Wilderness Survival with Druid System

Knowing there were short-tailed cats nearby, Chen Wen became more cautious.

If he suddenly encountered a short-tailed cat, its attack wouldn't be deadly, but it would lightly injure Chen Wen.

Chen Wen definitely didn't want to be attacked by a short-tailed cat.

Moreover, it's the season when short-tailed cats are nurturing their young, making them even more dangerous.

However, Chen Wen felt that the chances of encountering a short-tailed cat were relatively low.

Short-tailed cats are active during dawn and dusk, and when the weather is cool.

Chen Wen usually fetched water in the mornings and afternoons.

As long as he was careful, it wasn't very likely to encounter a short-tailed cat.

After fetching water,

Chen Wen proceeded along the other side of the valley.

He had set up quite a few traps here as well.

After taking a few steps, Chen Wen's eyes suddenly lit up.

It's caught!

A roadrunner!

Next to a shrub, Chen Wen's snare trap held a dead roadrunner.

Chen Wen walked quickly over and discovered that the roadrunner had been dead for a long time, its body already stiff.

After untangling the roadrunner, Chen Wen directly tucked it into his backpack.

Apparently, there are more roadrunners active in this area.

Thinking about it, Chen Wen planned to set more traps and replenish some in this area.

After a few more steps, Chen Wen suddenly noticed a splash of blood ahead.

Chen Wen's expression changed; he realized something was wrong.

This was another roadrunner, but a large part of it had been gnawed away.

"Damn it! A short-tailed cat must have eaten this, damn!"

Chen Wen approached the roadrunner and found that ninety percent of its meat was gone and it had a foul smell.

"What a pity!"

Chen Wen untangled half of the roadrunner and planned to throw it out of the valley.

But just as Chen Wen lowered his head to untangle the snare, something on the ground caught his attention.

It was a pile of feces!

Chen Wen poked at it with a stick; it was soft.

This was a very fresh pile of feces!

And while Chen Wen was poking at the feces, he suddenly caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

[Dynamic Vision] activated!

Chen Wen swung a knife behind him, instantly creating a distance.

The machete fell.

The creature's reflexes and speed were extremely fast, pulling back almost instantly.

Chen Wen stood firm, leaning slightly forward, staring at what had suddenly attacked him.

Sure enough, it was a short-tailed cat!

The short-tailed cat looked somewhat like a lynx.

But its head still resembled more of a cat's.

This particular short-tailed cat had gray fur with black spots and stripes.

At a quick glance, it even looked a bit like a snow leopard.

But upon closer inspection, there were significant differences.

Their most distinctive feature is the extremely short tail, which distinguishes short-tailed cats from lynxes.

Chen Wen took a breath and stared into the eyes of the short-tailed cat.

If you want to gain the upper hand in a standoff with wild animals, look into its eyes.

This has two outcomes.

One is that it gets scared of you and slowly retreats.

The other is that it gets angered and charges at you.

The short-tailed cat was of the second kind.

It let out a crude noise, akin to a cat's meow but more hoarse.

And the classic hissing sound.

In the desert, this b noise would be enough to scare away ninety-nine percent of animals.

Facing the intimidation of the short-tailed cat, apart from coyotes, other animals would choose to avoid it.

But today, there was an exception.

Chen Wen, who had his catch taken, had a grudge he had no place to vent, and the culprit appeared right in front of him.

"Very well, you little thief!"

Dangerous light flickered in Chen Wen's eyes: "It's one thing to steal, but you dare attack me?!"

Hearing Chen Wen's words, the short-tailed cat seemed to pause for a moment.

But it quickly let out a hoarse cry.

Listening to the hoarse sound, Chen Wen was suddenly taken aback.

Because the hoarse cry suddenly transformed into the voice of an angry middle-aged Asian woman in his ears.

[You were the one who first stole my food! Letting my little ones starve! And invaded my territory!]

