Chapter 10: The Last Bite, Please!

Lu Yuan, holding the small medicine bottle, couldn't help but brighten up with joy, and whistled a few times, "Us common folk are really, truly happy today!"

From a long-term survival perspective, diseases are more troublesome than food shortages.

Even if he couldn't catch fish, he could still hold out for a few days.

Like sugar-rich grass roots, wild fruits in the forest, various insects, he could always find some.

But once sick, especially with dysentery or diarrhea, in this godforsaken place, it would be difficult.

"This unknown civilization, being able to develop such medicine to enhance the immune system... is indeed somewhat stronger than humans," he said.

Good luck comes in pairs, by the time he got to the fishing trap.

"Splash, splash," he could see the large box trembling slightly!

He could almost be certain there was fish inside, just not sure how many.

Lu Yuan swallowed, his heart pounding erratically, the smile on his face almost bursting through.

But not wanting to make a mistake, he carefully observed his surroundings, "riverside ambushes" were common in nature, you never know where a crocodile might be lurking, waiting to pull him underwater.

You don't realize until you look, but it's shocking what you find!

He spotted a wolf hiding in the bushes!

That one-eyed gaze was fixed on him.

It was the old wolf he had encountered yesterday.

"It's you... you're not planning to ambush me, are you? Such an ungrateful wolf!" Lu Yuan cursed unabashedly towards the bushes.

As if knowing he'd been spotted, Old Wolf slowly walked out of the bushes, shaking his dirty tail.

Lu Yuan frowned, feeling that the animal didn't seem to harbor any ill will, so he went ahead and opened the lid of the fish trap.

"Well, I'll be!"

He couldn't help but laugh.

Big and small, more than a dozen fish, all jumping around!!

The largest one was a full 30 centimeters long, weighing five or six pounds; how it even got in there, he had no idea!

"Is spider innards really that much in demand... lucky I saved some, can use it again next time," Lu Yuan said in high spirits, casually picking up the smallest fish and tossing it to Old Wolf who kept sticking out his tongue and wagging his tail.

When Old Wolf saw that fish, he tensed up, staring at Lu Yuan, the shaking of his tail coming to a stop.

He seemed somewhat incredulous; why on earth would someone be so nice?

You must have an ulterior motive, right?!

With my years of experience out in society, are you trying to eat my flesh?!

"If you jumped into the pot yourself, I'd still worry about the pus in your eye contaminating the pot..." Lu Yuan grumbled irritably, focusing on the task at hand.

Although Old Wolf was still looking cautious, his true colors came through as drool immediately began to dribble out. He sniffed the fish, and while Lu Yuan wasn't looking, he stealthily popped it into his mouth, barely chewed, and swallowed it whole.

At this moment, Lu Yuan had put all the fish into his Storage Space.

He then dissected a large fish on the spot, scooped out its innards, and put them back into the box.

He even tossed some innards into the water.

This is called baiting the spot!

"Hoping for another big haul tomorrow."

"A Fisherman never comes back empty-handed."

Seeing Lu Yuan actually throwing fish innards into the water, Old Wolf was greatly shocked, pawing at the stones and letting out a cry, seeming a bit frantic.

How can you waste food like that?

Give it to me!

Please, I'm begging you.

Now you only give me a small fish, not even enough to fill the gaps in a wolf's teeth!

So, Lu Yuan threw over a soft and white fish bladder, "Catch!"

Old Wolf abandoned any pretense of restraint and lunged at it, biting the fish bladder into his mouth.

In that agile movement, one could vaguely make out its youthful vigor.

With a loud "pop," the fish bladder burst like a balloon, smearing all over its face.

Old Wolf wore a shocked expression, howled, and tucked his tail between his legs, nearly paralyzed with fright.

The bulk of the fish bladder, hanging in its mouth, soared in the wind.

It might have wondered if its mouth had exploded?

Or if it was going to die today?

Wolves, as creatures, may have a practice of leaving the pack before death.

So the foolish wolf lay motionless on the ground, quietly waiting for its death—perhaps this was some kind of pack wisdom, or maybe a form of magnanimity, who knows?

It took quite a while for Old Wolf to realize that it seemed to be perfectly fine, so it perked up again and ate the fish bladder that was stuck to its mouth.

Delicious!

That dirty wolf face displayed the joy of "I'm actually still alive," with no hint of embarrassment!

…

Lu Yuan watched and couldn't help but evaluate, "A somewhat dumb wolf, with a bit of cunning, but also yearning for survival."

But then, how great it is to be alive.

Aren't I also struggling to survive, desperately clinging to life?

Old Wolf wagged its tail again.

Having already begged, dignity wasn't needed anymore, maybe you could give a bit more?

How about letting me have a binge?

Lu Yuan was amused by this guy, "How about this, I have a bottle of blue pills here, not sure if they work, but let's use you as a test subject."

"If you die, don't blame me, if you live, consider yourself lucky."

"It's not that I'm kind-hearted, but I just don't know if this stuff works or not."

He opened the small bottle he had found, took out a blue pill, and broke it in half.

He mixed half of the pill in with the fish's entrails and let Old Wolf eat it.

Old Wolf, starving like a reborn ghost, didn't bother to discern and gobbled it down in two bites.

Having done all this, Lu Yuan prepared to go back early and deal with the big fish.

Just thinking about the crispy outer skin and the tender, juicy fish meat made his heart leap with joy—being away from home, one would go crazy without some hobbies!

And that Old Wolf followed behind Lu Yuan at a leisurely pace, keeping a safe distance.

Whenever Lu Yuan looked back cautiously, Old Wolf would occasionally wag its tail to show it really had no ill intentions.

Its situation was dire.

Old age, declining bodily functions.

Eye injuries and hidden injuries on the leg, making it difficult to hunt prey.

Only by following this strange humanoid could it manage to eat that bit.

It knew its own difficult predicament.

The will to survive made it subconsciously seek out even a glimmer of hope.

"Wuluwu... Wuluwu!"

Just one more bite, longing for another bite.

The last one, please!

Lu Yuan was somewhat on guard.

If this guy were to launch a sneak attack or call for its pack, he would definitely be in trouble.

After all, wolves are social animals.

But seeing its increasingly dog-like expression, Lu Yuan always felt like he was triggering some kind of ancient domestication scenario...

"How did primal humans domesticate wolves? Was it through a chance like this?"

He remembered a novel called "Wolf Totem."

That book tried its best to portray the wolf as an animal of unwavering defiance and supreme dignity, preferring death over subjugation to humans.

Then it elevated the indomitable dignity of wolves to something akin to a national trait—okay, that conclusion was indeed very melodramatic.

But the actual situation...

This guy, after being fed just twice, had already started to expect handouts.

Upon further reflection, it wasn't so surprising—if wolves really never submitted, then where did dogs come from?