Culinary God in Wilderness

This time, Lin Chen didn’t return to the temporary camp, but went straight back to his shelter.

Even if those two arrows didn’t kill the Musk Ox, they definitely injured its windpipe, or at the very least, its spine.

He didn’t believe a creature with its neck pierced through could continue to move and eat in this cold weather. Death was only a matter of time.

He wasn’t as resistant to the cold as a Musk Ox. He had been hungry all day and needed to replenish his energy, otherwise it would be impossible to complete the physical labor of hauling the prey.

Back at the shelter, he extravagantly pulled out all the remaining mutton, cut it into suitable pieces, and tossed it into the iron pot to stew.

A Musk Ox weighs three to four hundred kilograms. After removing the bones, fur, and whatnot, you’re still left with nearly three hundred kilograms. Besides the usual gallbladder, adrenal glands, and spleen that need to be discarded, all the other internal organs are edible.

As long as he brought that Musk Ox back, he would have essentially beaten the game.

With sixty days left and three hundred kilograms of meat, that was an average of five kilograms a day. Even with two more of him, he might not be able to finish it all.

Not to mention the dozens of King Salmon stockpiled in his pantry, which was enough for him to trade for some new seasonings.

...

Inside the wooden cabin, the program’s crew members sat around a wooden table, stunned. Disbelief filled everyone’s eyes.

This was a new toy they had gotten from the carpenter last time; it was even collapsible.

"Am I dreaming? That guy Lin actually dared to provoke a herd of Musk Ox, and twice in a row!"

Daniel knocked on the table, his face full of admiration. "He’s very smart. He understands the habits of Musk Ox quite well, deliberately keeping enough distance and even building a blind, eliminating the possibility of being discovered."

"Musk Oxen aren’t very aggressive. Even if you walk right by them, most of the time nothing will happen. But as soon as you try to attack them, you trigger their defense mode, and that’s when they’ll counter-attack."

He patiently explained information about Musk Oxen to the group, also taking the opportunity to analyze the hidden meaning behind each of Lin Chen’s actions.

"Obviously, this is his first time hunting a Musk Ox. These animals only live in the Arctic Tundra region, with some populations in other cold areas. In Asia, they’re definitely a protected species. And he didn’t have a Hunter’s license before the competition, let alone ever touched a gun, so he never had the chance to hunt a Musk Ox."

"Given that, he wasn’t completely confident, which is why he chose to spend the night in the wild, watching the Musk Ox herd to see what would happen."

"After landing the second arrow, he felt he had surely succeeded. All that was left was to wait for time to pass, for the injured Musk Ox to die completely. The herd wouldn’t care for it anymore. They might even move on to a new area to avoid the carcass attracting predators."

"In this cold weather, there’s no need to worry about the organs spoiling. The snow acts as a natural freezer. All he has to do is wait patiently for his harvest."

"For a first-time hunt, his choice was both impulsive and cautious. If it were me, I probably couldn’t have come up with a better method."

Hei, who was next to him, was gnawing on a hard jam sandwich. He suddenly chimed in.

"So, does that mean when we go over tomorrow, he might trade Musk Ox meat with us?"

"Can we get him to cook a beef dish directly? I still can’t forget the taste of that mutton soup with instant noodles from last time."

At the mention of this, several people in the room couldn’t help but gulp.

Ariana: "Instant noodles in beef broth... that should taste even better, right?"

As one of the most common broths in Western cuisine, beef bone broth is definitely at the top of the list.

Judging by Lin Chen’s skill at making broth, his beef soup was bound to be delicious.

"The meat from those wolves he traded last time was truly awful. And the bear meat was too gamey. We just couldn’t prepare it right. Why don’t we ask him tomorrow if he has any good methods for processing it?"

"Come on!"

Robert rolled his eyes in annoyance. "We’re the production crew, the ones who control the rules. If we have to keep asking a contestant about something as basic as food every other day, what will the audience think of us?"

"Let them think whatever they want. What’s it got to do with me?"

Hei waved his hand dismissively. "The audience is only interested in the contestants’ lives. Who cares about the crew? If we go ask him, it’ll just raise Lin’s stature in their eyes. His popularity might even grow."

"I agree," Ariana said, raising a pale arm. "Especially you, Robert. You have the most screen time and you’re the crew member the audience is most familiar with. It would be more effective if you asked."

"Bullshit! I’m almost fifty, I’ve got my pride!"

Robert slammed his hand on the table, sending spit flying everywhere.

"If we’re going to talk like that, Ariana, you’re hailed by netizens as the goddess of our Wild Survival crew. Why don’t you go? Maybe the viewers want to see you showing an interest in Lin."

"Are you serious? This is Wild Survival, not some dating show battlefield. You’d really start a scandal between Anna and a contestant just for a bite to eat?"

"So what? The more buzz, the more viewers. The more viewers, the happier the higher-ups are. And then the bonuses they give us will rise accordingly."

The moment bonuses were mentioned, several people seemed tempted, their gazes shifting, intentionally or not, toward Ariana.

"I refuse," Ariana rejected him on the spot without a second thought. "If you bring this up again, I suggest you hire a doctor along with that chef."

"..."

Robert’s mouth twitched, and he forced an ugly smile. "Haha, don’t be mad, Anna. You know me, I just like to joke around, haha."

