Wilderness Survival with Druid System-Chapter 385 - 54: Tigerfish and Bullfrog Hotpot
After simulating the traces left by the kudu.
Chen Wen checked again.
He made secondary modifications to illogical or unreasonable traces.
To ensure they made sense.
Then Chen Wen headed to the second trap site, ready for a second go.
After finishing, Chen Wen left Yoshikawa Feng’s trap area with one entire rope and half a broken rope.
He looked quite content.
"If I can’t fool Yoshikawa Feng, at least I’ve gained a rope and a half. But if I do fool him, hehe, that’ll be more than just a rope and a half."
Chen Wen chuckled, "While there’s still time, I plan to check out Yoshikawa Feng’s shelter."
"Once we find his shelter, we’ll go back, and check on it again in two or three days."
...
Finding Yoshikawa Feng’s shelter wasn’t hard.
Through empathy, Chen Wen easily pinpointed Yoshikawa Feng’s shelter.
A treehouse located on a ridgeline tree.
Compared to Chen Wen’s shelter, Yoshikawa Feng’s was quite lacking.
Just from the outside, Chen Wen could tell the shelter wasn’t very sturdy.
Besides stability, the shape would make anyone with OCD cringe.
"Looks like Yoshikawa Feng’s survival skills are all invested in traps, but his shelter building isn’t great. If we want to eliminate Yoshikawa Feng, we could think of a strategy involving his shelter."
Chen Wen said, but didn’t approach recklessly.
Even though Yoshikawa Feng wasn’t in the shelter at the moment.
He circled around the shelter and then decisively left the area.
Afterward, Chen Wen didn’t try to find the kudu but returned to his own camp.
As it was getting dark.
...
Just as it was getting dark, Chen Wen returned to the shelter.
The hippo was still injured, leisurely feeding along the riverbank.
Upon seeing Chen Wen return, it made a snorting sound, lazily acknowledging him.
By the river, using the drone’s light.
Chen Wen processed the bullfrog and that striped fish again, and fetched some water with a pot, not much, about a third full.
Back at the camp.
Chen Wen started to cook.
"Let’s keep it simple tonight, boil a pot of bullfrog soup, sprinkle some seasoning, grill the fish, and leave the turtle eggs and cassava for tomorrow."
After walking all day, Chen Wen felt a bit tired.
He moved the cassava and turtle eggs to a higher place.
Then chopped the skinned bullfrog into small pieces and put them into the pot.
Even though the bullfrog meat had lost its freshness after a day, it still tasted good.
With the bullfrog soup simmering, he began grilling the fish.
He split the striped fish along the dorsal spine with a stick and started to grill it!
As time passed, the fish gradually changed color under the campfire’s heat.
The aroma gradually filled the air.
And the bullfrog soup also started boiling due to the high heat.
Chen Wen didn’t hurry to take down the pot.
Wild bullfrogs have lots of parasites, they need to be cooked at high temperatures for a long time.
But he used reeds as a spoon, occasionally stirring the bullfrog soup to prevent the frog meat from sticking to the pot’s bottom and burning.
The grilled fish was ready soon.
Chen Wen couldn’t wait to taste the striped fish.
As he pulled apart the fish, the white flesh tore through the blackened skin, steaming slightly in the air.
River fish usually have a strong earthy smell, while the seasoning from ’Third Brother’ is even stronger!
It completely masked the fish’s odor.
One bite, and the tenderness of the fish combined with the fragrance of the spices exploded in his mouth.
"Wow~ Delicious!"
Chen Wen exclaimed.
Maybe because he was hungry, Chen Wen found tonight’s dinner particularly tasty!
After commenting, Chen Wen focused on eating without further words.
Watching him eat, Lin Jiawei was quite moved.
He really is hungry!
After eating half the fish, Chen Wen felt something was still missing.
What’s missing?
Attributes!
He opened the system, the attribute of the striped fish was available for selection.
