Wilderness Survival with Druid System

Chapter 411: Chapter 80: Redeeming the Leopard

The boat is ready, food is secured, and we have the manpower to transport it.

Chen Wen and his partner are in high spirits, ready to begin the elimination phase.

They align perfectly with each other.

Adam and Rock also have no intention of waiting any longer.

They decide to take the initiative and strike.

The target of their strike is the nearby duo of Kaelian and Jamie.

These days, Rock has already scouted Kaelian and Jamie’s camp.

Both feel this is a great opportunity.

After eliminating these two, the supplies from their camp will provide significant replenishment for Adam’s group.

The benefits are substantial.

So, after a brief discussion,

the two begin their secret operation.

...

On the eighteenth day of survival.

The contestants are surviving steadily, all harboring thoughts of eliminating others.

But Ivan and Vanessa are exceptions.

Vanessa is on the brink of a health warning, and if she doesn’t improve by the twentieth day, she will be directly eliminated.

Ivan is currently hunting in the hills where Yoshikawa Feng once survived.

His situation is relatively stable.

Having completed his journal, Abel capped his pen and let out a gentle sigh.

The elimination phase has begun!

This survival journey is nearing its end!

...

At night.

Chen Wen took the opportunity while Feng Zhong was asleep to head to the forest across the river in search of the leopard brothers.

This time, however, Chen Wen aimed to ’redeem’ the leopard brothers.

He decided to have the communicative Leopard the Second appear officially on screen first.

Chen Wen’s plan was simple.

It was to have Leopard the Second appear as if severely injured, allowing him to treat its wounds and feed it, thus gaining its trust with the ultimate goal of taming it.

Leopard the Second listened intently.

It found this quite novel.

The non-communicative Leopard the First was scheduled by Chen Wen to appear later.

At that time, it would appear on the premise of searching for its brother.

...

Having completed the script, Chen Wen returned to the shelter, awaiting tomorrow’s arrival.

On the nineteenth day of survival.

The contestants all took action.

The recovering hippo ate some spoiled crocodile meat and was full of energy.

Its wounds were healing quickly, and it was now moving without any issues.

Chen Wen and Feng Zhong placed the food on a dugout canoe.

Then they looped a rope through a groove and tied the other end to the hippo’s front limbs.

The hippo found this very intriguing.

It tried to move in the river and, feeling a pulling force from the front limbs, exerted itself, pulling the heavily loaded canoe along.

”This is quite amusing!”

The hippo looked cheerfully at Chen Wen. ”Human, where are we going?”

”Westward.”

Noticing Feng Zhong wasn’t paying attention, Chen Wen said, ”Thanks for your hard work. But it won’t be long before you can rest. There’s no rush in this journey, and don’t talk to me if that human is around later.”

The hippo nodded slightly in response.

After entrusting the hippo, Chen Wen turned to glance at the still attempted taming of the side-necked turtle.

This guy was kept in Yoshikawa Feng’s pot, fed every day, but no taming success prompts appeared.

It seemed to be a rather long process, Chen Wen thought.

This time, he was not planning to take the side-necked turtle away.

Thus, after ensuring there was enough food and water in the pot,

he placed the side-necked turtle inside the treehouse, tying it with a rope to prevent escape and to avoid starvation or sun exposure.

...

After setting up things at the camp,

Chen Wen and Feng Zhong began moving west along the Kuanduo River.

The two walked one in front of the other, maintaining a five-meter distance, both holding long spears and vigilantly watching their surroundings.

If any sudden situation arose, they could cover each other.

Chen Wen volunteered to lead, with Feng Zhong bringing up the rear.

After walking about a kilometer, Chen Wen suddenly raised his hand.

This was a gesture signifying he had noticed something unusual.

Feng Zhong immediately became alert.

He glanced at Chen Wen and asked, ”What’s wrong?”

”Leopard!”

The mention of this word almost triggered PTSD in Feng Zhong.

