HUN Chapter 39: First Encounter with a Grizzly Bear!

Lin Yu'an had been in the wilderness for forty-two days. His food supply was adequate, and his mental state was good.

He still had some smoked fish, about a pound of smoked beaver jerky remaining, the sunchokes were completely gone, and if he rationed all his food carefully, it could last another five days.

So his recent plan was to catch fish, while the weather wasn't too cold yet and the river hadn't frozen over, he needed to work overtime fishing and catching fish.

Fortunately, today was another calm, beautiful day. Sunlight scattered across Chilko Lake's surface, creating rippling waves of light. Perfect for boat fishing!

"I've finished repairing the gill net. Today I'm going to deploy it in the lake again, hoping for new surprises!"

Lin Yu'an pushed the Pioneer into the water, bringing the repaired gill net, anchor stones, and marker buoys, skillfully paddling toward yesterday's netting area.

This time, he chose a position slightly different from yesterday's, but equally promising based on his "sixth sense" judgment of where fish schools might pass through.

The net deployment process was much the same as yesterday, but with experience, his movements were more skilled and efficient.

Soon that invisible "underwater dragnet" stood silently at the lake bottom once again, waiting for its prey.

"The fishing net is set. Next, while the weather's good today, I plan to go to another distant river bend to try my luck and see if I can catch some big ones."

That river bend wasn't actually too far from where he'd set the gill net in a straight line, but because it was separated by a headland jutting into the lake, traveling overland would take considerable time.

Now, with the canoe, he could easily reach that visually accessible river bend by water route.

Lin Yu'an turned the boat around and paddled toward the river bend on the lake's other side.

His boldness in venturing into unknown areas was also supported by his sixth sense, which could help him detect danger signals in time.

The Pioneer glided lightly across the lake surface under his control.

When he slowly entered that river bend full of scattered rocks and fallen logs, Lin Yu'an immediately slowed down, alertly observing his surroundings.

The underwater environment here was indeed complex, but that also meant large fish might be hiding.

He chose an area about thirty to forty meters from shore with moderate depth, preparing to begin his angling.

Just as he cast his first line, the lure landing gracefully in the water, his attention focused on movement transmitted through the fishing line—

Lin Yu'an's sixth sense suddenly emitted a strong, dangerous signal!

Following the direction of his perception, on the opposite shore slope covered with dense shrubs, a massive brown figure was slowly emerging from the forest!

Lin Yu'an's pupils instantly contracted! A grizzly bear!

It was a robust adult grizzly bear, but it didn't seem to notice Lin Yu'an floating in his canoe on the water surface.

Instead, it sniffed around the shoreline on its own, occasionally using those massive bear paws to push aside obstructing bushes.

Lin Yu'an's heart leaped to his throat! He stopped all movement, even deliberately slowing his breathing, afraid of startling this massive creature!

He instinctively checked the large-caliber bear hunting pistol in his space!

"Hey guys... I've encountered a big fellow..."

Lin Yu'an's voice was extremely low, almost just breath. The action camera on his chest recorded this thrilling scene!

He was even prepared to immediately throw the camera into the water and retrieve weapons from his space for self-defense if absolutely necessary.

Fortunately, his canoe was still a safe distance from the shore where the grizzly bear was located.

Moreover, this river bend was quite far by water route from his shelter, so he didn't need to worry about shelter odors directly attracting it.

The grizzly bear wandered along the shore for a while, seemingly finding nothing particularly interesting. It raised its head, those deep-set small eyes casually scanning the lake surface.

It seemed to also notice the small canoe floating on the water surface and the human figure on it.

It paused for a moment, its gaze briefly meeting Lin Yu'an's in the air.

In that moment, time seemed frozen!

Lin Yu'an could clearly feel the powerful oppressive presence emanating from that giant beast.

But unexpectedly, the grizzly bear just looked at him quietly for a while, then unhurriedly turned around, re-entered the dense forest, and quickly disappeared from sight.

