Chapter 1158 - 6: Camels

Listening to Liu Yu’s words, Hua Yun let out a dry laugh.

It seems that for the contestants of Heat Extreme Challenge, their first bucket of protein is likely going to be dung beetles.

On the other side, Xu Qiang showed a look of nostalgia: "Dung beetle larvae... To be honest, they’re actually quite tasty. The oasis I was at was poor for hunting, but there were lots of dung beetles, so I had several meals of them."

"The taste is quite nice."

Liu Yu nodded and said to Xu Qiang, "How about we go for some barbecue tonight? I remember there’s a place near the association that serves quite a few grilled insects."

"Sure!"

Xu Qiang agreed with pleasure, even though he was an old-timer at the association, his temperament stank so his popularity was average.

But in front of Liu Yu, Xu Qiang still remained low-key.

Yuck!

Listening to the conversation, Hua Yun shivered slightly and dared not continue on this topic.

However, Liu Yu didn’t let her off: "Hua Yun, why don’t you come with us? A Survivor can’t be picky. You can’t just refuse to eat something because it disgusts you."

Xu Qiang chuckled, echoing Liu Yu’s words: "Yeah! When we were surviving earlier, there were contestants who, to last a bit longer, dared to eat anything, even dung, so dung beetles are nothing."

Their words made Hua Yun quite uncomfortable.

She found an excuse and hurriedly left.

Xu Qiang and Liu Yu watched Hua Yun leave, unable to contain their laughter.

...

Over at Chen Wen’s side.

Having gathered the dung beetle larvae, he quickly arrived at the top of a sand dune.

From the high vantage point, looking around, Chen Wen found the place he wanted to go to.

Over on this side of the dune, about a few hundred meters away, there was a small oasis.

But unlike the Fourth Oasis, this oasis was extremely small, and the plants had already withered, looking like a dried-up oasis.

And at the edge of the oasis, Chen Wen saw a group of camels nibbling at the plants.

Camels in the Sahara are predominantly dromedaries, and Chen Wen glanced over the group; there were no special animals among them.

Nevertheless, Chen Wen wasn’t disappointed. He slowly moved down the dune, and after walking a few steps, the camel herd noticed him.

The camels looked at Chen Wen, but showed no sign of alarm; they continued feeding as before.

"The information stated that the camels here are often wild after being tamed by humans; truly wild camels are rare, so these creatures aren’t afraid of humans. Often, people can directly walk into the camel groups."

Recalling the information he had read, Chen Wen thought, "Looks like it’s true, my goodness, the difficulty of taming has dramatically reduced this time."

Saying this, Chen Wen continued to approach the camels.

After about a minute of walking, Chen Wen arrived beside the camel herd.

By now, the camels were finally a bit wary of Chen Wen, an outsider. A strong male dromedary came between the herd and Chen Wen, looking at him cautiously.

Seeing this, Chen Wen sat cross-legged, took out a water pouch.

The water pouch in his hand was made of high-quality leather, with a large capacity, able to hold three liters of water.

Prior to arrival, filling the pouch was allowed.

Thus, Chen Wen opened the pouch lid, took a small sip to moisten his mouth.

Chen Wen’s movements were gentle, so the camels felt no threat.

Moreover, his act of drinking water seemed to catch the attention of the camels.

The strong male dromedary took half a step towards Chen Wen, curiously looking at the water pouch.

This guy isn’t my target.

Chen Wen looked at the strong male dromedary and lightly closed the water pouch lid.

In the absence of special animals, male dromedaries have a fierce temperament, making them unsuitable for taming and riding compared to female dromedaries.

So Chen Wen didn’t plan to tame this male dromedary.

Seeing Chen Wen had closed the lid, the male dromedary didn’t bother, turning away and giving Chen Wen a proud back as it continued to feed with the herd.

It ignored Chen Wen, as he hardly posed any danger, being not much larger than a young camel.

Once the male dromedary’s attention was fully diverted.

A hint of triumph flashed in Chen Wen’s eyes, he opened the water pouch again, poured some water into his palm and promptly closed it.

In the desert, water is more valuable than gold for humans.

Likewise, for camels, water attracts them more than food.

So when Chen Wen revealed the water, the nearest few dromedaries were immediately drawn over.

Chen Wen watched these few dromedaries approach, selecting his taming target.

He didn’t intend to tame dromedaries that were too small; the goal of taming this time was primarily for riding and carrying supplies.

So smaller dromedaries might struggle to carry both Chen Wen and the supplies.

After some selection, Chen Wen identified his target, a female dromedary with a fairly large build.

Among the approaching camels and the herd, this one’s size was considered quite large.

Chen Wen brought his palm of water to the front of this camel.

Benefiting from the effect of the Friendly Halo, this dromedary wasn’t overly tense towards Chen Wen.

It lowered its head, gently licking the water from Chen Wen’s hand.

Water’s allure to camels is undeniable.

After licking Chen Wen’s hand dry, the dromedary appeared noticeably more amicable, repeatedly nudging the water pouch.

Seeing this, Chen Wen opened the water pouch and let the camel raise its head, feeding it a third of the water.

Even the outside spectators couldn’t foresee this move, not just the dromedary.

Liu Yu scratched his head, seemingly thinking Chen Wen had paid too high a price.

And Xu Qiang sighed, feeling Chen Wen might be doomed.

Today’s the first day of survival; if Chen Wen can’t reach an oasis water source tonight, tomorrow he’ll be tormented by thirst!

But Chen Wen was unconcerned with such matters.

After giving the camel over a liter of water, this camel trusted Chen Wen immensely.

Chen Wen extended a hand, brushed the camel’s head lightly, then held onto its neck fur, leading the camel outside.

Initially, the camel seemed reluctant.

But when Chen Wen shook the water pouch, creating a splashing sound.

The camel decisively gave up its resistance, turning to follow Chen Wen outside.

Chen Wen chuckled as he led the female dromedary out of the camel herd.

The nearby male dromedary, seeing this, showed no intent to stop them.

Thinking one of his harem would return soon.

Little did it know, once the female dromedary left, it wouldn’t return again.

...

Chen Wen led the female dromedary to the other side of the dunes.

Along the way, whenever the female camel showed impatience, Chen Wen would shake the water pouch, enticing it to continue.

But upon reaching this side, maybe because it couldn’t see the herd members, or perhaps because Chen Wen’s constant shaking exhausted its patience.

The dromedary stubbornly freed itself from Chen Wen’s grasp, exhibiting a desire to return.

Watching this, Chen Wen helplessly shook his head, "You’re really greedy, alright, I’ll give you some more."

Chen Wen picked up the water pouch, feeding the dromedary over a liter of water again.

The dromedary was truly satisfied this time.

It nuzzled Chen Wen’s hand, and finally, the system showed movement.

Chen Wen opened the system, quickly scanned and chose an entry.

[Powerful Kidney (Gold): Strengthen your kidney, granting it enhanced abilities]