Wilderness Survival with Druid System

The sharp metallic clanging successfully made the Tibetan Horse Bear stop in its tracks.

It looked at Chen Wen with a hint of fear, pawing nervously at the ground, not daring to come any closer.

Seeing that this trick worked pretty well, Chen Wen’s brows lifted with delight. He decisively raised the big pot again, planning to bang it once more and scare the Tibetan Horse Bear off for good.

But before Chen Wen could make a move, the Tibetan Horse Bear suddenly twisted around and bolted away.

”Hey, it worked!”

Vikram said in surprise, ”Chen Wen, you really have a knack for this!”

Yet as he spoke, the Tibetan Horse Bear that had fled some distance stopped. It turned around and looked back at Chen Wen and Vikram again.

This time, Chen Wen understood.

”Now this is a problem.”

Chen Wen frowned and said, ”This bear seems to be really hungry. It came here for food, and right now it probably doesn’t want to give up so easily.”

Hearing this, Vikram couldn’t help saying, ”Then what should we do? Just stand here and watch it? I say we should just...”

”Chili powder. I’ll try that again.”

Chen Wen cut Vikram off: ”If even the chili powder doesn’t work, then I’m out of options. At that point we’ll have to go hard!”

As they spoke, the Tibetan Horse Bear seemed to have figured out Chen Wen’s banging. It realized that it was just loud noise and didn’t actually harm it.

So the Tibetan Horse Bear regained its composure.

It glared at Chen Wen like a tiger sizing up its prey, its expression twisted into something terrifying, as if it wanted to tear him apart. Low growls rumbled from its throat—it was viciousness incarnate!

Beside Chen Wen, Vikram’s eyes widened as his adrenaline kicked in. He clenched the Thorn dagger in his palm.

As long as the Tibetan Horse Bear dared to lunge, Vikram would dare to strike, driving that blade straight into the bear’s body!

But Chen Wen wasn’t rattled.

He calmly took the chili powder out of the bag—this chili powder had been brought by one of the four contestants from before. Chen Wen had taken a look back then and decided not to keep it, instead sharing it with Vikram, who’d been short on seasonings.

Now Chen Wen scooped up a handful of chili powder. Under the Tibetan Horse Bear’s watchful gaze, he carefully walked a few steps forward. Then, at the right distance, he flicked his hand and scattered it. The bright red chili powder caught the tailwind, billowed out with a soft whoosh, and swept toward the Tibetan Horse Bear.

The Tibetan Horse Bear had no room to dodge.

In no time, the chili powder was carried by the wind right up to it.

How could the Tibetan Horse Bear know the power of chili powder?

It was still breathing on instinct, and because it had just run a couple of steps, it was actually breathing harder.

That one deep breath did it. Very soon, the Tibetan Horse Bear experienced something it had never felt in its life.

It felt as if something had burned its nose—suddenly it was on fire!

That burning sensation even spread inward, traveling deeper and deeper along its nasal passages!

The Tibetan Horse Bear lowered its head and made a motion similar to a human sneezing, and it squeezed its eyes shut.

Right then it felt its eyes burning too!

That scorched, fiery feeling—it was the first time in its life it had ever felt anything like it.

”It works this well?!”

Seeing this, Vikram was genuinely surprised.

Sure, a lot of bear sprays are made from extracted capsaicin, but chili powder definitely isn’t as effective as professional bear spray. Yet Chen Wen had just managed to get capsaicin-level results out of plain chili powder.

Chen Wen explained, ”It’s mainly because the wind is with us, so the powder can drift right up near the bear’s body. Plus, I was really close to it just now—less than ten meters or so. At that distance, we don’t have to worry about the chili powder dispersing too much.”

As he spoke, the chili powder’s full effect kicked in.

The Tibetan Horse Bear not far away went berserk, rubbing its face with its paws, but the more it rubbed, the more the chili powder spread.

Chen Wen seized the opportunity, picked up the pot and the entrenching tool, and banged them together as he quickly moved toward the bear.

The combination of noise and sensory assault on its nose made the Tibetan Horse Bear instantly abandon any plan to keep attacking Chen Wen.

It let out a series of low growls, turned around, and bolted off into the distance.

Watching the Tibetan Horse Bear running away, a faint smile crossed Chen Wen’s face.

This guy’s still pretty green.

”Forget it. For a while, this Tibetan Horse Bear will probably turn tail and run the moment it sees a human.”

Hearing that, Vikram nodded in agreement.

Once they watched the Tibetan Horse Bear disappear from sight, both of them let out a breath.

”Alright, let’s keep moving.”

Chen Wen said.

But just as Chen Wen turned around, ready to get the animals moving again—

Suddenly, Vikram stared ahead and thrust out his arm in shock: ”Something’s off! Chen Wen! Looks like... there’s another bear coming!”

At his words, Chen Wen turned his head. On the opposite side from where the first Tibetan Horse Bear had been, a Tibetan Horse Bear slightly larger than that one was strolling out at a leisurely pace.

The one they’d just driven off with chili powder had already been a fully grown adult, but this new one looked even bigger—and it was a bit unusual.

Chen Wen could clearly see that its belly was extremely, extremely sunken!

He could even see its ribs as it walked!

”This is bad! Get back!”

Chen Wen’s brows knit together as he pulled Vikram back. ”Something’s wrong with this one! I’m guessing it’s a bear that’s barely eaten anything since waking up from hibernation! That’s dangerous!”

At that, Vikram immediately began backing away, facing the new Tibetan Horse Bear.

But as soon as he moved—

The newly arrived Tibetan Horse Bear didn’t hesitate at all. It suddenly picked up speed and charged straight toward Chen Wen.

”Three hundred meters between us. Run! We should be able to outrun it if we bolt now!”

Vikram said.

But Chen Wen didn’t answer.

He stared in surprise at the new Tibetan Horse Bear. The moment it started to run, two words appeared above its head in his mind—”starving mad” and ”irritable.”

Damn, is this one of those animals with both a special temperament and a special emotional state at the same time?

Chen Wen couldn’t help thinking.

”You head back with the animals. I want to see what’s going on with this bear.”

...

Vikram didn’t stay. He was still a bit afraid of bears.

So Vikram followed the Snow Leopard and the herd of horses, circling into the valley behind them to hide for the time being.

Chen Wen remained where he was, staring straight at the bear without looking away.

Beside him, the Golden Eagle had perked up, circling nearby to help Chen Wen hold the line.

As the Tibetan Horse Bear drew closer and closer, Chen Wen’s expression gradually turned grave.

This Tibetan Horse Bear was in a starving-mad state, and its temperament was irritable.

If he couldn’t calm it down, their first encounter definitely wouldn’t be pretty.

Before long, the Tibetan Horse Bear closed the distance to about twenty meters from Chen Wen.

It slowly reduced its speed, shifting from a Rage Run to a walk.

As it walked, it kept looking around, as if something in the surroundings was drawing its attention.

But Chen Wen knew very well—this Tibetan Horse Bear was looking for an opening to attack him!