Coyote pups.

To be honest, it was the first time for Chen Wen to see them.

On the hillside, three coyote pups stumbled towards him.

Clearly, they had heard their mother’s call.

These three pups looked...

To be honest, Chen Wen thought they looked a bit like rural puppies and somewhat like young wolfdogs.

"Judging by their appearance, they can eat solid food, so they’re probably about three or four months old?"

Chen Wen calculated the time and shook his head: "It seems this is a mother wolf that got pregnant at the end of the breeding season, too late, which caused her to miss the best breeding time."

"Judging by her thinness now, there’s indeed a reason for it. With these little pups holding her back, in such a cold winter, and the surrounding rabbits were...cough cough, likely looted by the Wolf Mink, no wonder she’s so skinny."

While pondering the breeding season of this coyote, the coyote had already placed the meat on the ground.

The three long-hungry little coyotes lit up at the sight of raw meat.

They wobbled over, surrounding it and tearing into the raw meat with gusto.

Watching them devour ravenously, Chen Wen shook his head: "Half-grown lads, eating the old man into poverty. It’s no wonder this mother coyote is so hungry with these three animals around."

Chen Wen squatted beside the coyote.

At that moment, the coyote’s eyes glistened with gentle light, quite different from before.

It lowered its head, gently licking the little coyote’s belly, seemingly helping them digest.

Sensing Chen Wen’s presence, the female coyote looked up at him with grateful eyes.

At this moment, the red fox approached too.

Looking at the three fluffy brown-gray balls, the red fox’s eyes shone with a special light.

Seemingly overwhelmed by maternal instinct, it also extended its tongue and gently licked the little coyotes under the coyote’s wary gaze.

"Humans, should we help them?"

Though it was a question, Chen Wen could clearly feel the red fox’s anticipation.

Glancing at the three fluffy balls, Chen Wen pondered for a moment.

For now, his food was definitely enough to feed them.

After all, the red fox and old wolf were quite picky now, preferring to hunt for their food themselves.

Besides Wolf Mink occasionally eating some, the old wolf, red fox, and Eagle wouldn’t touch the bear meat.

Therefore, feeding these little guys with bear meat was entirely feasible.

Furthermore, raising this litter of coyotes could at least provide him with an entry.

This deal seemed worthwhile.

Thinking this through, Chen Wen nodded slightly: "Let’s try to help them, but you need to try communicating with the female coyote, and see if you can make her understand our intentions."

Hearing this, the red fox was puzzled: "Can’t you communicate with it directly, like you did with Wolf Mink and the old wolf before?"

Chen Wen shook his head.

Seeing this, the red fox could only try to communicate with the female coyote.

While the red fox attempted communication, Chen Wen turned to the bear meat area.

After cutting some raw meat with a bone, he returned to find the coyote.

This time, when Chen Wen arrived, the coyote and red fox were already somewhat familiar with each other.

They communicated in a way that Chen Wen couldn’t quite understand.

When Chen Wen approached and placed the raw meat on the ground.

The red fox came to Chen Wen’s side and said: "I’ve communicated with it now, it’s willing to follow our command as long as we help raise its children."

Upon hearing this, Chen Wen nodded slightly.

Then he looked at the somewhat nervous coyote and extended his hand.

The coyote tilted its head, seeming a little unsure of Chen Wen’s intent, but soon after a few short calls from the red fox.

The coyote slowly approached, placing its paw on Chen Wen’s hand.

However, what surprised Chen Wen was that the coyote wasn’t directly tamed in the system.

Well, it looks like building a relationship will take time and effort to tame it.

Chen Wen shook his head and stood up.

The coyote quickly returned to its pups.

...

In the following days, Chen Wen continuously tried to build a relationship with the coyote.

His methods included but were not limited to: feeding, petting, babysitting...

But to Chen Wen’s frustration, the mother coyote wasn’t wary of him anymore, even allowing her pups to stay with him.

Yet it never provided Chen Wen with an entry.

This made Chen Wen wonder whether the system was malfunctioning at one point.

Meanwhile, the relationship between the three little coyotes and Chen Wen also skyrocketed.

Each time Chen Wen arrived, with a few calls, the little coyotes ran out from their den faster than when their mother called them out.

Of course, Chen Wen didn’t focus solely on the coyotes.

He was still ice fishing.

In the past few days, he caught quite a few fish, including two pike, one big and one small, along with three rainbow trout, all of them were large!

These fish provided a satisfying meal for Chen Wen and the animals.

Chen Wen even tried frying the rainbow trout in oil, paired with dried berries, which gave him a faint feeling of dining in a Western restaurant.

If it weren’t for Wolf Mink constantly tugging at his pants for food, the feeling would have been more genuine.

Soon, survival reached the forty-fifth day.

With survival nearly halfway, the Great Slave Lake welcomed its second wave of cooling and snowy weather.

On the morning of the forty-fifth day, Chen Wen went out to have a look.

"Whoa! What a heavy snow!"

Large flock-like clusters of snowflakes fluttered down from the sky.

The snow covered with snowflakes almost blanketed the entire sky.

Making people feel a sense of suffocation.

Chen Wen looked at the Eagle and asked: "When did it start snowing yesterday?"

"It started in the evening, the weasels didn’t even go hunting."

The Eagle said, glancing at the weasel that was peeking out from behind Chen Wen.

The weasel shot up, climbed up Chen Wen’s clothing to his shoulder: "I’ve decided!"

Chen Wen tilted his head, glancing at the weasel: "What?"

"I’m going to depend on you to survive from now on. The mice around here are getting fewer, I’d need to run far to hunt, but I live comfortably here with you, I don’t want to leave, so..."

The weasel’s tone shifted, somewhat lacking confidence.

Chen Wen extended his hand, gently touching the now completely white weasel: "No problem, I’ll provide food for you from now on."

Hearing this, the weasel finally got excited.

Since the snow outside was too heavy, Chen Wen asked the Eagle to fetch the Wolf Mink guarding the food back.

As Chen Wen and the coyotes grew familiar, guarding around the bear meat was hardly meaningful, only the Wolf Mink would check on it daily.

This guy was particularly attentive to food.

"Today’s weather is suitable for staying in, fine, I won’t go out either, ice fishing...ice fishing in this weather might get me lost in the heavy snow."

Muttering, Chen Wen retreated into the warm shelter.

After stoking the fireplace with some firewood, he contentedly leaned against it, sitting on the wooden chair he’d made over the days, humming an unknown tune.

Leisurely~Leisurely~