Wilderness Survival with Druid System

A sumptuous breakfast ended with Chen Wen, Gesang, and Duoji clutching their stomachs.

Gesang loyally helped Chen Wen take care of some of the food.

And helped Chen Wen transfer a lot to her own uncle, Duoji.

Of course, this wasn’t because Chen Wen said if he didn’t help him, today’s morning fishing would be canceled.

Under Duoji’s resentful gaze, Chen Wen borrowed some supplies and then left the camp with Gesang.

Riding horses, the two arrived at the lake intending to fish.

Upon reaching the lakeside, Chen Wen leapt off his horse, and Gesang likewise jumped down gracefully.

Seeing Gesang’s movements, Chen Wen couldn’t help but praise, ”Nice moves!”

Gesang, hearing the compliment, proudly raised her head.

At the lakeside, Chen Wen began preparing for fishing.

He borrowed two retractable tent poles, and after extending them, Chen Wen tied a very thin nylon string to the poles and attached a fishhook to the other end—the fishhook was fashioned by Chen Wen using borrowed nails.

After tying the fishhook, Chen Wen searched along the lakeside, then plucked some plant leaves to use as bait.

Gesang, who had been watching closely beside Chen Wen, curiously asked, ”What are you doing? Why are you tying these leaves to the hook, can’t these leaves be used?”

Upon hearing Gesang’s question, Chen Wen explained with a smile, ”We want to catch the plateau naked carp and schizothorax, and these two fish mainly feed on benthic algae, small zooplankton such as rotifers, as well as some aquatic vascular plants and occasional cladocerans, copepods, and midge larvae. So to catch them, we need to cater to their preferences.”

”The plant leaves I just picked are aquatic vascular plants. We’ll throw the hook onto the lake surface, which will lure the fish from the bottom to come up and feed. Once they swallow these plant leaves, they’ll also swallow the bait, and with a strong tug, we can pull the fish up.”

Gesang listened, feeling a bit dizzy.

She couldn’t help but say, ”Fishing... I’ve seen it before. Isn’t it just throwing the hook into the water? Why are you making it sound so complicated?”

”That’s because throwing the hook into the water is surface-level, while what I’m talking about is the essence. The essence of fishing is using a fishing rod, line, hook, and suitable bait to catch our target fish species.”

As Chen Wen spoke, he handed the first fishing rod to Gesang, ”Give it a try!”

Gesang nodded thoughtfully, grasped the fishing rod, and started casting.

Meanwhile, Chen Wen assembled the second fishing rod.

He closely examined the lake’s water conditions and found a spot where the water was deeper to cast his rod.

After waiting for a little while, Chen Wen felt the rod’s hand was a bit unusual.

He gently moved the rod, like teasing.

And shortly after this little action, the fish seemed worried that the food would escape from its mouth.

It opened its mouth, swallowed both the bait and hook together.

As it swallowed, the fish turned, intending to leave.

But the hook caught on its lips.

Chen Wen felt the pull from the other end of the rod, so he began lifting the rod strongly.

Soon, with a bit of weight coming from the end of the rod, a small fish about five or six centimeters long was pulled out of the water by Chen Wen.

It struggled vigorously, wriggling its body, trying to break free from the hook’s restraint.

But all its efforts were futile.

As the fish traced a silver arc in the air, Chen Wen reached out and firmly caught the little fish in his hand.

”Caught it! I just knew there had to be fish in the water here!”

Chen Wen couldn’t help but laugh heartily, took the fish off the hook, and placed it on the ground away from the lake.

After struggling twice, the little fish gradually fell still, with only its gills gently expanding.

At this moment, Gesang, who had witnessed the whole process, quickly walked over.

She couldn’t resist prodding the fish on the ground, then asked, ”What kind of fish is this?”

Chen Wen took a quick look and said, ”Its body is laterally compressed, the head looks cone-shaped, the snout is blunt and rounded, the lower jaw has sharp corners, most of the body is bare, the shoulder and anal scales have some scales, the lateral line is completely distributed on the side, a typical Schizothorax fish.”

Listening to Chen Wen’s words, Gesang felt like she was hearing a foreign language.

”How come you know so much?”

Gesang looked admiringly at Chen Wen, casting the rod alongside him.

Chen Wen remembered the words of Gesang’s grandmother, seriously explaining, ”Learning.”

”Learning? You study too? Aren’t you always exploring?”

Gesang asked in surprise.

Previously, during her exchanges with Chen Wen, she only heard Chen Wen sharing his adventure stories, and she was extremely envious.

Chen Wen shook his head with a smile, ”It’s not that simple. Forget everything else, do you know how many pages of information I read before coming to the Qiangtang region this time?”

Gesang shook her head.

Chen Wen gestured with a hand, ”Nearly five hundred pages!”

Phew!

Gesang gasped.

”So much!”

”Astronomy, geography, biology, culture, history... As long as it’s knowledge related to the Qiangtang region, I’ve generally gone through it all, which is why I have such a good understanding of your area, even better than you, a local.”

Chen Wen said with a smile.

He chatted with Gesang while continuing to fish.

However, when Chen Wen caught the third Schizothorax fish, Gesang’s lips involuntarily pouted.

Noticing this, Chen Wen began teaching Gesang how to determine whether a fish is probing or truly biting based on the strength with which it bites the hook.

With Chen Wen’s technical support, Gesang gradually mastered the skills.

As Chen Wen caught the fifth Schizothorax fish, an excited Gesang pulled a fish of about four centimeters onto the shore.

The two fished and chatted, and by noon, Chen Wen placed the catch into a package made from yak hide.

Gesang hugged the package, her eyes full of excitement.

It’s not just Chen Wen’s achievement inside; she also contributed three fish!

With these fish, she and Chen Wen returned to Chen Wen’s camp.

Chen Wen planned to prepare lunch for the Snow Leopard, and after making it, he would take Gesang back to her family’s camp.

...

At the camp, Chen Wen started a fire and placed the fish into the pot.

After bringing the fish soup to a boil.

Chen Wen picked out the fish and selected the large fish bones, then put the fish meat and the indistinguishable small fish bones into the iron bowl borrowed from Zhaxi Duntu’s house.

Then he used a stone to smash the fish meat and bones into a paste.

Chen Wen took some of the fish paste, tasted it while gaining a trait.

[Cold and Hypoxia Resistant (Purple): You can better withstand low oxygen and low temperatures. Under such conditions, your activities will face fewer hindrances.]

This trait is fairly useful, not to mention elsewhere, at least it’s perfect for Qiangtang!

After acquiring the trait, Chen Wen mashed the fish paste again to ensure the fish bones wouldn’t harm the Snow Leopard’s digestive system.

Finally, he cracked an egg into the fish paste and mixed it evenly.

This was the nutritious lunch prepared for the Snow Leopard.

The remaining fish Chen Wen handled simply, without cooking.

After preparing the nutritious lunch, Chen Wen placed the iron bowl in front of the Snow Leopard.

The Snow Leopard sniffed the aroma and opened its appetite.

It buried its head and took a few big bites, satisfaction flashing in its eyes.

While the Snow Leopard was eating the fish paste, Chen Wen mixed yak milk and fish soup together, making a bowl of supplemental broth.