Culinary God in Wilderness

The first rays of the morning sun fell from the sky.

They filtered through the tall broad-leaf trees, dappling the damp earth with light and shadow.

A fresh, damp scent filled the air, thick with the fragrance of green grass.

After a full day of work, Master Lin couldn’t remember when he’d fallen asleep. When Andre shook him awake, he still looked completely dazed.

"Morn...ing?"

"The sun’s been out for a while. It’s probably around nine or ten. I should get going."

Andre didn’t dare risk staying any longer and breaking the rules. If he violated the production team’s rule—that a contestant could only partner with the same professional once every seven days—he would be eliminated.

Lin Chen’s cooking was good, sure, but it was nothing compared to the honor and prize money for surviving a hundred days.

"What about the wolf pack? Did they show up?"

Lin Chen rubbed his eyes and forced himself to sit up in his sleeping bag. A wave of frigid air washed over him, sending a violent shiver through his body.

’Hsss... so cold!’

The warm breath from his mouth instantly condensed into a white puff of vapor. The temperature was still hovering around freezing!

"No, but I’m about to head in the direction we spotted the wolf last night to check things out. You in?"

"Of course."

’This was exactly what Lin Chen had been thinking. With a survival expert helping him, he could at least figure out where the pack was. It was much better than just guessing blindly.’

"What about those four pastries you made last night?"

Despite not having slept all night, Andre seemed to be in decent shape. Other than some noticeable dark circles under his eyes, he didn’t look tired.

Lin Chen went into the small compartment in the rock crevice and brought out the roast duck he’d packed last night, along with four balls of dough that had been split into two portions. Everything was wrapped tightly in leaves and strung together with a cord of woven grass for easy transport.

Andre reached out and felt them. They were already frozen rock-solid.

He tied them to his belt and turned to walk out the door.

"Let’s go. In this weather, it’ll probably take over an hour for these to thaw. We’ll go on patrol first."

"By the way, what are these called?"

He pointed at the two round leaf-wrapped parcels.

"Maci," Lin Chen said, looking up as he put on his gear. "But it’s a knock-off version. Authentic maci is made with glutinous rice flour, and glutinous rice is stickier than regular rice."

"The wrapper is made from starch, which gives it a translucent, crystal-like appearance. We usually call it a ’crystal wrapper.’ It’s most common in Cantonese dim sum; there’s a dish called crystal shrimp dumplings that uses this exact kind of wrapper."

"So this is my own little innovation. You could call it ’crystal maci.’"

"Ma... chi? What a strange name."

Andre scratched his head and quickly gave up on trying to get the name right.

’What it’s called doesn’t matter. What matters is if it tastes good.’

Once they were geared up, the two of them went to the extinguished fire pit in the yard. They re-enacted where they were sitting the previous night to pinpoint the direction the wolf had appeared from, then set off in pursuit.

Lin Chen wanted to look back and see how the modified shelter had turned out, but just as he was about to, a thought popped into his head.

’Isn’t this what anticipation feels like?’

’If I suppress this anticipation, let it build up inside me, and only unveil the mystery when I get back, will the payoff feel even better?’

’After all, this is going to be my home for the next eighty days.’

With that thought, he forced himself not to look back.

’Worth a shot, whether it works or not.’

Andre, walking ahead, was constantly parting the undergrowth, searching for something. Not daring to disturb him, Lin Chen followed silently, his own eyes scanning the area, focusing on the dense patches of weeds and the areas around tree roots.

The continuous rain from the past few days had caused many hidden wild mushrooms to sprout from the earth. These would be his main source of food for some time to come.

’It was fine to let them grow for a few days, but if they were left too long, they’d get old and the texture would suffer. It was better to pick them early, even if he just had to dry or freeze them for storage.’

"Found it!"

While Lin Chen was still scanning the area, Andre suddenly stopped, pointing to a row of small depressions in the dirt ahead.

"This is where the wolf was hiding last night. It stayed here long enough to press its paw prints into the damp, soft soil."

"Judging by the depth of the prints, this wolf weighs upwards of forty kilograms. Definitely an adult male. Look how its claw marks are dug deep into the earth—sharp and deadly. One swipe from that, and you’re done for."

Just from staring at the paw prints, a grave, fearful expression appeared on Andre’s face.

’For the American, a man with over thirty years of wilderness survival experience, to look like that was proof enough of how dangerous these wolves were.’

"How large are the packs usually?"

"Twenty or more," Andre answered immediately. "The biggest can have over thirty, but that includes the females and cubs, of course."

"Forget about them for a moment. Just one wolf like this is a lethal threat. If you run into two or more at once, you’d better start thinking about how you’re going to make it out alive."

He tapped the metal canister hanging from the other side of his belt.

"That’s why the production team issued these to us as essential gear. With this, you can handle more than just a wolf pack. It can even save your life if you run into the king of the forest, the Alaskan Brown Bear."

’Bear-Repellent Spray...’

Lin Chen nodded gravely. He’d only ever seen the stuff on TV shows, and there was very little footage of anyone actually using it. He wasn’t entirely sure how effective it really was.

’But if even Andre was saying so, it must be truly effective.’

"You have to remember, Bear-Repellent Spray isn’t a cure-all."

Andre stood up and started following the tracks. "I don’t mean it’ll fail. If you spray it, it’s a hundred percent going to work. It’s basically pepper spray; it’ll cause the animal unbearable pain."

"Most wild animals are naturally cautious and will instinctively flee when attacked like that. But in some very rare cases, it can just enrage them. There was a guy who once sprayed a bear, and the bear went berserk on the spot. It didn’t just go after the guy; it snapped several trees in its rage."

GULP.

Lin Chen swallowed hard.

"So you’re saying don’t use it unless you absolutely have to. And even then, you’d better have a backup plan, right?"

"Exactly. As long as you remember that, you shouldn’t have any trouble surviving in the forest."

’A backup escape plan...’

Lin Chen thought for a moment, his gaze drifting to the many tall trees in the forest.

’What’s the safest plan? Climbing a tree, right?’

’Looks like I’ll need to find some time to practice climbing trees quickly. Whether I end up needing it or not, it’s always good to have another life-saving skill.’