ”What is this guy doing here? Can’t it just be a good neighbor?”

At this moment, the hippo was pacing around the spot where Chen Wen had roasted the crocodile.

After closely observing for a while.

Chen Wen noticed that this hippo was eating the leaves that wrapped the crocodile.

And while eating, it was pushing the soil that buried the crocodile with its mouth.

This guy...

Chen Wen thoughtfully watched the screen and said, ”Hippos are omnivores, they mostly eat plants, but they don’t actively hunt for meat, though they won’t refuse meat that’s delivered to their doorstep either.”

”Moreover, records mention that hippos sometimes eat meat, often as carrion. Could it be that this injured hippo is in dire need of nutritional supplements, which makes it want to find meat to replenish its energy?”

Meat provides more energy than grass.

In such an injured state, finding some carrion could obviously provide this hippo with more energy.

Therefore, it was likely attracted by the smell of meat from Chen Wen’s side.

Despite all the defenses he set up, the spread of the meat aroma was inevitable.

Chen Wen scratched his head, a bit speechless.

”However, it seems that it’s just looking for food near the roasted crocodile, without meaning to come over. I plan to keep watching the situation with the drone. If it doesn’t come over, then it’s all good.”

But if it comes over to the main camp...

A hint of worry flashed across Chen Wen’s eyes.

...

Do hippos eat meat?

This topic sparked a wave of discussion among the show crew.

However, as the local guide recounted eyewitness accounts of hippos eating dead crocodiles, and someone found information stating that hippos are omnivores, the discussion ended.

”Chen Wen is very smart. By having his cooking site a bit away from the camp, many sharp-nosed predators might find the wrong spot, giving him more reaction time.”

Abel participated in the discussion but mainly to praise Chen Wen.

There seemed to be a trend in Abel to become a fan of Chen Wen.

”Yes, a very smart decision.”

The guide said, ”A lot of animals base their activities on their sense of smell. If you mislead their noses, you can misguide their actions.”

Ivan’s assistant nodded in agreement.

Up to now, Ivan’s biggest downfall was attracting the attention of spotted hyenas with the scent of prey he carried.

Otherwise, Ivan would probably have the largest food reserve!

”However, the presence of a hippo is not good news.”

Lin Jiawei looked grim, worried: ”I’ve looked at the information, and hippos have long feeding periods, wandering the land all night in search of food. If this hippo keeps wandering, sooner or later, it will discover Chen Wen.”

The guide comforted Lin Jiawei: ”Don’t worry, hippos are afraid of fire. They won’t proactively approach.....”

The sentence wasn’t finished.

Over there.

The assistant of Yoshikawa Feng, who had been watching Chen Wen’s screen, exclaimed in schadenfreude: ”Oh my God! The hippo has found Chen Wen’s camp! It seems to have discovered Chen Wen too!”

Without waiting for the others to react.

The assistant of Yoshikawa Feng added another sentence: ”Oh God! The hippo really noticed Chen Wen! It’s showing extremely aggressive behavior!”

”It’s over! Chen Wen is done for!”

Lin Jiawei pulled Yoshikawa Feng’s assistant aside and took over the entire screen.

He watched the night vision image and his heart sank.

The extremely wounded giant beast was raising its head, mouth wide open, roaring at Chen Wen in the treehouse.

The long, thick tusks were very distinct even in the night vision device.

”It’s angry.”

The guide walked over, deeply concerned.

He knew better than anyone what an angry hippo represented.

Yoshikawa Feng’s assistant said in an odd tone: ”I think we should prepare for rescue in advance? Because the treehouse Chen Wen built isn’t that secure, and if the hippo charges at the tree, the treehouse may collapse, and by then it may be too late for a rescue!”

Hearing this, Abel hesitated a bit.

He wasn’t worried about Chen Wen because Abel was quite familiar with Chen Wen’s skills.

Back in Yukon, he had witnessed Chen Wen toy with a grizzly and had heard Chen Wen speak of night battles with North American wolves.

In Caprivi, facing a slower and heavier hippo.

Chen Wen had plenty of room to showcase his abilities.

But... what if?

Abel quietly notified the field team — the professional rescue team led by local tribespeople, who were driving a jeep near the contestants’ survival area — to be prepared.

Once this signal went out, several assistants from different contestants couldn’t help but glance at Lin Jiawei’s side.

Sending out this signal was equivalent to having one foot over the elimination line.

...

Back to Chen Wen.

”Are you for real, dude? Are you super aggressive?!”

Watching the approaching, fuming hippo, Chen Wen couldn’t hold it together.

A neighbor, not only coming to his kitchen to steal food but also into his bedroom, loudly chasing him away?

This is going too far!

What?

You say the neighbor is a nearly four-meter long, over two-tonne hippo?

Then never mind.

I’ll leave!

That’s what Chen Wen was thinking.

Though unwilling, he really had no confidence in fighting a hippo to the death without getting hurt.

The steel spear only had one chance, failing to kill the hippo would spell disaster for him.

Therefore, Chen Wen wanted to leave.

But there was no place to go even if he left now!