Wilderness Survival with Druid System

As the sun gradually sank behind the forest to the southwest, the sky at the camp also began to darken.

The competitors who had been busy all day started to return to the camp.

The first to come back was Hua Yun.

She didn’t bring back any prey, but she did bring back quite a lot of matsutake mushrooms.

It seems that during her exploration, she discovered a matsutake mushroom area and dug up quite a few there.

After a while, Roland and Fred returned carrying wood.

The two of them had cut a lot of wood over the past two days, and it was already piling up now.

They plan to spend another day tomorrow cutting wood, and then there will be almost enough wood for the construction of three shelters in the early stages.

Finally, Gaston returned, laden with success.

Known as the king of fishing, he did not disappoint everyone’s trust.

He brought back seven Anise Fish!

Seeing him carrying seven Anise Fish, each about twenty-five centimeters long, Chen Wen couldn’t help but open his mouth in an ”O” shape again.

Really?

Gaston has a bit of forbidden magic, doesn’t he!

Getting him to fish, Chen Wen had a feeling this guy could catch quite a few.

But seven fish?

That’s a bit ridiculous!

However, before Chen Wen could speak, Gaston immediately praised him, saying, ”Chen Wen, your bait-using skills are really something special!”

Upon hearing this, Chen Wen looked bewildered.

What is this?

But as it was quite dark, no one saw Chen Wen’s expression.

Gaston continued praising, ”The mixture of rotten egg and sawdust! This thing worked out astoundingly well!”

”You guys don’t know, after I laid the ground bait, all the Anise Fish gathered like bees smelling flowers, and combined with Chen Wen letting me use beetle larvae for fishing, these insect-eating Anise Fish were biting constantly as if they were in mating season, and I kept reeling them in one after another.”

With a glowing face, Gaston said, ”If I hadn’t made some mistakes, two times lifting the rod too early, once anchoring onto a fish’s tail, and another time making a mistake that let one escape, I should have brought back more than ten Anise Fish today!”

Upon hearing this, everyone gasped.

More than ten Anise Fish!

Wow.

Could this be true?

Even the fully equipped fishermen wouldn’t dare say they could pull up ten fish over twenty centimeters in an afternoon, right!

Yet, from what Gaston described, it seemed that Chen Wen played quite a role in this.

He planned the fishing conditions far away from the camp!

Unfathomable!

Everyone looked at Chen Wen with completely changed expressions.

Honestly, Chen Wen didn’t want to take too much credit.

After all, the rotten egg ground bait was something he mentioned casually.

He did think about using beetle larvae for fishing.

Before coming here, Chen Wen had looked up information on many fish in Lake Baikal, including several insect-eating species.

So he instructed Gaston to use beetle larvae partially with the idea of catching those kinds of fish.

Anise Fish was one of Chen Wen’s targets.

But seeing Gaston and everyone else looking at him with admiration, Chen Wen knew explaining now wouldn’t clear things up.

He said helplessly, ”Let’s not talk about this, let’s see how the fish is - tonight we have fish soup and bear meat!”

Upon hearing that, everyone immediately became excited.

Who wouldn’t be thrilled about eating meat!

...

Gaston had already processed the Anise Fish.

This fish’s flesh is tender and is considered a delicacy.

Chen Wen looked at the fish and thought cooking it into a soup should be a pretty good way to prepare it.

Besides that, Chen Wen was also considering that if they could simmer and refine bear oil, they might try pan-frying it, possibly enriching the taste.

He cut the Anise Fish along the spine into two segments and then put them into the pot to simmer slowly.

This pot of fish soup shouldn’t disappoint anyone.

Additionally, to enhance the flavor.

Chen Wen took out the matsutake mushrooms.

Known as the king of mushrooms on this planet, its deliciousness is naturally beyond words.

Moreover, there are many ways to eat matsutake.

It can be eaten raw as sashimi, lightly pan-fried, stir-fried, made into a stew, steamed with rice, chopped into dumpling fillings, or even roasted directly.

It’s safe to say the methods are diverse.

Chen Wen looked at the matsutake Hua Yun brought back.

Overall, they were fairly clean.

But to put them into the pot, they still needed a bit of cleaning.

Chen Wen took some water from the candy box Adam brought back in the afternoon and soaked the matsutake in it, cleaning them slowly.

Seeing Chen Wen’s actions, Gaston couldn’t help but say, ”Your rough cleaning method, if seen by those matsutake fanatics, might get you burned at the stake.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Wen curiously asked, ”Why? Is this not how you clean matsutake?”

Gaston chuckled, giving off an air of confidence.

He crossed his arms, chuckling, ”True matsutake enthusiasts, when they clean matsutake, they use a damp cloth, kitchen paper, or a soft brush, even a small toothbrush, to gently wipe away dirt and impurities from the surface. For tough dirt around the fungal stem’s base, they use a small knife to gently shave it away. For them, this is cleaning.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Wen scooped the matsutake out of the water and curiously asked, ”Why? Wouldn’t it be not clean this way?”

Gaston explained, ”In the eyes of those fanatics, matsutake’s aromatic compounds are water-soluble, and soaking can lead to a substantial loss of aroma and nutrients, hence they use these methods.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Wen couldn’t help but say, ”Listen, this is true connoisseurship.”

Hua Yun couldn’t help but burst into laughter while clutching her belly.

Roland and Adam also couldn’t help but tug at their lips, chuckling quietly.

Watching Chen Wen slice matsutake directly with a dagger and casually toss them into the pot,

Gaston continued, ”Those people even use ceramic knives for slicing, and each slice of matsutake has a specified size, sometimes accurate to the centimeter.”

Upon hearing this, Hua Yun couldn’t help but retort, ”It’s because they’re not starving. If they were on the brink of starvation, they’d gulp it down without any fuss!”

Fred added, ”Exactly, if they were eating with me, I’d probably already have eaten two or three before they finished slicing the matsutake.”

Everyone laughed again.

The camp atmosphere was as agreeable as a friendly outing.

With the matsutake in the pot, Chen Wen couldn’t help but feel a bit excited.

It’s not the taste he was anticipating, but the potential traits.

Chen Wen wasn’t too hopeful for a trait from matsutake, but was quite looking forward to an Anise Fish trait; maybe something like [Cold Water Fish].

Chen Wen planned to hunt for sea seals while the lake wasn’t frozen over.

The Baikal seal, also known as Lake Baikal seal, is the world’s only freshwater seal and one of the world’s smallest seals, residing exclusively in Lake Baikal and the lower Angara River.

They were permitted to hunt two Baikal seals this time.

Chen Wen was quite eager to find those creatures.

These seals inhabit the lake’s islands, away from the lake shore, and they can be found throughout Lake Baikal.

However, to hunt the Baikal seal, Chen Wen’s team should either build boats to go out on the lake during this time or wait until the lake freezes over.

Therefore, if there could be a similar trait available.

Chen Wen would really want to go and explore during this time.

Soon, while waiting with anticipation, the matsutake fish soup was ready.

Meanwhile, Adam also roasted some bear meat, sharing it with everyone.

Tonight’s dinner was extravagant—matsutake fish soup, roasted brown bear meat.

Everyone looked at the meat and couldn’t hold back anymore.