Chapter 160: Follow Me for Good Food and Fine Drink
Chen Yan kneeled beside the white big cat.
It seemed relatively calm, allowing Chen Yan to touch its soft belly. Only then did Chen Yan realize that despite its fur looking snow-white and soft, it felt quite coarse, like bristles.
And at the lower left of its belly, there was a gaping wound, likely pierced by the Hunting Beast's tusk.
The wound looked like a fish mouth opened wide, with the surrounding flesh torn apart, and blood gushing out.
Chen Yan furrowed his brows in concern.
Probably due to his fingers' touch, the big cat felt pain, its body twitched briefly, and it raised its head to whimper discontentedly at Chen Yan.
Chen Yan had to spare a hand to gently stroke the big cat's head, soothing its emotions.
Seeing the blood flow continuously, the creature's spirit waning, Chen Yan quickly ran back to the tree to retrieve his mountaineering pack filled with supplies and equipment, then hurried back to the big cat.
He took out a sealed first aid kit from the mountaineering pack and tore it open.
Chen Yan used half a bottle of iodine to wash the big cat's wound, plus a bag of styptic powder sprinkled on it. The big cat just panted heavily without moving around, merely turned its head to curiously watch its own wound.
With the effect of the styptic powder, the bleeding began to slow down, but Chen Yan didn't dare to be too relaxed—he couldn't be sure whether the big cat's internal organs had been punctured.
Thus, he pulled out a Bone Pill—for Chen Yan had prepared several Bone Pills in his mountaineering pack beforehand, since storage equipment couldn't be used in this place, ensuring he could use them anytime.
He fed a Bone Pill to the big cat—feeding it the elixir went smoothly, as soon as Chen Yan took out the elixir, the big cat compliantly opened its mouth.
This action made Chen Yan realize immediately: this big cat must be domesticated, it's had elixirs before! That's why it's not resisting!
The first aid kit Chen Yan brought along contained simple equipment for sewing wounds. He fished out a needle and some fishing line to stitch up the creature's wound.
His handiwork was naturally rough, the stitching crooked and distorted. The big cat glanced at it, let out a seemingly dissatisfied whimper, then lay sideways not moving.
Having completed everything, Chen Yan breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Stopping the bleed and stitching the wound were but measures to halt and slow the big cat's blood loss—the Bone Pill would not instantly heal the injury and required some time.
"Alright, you definitely won't die," Chen Yan patted the big cat's neck.
He simply hoisted the big cat up and slowly walked to an area under the rock, finding a sheltered spot.
Afterward, Chen Yan retrieved all his mountaineering packs from the tree, then began tidying up the battlefield.
The burnt carcasses of two Hunting Beasts in the woods were dragged by Chen Yan to the rock's side, along with several other slain Hunting Beasts, all their bodies gathered together by him.
He even retrieved the hatchet.
Suddenly he remembered that the Hunting Beast meat accelerates energy recovery and resists cold; without hesitation, he hacked off a leg from one and threw it beside the big cat.
The big cat took one look and seemed a bit displeased with the leg already frozen solid.
Chen Yan patted the big cat's head: "I know you prefer soft innards, right? But now everything is frozen hard, gnaw on a leg first. Later, I'll make a fire, dig out the innards, soften them up, and give them to you to eat."
After speaking, regardless of whether the white big cat understood, Chen Yan turned away to busy himself.
After a while, he heard gnawing sounds, turning his head to see the big cat lying there, both paws pressing down on the Hunting Beast's hind leg, chomping on it.
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The meat from several Hunting Beasts was good stuff, Chen Yan skinned and boned them, dividing the Hunting Beast carcasses.
He cooked snow in a pot for water, personally skinned, stripped off two relatively complete Hunting Beast skins, and also skinned all the others too, then washed them clean with snow water and placed them by the fire to dry.
The bones and flesh were parted out, bones tossed aside, while the flesh was buried in snow for storage.
During tidying, Chen Yan dug up a few Hunting Beast tusks among which the largest Hunting Beast's two tusks were the sturdiest, as thick as a person's arm, incredibly hard; he wrapped them up to store inside the mountaineering pack.
That night, Chen Yan also feasted on Hunting Beast meat, then crawled into a sleeping bag under the rock, sleeping beside the fire.
A few hours later, Chen Yan awoke, feeling something pressing against him. Upon opening his eyes, he saw a massive head right in front of him.
The white big cat had somehow nestled up beside him, fast asleep, half of its body pressing down on his sleeping bag.
Chen Yan pushed at it hard, and the creature even snored, merely squinting at Chen Yan before rolling over, continuing to sleep.
Chen Yan crawled out of the sleeping bag, the pervasive chilliness making him shiver sharply.
The fire had burned out completely, stretching his hand out finding it cold.
Chen Yan tossed in some twigs to rekindle the flame, then boiled some food, and as the pot of meat soup bubbled, the big cat had awakened, promptly raising its body, eyeing the bubbling pot of meat keenly.