Who could have imagined it…
That just now, a wild animal was actually just a hundred meters away from where Wang Kui had been sleeping soundly!
[That's so scary!]
[Old Kui's mind: Breakfast is settled!]
[What animal does that footprint belong to? Was it the wolf from last night?]
The entire footprint was almost half the size of an adult's palm. There was a large pomelo-shaped paw pad print at the bottom, while the front end consisted of four oval-shaped toe prints.
Long, narrow claw marks were at the tip of the paw print.
"The size of the paw print and the claw marks fits the profile of an adult canine. Claws of adult canines are very fine and can not be freely retracted as felines do. It would easily leave claw marks like that when they tread on soft, wet soil!"
Wang Kui leaned down, as if he was that canine animal, his face almost touching the stream as he followed the direction of the footprints and returned to the opposite shore—in other words, the direction of his own shack.
However, he found nothing else.
"It must have come out for a drink and did not head toward the direction where I was sleeping. I can't tell if it was a wolf or a dog yet, but we are not about to just let any clues slip by."
"This stream flows roughly from the north toward the south, and its downstream at the southern end is near Mount Sigou village, and the source of the ditch of the village. However, whether that animal was a wolf or that man-eating dog, neither of them are keen on human contact, which is why we will continue our pursuit upstream!"
The experience of wildlife tracking granted by the hunter class card as well as the satellite map of Fanshan County he had read before allowed Wang Kui to quickly make a decision.
[The hunt begins?]
[Exciting! I resisted going for a bathroom break, and I was not disappointed!]
[Is our streamer truly going to hunt the wolfdog?]
***
Although more viewers had entered as the stream continued and soon there were a hundred concurrent viewers, there were quite a lot of new faces. They had been drawn to Wang Kui's stream when they saw his hunting-permit uploaded on the Fish-Bar, and hence, stayed on his broadcast channel.
Meanwhile, as a matter of fact…
Wang Kui's theory was right.
Not far northward from the stream, he once again noticed several canine footprints. Though these prints were much shallower than the one he had found by the stream, there were a lot of prints here.
Wang Kui's expression became somber when he saw the different set of footprints. "Look at these footprints. They are spread out in a straight line, and the gap between the front and back is equal, following a very regular pattern. You can tell that these prints belong to a creature of habit, which is why aimless creatures like feral dogs could hardly make tracks like this. It most likely was the wolf we heard last night!"
Viewers who were watching his livestream yesterday could identify the prints already.
Many of them were trying to persuade him not to continue to hunt and focus on safety instead.
"We'll keep looking! There are overlapping points when it comes to the habits of dogs and wolves, and we might find something new!"
It was not easy hunting amidst the vast mountains, especially when using primitive hunting techniques.
Wang Kui did not have binoculars or a vehicle, which greatly limited his searching range—he most certainly would not give up so easily after getting some clues.
Further north, the mountain slopes were steeper, and the trees were lush aside from the shores of the stream. Their foliage blocked out the sky, which meant that Wang Kui could not see too far past the trees in whichever direction he looked, though the audience would be able to see a squirrel or two playing in the trees from time to time.
If they had not personally experienced the horrors of a night deep in the mountains last night, none of them would have imagined that dangers lurked everywhere behind the beautiful scenery!
Wang Kui then climbed up the slope and was about to dust himself after getting to the top when some strange noises suddenly could be heard from the bushes nearby!
[Is it coming? Is it coming?!]
[It's not the wolf, is it?!]
His gaze changed as he promptly slipped away, hiding behind a large tree nearby. He adjusted the wrist which was holding the flint spear, ready to attack at any time.
The bushes shook a few times again.
Then, a brown-gray hare leaped out and squatted there, its two long ears twitching endlessly as it turned its head from time to time, carefully observing its surroundings.
It was just a hare!
The audience all breathed a sigh of relief.
Wang Kui, however, appeared disappointed. "Those tracks must have been left by a wolf! Veteran hunters know how to observe the behavior of herbivores while hunting for carnivores—as an example, this wild hare would only move around within the hunting range of their natural enemies. That is why they are being so prudent, even staying still as it surveys its environment."
"No matter how ferocious a wolfdog is, it would have a hard time hunting the hare without training. Only real wolves could leave that hare so afraid…"
His clue, therefore, had hit a dead-end.
He now had to come up with another idea.
Many of his viewers consoled him when they saw what had happened, since going deep into the mountains alone to hunt was much more formidable than most people.
However, just as Wang Kui was ready to turn back, something unusual beneath the tree caught his attention!
"There's something beneath that tree!"
He jogged over, and the wild hare ran away in panic after it caught a whiff of his scent.
That did not matter to him, however.
What mattered was the black-brown lumps near the tree roots and the yellowed weeds beside it.
Wang Kui picked one up, held it in front of his nose for a sniff, and exclaimed, "It's animal feces!"
[What the hell?! Keep that away from me, Old Kui!]
[McDonald's mini honey burgers?!]
[Bruh!]
[It looks just like Liuwei Dihuang tea pills!]
***
Amidst the lively comments in the livestream channel, no one expected Wang Kui to scatter the feces with his hands and capture them with his camera lens.
Oh, my God!
What are you doing?!
The audiences were all dumbstruck.
However, Wang Kui continued to scatter and grind them, spreading them over his palm and observing it closely. "Dog and wolf feces resemble each other on the surface, so you have to crumble it to tell the difference. Since wolves are purely carnivorous, their feces will stink a lot, and you will find a lot of fur pelts or broken bones that could not be digested."
"On the other hand, the modern dog is omnivorous and would eat anything. It should not have eaten anything with fur, but there are signs of fur here…"
The audience held their breath at his explanation.
[Forgive me. You looked so serious that I thought you were about to eat it!]
[Our streamer is so professional!]
[Identifying pee and feces?! Old Kui is definitely a veteran hunter!]
[Definitely. Dogs don't hunt and definitely would not eat anything with fur… so, this has to be the wolf?]
***
Unexpectedly, Wang Kui shook his head.
He then picked out several yellowed objects that resembled straws and said, "These are grass stalks, and wolves definitely wouldn't have eaten these. Only feral dogs that are desperately hungry would eat anything: meat, flour, wild fruits, or even grass. Moreover, these feces are hard on the outside and soft on the inside, so it must have been left from a few days ago… it fits the timing when the wolfdog escaped out here!"
Does that mean… it really was the dog?!
But this was not right… a dog that was reared by humans was a dog even if it had 'wolf' in its name.
A dog, devouring living prey?
Some frightening thoughts seemed to have occurred in the minds of some of the viewers.
"That's right!"
Wang Kui's expression became solemn. "This wolfdog is experienced in hunting living prey!"