Chapter 334

“Mmm! Mmm!”

At that moment, the lynx kitten suddenly excitedly ran up to Xiao Yi, biting a mouse in its mouth.

Seeing this, Xiao Yi didn’t pay attention to the little creature at first—these past two days of their westward journey had been smooth sailing.

Today was already the eighty-ninth day of “Wild Challenge: Arctic 100 Days.”

Just one more day left; according to the contract, Xiao Yi’s second ten million was about to be in his hands.

So Xiao Yi’s mood was especially good.

Of course, tomorrow was also the day of the show’s final medical checkup.

Just thinking about having someone come to chat with him for a while tomorrow made Xiao Yi feel even better.

Of course, Xiao Yi had maintained intense training for the lynx kitten these past days, and the little creature had grown noticeably larger each day.

These past days, the lynx kitten had found its own food, and its main prey had been mice.

Second were snow hares and Arctic ground squirrels.

Along the way these past few days, Xiao Yi’s group had encountered five snow hares and four Arctic ground squirrels.

Yet of the five snow hares, the little creature had only caught one—and that one snow hare had truly satisfied its hunger.

As for the Arctic ground squirrels, the little creature showed no hunting desire at all.

It didn’t even go so far as to give them a head-rub like it had done that day; it never actively chose to hunt the Arctic ground squirrels it saw.

The two rough-legged buzzards, however, had enjoyed a bountiful harvest during this period.

The lynx kitten didn’t hunt Arctic ground squirrels, but the two rough-legged buzzards were very interested in them.

Yet whenever they wanted to hunt Arctic ground squirrels, they had to get past the lynx kitten first.

Not only did the lynx kitten refuse to hunt Arctic ground squirrels itself, it also forbade the two buzzards from capturing them.

For this reason, the lynx kitten had fought at least four battles with the two buzzards over Arctic ground squirrels—all one-on-one duels.

As the two rough-legged buzzards had spent more time with Xiao Yi, they had gradually learned his intentions through trial and error.

They weren’t forbidden from fighting the lynx kitten—or even hunting it—but they could only do so one-on-one.

Whenever a two-on-one situation arose, the human would intervene to stop it.

Of course, the lynx kitten understood this situation perfectly well, but it didn’t care.

With its growing combat experience against the two buzzards, the lynx kitten now had no fear of one-on-one fights.

Though it always ended up with a few new claw marks on its body, the two buzzards weren’t faring much better—they each lost several feathers after every fight.

If this kind of fighting continued indefinitely, the lynx kitten might end up with not a single patch of unblemished flesh.

As for the two buzzards, they might become bald buzzards!

Still, I have to say that although these fights caused injuries, the results were clearly evident.

The lynx kitten’s combat experience and alertness now were incomparable to what they had been when it first crossed that mountain.

Of course, the two rough-legged buzzards hadn’t been without gains either—their hunting of Arctic ground squirrels had yielded only one, thanks to the lynx kitten.

But of the five snow hares, though the lynx kitten caught only one, the two buzzards had caught two of the remaining four.

As for snow hares, the lynx kitten had no other thoughts; when it saw the two buzzards catch snow hares, it would merely glance once and ignore them.

Yet the two buzzards owed this success to the freedom Xiao Yi had granted them.

In fact, on the third day after crossing the mountain, Xiao Yi had freed the rough-legged buzzard whose wings had been bound.

He mainly felt that this clumsy bird had grown familiar with him and was willing to obey some of his commands.

Of course, this decision was still somewhat risky—if the bird had chosen to fly away the moment he released it, Xiao Yi had no other good options.

He could only watch helplessly, or perhaps pick up his wooden spear and try to throw it skyward.

Yet when Xiao Yi released it, the clumsy bird actually did fly away.

When viewers saw the rough-legged buzzard fly off, they all felt it was a pity.

But no one expected what happened next—the buzzard returned.

Not only did it return, but both buzzards came back together.

After that, the male buzzard never flew away again, while the female buzzard left daily with food from Xiao Yi.

Clearly, the male buzzard had chosen to stay with Xiao Yi simply to provide a reference point for the female.

This scene left Xiao Yi both amused and exasperated—he knew the two buzzards truly saw him as a long-term food source.

But in truth, the two buzzards’ choice wasn’t wrong; Xiao Yi’s camp might well be the most reliable place for them to obtain food.

……

……

“Go eat somewhere else!”

At that moment, Xiao Yi shooed the lynx kitten aside and spoke.

Although Xiao Yi intentionally cultivated the lynx kitten’s self-reliance, he still felt a deep aversion to mice—and even found them slightly disgusting.

For the past two days, the little creature’s food had been nothing but mice, so every time it returned with a mouse, Xiao Yi would make it go eat elsewhere.

In fact, not just the lynx kitten, but the two buzzards overhead had also caught several mice these past two days; the mice in this area were probably all wiped out by these two.

“Mmm! Mmm!”

Seeing Xiao Yi’s disgusted expression, the lynx kitten merely mumbled twice and left.

At first, the little creature had felt hurt by Xiao Yi’s attitude, but it had grown used to it over time.

After the little creature left, Xiao Yi paid it no further attention.

At this moment, Xiao Yi was preparing to set up camp—the outdoor conditions had grown increasingly harsh these past two days.

Every time Xiao Yi lifted his goggles or neck wrap to breathe, a layer of snow quickly formed on his eyebrows and beard.

So now, Xiao Yi rarely removed his goggles or neck wrap when outdoors.

Of course, over these many days of westward travel, Xiao Yi had already walked over a hundred li to the west.

But awkwardly, he had not found any shelter left behind by other contestants in this wilderness.

Still, this was perfectly normal—in such an open, barren wilderness, finding another contestant’s shelter was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Xiao Yi himself felt no disappointment; in his view, finding one would be a bonus, but not finding one didn’t matter—he wasn’t delaying his earnings.

Of course, these days of travel had also broadened Xiao Yi’s horizons.

But I have to say that, compared to his initial region, this area was indeed poorer in resources—but also significantly safer.