Wilderness Survival with Druid System-Chapter 383 - 52: Treasures of the Mountains – Deadly Nightshade and Cassava
The survival resources in this place are quite good.
So many antelopes?
Chen Wen looked at the groups of wildlife around him and thought to himself.
As far as the eye could see, various types of antelopes were spread across the plains around the hills.
Among them, gazelles and red hartebeests were the most numerous.
And there weren’t any large animals either.
Even though the water is a bit far, that’s not a problem.
Moreover, the hilly terrain itself is rugged, so some large animals don’t like to come near.
For example, lion prides.
They prefer living in open areas and searching for prey through the open terrain.
Watching this, Chen Wen suddenly felt the urge to move here.
This place is even better than my own shelter!
My own shelter is only surrounded by Nile crocodiles, hippos, and occasionally passing elephant herds.
Oh, right.
There’s also the original owner, a leopard.
"The geographic conditions here are really good, I’m even tempted to move here."
Hearing Chen Wen’s words, the assistants of the contestants had strange expressions.
Chen Wen was not wrong.
Yoshikawa Feng, as a contestant with rich survival experience, must have chosen a very good place as well.
In the program team’s evaluation, Yoshikawa Feng’s survival environment was the best among all contestants.
But hearing Chen Wen say this, why does it feel so strange?
And everyone knows who will suffer once Chen Wen arrives.
...
After marveling at the environment here for a while,
Chen Wen began his exploration.
Mainly looking for some edible plants and searching for twisted-horned antelopes.
He started exploring from the direction he came from, holding an axe in his left hand and a spear in his right, quite steady.
The plants in the hills grew very lushly.
Chen Wen quickly found some wild berries.
The place he was currently at was a valley in the hills, with plenty of moisture and fertile soil.
It’s a place where many plants like to grow.
In principle, the plants in such places should be edible.
But the color and shape of these berries were too odd, a purple-black color, and their shape... Chen Wen felt they resembled kidneys a bit.
Moreover, they were somewhat different from the edible berries he remembered from the information.
He didn’t pick them rashly.
And Chen Wen noticed traces of animals left around the berry bushes.
If animals pass by but don’t eat them, it means these berries are quite dangerous!
Chen Wen hesitated for a moment and found some broad-leaved trees around, using their leaves to make a small container.
He carefully picked some berries and put them into the container.
"These berries are probably poisonous, I plan to use them by smearing them on the tips of my wooden spears."
Chen Wen said, "So when facing some large animals, I can completely rely on the poisoned spears to take them down, provided that these berries are sufficiently toxic."
After saying this, Chen Wen stored the berries carefully.
And continued exploring.
...
"The berries Chen Wen picked... are they belladonna?"
Abel called over the local guide and asked somewhat hesitantly.
Hearing this, the local guide was a bit puzzled: "What’s belladonna?"
Belladonna...
Abel didn’t know how to explain.
He is European and knows belladonna well.
This thing is called witch’s fruit in Europe, a poisonous plant with medicinal value.
The main distribution range of belladonna is also in Europe, and it might be artificially introduced and cultivated in other parts of the world.
After all, it has economic value and can be used for medicine.
But to see it in Namibia...
Abel felt it was a bit surreal.
As the local guide saw Abel not speaking, he continued, "This is something recorded by our ancestors, a medicinal fruit brought by someone at the time, and we call it Black Kidney Fruit."
Black Kidney Fruit, quite a clever term.
Abel’s mouth twitched, gesturing for the guide to continue.
The guide then said, "Those people told our ancestors that these fruits can be used to treat illnesses and asked our ancestors to cultivate these fruits. They would pay to buy them."
"Later our ancestors found that although these fruits could treat diseases, they caused poisoning reactions after being eaten, and even livestock that ate the fruits and grass directly died. Eventually, no one planted them anymore."
"However, they still grew here, and they really like growing in sunny valleys."
Matched, everything matched.
Abel confirmed that this is indeed belladonna!
Brought by some merchants who tried to profit from them.
And it’s likely from a long time ago, possibly dating back to the colonial era in the last century or even earlier.
"Alright, I understand, you can go back now."
Abel waved his hand and said no more.
Although belladonna is poisonous, the most toxic part isn’t the fruit.
The fruits can kill humans, but it would take a large amount.
For someone as strong as Chen Wen, it would take seven or eight berries to be effective, making it quite challenging to poison him.
And now that I know what it is, dealing with the poisoning situation becomes easier.
Abel instructed the medical team under his command to prepare some medicines needed to deal with belladonna poisoning.
...
Chen Wen didn’t recognize belladonna and didn’t even know this plant.
Even Qu Yong, known as the Association’s encyclopedia, couldn’t have imagined how interconnected the world has become.
A native European species, being found in Namibia.
However, Chen Wen’s idea of using belladonna for defense wasn’t wrong at all.
After collecting belladonna, Chen Wen continued searching around the hills.
After walking for a while, he stopped again.
This time, he encountered an old acquaintance.
"These leaves, they look like cassava, don’t they?"
Chen Wen said as he squatted down.
When he was on the island, his partner Zhuo Hongnian had found a large amount of cassava on the island.
It eased their food needs, and in the end, they even brewed cassava wine.
Back then, Chen Wen had gained a thorough understanding of cassava.
This tropical crop, native to Brazil, is one of the world’s top three root vegetables and six major food crops.
It’s edible and even a staple food.
In Africa, cassava is more widely planted.
Because they don’t require much care and can produce abundantly.
It really hit the sweet spot for the locals.
Now, Chen Wen understood the locals’ feeling.
After all, in wilderness survival, what’s most lacking isn’t meat but staple food.
Chen Wen squatted down and began to dig.
Soon, the cassava buried underground was dug up by Chen Wen.
Chen Wen’s eyes lit up; he really didn’t expect to find cassava here.
Bringing these cassavas back, processing them properly, and his dream of having cassava as a staple with stir-fried crocodile meat in the coming days could be realized!
Life quality improvement, isn’t it!
...
On the program team’s side.
Yoshikawa Feng’s assistant looked at the cassava Chen Wen dug up, envious enough to hurt his teeth.
Because just yesterday, when Yoshikawa Feng was exploring the hills, he naturally overlooked these abundant cassavas.
Of course, it’s not reasonable to blame Yoshikawa Feng.
Cassava is a tropical crop, and Japan, as an island nation in the mid to high latitudes, hasn’t seen it, which is normal.
However, Yoshikawa Feng’s assistant still harbored some grudges.
Their contestant still had some shortcomings in this area of learning.
Especially in identifying plants and animals.
After all, while other survivors were studying the environment, Chen Wen was busy studying the menu.