[Engage in looting of natural creations—striped fish (freshwater subspecies)!]
[Looting... Looting complete!]
[Please choose one of the following three entries]
[Laziness (Blue): When not hungry, you’ll be even lazier]
[Note: I’m full and don’t want to move~—striped fish (freshwater subspecies)]
[Enhanced biting muscles (Purple): Gradually strengthen biting muscles, increasing bite force; easier to tear off prey’s flesh while devouring]
[Note: Better not let me bite you! If I do, pray for a good meal!—striped fish (freshwater subspecies)]
[Blood Seeking (Purple): You can better sense the smell of blood, enhanced in water; improved ability to track blood trails, causing more panic in bleeding prey you chase]
[Note: Are you bleeding? Don’t blame me then!—striped fish (freshwater subspecies)]
[Make a selection within one minute or abandon! If overdue, the first entry will be selected automatically!]
...
The attribute of the striped fish was quite compelling.
Chen Wen pondered a bit, then abandoned the [Enhanced biting muscles], as the human bite force wouldn’t be very useful.
Most prey don’t require biting force for consumption, as the meat can be cooked till tender.
So, the [Blood Seeking] ability, which enhances hunting skills, was evidently more suitable for Chen Wen.
Upon selecting [Blood Seeking], Chen Wen immediately felt a difference.
It was as if lines made of the scent of blood appeared in the air around him, guiding him on a chase.
Really now, am I a werewolf?
Have I turned into Vander?
Chen Wen smirked, somewhat speechless.
However, the utility of this attribute was quite significant, and Chen Wen pondered it for about half a minute.
He realized he could hunt just by following the scent of blood.
Eyes shut, no problem.
As long as there’re no obstacles on the path.
Moreover, he could judge the prey’s injury state by the scent’s intensity.
For instance, the strongest scent at the camp was left by the hippo.
Based on the scent’s concentration, Chen Wen assessed that the hippo’s injury lay somewhere between severe and mild.
Not life-threatening.
But if it sustains further wounds, it might worsen into a serious injury.
Seems like the hippo needs good rest and recovery for the next few days.
Chen Wen thought.
Shutting the system.
He glanced at the bullfrog soup bubbling away, which had been cooking for quite a while now.
A third of the water had boiled down.
About done.
Chen Wen estimated the timing and threw in the Third Brother’s seasoning.
The aroma was mouth-watering!
His appetite was whetted, not having had enough to eat.
Using a piece of reed as a stirrer, he mixed the seasoning into the bullfrog soup.
Chen Wen felt as if he was about to eat hot pot.
Red spices that weren’t spicy but tasted unique.
Chen Wen broke the reed into two pieces, using them directly as chopsticks.
Picking up a piece of bullfrog meat, he put it in his mouth.
Tender!
Even after being left for a day before cooking, Chen Wen could taste the frog meat’s tenderness!
The seasoning masked the frog’s own taste, but that didn’t affect the texture.
Instead, thanks to the aroma and slight spiciness of the seasoning, the bullfrog meat tasted even better, even masking the slight staleness of the frog meat.
After all, it had hung on Chen Wen’s backpack an entire day.
In such weather, there’s no way it wouldn’t have gone slightly off.
Yet the seasoning wonderfully masked that.
"Not bad! If I could get some tripe, Chinese cabbage, tofu skin, enoki mushrooms, wouldn’t this be hotpot?"
Thinking about these dishes, Chen Wen couldn’t help analyzing the possibility of acquiring such ingredients: "Tripe... if I could hunt an African buffalo, it might be possible!"
"Beef slices might also be possible, but finding veggies won’t be easy. Caprivi area virtually lacks edible mushrooms, unless I find nearby tribes and see if they have anything to trade."
"Speaking of which, it seems the tribes now live further east, if the chance arises, maybe I can check them out for hotpot ingredients."
This left the assistants behind the screen speechless.
He’s seriously working on hotpot?
Are you here for survival?
Or a vacation?
