A bronze head, iron bones, and a tofu waist—this simple saying was enough to summarize a wolf’s characteristics.

Beyond that, they had the same weak points as any normal creature, such as their bellies, limbs, and facial features.

The only thing to be wary of was that a wolf’s hearing, sense of smell, and reflexes were all maxed out. If they spotted you moving, they would very likely react and dodge the moment an arrow was loosed.

By the time he reached the pile of fallen leaves near where the Black Bear carcass was buried, the sky had completely darkened, and the air he exhaled formed two plumes of white mist.

With his eyesight, from dozens of meters away, he could only faintly make out a raised, dark shape over there.

’This won’t work. It’s too far; a blind shot is out of the question.’

The reason wolves’ eyes seemed to glow green in the dark was actually due to light reflection. Simply put, there had to be a light source. In complete darkness, their eyes wouldn’t glow at all.

’Do I have to turn on the Hat Lamp? But wouldn’t that just expose my position?’

The pack wasn’t nearby at the moment, so turning it on briefly wouldn’t be a problem. It would also make it easier for him to find a suitable vantage point.

This area was a primeval coniferous forest, having grown for who knows how many years. The short spruces were only as tall as a person, while the tallest could reach thirty to forty meters, the height of a ten-plus-story building.

On trees of that height, the lowest several meters were just bare trunk, with nowhere to get a purchase even if he wanted to climb.

After wandering around the area for a good while, he finally selected a tall spruce tree at an ideal height and distance.

A height of about twenty meters ensured the branches would be strong enough to hold his weight and would be relatively easy to climb. It was only about thirty meters from the pile of leaves covering the Black Bear.

After turning off the Hat Lamp, he tried to scale the tree by hugging its trunk several times, failing each time at a height of one or two meters.

The smooth trunk was even more slippery than he’d imagined. His fingers were still injured, so he couldn’t put his full strength into it, and he couldn’t figure out the knack of climbing it bare-handed just yet.

He thought for a moment and quickly came up with an idea.

’I have a way. Since I can’t climb it directly, I’ll just make myself a staircase.’

He pulled out the Multi-Functional Engineer Shovel from his belt and swung it hard at the trunk.

There was a knack to chopping wood. You couldn’t just cut vertically. It was best to make alternating downward and upward diagonal cuts. That way, you could quickly carve out a notch.

After a few swings, a groove three fingers wide appeared on the thick tree trunk.

He moved to the other side and cut another notch at chest height.

Then another at head height, and one more as high as he could reach.

By the time he stood in the third groove, gripping the fourth one above, he was already about 1.6 meters off the ground.

Chopping at the tree from this position was quite strenuous; it took him a good three or four minutes just to cut the fifth groove.

"AWOOOO~~~"

Just as his right foot found the fourth groove, a mournful howl abruptly echoed from the forest not far away.

’They’re here!?’

Lin Chen was instantly on high alert. He gritted his teeth and hurriedly began carving the sixth groove.

At this height, he could already reach the lowest branch, but its surface was completely bare, without a single pine needle in sight.

He hadn’t been able to see it clearly from below, but now that he was right in front of it and could touch it, he sensed something was wrong.

Spruce trees aren’t on the menu for most herbivores, but in the dead of winter, they become the primary food source for one particular creature.

The spruce grouse.

A type of grouse.

Upon noticing what was wrong with the spruce branch, information about spruce grouse automatically surfaced in his mind.

These birds generally kept to themselves in warmer weather, but in the cold of winter, they would typically gather in small flocks of ten to thirty to roost on spruce branches for the night.

Simply put, if you needed to hunt in the winter, it was a good idea to pay close attention to spruce branches.

Spruce grouse can’t truly fly. Like chickens, they can only flutter or glide. They’re even less capable than some chickens that can get onto a roof; the most these birds could do was get onto a branch, and not a very high one.

At this thought, he leaped up onto the branch, squatted down, looked up, and turned on his Hat Lamp.

A bright beam of light sliced through the pitch-black night, clearly illuminating the inner branches of the spruce.

Aside from the orderly branches and dense needles, there was no sign of any spruce grouse.

He wasn’t disappointed. Scrambling up the branches like a monkey, he didn’t stop until he was five or six meters off the ground.

He looked down. Maybe it was because his lamp was on, but everything outside the illuminated area was plunged into an absolute darkness where he couldn’t see a thing.

’Darkness under the lamp?’

His eyes lit up as a great idea occurred to him.

He took off his Hat Lamp and wedged it into a branch above his head, aiming the beam so it shone directly on the pile of leaves.

’CLICK’

The beam of light went out.

Lin Chen closed his eyes, sensing the hushed forest and letting them quickly adjust to the darkness.

He slowly opened them after ten-some seconds, then waited for over a minute more before he could finally make out the faint outlines of his surroundings.

The natural scent of the spruce was a good insect repellent. Besides, with the temperature now near zero, no annoying critters would be out and about anyway.

He leaned patiently against a thick branch, sitting with his legs dangling in the air, trying to keep any part of his body from tensing up—aside from his gluteus maximus, of course.

In the silent forest, the strange call of a bird would occasionally break the quiet, and now and then, a dark shadow would flit overhead.

Lin Chen was like a stone, remaining perfectly still and silent.

Half an hour...

An hour...

Just when his butt had gone numb and he was beginning to suspect he had misjudged the meaning behind the wolf pack’s howl, he finally heard a second long cry.

"AWOOOOOOOOO~~~"

This long howl was completely different from the ones he’d heard before. The tone was thick with exhaustion, yet also held a clear trace of excitement.

Immediately following, a chorus of answering howls rose and fell, though none were as loud as the first.

But instead of getting excited, Lin Chen frowned.

’Something’s not right. The stench of blood here is so strong that even I, a human, can smell it. With their keen sense of smell that can cover a range of several kilometers, there’s no way the wolf pack hasn’t noticed.’

’It’s been over an hour since that first howl, but the pack shows no sign of heading this way.’

Considering the recent howl, Lin Chen stroked his chin and pondered for a moment before muttering uncertainly to himself, "Could they have gone off to hunt other prey?"

"That’s not impossible. A Black Bear is still a bear, and a major threat to them. If there were other options for prey, it makes sense they wouldn’t come looking for trouble."

’Am I just going to wait here all night for nothing?’

Sitting motionless on the branch, his body temperature slowly dropped as the air grew colder, chilling him to the point that his fingers felt too stiff to stretch.

But the thought of just giving up and heading back dejectedly left a bitter taste in his mouth.