King of the Wilderness

Chapter 374 - 223: Quite a Thorny Problem · Nov 01, 2026

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Chapter List (802)

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351 Chapter 351 - 217: Doing Scientific Research in the Wilderness? (10,000-Word Merged - ) (Part 2) 2026-11-01
352 Chapter 352 - 217: Doing Scientific Research in the Wild? (10,000-Word Jumbo - ) (Part 3) 2026-11-01
353 Chapter 353 - 217: Doing Scientific Research in the Wilderness? (Ten-Thousand-Word Mega - ) (Part 4) 2026-11-01
354 Chapter 354 - 217: Doing Scientific Research in the Wilderness? (Ten Thousand-Word Combined - )_5 2026-11-01
355 Chapter 355 - 217: Doing Scientific Research in the Wilderness? (Ten-Thousand-Word Combined - ) 2026-11-01
356 Chapter 356 - 218: Inuit Snow House 2026-11-01
357 Chapter 357 - 218: Inuit Snow House (Part 2) 2026-11-01
358 Chapter 358 - 218: Inuit Snow Hut (Part 3) 2026-11-01
359 Chapter 359 - 218: Inuit Snow House_4 2026-11-01
360 Chapter 360 - 219: Guardians of Miracles 2026-11-01
361 Chapter 361 - 219: Guarding a Miracle (Part 2) 2026-11-01
362 Chapter 362 - 219: Guarding a Miracle (Part 3) 2026-11-01
363 Chapter 363 - 220: Thirty-third Day! 2026-11-01
364 Chapter 364 - 220: Day 33! 2026-11-01
365 Chapter 365 - 220: The Thirty-Third Day! 2026-11-01
366 Chapter 366 - 220: The Thirty-third Day! 2026-11-01
367 Chapter 367 - 221: Daily Life of Survival on the Icefield 2026-11-01
368 Chapter 368 - 221: Daily Life of Survival on the Icefield 2026-11-01
369 Chapter 369 - 221: Daily Life of Survival on the Icefield 2026-11-01
370 Chapter 370 - 221: Daily Life of Survival on the Icefield 2026-11-01
371 Chapter 371 - 222: New Prey! 2026-11-01
372 Chapter 372 - 222: New Prey! (Part 2) 2026-11-01
373 Chapter 373 - 222: New Prey! (Part 3) 2026-11-01
374 Chapter 374 - 223: Quite a Thorny Problem 2026-11-01
375 Chapter 375 - 223: Extremely Thorny 2026-11-01
376 Chapter 376 - 223: Extremely Troublesome 2026-11-01
377 Chapter 377 - 224: The Oppressive Atmosphere of the Dark Forest 2026-11-01
378 Chapter 378 - 224: The Oppressive Aura of the Dark Forest (Part 2) 2026-11-01
379 Chapter 379 - 224: Oppression of the Dark Forest (Part 3) 2026-11-01
380 Chapter 380 - 225: The Proper Way to Process a Porcupine (With Pictures) 2026-11-01
381 Chapter 381 - 225: The Proper Way to Handle a Porcupine (With Many Photos) 2026-11-01
382 Chapter 382 - 225: The Proper Way to Handle a Porcupine (With Many Pictures) 2026-11-01
383 Chapter 383 - 226: Planning for the Future (Image-Rich) 2026-11-01
384 Chapter 384 - 226: Planning for the Future (Illustrated) 2026-11-01
385 Chapter 385 - 226: Planning for the Future 2026-11-01
386 Chapter 386 - 227: Polar Bear’s Ice Fishing 2026-11-01
387 Chapter 387 - 227: The Polar Bear’s Ice Fishing 2026-11-01
388 Chapter 388 - 227: The Polar Bear’s Ice Fishing 2026-11-01
389 Chapter 389 - 228: Farewell on the Forty-Fourth Day 2026-11-01
390 Chapter 390 - 228: Farewell on the Forty-Fourth Day 2026-11-01
391 Chapter 391 - 228: Farewell on Day 44 2026-11-01
392 Chapter 392 - 229: December’s Gift 2026-11-01
393 Chapter 393 - 229: December’s Gift 2026-11-01
394 Chapter 394 - 229: December’s Gift 2026-11-01
395 Chapter 395 - 230: Frozen Throne Champion Ownership 2026-11-01
396 Chapter 396 - 230: The Champion of the Frozen Throne 2026-11-01
397 Chapter 397 - 230: The Frozen Throne Championship Decision 2026-11-01
398 Chapter 398 - 231: Homeward Bound Under the Polar Night 2026-11-01
399 Chapter 399 - 231: Homeward Bound Beneath the Polar Night 2026-11-01
400 Chapter 400 - 231: Homeward Bound Under the Polar Night 2026-11-01

Chapter 374: Chapter 223: Quite a Thorny Problem

”Ura la la! Look what we’ve discovered!”

