Wilderness Survival with Druid System

Chapter 161: Chapter 47: A Change in the Weather

The eighteenth day of survival was spent with Chen Wen training the Crested Hawk.

The effectiveness achieved on this day was not very apparent.

Trying to get the Crested Hawk to distinguish between rabbits and bighorn sheep was still too demanding.

After all, it was a creature without developed intelligence.

However, what reassured Chen Wen was that the Crested Hawk seemed able to differentiate humans from other creatures.

The command ”reconnaissance” was something the Crested Hawk had fully mastered.

In later PvP, the Crested Hawk would become Chen Wen’s eyes, scouting any creature intending to attack him.

...

The nineteenth day of survival.

Chen Wen returned to the shelter.

Besides food, he also brought back a large number of Teddy Bear Cacti.

These cacti were arranged by Chen Wen around the shelter, serving as a defense.

The bobcat was startled upon seeing this scene.

It had suffered from the Teddy Bear Cactus and knew well its terrifying features.

Thus, when a kitten attempted to touch the furry spines of a Teddy Bear Cactus.

The bobcat swatted the kitten away with its paw.

”Tsk tsk, a complete childhood now,”

Chen Wen noticed this scene and couldn’t help but laugh.

”What are you doing? These spines are dangerous!”

The bobcat skillfully maneuvered around the spines, looking at Chen Wen.

Chen Wen closed the radio equipment and explained, ”In this desert, there are others like me surviving. If they find me, they’ll attack me to make me leave.”

”I am now preparing some defensive measures, because, barring any surprises, they’ll be coming in a few days.”

Roland had veered off this way yesterday.

If Roland headed northeast, there’s a good chance he’d spot Chen Wen’s shelter.

But thankfully, he went northwest instead.

The bobcat nodded slightly and said, ”I’ll watch the surroundings for you.”

”Sure, sure, thanks for your effort.”

Chen Wen said with a cheerful grin.

...

After completing the defensive facilities, Chen Wen began his routine camp tasks.

Fetching water, collecting firewood, checking traps.

By the time he finished, it was already noon.

He took some jerky to the cool valley, eating while training the Crested Hawk.

After many days of training, the Crested Hawk was quickly becoming a true falcon.

Chen Wen was currently conducting the last command training: hunting.

Chen Wen’s way of training falcons was completely different from traditional methods.

Generally speaking, falcon training is divided into several stages.

The first stage is called pairing, simply getting the hawk used to humans and the environment.

The second stage is the hunting training Chen Wen was about to start, allowing the hawk to chase bait, and thereby learn to catch prey.

The third stage is to completely release the hawk, letting it fly freely to hunt.

In the third stage, to maintain the hawk’s hunting desire, the falconer keeps it in a half-fed, half-hungry state.

Compared to these traditional methods, Chen Wen’s unconventional training approach nearly broke all stages.

The first stage was completed by the system for Chen Wen.

Then, Chen Wen boldly trusted the Crested Hawk, jumping directly to the third stage, skipping the second stage.

He even let the hawk eat its fill.

In the eyes of many falconers, this was a foolish thing.

But Chen Wen did it anyway and even succeeded.

Currently, however, to become a complete hunting falcon, the Crested Hawk still needs to undergo hunting training.

Hunting, meaning searching for prey.

Chen Wen used desert cottontail rabbit skins and stones with branches to make a very ugly specimen.

He intended to use this specimen for the Crested Hawk’s training.

Placing the specimen in the distance, Chen Wen issued the command: ”Hunt!”

The Crested Hawk looked at Chen Wen in confusion.

Chen Wen nudged the Crested Hawk to make it focus on the specimen ahead.

After several tries, the Crested Hawk finally figured it out.

On Chen Wen’s ninth ”hunt” command,

it let out a sharp cry, spread its wings, and flew toward the specimen ten meters away.

The Crested Hawk’s hunting was quite spectacular.

Its expansive wings were very agile, allowing its body to easily dodge obstacles.

The long legs and sharp claws were visually striking.

When the claws struck the specimen, Chen Wen could clearly see several small holes suddenly appear in his specimen.

Then, the Crested Hawk dragged the prey and flew back toward Chen Wen.

”Holy crap, you sly dog!”

Chen Wen exclaimed in surprise, rewarding the Crested Hawk.

To his astonishment, the Crested Hawk instinctively learned to bring back the prey without any teaching.

This was truly...

Chen Wen gave the Crested Hawk an extra piece of meat, causing it to flap its wings excitedly.

After several training sessions, the Crested Hawk had learned to hunt,

but it had not yet practiced it in reality.

Seeing there was still time, Chen Wen took the Crested Hawk to the Giant Pillar Great Plains for practice.

...

While Chen Wen began training the Crested Hawk in practice,

on the other side of the plains,

Adam, seeing the amassed food, water, and enough tools,

issued a new order: ”Tomorrow, prioritize finding Roland and eliminate him!”

”If we first encounter Chen Wen, and he’s not with Roland, we’ll eliminate Chen Wen together!”

Gaston nodded.

After some calculation, he had pinpointed Roland’s landing position.

And he had also determined the location of Chen Wen’s shelter.

The enemy is in the open; we are in the dark. The enemy is scattered; we are united.

Three against two, the advantage is ours!

Gaston smiled, as if he could already imagine himself surviving alone in the wilderness.

Chen Wen, seems like your study of wilderness solitude has been in vain!

...

On Roland’s end,

after a whole day of exploration, he felt he had gone in the wrong direction.

”Could it be that it’s not in the west? I remember when I looked at the landing area, the others seemed to be in the east?”

Roland pondered the situation carefully.

These past two weeks, the specifics were a bit unclear to him.

But the one thing he was sure of was that the further west he went, the more he couldn’t see the plains as a landmark.

”It must be to the east then!”

Roland declared confidently.

He set up camp on the spot, planning to head east.

...

The twentieth day of survival quietly arrived.

But the battles the assistants and directors wanted to see didn’t happen; instead, there was a change in the weather.

”Looks like it’s going to rain,”

Chen Wen said, unable to help himself, as he observed the sky.

Last night, he had heard faint thunder.

The thunder was far, to the north.

But by morning, Chen Wen noticed that his area was already covered by dark clouds.

At the end of the rainy season, a heavy rain came as expected.

”By the look of the sky, this rain will either come at noon or at night,”

Chen Wen judged the approaching rain based on his learned knowledge.

”Before this rain arrives, I must make some simple rainproof equipment. On one hand, to shield against the impending rain, as my shelter isn’t entirely rainproof. On the other hand, I need to make a shelter to protect the campfire, and also stock up on some dry wood.”

”After all, nobody knows how long this rain will last. Without enough dry wood to keep the campfire burning, I’d find myself in a very dangerous situation before the rain stops.”

As Chen Wen spoke, he immediately sprang into action.

He took the Crested Hawk into the valley to begin gathering dry wood.

Besides that, Chen Wen cut down one tree with a machete.

Of course, not a mesquite tree.

Since humans discovered the close relationship between the mesquite tree and the Giant Pillar Cacti, mesquite trees became a protected species in the Sonora Desert.

Chen Wen chose those unprotected trees.

Of course, it was just one tree.

Any more wouldn’t be allowed.

Anyway, by noon, Chen Wen had gathered enough supplies.