Chapter 135: Chapter 134: Hoofprints Under the Snow, Connor’s Little Scheme

It had been snowing all day. Even if they had found any tracks yesterday, they would have long since been covered up.

Besides, he hadn’t found any Musk Ox tracks at all. Was he supposed to just conjure one out of thin air for Lin Chen?

For the past hour or so, he had simply been trying his luck, relying on his limited knowledge of Musk Ox habits to head toward areas they might frequent.

"Are you sure there are actually Musk Ox active around here?"

Lin Chen looked around, a little puzzled.

Although this was a mixed forest of coniferous and birch trees, based on their direction of travel, they were still not far from the riverbank. They had passed by the edge of the Yukon Wolf Pack’s territory and were heading straight for Thunder Mountain, which was northeast of his shelter.

’But this environment doesn’t fit the habits of a Musk Ox.’

’In the winter, Musk Ox tend to move in herds for warmth, migrating to higher ground like hills or mountaintops. This is because their main food sources are various grasses, shrub branches, and mosses. The riverbanks freeze in winter, and the lower temperatures are unsuitable for vegetation, so they move to mountaintops or plateaus to dig for food buried under the snow. Furthermore, a Musk Ox’s energy consumption is only one-sixth that of an ordinary bovine—a ridiculously low level. They don’t just have low energy needs; they’re also resistant to thirst and cold, making them creatures born to live on the Arctic Tundra.’

"Really!"

Connor pointed to the Coyote ahead. "Even if you don’t believe me, you have to trust a wolf’s sense of smell, right?"

"Musk Ox might move to higher ground in the winter, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need water. They’ll always leave some tracks by the riverbank."

"It’s just hard to find them now because it snowed all night and the tracks are covered. We just have to be patient and wait for it to give us a signal."

"That’s true."

By now, the snow had piled up to their calves. The surrounding snowscape was as smooth as a mirror, without a single animal track in sight.

’To find yesterday’s tracks under these conditions, we really can only rely on an animal’s sense of smell.’

’This trip was a wake-up call. In the future, if I come across animal tracks on a snowy day, I have to follow them immediately. Otherwise, I can kiss them goodbye.’

The two of them trudged through the snow with their heads down, one laborious step after another, following only in the Coyote’s footprints.

At one point.

The Coyote suddenly stopped. It lowered its head, sniffing back and forth over the snow. After circling a few times, it started digging furiously at a specific spot.

Seeing this, Connor hurriedly jogged over with his Engineer Shovel. He moved so abruptly that he tripped, imprinting a human-shaped crater in the snow.

As soon as he got close, the Coyote silently retreated a few meters, still keeping a safe distance from him.

Lin Chen, however, was in no hurry. He ambled forward with no intention of helping, just quietly watching Connor shovel the snow, one scoop at a time.

Fortunately, the snow wasn’t too deep. A few scoops were enough to reveal the long-hidden layer of soil beneath.

The two of them stared at the faint hoofprint on the ground, a look of delighted surprise flashing in their eyes.

"Found it!"

A single print wasn’t enough to confirm their theory, so they immediately began digging around the pit.

Before long, a whole cluster of hoofprints was uncovered.

"It’s a Musk Ox, all right."

Lin Chen recalled his knowledge of Musk Ox and American Bison and quickly confirmed the identity of the creature that had made the tracks.

Musk Ox hooves are wide and round, whereas a bison’s legs are slender. Combined with the fact that a bison weighs nearly twice as much, the depth of their tracks would be distinctly different.

An American Bison, weighing nearly a ton, with its slender hooves, could easily punch through even knee-deep snow and leave a deep impression on the ground beneath.

Only a Musk Ox would be light enough to not penetrate the thick snow, leaving only shallow prints.

"Hey, bro! Come over here and help me out!"

Connor waved the Coyote over and pointed at the ground before pulling Lin Chen back a dozen paces.

Only then did the Coyote slowly approach, leaning in to sniff the print several times.

It then looked up at him before heading off in a specific direction.

"Let’s go, keep up!"

Witnessing the teamwork between man and wolf, Lin Chen suddenly felt like he was starting to understand why this Coyote chose to stick with Connor.

Coyotes, unlike Yukon Wolves, don’t hunt in packs. They’re more like lonely phantoms wandering the forest, almost always acting alone and only teaming up on rare occasions.

With the temperature dropping and the heavy snow covering everything, most of the prey scents in the forest had been wiped out. This Coyote was probably young, its hunting skills not yet fully developed.

By some lucky chance, it got ready-made food from Connor—probably cooked food, which it seemed to enjoy. So, it started treating him like an alpha, cooperating to track prey in exchange for a share of the kill.

This reduced the risk of hunting alone and increased the success rate. Most importantly, it got cooked meals.

’A wolf that likes cooked meat is a rare find,’ Lin Chen thought. ’I’m starting to wonder if that kid Connor traded years of his life for luck points. How else could he stumble into something this good?’

Now that it had a scent trail, the Coyote moved much faster than before. Every few dozen meters, it would stop to sniff the air, reconfirming the direction before moving on.

Lin Chen, trailing at the rear, mentally mapped their route as they walked. He eventually realized they were indeed heading toward the higher ground of the hills.

’No wonder so many hunting videos I’ve seen show them sending in the dogs first before following. This living, breathing scent radar really saves a lot of time and effort.’