"Whew—"

Only after the grizzly bear's figure completely vanished did Lin Yu'an let out a long breath. His heart was still pounding wildly, and fine cold sweat had appeared on his forehead.

"That guy's presence was incredibly powerful! Good thing it wasn't interested in me, maybe because of the distance, it didn't consider me a threat."

After this thrilling but ultimately harmless encounter, Lin Yu'an lost his mood for continued fishing.

He now knew this area was indeed within the grizzly bear's activity range. Every time he came here in the future, he'd need to be much more careful and cautious. Or perhaps he wouldn't come here again at all!

He remained quietly on the lake surface for quite a while, trying to calm down the tension.

However, over the next several hours, as if his luck had been scared away by that grizzly bear, he changed fishing spots multiple times, tried different lures and techniques, but came up empty-handed.

His "sixth sense" could clearly feel fish schools active underwater, even vaguely see their swimming figures, but these cunning creatures just wouldn't take the bait.

Lin Yu'an shook his head somewhat helplessly, "This is really strange... can't even catch fish in a fish nest?"

Seeing the sky gradually darkening, Lin Yu'an knew today would be another skunked day.

Not a single fish caught, he could only pin his hopes on last night's gill net.

He turned the boat around and began returning to the gill net river bend.

Just as the canoe passed a rocky shoreline mouth, his attention was suddenly drawn to a peculiar sight on shore.

On the bank slope not far from the water surface, several thick, dark-colored logs extended toward the water in a structure that was obviously human-built, though now askew.

"Hmm? What's that?" Lin Yu'an curiously paddled the canoe closer.

He could see clearly now, it was a wooden fishing platform!

The wood surfaces had been worn smooth and round by lake water, showing a driftwood texture weathered by years, but the traces of human construction were clearly visible.

"Someone's been here before? And built a fishing platform?"

This discovery instantly made him forget his earlier fishing disappointment!

He carefully observed that dilapidated fishing platform and the surrounding environment. The water flow here was relatively gentle, with plenty of scattered rocks and aquatic plants underwater, it indeed looked like a good fishing spot.

"Look what I discovered! This fishing platform looks fairly new. I wonder who left it behind."

"If the weather's still this good tomorrow, I'll definitely come explore this area!"

He mentally planned to return tomorrow specifically to explore this area thoroughly and see if there might be any new discoveries.

Lin Yu'an paddled the canoe back to the gill net waters.

The net retrieval process was still full of surprises. Though not as dramatic as the first time, he successfully caught two rainbow trout, each around two pounds.

"Not bad! Seems like there really are plenty of fish in these waters!" Lin Yu'an satisfiedly placed the fish in the boat's cabin.

Returning to the warm stone shelter, Lin Yu'an began processing these fresh catches. The fish caught the day before yesterday had already been smoked into dried fish.

He decided to try a new flavor tonight, beaver oil pan-fried fish.

He scraped off a large chunk from his stored beaver fat and placed it in the heated stainless steel pot. As the temperature rose, the beaver oil quickly melted, releasing a rich, fatty aroma.

He placed the cleaned rainbow trout pieces into the sizzling oil pot. The fish skin contacted the scalding beaver oil, instantly contracting and producing pleasant frying sounds.

He carefully turned the fish pieces, ensuring both sides were fried to golden brown, finally sprinkling on just a bit of salt.

Lin Yu'an used his homemade wooden chopsticks to pick up a piece of the crispy-outside, tender-inside fried fish and put it in his mouth.

The fish skin was fragrant and crispy, the meat fresh and tender, while the beaver oil's distinctive rich flavor elevated the fish's deliciousness to a new level.

"Mmm—! Absolutely delicious!"

Lin Yu'an sighed contentedly, "Pan-frying fish with beaver oil really has a unique flavor. I'll eat just one tonight and save the other for tomorrow's breakfast."

As Lin Yu'an leisurely enjoyed his delicious dinner like he was on vacation, he mentally planned tomorrow's exploration of the area around that abandoned fishing platform.

He was particularly curious about who had built that fishing platform.

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