Lin Yu’an quickly walked over and used the end of a birch spear shaft to brush away the loose snow in that area. As the snow was brushed aside, more ”evidence” was revealed.

There were several things scattered on the snow, of varying lengths, black and white like sharp spines.

He carefully picked up the longest one, bringing it close to his eyes for a closer look. It was about ten centimeters long, an extremely hard, hollow keratinized spine.

The base of the spine was milky white, with a jet-black tip. The surface was smooth, but in the sunlight, structures like fishhook barbs could be seen.

”North American Porcupine!” Lin Yu’an finally confirmed the target he was tracking, and a determined smile appeared on his face.

”These are the quills shed while it was moving in the trees or rubbing against bushes. It looks like my luck today is truly good.”

He held the quill up to the GoPro camera for a detailed scientific explanation. ”This thing is the North American Porcupine’s most famous and deadly weapon of defense.”

”Many people have a misconception that it can ’shoot’ its quills like arrows to attack enemies.”

”This is actually incorrect. Its defense mechanism is a passive but extremely efficient physical trap.”

”First of all, these quills are actually specialized hairs, and they connect very loosely with the skin at their base.”

”When it senses a threat, it contracts the muscles in its skin, making all the quills stand upright, turning it into a spiny ball, with real danger in contact.”

”When predators attack the porcupine with their mouths or paws, just a light touch and these quills will immediately detach from the porcupine and embed firmly into the attacker’s skin.”

”It also actively attacks, with its main offensive action being to spin around and viciously lash out with its tail, which is covered in quills and has extremely powerful muscles.”

”This motion is very quick, and when the tail hits an enemy, numerous quills will instantly pierce into the other’s body.”

”And it’s precisely because of this fast lashing motion that many people mistakenly believe the quills are ’shot’ out.”

He carefully pinched the base of the quill with his gloved fingers, pointing the tip towards the camera.

”Now look at why this thing is so deadly. The key lies in the tip’s structure. To the naked eye, it seems just like a regular blackened point.”

”But under a microscope, the tip is covered with hundreds of tiny rearward-facing barbs, just like a fishhook.”

”This structure makes it very difficult to remove, and as the victim’s muscles naturally contract and move, these barbs will cause the quill to burrow deeper into the body.”

”But that’s not the most terrifying part. The most terrifying thing is that this thing can ’move’ on its own.”

”Imagine these barbs piercing into the predator’s leg muscles. When this muscle moves normally and contracts, the strong muscle forces will compress the quill in all directions.”

”Due to these barbs, the quill cannot slide outward. Thus, the only direction the muscle’s contraction can push the quill is deeper into the body.”

”Every breath, every step, every slightest muscle twitch works like a one-way ratchet, pushing the quill further inward bit by bit.”

”It will never retreat, only advance. This is the so-called ’quill migration,’ so a quill initially embedded in the leg’s surface tissue might, after weeks or months,”

”be driven by continued muscle movement into the abdominal cavity, eventually piercing the intestines, liver, or other important organs, causing fatal internal bleeding and infection.”

”If a predator is unfortunate enough to be quilled in the mouth or face, the pain and infection may prevent it from eating, leading to starvation in despair.”

He concluded, ”So, the porcupine is truly a master of defense. It doesn’t need to waste energy on active attacks; it just waits for enemies to make mistakes.”

”Once you make contact with it, its deadly armor automatically does all the remaining work.”

After the science lesson, Lin Yu’an carefully stowed the quill. He knew he was about to face an opponent with whom no mistakes could be made.

But at the same time, his heartbeat began to accelerate uncontrollably. The porcupine, slow-moving, strong in defense but weak in aggression.

More importantly, it accumulates a thick, extremely valuable layer of fat under its skin and around its organs to prepare for winter!

This is exactly what he dreams of, the ”energy gold” that can reverse his body’s energy deficit!

”Now that we’ve confirmed the suspect’s identity, the next step is to find its den.”

Lin Yu’an immediately centered his search on the tree where he found the quill, beginning the part he excelled at and enjoyed the most—carpet-style tracking.

No longer performing wide spiral searches as before, he narrowed down the area, using this tree as a base point to start a more meticulous fan-shaped area check.

His body language also changed, with each step landing on the softest snow where it’s least likely to make a sound, always avoiding stepping on brittle branches that could snap with a ”crack.”

His knees remained slightly bent, his body’s center of gravity kept very low, allowing him to seamlessly switch between moving and being still at any moment.

He was like a lynx stealthily hunting in the snowy woods, his eyes no longer gazing into the distance but scanning the ground inch by inch like a scanner, missing no traces.

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