After another half an hour of walking, the two finally reached a relatively open area on the mountainside.

The trees here were dense and there was plenty of flat ground. The area retained heat much better than the riverbank, creating an environment well-suited for vegetation.

With the Coyote’s help, they even dug out a small, completely frozen pond. The water flowed down from a nearby summit, following a depression in the terrain much like a miniature mountain stream.

Digging away the snow near the water source revealed a thick layer of moss hidden beneath.

"They must be around here somewhere," Connor finally said, sighing in relief as he straightened up and surveyed the area. "There’s a water source, which means plenty of moss. The terrain is relatively flat with some depressions, and parts of the forest are dense, creating natural pockets of warmth."

"Musk Ox usually huddle together in herds to stay warm. If we just look around here, we’re sure to find them."

"This is good enough," Lin Chen said with a nod.

With his knowledge of animals, he had already confirmed through numerous small clues that a herd of Musk Ox did indeed live here; it wasn’t a former, abandoned habitat.

They had already been trekking through the wilderness for over two hours. Including the return trip, they’d be out for at least three. Exposing oneself to such low temperatures for so long was an extreme challenge, even with insulated gear.

Asians aren’t built as robustly as Westerners, and he had no desire to develop chronic joint pain from the cold.

Now that he knew the herd’s general location, he had plenty of time to come back and scout it out later.

There was another important point.

Connor had been right. In the winter, Musk Ox herds huddled together for warmth, with the young calves protected in the center.

Under these circumstances, hunting a calf would be impossible. His only targets could be the adult Musk Ox on the outer edge of the herd.

’That’s a herd of dozens of behemoths, each weighing three to four hundred kilograms. If I were to attack rashly and anger them, a single charge from the group would be enough for me to say goodbye to this wonderful world.’

This suggestion was exactly what Connor wanted to hear; he had no intention of hunting with Lin Chen in the first place.

"Let’s head back. I think staying up late yesterday is finally catching up to me. I can barely keep my eyes open."

He eagerly turned and started walking down the mountain, even putting on a sleepy-eyed act.

"This way," Lin Chen called out, stopping him and pointing southwest. "If you want to spend two hours backtracking the way we came, I won’t stop you."

"?"

Connor’s expression became a little unnatural, a flicker of shock in his eyes.

’We’ve been wandering aimlessly this whole time,’ he thought. ’And from Lin Chen’s reactions, it’s obvious he’s never been to this area before.’

’How can he suddenly be so sure of the way back?’

He had wanted to backtrack mainly to wear Lin Chen out. Plus, Lin Chen still had to cook dinner, and the combination of a long trek and more work would definitely affect his performance tomorrow.

While the Musk Ox herd doesn’t migrate frequently, they don’t stay in one place forever.

Once they’ve cleared out the food in one spot, they move on to the next.

Delaying things by a day would increase the chance the herd would move, adding uncertainty to the hunt.

What he didn’t know was that while Lin Chen was unaware of his little scheme, he was armed with extensive knowledge about animals. His understanding of Musk Ox behavior was far greater than Connor’s.

Furthermore, the passive ability of his Chef class was to maximize efficiency, so he would always choose the most direct and energy-conserving path.

Taking a detour was out of the question.

...

「Day Thirty-Three.」

After seeing Connor off, Lin Chen checked on the trophies he’d collected earlier—the wolf hide, sheepskin, and bearskin.

He had already scraped off the excess fatty tissue when he first processed them. After several days of continuous indoor drying, most of the moisture had been baked out.

When he pinched them, he could barely feel any cool dampness; instead, they were warm from the heat of the stove.

If there was one drawback, it was that the lingering smell on the furs just wouldn’t go away.

But after smelling it every day, he was starting to get used to it.

He laid the wolf hide and sheepskin on his bed with the bearskin on top. Lying down to test it, he found it was quite warm.

With these three wonderful additions, once the heated brick bed was warm, he felt he might even start sweating in his sleep without a sleeping bag.

In addition to the bearskin, he had also kept the four bear paws to use as mittens.

He could wear them when he wasn’t working or when he went outside. They were warm, protected against the cold, and might even scare off unwanted trouble.

Of course, he couldn’t wear them while hunting.

He wasn’t in a rush to track down the Musk Ox herd. After two straight days of cooperation with Connor, on top of yesterday’s long trek, his body was genuinely tired.

’Besides the Musk Ox, I also need to hunt a deer myself. Maybe that will give me a long-overdue sense of satisfaction.’

’Robert and his group are coming in three days. If I want to trade for more supplies, the hunt needs to happen within the next two days.’

He sat in the warmth of his shelter, briefly planning how to manage his survival in the wilderness for the time being.

He walked into the yard and looked at the neat stack of firewood piled against half the wall, frowning slightly.

’This isn’t enough firewood. I need enough to cover the entire wall. Later in the season, it’ll be best to stay inside as much as possible, and the fire will need to burn twenty-four hours a day.’

’I also need to clear the snow in the yard. I have to get rid of the bloodstains from butchering the white-tailed deer yesterday. Otherwise, I might accidentally scoop some into the pot, and that would be a problem.’

’I wonder how long this snow is going to last...’

As he was lost in thought, he heard the sound of claws scraping against the wooden fence from outside.

SCRAPE, SCRAPE, SCRAPE