He visibly tensed up.

But Chen Wen didn’t give Feng Zhong a chance to speak.

He let out a curious sound and said directly, ”No, it’s dead?”

Feng Zhong sighed in relief and came over to Chen Wen’s side.

Recognizing the spot, Feng Zhong said, ”Isn’t this that leopard that got impaled by your aerial trap? What’s it doing here?”

Chen Wen shook his head, ”Who knows? I chased them off back then and didn’t pay attention to where they ran. How did it end up here?”

”No, it’s not dead yet. Look at it, isn’t it quite clean? In theory, if it was chased off that day, it should be dirty by now.”

Hearing this, Feng Zhong subconsciously stepped back half a step.

Seeing this, Chen Wen agreed, ”Alright, I’ll go take a look. You stand guard here.”

”Okay, be careful.”

Feng Zhong was more than happy to oblige, stepping back entirely.

Chen Wen’s expression didn’t change.

He quickly walked towards Leopard the Second, pretending to check carefully.

Moments later, Chen Wen feigned surprise and took a step back.

Meanwhile, Leopard the Second, prompted by Chen Wen, seemed to awaken from a deep sleep and slowly sat up.

Then, as per Chen Wen’s instructions,

Leopard the Second immediately let out a wary and panicked roar, scrambling backward.

Chen Wen switched into his ’acting emperor’ mode, feigning shock and retreating, acting as though he was startled.

”Be careful! It’s very aggressive!”

Chen Wen said urgently.

As he turned around, he saw Feng Zhong holding a long spear, looking at Chen Wen with eyes asking whether to take action.

”No rush, give me some meat. Look at its belly, it’s probably hungry. Let me see if I can tame it.”

According to the script, Chen Wen said, ”Right now, it’s probably exhausted and hungry. Even though it looks fierce, it’s just putting on a strong front with a weak interior. I’ll try to tame it, give it some meat, and see if I can gain its trust.”

Feng Zhong, hearing this, was a bit skeptical, ”Can that be tamed?”

”Trust me.”

Chen Wen said, pulling out some pre-prepared smoked meat from his bag.

He held the meat in his hand, slowly approaching.

During the approach,

Chen Wen specifically turned his back on Feng Zhong, using hand signals to remind the leopard to back up a few steps, then pretending to be attracted by the fragrance of the meat and slowly approaching.

Watching Chen Wen’s actions, Feng Zhong was incredulous.

Is this actually working?

He truly hadn’t expected Chen Wen’s offhand remark about trying to tame it to actually result in taming!

Feng Zhong was certain that Chen Wen simply walked forward, extended his hand, took out the meat, and drew the leopard in for a bite.

This is too simple, isn’t it?

Feng Zhong suddenly felt an urge to try, himself.

Having witnessed Chen Wen’s taming process firsthand, maybe he could do it, too!

Seeing the leopard seemingly more trusting of Chen Wen,

Feng Zhong tentatively stepped forward, saying, ”How about I give it a shot? See if I can tame this thing, it seems pretty straightforward.”

Chen Wen laughed inwardly.

But he didn’t refuse, instead saying, ”Try with the smoked meat from yesterday.”

With that, Chen Wen stepped aside.

Feng Zhong cautiously approached with the smoked meat.

Before he could get close, Leopard the Second roared fiercely, appearing as if to pounce.

”Whoa!”

Feng Zhong’s hand trembled, dropping the smoked meat.

He immediately retreated a few steps, creating distance.

Chen Wen shook his head, picked up the smoked meat, and said, ”Not quite, it seems to remember you.”

Feng Zhong calmed his pounding heart and shook his head, ”Definitely not. If it were a kitten or puppy that hissed or barked, I’d dare to try, but for a fierce wild animal like a leopard, I just can’t handle it.”

”Okay, you continue to tame it. I’m going to take a walk around.”

With that, Feng Zhong didn’t linger because the leopard was continuously staring intently at him, making him very uncomfortable.