Wilderness Survival with Druid System

Chapter 539: Chapter 38: Thorn Net Completed

The sky turned dark.

Chen Wen returned to the camp with a large amount of clay, a small pouch of boletes, and an Arctic hare.

The Arctic hare was hung on the tree by him to be dealt with tomorrow.

The boletes were placed next to the blueberries, to be dried and consumed thereafter.

The clay was piled up outside the camp.

After washing his hands, Chen Wen started eating.

Since all his meat had been smoked, Chen Wen’s meals were mainly smoked meat stew.

Occasionally, he would add some pine needles and blueberries for flavor.

Tonight, Chen Wen was eating ground squirrel.

After Chen Wen processed the ground squirrel, it was smoked for storage and now, was being cooked in the pot with pine needles.

The taste was barely passable.

Having eaten the ground squirrel, Chen Wen also obtained the entry for it.

[Plundering nature’s creation—Arctic Ground Squirrel!]

[Plundering... Plundering complete!]

[Please choose one of the following three entries]

[Timid (Blue): You are extremely timid and easily develop a fear of surrounding things]

[Note: Eeek!—Arctic Ground Squirrel]

[Burrowing (Purple): You are proficient at digging tunnels underground, reducing stamina consumption while burrowing and being skilled at finding suitable locations for burrowing]

[Note: Digging, digging, digging in the small garden~—Arctic Ground Squirrel]

[Food Storage (Purple): You are more inclined to store food for the winter, and the stored food is less likely to spoil or deteriorate]

[Note: To survive the winter, you must prepare food!—Arctic Ground Squirrel]

[Please make a choice within one minute or forfeit! Upon expiry, the first entry will be selected automatically!]

The two positive entries from the Arctic Ground Squirrel were both pretty good.

Chen Wen looked at them and ultimately chose [Food Storage].

Primarily because the application range of [Burrowing] was just too narrow.

After making the choice, Chen Wen finished the pot of broth.

Now he could get water every morning, enough for the entire day with a pot and two bottles.

Very perfect.

After dinner, King Kong Wolverine emerged from somewhere, carrying a bone in its mouth.

”Where did you go? Why didn’t I see you earlier?”

Chen Wen asked curiously.

Upon hearing this, King Kong Wolverine dropped the bone and said, ”I went chasing a fox trying to steal food, but I didn’t catch it. However, on my way back, I found this bone with quite a bit of meat on it.”

Chen Wen picked up the bone and examined it, it seemed to be a deer’s bone.

He frowned.

The bone was very fresh, indicating that during his time surviving here, a deer had been hunted.

And any creature capable of hunting a deer posed a threat to Chen Wen.

But after examining the bone repeatedly, Chen Wen couldn’t find any more clues.

”Here, eat slowly, and be cautious when you go out. If you spot any dangerous large animals, remember to let me know.”

Chen Wen handed the bone back to the wolverine.

Regarding this predator that hunted the deer, Chen Wen wasn’t excessively worried.

By the campfire, he sat down to complete the final weaving of a thorn net.

Before sleep arrived, Chen Wen finished ninety-nine percent of the thorn net.

”It looks like more than half of the early survival tasks are done now.”

Chen Wen counted on his fingers, ”Water, fire are not to be worried about. Once I make a fireplace with clay and stone, my fire won’t go out.”

”The shelter’s completed for living, and from tomorrow or the day after, I’ll start building another side. Then I’ll have a large storage room for food.”

”As for food, there’s plenty of meat, berries, and I even found fungi. The rope traps are working continuously, and the thorn net will keep bringing me plump lake fish until the lake freezes over. Perfect!”

His basic survival needs of water, fire, food, and shelter were already met.

Chen Wen thought he might start considering improving his living quality.

But the final touches might take an additional four to five days.

Also regarding food, he might need to store more for the wolverine and any potential tamed animals later on.

...

The next day.

After getting up, Chen Wen went to the lakeside to fetch water and handle the Arctic hare from yesterday.

Breakfast was a stew of this fresh Arctic hare.

While making the stew, Chen Wen finished perfecting the thorn net.

Now he could start net fishing.

After breakfast, Chen Wen started methodically completing the remaining tasks.

On one hand, he began preparing to build a fireplace and gathered stones for it.

On the other hand, he was preparing materials for building the other side of the shelter.

Stones and wood needed to be ready.

There was also one more thing.

While resting, Chen Wen suddenly remembered that his bearskin was almost tanned.

In the afternoon, he could try washing off the brain matter and see the tanning result.

Having made a simple plan, Chen Wen busied himself.

In one morning, he collected enough materials for building the fireplace.

Made the foundation of the fireplace with clay and stones.

Simultaneously, he sawed down a few pine trees around the campsite and dragged them back.

Along with preparing materials, he also stored up enough firewood.

Chen Wen piled the firewood between the shelter and the slope, as well as on the side of the shelter.

After a noon rest, Chen Wen went to the riverside with the bearskin.

He soaked the bearskin in water to wash it.

”It seems the result is alright, the bearskin is quite soft and not hard like a rock.”

Chen Wen said while kneading the bearskin.

After washing off the brain matter from the bearskin, Chen Wen dragged it out of the water, wrung out the water, and carried it back to the shelter.

Upon returning to the shelter, Chen Wen wasted no time. Using the trees cut in the morning, he placed the bearskin hair side up on the wood.

Then he took out a shovel and began scraping the bearskin with the back of the shovel.

Seeing this, the wolverine beside him looked puzzled.

It came over and asked, ”What are you doing?”

Chen Wen replied, ”The follow-up procedure for tanning leather. Now I’m using a dull tool to lightly scrape the inner side, lengthening the leather fibers and expanding the area, ultimately making the fur soft.”

Hearing Chen Wen’s words, the wolverine was even more confused.

Previously there was only one thing it didn’t understand, now it was a whole bunch.

Noting the wolverine’s perplexed look, Chen Wen smiled and said, ”In a nutshell, according to my current approach, during winter, we’ll have a very cozy nest.”

”Why didn’t you say so earlier? I get it now!”

The wolverine laughed.

It’s not skilled at making nests.

In its past wandering life, finding a place to rest always meant using another animal’s burrow or a natural tree hole.

If even simpler, beneath a fallen tree it could manage to stay for several days.

A comfortable nest, it was truly looking forward to.

After softening the entire bearskin, the processing reached its final step—shaping to dry.

Using branches cut down in the morning, Chen Wen made a wooden frame.

Then stretched the bearskin, fixing it to the wooden frame with soft branches.

By this time, the bearskin displayed its enormous size.

”If made well, it can serve as a thick blanket while the extra parts could cover me, similar to a sleeping bag.”

Chen Wen couldn’t help but say.

Behind the screen, everyone seeing this enormous animal skin couldn’t help but envy.

Killing such a large prey was one thing; processing and utilizing the whole prey in such a short time was another.

His survival skills were indeed fully maxed out!