Wilderness Survival with Druid System

Chapter 504: Chapter 3: Encountering Old Friends in the Wilderness

Chen Wen quickly walked to the door and pressed against the crack to listen to the sounds outside.

After a moment, he lowered his palm and whispered, ”Those are human footsteps, no less than three people.”

The bearded man put down his bottle and picked up his hunting rifle.

Meanwhile, the short-haired man stood by the window and looked outside through the glass.

”Passersby, who are you?”

The short-haired man asked loudly.

Taking advantage of the short-haired man’s shout, the bearded man crouched, avoided the light, and raised his rifle to stand behind the door.

The footsteps outside paused for a moment.

After a tense wait by the three, a relatively aged voice came through.

”Snow Plains, Derek.”

Upon hearing the familiar name, the short-haired man and the bearded man immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

The short-haired man opened the window and shone a flashlight over: ”Derek! Come quickly! Hot stew and good wine are waiting for you at the table!”

Chen Wen heard a distinct gulping sound.

Then Derek said, ”What a coincidence!”

As the bearded man opened the wooden door, Chen Wen also saw Derek.

An elderly man with dark skin, strong and fit, clearly an experienced hunter at first glance.

But the people behind Derek made Chen Wen pause.

”Wow, Gaston? Roland? What are you doing here!”

Chen Wen said, exposing his face to the light.

Outside, the dust-covered Gaston and Roland were both surprised and delighted to see the familiar face.

”Ha, Chen Wen! It’s been a long time!”

Gaston raised his sports camera, ready to give Chen Wen a bear hug.

Roland followed closely, his broad arms engulfing both Chen Wen and Gaston at once: ”Chen Wen, you’re quite the celebrity now!”

The sensation of being hugged by what felt like two bears was not exactly comfortable.

Chen Wen gently disentangled himself, smiling as he said, ”It’s been a while, let’s talk inside!”

At the dining table, as the six ate and drank, they talked as well.

As former competitors living alone in the wilderness and old friends.

Upon arriving at the show’s location, Gaston and Roland had decided to act together.

They hired Derek and began adaptive survival.

However, unlike Chen Wen, who had just been at it for ten days, they already planned to return.

”How do you feel about this time?”

Gaston opened the topic.

Chen Wen hesitated, not understanding.

Gaston continued, ”I mean the confidence, the chance of winning the championship.”

”Oh, I don’t even know the list of competitors yet, it’s too early for such talk.”

Chen Wen responded with a smile.

Beside him, Roland took a sip of strong liquor, then said, ”I saw this season’s lineup in advance, very strong, I’m not even sure I can make the top five.”

This piqued Chen Wen’s interest.

Roland’s confidence was undeniable, but him saying even the top five would be difficult was very telling.

”Alright, let’s not talk about the pointless things.”

Roland exhaled deeply, not continuing, but instead asked Chen Wen, ”This time it’s a hundred days of long-term survival, what are your plans?”

Chen Wen shared his thoughts: ”Initially, relying on reserves to quickly establish shelters and traps for a stable food source; in the mid-phase, start hunting, store food for winter; late phase, fix up the shelter to reduce heat loss and tough it out.”

Listening to Chen Wen’s strategy, Roland couldn’t help but laugh: ”Man, our ideas are exactly the same.”

Gaston immediately chimed in, ”Same here.”

”And your shelter plans?”

Roland asked, looking at Gaston: ”I differ from him on this point; I plan to build a stone fortress, while he wants to construct a wooden cabin.”

Stone fortress.

This term intrigued Chen Wen: ”What’s your plan?”

Discussing the topic, Roland didn’t hold back.

He laid out his concept: ”Actually, it’s simple, I’m planning to find a low-lying area, clear the ground, and use the surrounding terrain to create a fortress.”

”The middle and upper layers of the fortress will use stones as the main structure, filling gaps with soil and moss for insulation, using wood as the flat top, then covering with stones, soil, and moss.”

Just hearing Roland’s concept made Chen Wen express, ”If you succeed, this shelter would definitely be the sturdiest in the history of solo wilderness survival, but have you considered the allocation of physical effort?”

Gaston commented from the side, ”He’s planning to hunt while building the shelter, betting on luck.”

Chen Wen looked at Roland in surprise, while Roland nodded slightly.

”Too risky.”

Chen Wen shook his head: ”If your luck is bad, you’re doomed, but with a bit of luck, you could easily make the top three.”

Roland was aware of the risks in his plan but was confident and didn’t want to change it.

”And you, Chen Wen, what’s your shelter plan?”

The question turned to Chen Wen.

He answered straightforwardly, ”I haven’t made up my mind yet, but I have three schemes.”

This piqued both Roland and Gaston’s interest.

Chen Wen continued, ”First, a traditional small wooden cabin; time-consuming and labor-intensive but warm and sturdy, a stable choice.”

”The second is somewhat akin to Roland’s; I plan to make a traditional semi-dugout style wooden cabin of Hua Country, similar to his fortress, more laborious, a bold choice.”

”The third is a bit unconventional, I plan to find a black bear, kill it, take over its winter den, and make simple modifications to live in it.”

Chen Wen’s three schemes made Roland and Gaston ponder.

Apart from the unconventional third plan, the first two were quite good.

Seeing both Chen Wen and Roland opting for fortress-style shelters made Gaston contemplative.

Eventually, the three discussed everything from lodging to fishing and hunting.

Each learned from the others, all gaining valuable insights.

Even Chen Wen, under Gaston’s guidance, learned how to find places where cold-water fish frequently gather.

The next day.

Chen Wen took leave from Gaston and Roland, continuing deeper into the forest, aiming to reach the heart of the wilderness by the fifteenth day at Great Slave Lake.

Trying simple fishing by the lakeside there.

...

The fifteenth day of adaptive survival.

As planned, Chen Wen arrived at the lakeside in the heart of the wilderness.

Here, he set up camp with the bearded and the short-haired man.

Fishing persisted for five days, with the bearded man, an experienced fisherman, aiding Chen Wen in catching any weak spots.

Due to the current solo wilderness survival not allowing full fishing nets, Chen Wen had to start by weaving nets.

”Fishing at Great Slave Lake, due to local laws, can only use gill nets or fishing gear.”

The bearded man started from the basics: ”I suggest you use gill nets, very efficient for fishing and not needing constant monitoring.”

Chen Wen nodded; before coming, he had decided that gill nets would be used for this fishing.

Gill net fishing sounds complex but is actually simple.

It’s about laying out a long strip-shaped net in the water, allowing fish to get caught in the net or tangled in the mesh for harvesting.

This is Baidu’s explanation.

Under the bearded man’s guidance, Chen Wen began to weave the net.

The weaving for gill nets is similar to regular fishing nets, but the mesh needs to be larger considering cold-water fish tend to be larger.

Moreover, Great Slave Lake’s fish resources are abundant, with plenty of whitefish, pike, and other large cold-water fish here.

”Generally, the fish we catch here are around fifteen centimeters in length.”

The bearded man shared his fishing experience: ”Fish below fifteen centimeters we usually release; not just as per the law, but because such small fish are not very tasty.”

Chen Wen understood.

The next day, the gill net was woven.

Chen Wen started setting the net for his first fishing attempt.