Chen Wen and the short-tailed cat stared at each other, both a bit bewildered.

What's going on?

Chen Wen touched his ears, feeling like he was hearing things.

No!

It wasn't a hallucination!

This is the new ability I've gained—Communication!

[Communication: As an Apprentice Druid, you have preliminarily grasped the method of communicating with animals. You can actively initiate communication with certain animals (limited to special animals)]

Is this short-tailed cat a special animal?

Chen Wen looked at the description of [Communication] and felt a bit uncertain.

The short-tailed cat was also bewildered.

Wild short-tailed cats typically live to around twelve or thirteen years, with long-lived ones reaching fifteen or sixteen.

At seven years old, in the species of short-tailed cats, it was already a middle-aged cat.

It could even be considered quite experienced.

It had seen humans a few times but had never interacted much.

But today's situation was something the short-tailed cat had never encountered!

It actually understood the language of humans!

And could understand their meaning!

Its somewhat muddled mind even cleared a bit.

Thus, the stalemate ensued, with the human and the cat, and the valley fell into an eerie silence.

...

"What's the situation here? Is it about to break out?"

Gina's assistant came over.

Now, whenever anything happens on Chen Wen's side, he's definitely the first to arrive.

"I don't think so. On the contrary, I feel the short-tailed cat seems very interested in Chen Wen."

The local guide, hearing this, also came over: "In general, short-tailed cats directly attack humans. Don't be fooled by their cat-like appearance; they are very aggressive."

The guide just arrived and didn't know about the offense and defense between Chen Wen and the short-tailed cat.

The monitor recounted the recent events.

The guide realized, "The short-tailed cat probably sensed Chen Wen's toughness and plans to drive him away."

"For Chen Wen to make a short-tailed cat feel threatened, that's impressive, too!"

...

A moment later, Chen Wen broke the silence and stalemate: "This leftover meat is for you. Leave, and I won't harm you."

Chen Wen said, tossing the spoiled roadrunner over.

He had planned to discard this meat anyway.

And from what the short-tailed cat seemed to suggest,

The yellow-headed bunting he collected was the cat's prey, and it also had young to raise.

Besides, this was the first animal he could communicate with.

Chen Wen wasn't planning to have a showdown with the short-tailed cat.

The short-tailed cat had also adapted to its physical changes.

A human-like look of astonishment flashed in its eyes.

As Chen Wen threw the roadrunner, the short-tailed cat felt something peculiar.

The person in front of it seemed to transform into its mother, offering it a comforting sensation.

Involuntarily, it wanted to approach.

But the short-tailed cat quickly shook off that feeling; it was a mother itself now and had young to care for.

The short-tailed cat picked up the remainder of the roadrunner and gave Chen Wen a deep look.

Then it slowly turned and left.

...

Chen Wen rubbed his temples.

He felt exhausted.

The communication with the short-tailed cat had drained a lot of his energy.

It felt like he'd attended a class.

Communication doesn't come without a cost, it seems.

Chen Wen shook his head and left with a whole roadrunner.

...

In the afternoon, as the heat slightly subsided,

Chen Wen returned to his shelter and split the processed roadrunner in half.

Half would be roasted, while the other half was diced, added to water, and put in a pot.

He planned to cook a pot of roadrunner soup.

While the soup was cooking, Chen Wen took the opportunity to chat with the brown-breasted wrens that had recently moved in and were building their nest on the main beam.

But [Communication] didn't trigger.

Instead, the little nest of brown-breasted wrens seemed a little nervous.

Forget it, you're not special, keep building your nest.

Chen Wen shook his head.

Just then, the screech owl woke up right on time, landing on the other end of the main beam, curiously watching Chen Wen.

Chen Wen pondered for a moment and tried using communication to speak to the screech owl: "Can you understand me? If you can, nod your head, and please stop throwing blind snakes over here."

Chen Wen didn't expect much.

But to his surprise, the screech owl moved its head slightly.