Wilderness Survival with Druid System

With the help of Xiong Ma, Chen Wen’s speed naturally reached its peak.

There’s no denying it, the River Curve Horse, introduced in the Tibetan Area, truly has its unique advantages.

Strong in stamina, enduring, adapted to the highland climate, and not slow in speed.

Riding Xiong Ma, Chen Wen only felt the wind whistling past his face, even causing some stinging pain.

The scenery on both sides retreated rapidly behind him.

Chen Wen touched his face; these days, he had been applying the bone marrow of wild yaks to his face; otherwise, the wind would definitely have cut his face.

About an hour later.

”Almost there!”

The Golden Eagle reminded Chen Wen and Xiong Ma from above.

Chen Wen patted Xiong Ma’s side neck, saying, ”Slow down, take a rest, or we’ll alarm the marmots when we get closer.”

Hearing this, Xiong Ma reluctantly stopped in its tracks.

It trembled with excitement, shook its body a few times, and then leisurely continued moving forward with Chen Wen.

Following the Golden Eagle’s instructions, Chen Wen quickly noticed a group of gray-yellow animals, very similar in color to the ground, about five hundred meters ahead.

These small animals were not large in size, but their numbers were plenty.

Chen Wen counted; this group of marmots seemed to be a loose collective of multiple marmot families, totaling around forty, maybe even fifty, but each family averaged only about seven members.

Quite a rare large group.

With a quick glance, this large group of marmots seemed quite normal.

No sluggish or fearless marmots were among them.

Additionally, at this moment, they were all foraging outside their burrows—a rare hunting opportunity.

Chen Wen flexed his wrist and took out his spear.

He let Xiong Ma circle around the marmot group, selecting a suitable hunting target and preparing to seize the opportunity to hunt.

Although marmots have relatively keen perception ability, in the face of Chen Wen skilled in camouflage and employing the [Highland Ghost] talent, their perception was somewhat lacking.

Chen Wen stood to the side of Xiong Ma, using its body as cover.

Horses are not uncommon on the highland, so the marmots merely continued their activities after spotting Xiong Ma.

Ignoring the disturbance from Xiong Ma enabled Chen Wen to have an excellent opportunity for observation.

Using Xiong Ma as a shield, Chen Wen quickly realized there weren’t any marmots carrying viruses among this group.

All of them seemed vibrant, with agile movements, and sharp, alert eyes.

Most importantly, they remained vigilant at all times, not displaying the foolish, dazed appearance.

These marmots all met Chen Wen’s standards.

He slowly raised his spear, softly instructing Xiong Ma to approach the marmot group.

Xiong Ma leisurely approached while Chen Wen hid behind it, gradually raising his spear.

When they got about fifty meters away.

Some marmots noticed Xiong Ma; it got a bit too close.

The marmots’ tails twitched continuously, as if they were sending some kind of signal.

Chen Wen raised an eyebrow, realizing he might have been exposed.

Or perhaps Xiong Ma got too close, arousing the marmots’ alertness.

Marmots communicate through sounds and tail movements, often using their tails to convey intended signals.

”No need to get any closer.”

Chen Wen lightly patted Xiong Ma’s body, then, before Xiong Ma could react.

He suddenly leaped in front of Xiong Ma.

While the marmots were still in a daze, Chen Wen decisively threw the spear!

Whoosh!

Xiong Ma only felt something whistling past its ear; instinctively, it looked towards the sound’s direction, only to see Chen Wen hurling that dark, long object.

What’s going on?

Xiong Ma was a bit confused.

But soon, as the spear precisely pierced through a marmot’s body, it understood what it was!

Xiong Ma shuddered.

It sharply remembered when initially interacting with Chen Wen, he wielded this thing.

Gladly, it didn’t harm Chen Wen back then!

Otherwise, had he retaliated with this, I couldn’t withstand it!

Xiong Ma thought while the marmots around went into chaos.

Following the unknown two-legged creature killing one of their companions, the marmots immediately scattered around in escape.

Clumsily, they sought nearby burrows, diving headfirst into them.

Chen Wen watched the marmots disperse and evade but didn’t approach, keeping his distance and waiting approximately half an hour before slowly moving closer.

”Why not just approach directly?”

The Golden Eagle landed beside Chen Wen and asked.

Pointing to the marmot beside them, Chen Wen said, ”To avoid fleas; plague can be transmitted through flea bites, and these marmots definitely carry fleas. Once we wait a while, those easily startled fleas will seize the chance to escape.”

As he spoke, Chen Wen also grasped some wood ash: ”When I approach later, try to keep your distance, and after I get close, sprinkle a handful of ash, wait another half hour, and we can maximize avoiding flea bites, thereby preventing the risk of plague.”

On hearing this, the two animals, though they didn’t understand, chose to heed Chen Wen’s advice and stayed away.

Approaching the marmot, Chen Wen sprinkled some ash and quickly left.

While chatting and playing with the animals on the side, he waited another half hour before finally returning to the marmot’s side and lifted its body.

He didn’t handle the marmot with bare hands; instead, he used yak skin to wrap his hands, lifting the marmot.

”Let’s go, find water first, and we’ll deal with this thing where there’s water.”

With that, Chen Wen mounted Xiong Ma, using his spear to skewer the marmot and hanging it at a distance.

The Golden Eagle scouted ahead, locating a relatively small lake.

At the lake’s shore, Chen Wen proceeded to skin the marmot.

While skinning, Chen Wen was extremely cautious not to touch any subcutaneous tissues of the marmot.

Typically, if an animal carries the plague bacteria, the lymph nodes contain the highest concentration.

After skinning, he threw the pelt afar.

Then, using a dagger, Chen Wen slashed open the marmot’s belly.

He removed all its internal organs, discarding them at a distance.

He thoroughly rinsed the processed marmot, dagger, and spear multiple times in the water, then rubbed them on the grassy ground, and rinsed again.

Finally, he coated the spear and dagger with wood ash.

This hunting session was now complete!

Chen Wen thought to himself.

He then moved to another distant shore, washed his exposed skin, and covered his hands with the remaining wood ashes.

Once done, Chen Wen couldn’t help but say, ”If this fails, all I can say is whether the plague bacteria activates or not is up to itself.”

The words prompted the Golden Eagle to chuckle with a couple of coos.

”Time to head home!”

Chen Wen mounted his horse, riding the Tibetan mount towards the shelter at speed.

Meanwhile, the Golden Eagle, beating its wings, flew over to where the pikas were spotted in the morning.

As Chen Wen continued on his journey, the Golden Eagle folded its wings and stealthily dived down, successfully catching a pika.

Grasping the pika, it caught up with Chen Wen.

After several hours, Chen Wen and Xiong Ma returned to the vicinity of the lake.

He instructed Xiong Ma to rest well, providing it with some concentrated feed.

Xiong Ma, delighted with the concentrated feed, rubbed its large head against Chen Wen’s, showing affection.

Chen Wen laughed heartily, patting its body: ”Find me anytime if it’s not enough.”