Chapter 1059 - 78: Beast Droppings

After Chen Wen and Hua Yun made their decision, they moved into action at a very fast pace.

They stashed all their supplies in a nearby patch of forest, covering them with a layer of pine needles.

Then the two picked up their weapons and split up as they entered the woods.

This time they’d gone a long while without finding any game, and Chen Wen’s hands were itching. He brought the Golden Eagle along and went in personally, planning to wipe out all the roe deer that had left tracks!

But before he’d gone very far, Chen Wen ran into trouble.

The forest here was extremely dense, which made the Golden Eagle’s excellent eyesight almost useless.

It carefully scanned the traces in the forest, but there were too many branches, most plants were too lush with leaves, and the undergrowth on the ground was also very thick, making it hard for the Golden Eagle to see the tracks on the ground clearly.

Helpless, the Golden Eagle returned to Chen Wen’s side and followed him, acting as his early‑warning system.

After only a few minutes of walking, a patch of shrubs ahead of Chen Wen caught his attention.

There was something on these bushes that clearly didn’t belong to the plants.

Chen Wen squatted down and snapped off one twig from the shrub with his hand.

He took off the thing hanging on the other end and gently crushed it between his fingers.

"Animal hair—nine times out of ten it’s Siberian Roe Deer!"

Chen Wen said with certainty.

The color of this hair was similar to a Siberian Roe Deer’s coat, and the hairs were fairly short. Judging from the height where it was caught, it wasn’t very high, which showed the animal that left the hair was medium‑sized.

That matched the widely distributed Siberian Roe Deer very closely.

"From the look of the hair, that thing passed by not long ago. It’s in the area somewhere. Golden Eagle, see if you can find it?"

As Chen Wen spoke, he sent the Golden Eagle back into action.

The Golden Eagle thought for a moment, then this time lowered its flight altitude, gliding slowly through the trees as it searched for signs of the Siberian Roe Deer.

...

On Hua Yun’s side.

She had made some discoveries after entering the forest as well.

"Is this droppings?"

Seeing the foreign object on the ground, Hua Yun squatted down.

She picked up a stick and crushed open the round droppings, checking what was inside.

"Very typical herbivore scat. You can still see some undigested fibers in it."

Hua Yun murmured, then checked again how fresh this pile of dung was.

Although the droppings weren’t still steaming, Hua Yun was sure the animal that had left them should be nearby.

Because the water content in the dung was very high!

Hua Yun raised her bow, slowed her movements, and began searching for the game more carefully.

But to her surprise, the shrubs along this path seemed to have been pushed aside by something.

She started to suspect this wasn’t a Siberian Roe Deer.

After all, Siberian Roe Deer are quite small‑framed. Take that patch of pushed‑aside shrubs she had just passed through—as even she could get through it easily.

If it were Siberian Roe Deer, two or three of them walking side by side could have gone through.

Could it be some other kind of game?

Hua Yun wondered, puzzled.

But then she shook her head. Larger deer around here were only reindeer and Moose, and their droppings definitely wouldn’t be that small.

It should still be Siberian Roe Deer.

Although Siberian Roe Deer are solitary, when feeding or going to water they will gather with their own kind.

So Hua Yun put aside her doubts and continued the pursuit.

The target Hua Yun and Chen Wen were tracking was not a single Siberian Roe Deer.

They kept moving through the forest, and before long the distance between them widened.

...

Back to Chen Wen.

After confirming the hair was from Siberian Roe Deer, Chen Wen quickened his pace.

But as he walked, suddenly he spotted a very conspicuous pile of droppings nearby.

And this dung was large, which made Chen Wen pay attention.

He walked over to the droppings, broke off a stick, and poked at the pile.

Soon, Chen Wen’s expression changed.

There was something wrong with this dung!

He immediately let out a sharp whistle, calling for the Golden Eagle.

Hearing the commotion on Chen Wen’s side, the Golden Eagle quickly returned.

Once it was back by Chen Wen’s side, the Golden Eagle asked, "What happened? Why did you suddenly call me back?"

Chen Wen took a deep breath and said, "Go find Hua Yun right now and tell her to leave the forest."

At that, the Golden Eagle stiffened for a moment.

It was just about to ask what had happened when Chen Wen explained, "I found a pile of dung—black, very big, and fairly fresh. Inside there are some shattered bones and bits of animal hide. And that hide... from what I can see, it should be wild boar!"

The Golden Eagle immediately understood what Chen Wen meant.

There was a predator in this forest capable of killing wild boar!

And it was active nearby!

Realizing how serious this was, the Golden Eagle beat its wings hard, searching for Hua Yun to pass the message on.

Soon, in the lush, dense woods.

The Golden Eagle spotted Hua Yun, who was still looking for signs of game.

It flapped once and darted to Hua Yun’s side, letting out a sharp cry.

Hearing the sound, Hua Yun turned her head toward the Golden Eagle in confusion.

This is...

She froze for a few seconds, but quickly recalled something Chen Wen had once told her—namely, the meaning behind the Golden Eagle’s calls, at least the simpler ones.

After carefully thinking back, Hua Yun remembered: this kind of short, clipped cry from the Golden Eagle meant danger!

There was danger nearby!

Hua Yun’s brow furrowed. She immediately put away her bow and drew the dagger she carried for self‑defense.

She signaled for the Golden Eagle to lead the way, and human and eagle quickly withdrew from the forest.

On Chen Wen’s side, after the Golden Eagle left, he also immediately retreated out of the woods along the same route he’d come.

On the way, Chen Wen pushed his Perception Ability to the limit.

Fortunately, he neither sensed nor encountered any danger.

After getting out of the forest in one piece, Chen Wen waited anxiously for Hua Yun and the Golden Eagle to return.

Roughly ten‑odd minutes later.

When he saw Hua Yun and the Golden Eagle emerge from the forest unharmed, Chen Wen finally let out a long sigh of relief.

He hurried up to meet them.

Under Hua Yun’s somewhat puzzled gaze, Chen Wen explained, "I found a pile of dung—black, very big. Inside there were some bone fragments and hide, and the hide was probably from a wild boar. So I think there’s very likely a hunter in that patch of forest capable of preying on wild boar!"

Hearing this, Hua Yun’s expression instantly grew solemn.

She stared fixedly at the forest, a little shaken in retrospect.

After a moment of silence, Hua Yun finally said, "I see. Actually, I made a discovery too. When I was tracking game just now, I found a relatively wide animal trail. At first I thought it was two or three Siberian Roe Deer walking side by side that had made it, but now it looks like it was almost certainly left by that predator!"

Chen Wen nodded slightly.

The two thought for a while, then Hua Yun asked, "So what should we do now?"

Chen Wen said, "We don’t take risks—that’s my plan right now. We’ve already stabilized completely. As long as we keep going step by step from here, we’ll earn the Forest Extreme Challenge badge. There’s no need to hunt recklessly like we did at the start of this survival run. What do you think?"

At that, Hua Yun gave Chen Wen a somewhat strange look.

She’d already worked out what to say to talk him down and get him to calm down, and then Chen Wen came out with that.

It was rather out of character for Chen Wen, but it fit Hua Yun’s thinking perfectly.

"Agreed. I don’t think we should take risks either."

Hua Yun nodded, accepting Chen Wen’s proposal.

The two decided to give up on the Siberian Roe Deer, stay away from this area, and go look for new game elsewhere.