It was rare to see the person in charge of the crew wear such an awkward smile. The others quickly turned their heads away, their shoulders shaking as they struggled to hold in their laughter.

"You’ll ask him tomorrow. That’s settled."

Faced with Ariana’s blatant threat, Robert could only nod with a wry smile.

Doctors willing to endure hardship in the middle of nowhere with this bunch of smelly men were few and far between, especially a young, beautiful one. She was, without a doubt, the most popular crew member among the viewers.

They would replace the forest guide before they’d ever replace her.

"Fine, I’ll ask." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

...

While Lin Chen was eating his fill and catching up on sleep, Andre had already silently returned to the vicinity of the Musk Ox habitat.

He first made a wary sweep of the area, even running over to look at Lin Chen’s two temporary blinds. After confirming the kid wasn’t around, he relaxed and began to observe the Musk Ox herd.

Yesterday’s commotion hadn’t affected the herd’s state. They were still lounging and grazing as usual, though they had clearly moved some distance from their previous location.

But soon, he noticed a strange phenomenon.

The herd, which should have been clustered together, had split into two small groups. One part had moved over a hundred meters away to continue foraging, while the other remained in the original spot.

However, there weren’t many left behind, only about ten or so, and they were all rather spread out.

In their midst, a Musk Ox with two arrows sticking out of its neck lay quietly on the snow. Its abdomen was clearly rising and falling, but there was no other sign of movement.

’Two arrows? No, three.’

Andre nodded to himself, finally feeling a little better.

’If all three of Lin Chen’s arrows had hit, I’d probably die of frustration.’

’A rookie who’s only been handling a hunting bow for a little over a month can achieve this kind of result? Then what does that make me, an old Hunter with thirty years of wilderness survival experience? What was all my hard-won archery skill from all these years for?’

’Since Lin isn’t here, my making a move shouldn’t count as cooperation, right?’

In just two or three minutes, he had analyzed the situation on the ground completely.

The small group that stayed behind was definitely guarding its injured companion. But since all the nearby moss and weeds had been eaten, they had to go farther to find food.

This inevitably led to them becoming scattered.

He drew an arrow and nocked it. Without needing to aim much, he found his angle and suddenly let it fly.

WHOOSH—

The sound of something cutting through the air, which had panicked the herd before, appeared again.

The dozen or so scattered, grazing oxen jumped in fright, all raising their heads to look in the direction of the sound. Some of the quicker ones were already breaking into a trot.

The next second, with a wet THWACK as the arrow hit flesh, it precisely struck the left rib of a Musk Ox that was standing sideways.

After being hit, the Musk Ox instinctively ran a few steps, then, under Andre’s confident gaze, it collapsed with a crash, its four hooves kicking relentlessly.

"A Musk Ox’s heart is located in the left chest cavity, between about the third and fifth ribs. An experienced Hunter just needs to aim there for a one-shot kill."

As he watched with full confidence, the Musk Ox struggled for a moment, then pushed itself up by nudging its head against the dirt and staggered away into the distance.

"?"

The smile on Andre’s face froze.

"Er... Ahem, well, even for an experienced Hunter, it’s very difficult to accurately hit the heart of a moving Musk Ox from about two hundred meters away. But I estimate this arrow probably hit its lung, otherwise it wouldn’t have fallen down just now."

"Hunters are better at tracking prey and setting traps. As for bows, I’m confident in my accuracy within a hundred meters. But over one hundred fifty meters, especially with wind, hitting a moving target is too hard. I’m not a professional archer, you know?"

He muttered a few words of explanation to the camera before drawing another arrow.

After aiming for a moment, he silently put it back in his quiver.

"In weather this cold, if the internal organs are injured, death is just a matter of time. I just need to wait patiently and prevent wolves from snatching the prey."

He had no intention of approaching rashly, instead maintaining a similar distance and following the injured Musk Ox from afar.

The wounded Musk Ox didn’t go far. It squeezed into the large herd nearby and then lay down quietly on the ground.

Seeing this, Andre turned and left without a second thought. However, he wasn’t heading back to his own place, but in the direction of Lin Chen’s shelter.

...

"Two Musk Oxen?"

Gray, who was enjoying a leisurely morning in his restaurant, saw this scene and his eyes immediately lit up. He grabbed his phone from the table and found a number in his call history.

Before he could even press the call button, the screen suddenly lit up, accompanied by a crisp ringtone.

"Hey, old pal, how’d you know I was just about to call you?"

"Do you even have to ask? You were just watching Lin and Andre’s stream, right? That show has become a permanent fixture in your restaurant. And mine too, of course."

A hearty laugh from a middle-aged man came through the phone.

"Let me guess, you want Musk Ox meat, right?"

"Right!"

"While I’d love to supply you, it’s a pity. You probably heard it from Lin himself—Musk Oxen only live near the Arctic Tundra. That’s too far from us. Plus, their numbers are limited, and you have to apply for a hunting permit in advance to hunt them. It’s too difficult."

"But, while I can’t get Musk Ox meat, I do have farmed North American Bison. They look similar, and the meat tastes pretty much the same. You want some?"

"Bison meat?"

Gray paused, then agreed without much thought. "Sure. Bison meat isn’t exactly common either. Let’s start with five kilograms. I want it in a whole piece. We’ll see what kind of dish Lin ends up making."