Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains 105
Chapter 105
There were only two rooms in Chen Qi’s house that were suitable for people to live in. As a result, Axu and his brother were invited by Azhang to stay at his home for the night. Since they had not yet decided on what to exchange, Azhang planned to take the two brothers to visit the tribe the next day.
The beastmen did not have the idea of hiding any good things from other tribes. This world was full of danger, and no one knew when their own tribe might be destroyed. If other tribes were stronger, it would be safer to seek refuge with them when they had no other options.
The enemies of the beastmen were never other beastmen.
There, Azhang did not hide anything from the two brothers. He took them to visit the papermaking, pottery making, sewing, etc. They also attended a literacy class. The teacher of the literacy class was still Ajing. Ajing would first tell a story that Chen Qi had told him, and then select a few words that everyone was most interested in from the story to teach them how to write them.
Although the beastmen did not need stories to lure them into learning since they were already learning seriously, it was obvious that their interest increased significantly when listening to the story before learning. Even the two beastmen who had interrupted the class midway listened attentively and even showed interest in practicing writing on the sand table.
Although papermaking was now possible, paper was still in short supply. Therefore, no one would waste paper to practice writing at this time. Instead, they still used the sand tables that Chen Qi had made before. After writing, they could simply swish it with their hand and reuse it again, and they didn’t need to get their hands stained with dye-fruit liquid. It was clean and convenient.
Swish. The bone arrowhead pierced through the straw target. Aze bent down to pick up another arrow. He drew the bowstring taut again and, with another sound of the arrow whistling, hit the target again, right next to the previous arrow, and once again in the bullseye.
“Aze, your archery is getting better and better.” Chen Qi couldn’t help but applaud.
Aze’s lips curled up slightly, contentedly enjoying Chen Qi’s praise.
The study of archery was not about practicing accuracy at a fixed distance, but rather to gradually increase the distance according to the level of accuracy. Starting from ten meters, then fifty meters, one hundred meters, until now Aze could hit the bullseye hundred out of hundred shots within the range of 150 meters.
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Unfortunately, even though the bow and arrow had been improved several times, the penetrating power of the arrow inevitably weakened as the distance increased. Aze’s 150 meters was already the limit of these crude bows. Shooting beyond that distance, even if it hit the target, it wouldn’t cause significant damage to the enemy.
“Is this a long-ranged weapon? You can hurt prey without getting close?” Axu’s eyes shone as he looked at the pure black wooden bow in Aze’s hands. The body of the bow had been dyed several times with black dyed-fruits and polished with resin, making it reflect a faint light in the sun. If you didn’t look closely, it was possible to mistake it for metal.
Seeing Axu admiring the wooden bow, Aze handed the bow in his hand to him, and also handed him a bone arrow. “Give it a try.”
Axu reached out and touched the black lacquered bow, then solemnly took the arrow Aze handed over. Imitating Aze’s posture, he drew the bow, set the arrow and it shot out. However, the arrow suddenly fell limply to the ground about two or three meters away from the target.
Axu was stunned.
Seeing Axu’s expression, Chen Qi smiled, “You are standing too far away. This kind of bow is not easy for a beginner to control. If your posture is not good and if you don’t exert the right amount of strength, you won’t hit the target.” Chen Qi beckoned for him to go closer and pointed to a spot about fifty meters away. “The power in your first shot was still pretty good. Try to shoot another arrow standing at this distance.”
Axu felt a bit embarrassed. He saw how easily Aze had shot the arrows and thought he could do it easily too. He didn’t expect that there was still so much to pay attention to.
Following Chen Qi’s guidance, he walked a distance forward, then picked up an arrow again. As he pulled the bowstring back, Aze asked him to pause for a moment, then walked over and adjusted his standing posture before asking him to try again.
With the clear and melodious sound of the arrow whistling, the bone-tipped arrow pierced firmly into the target. Ashu, who had been watching from the side, finally couldn’t help but exclaim, “Brother, let me try it too.”
Axu was still savoring the feeling of that arrow just now. It was wonderful and he felt a strange surge in his heart as the arrow left his hand. He refused his younger brother’s request, “I’m going to shoot another arrow.”
Ashu, although envious of the handsome wooden bow, took a few steps back. Axu picked up an arrow, pulled the bowstring back in the posture that Aze adjusted just earlier, thought for a moment, then slightly adjusted his breathing that had become a bit excited. Then, he stepped forward with his right foot and shot the arrow. This time, the arrow firmly pierced the target, and the tail of the arrow kept swaying left and right.
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Although Chen Qi knew that the beast people were very talented in using the bow and arrow, it was the first time he saw someone with such a perfect bow-drawing posture. If he hadn’t known it was Axu’s first time touching the bow and arrow, he would have thought that the other was a professional from somewhere.
Ashu couldn’t tell whether Axu shot well or not. When he saw Axu finish the shot, he couldn’t wait to step forward, “Brother, it’s my turn.”
Axu reluctantly handed the wooden bow to Ashu and stepped aside to watch.
“If you like the wooden bow, you can make one yourself later.” said Azhang with a smile as he saw Axu retreating to his side.
Hearing Azhang’s words, Axu was reeled in from still being immersed in the feeling of hitting the bullseye moments ago, and his face was filled with a surprised and excited expression. “You’re willing to teach me how to make a wooden bow?”
Azhang nodded. Learning to use the bow and arrow would help reduce the casualty rate among the beastmen during hunting.
Axu adjusted his expression. He figured that he had probably exhausted all the surprise and excitement saved up from living for more than 20 years in one go today. He looked at Azhang solemnly and said sincerely, “Thank you.”
Although their tribe had not encountered hyena-drakes this winter, during the early summer hunt at Salt-Water Lake, two females had accidentally been dragged into the water. Axu had just experienced the power of the bow and arrow, and while it may not be able to kill the thick-skinned prey with one shot, just being able to harass the prey from a distance could give their endangered companions a better chance to survive.
“I will exchange the salt stone and octopus I brought with you for the method of making the wooden bow.” Axu said. After all, he couldn’t just take something from the other tribe without giving anything in return.
Azhang smiled. “Then stay here for a few more days and see what you think you should learn to take back to the tribe.”
Azhang had no intention of hiding anything. He knew that the population of the Salt-Water Tribe was decreasing year by year. Now there were fewer and fewer tribes nearby. If the things that Chen Qi taught them could improve the self-preservation ability and living standards of other tribes, he was naturally willing to teach them everything he knew.
Since the several changes in the dragons’ activities that occurred in winter, Azhang always felt a sense of unease lingering in his heart. He was worried that next winter, these kinds of changes would become more frequent. If a horde of dragons attacked, judging from what he knew of the other tribes’ defense capabilities, they would not be able to stop them at all.
Azhang narrowed his eyes slightly and looked up at the tall city wall not far away. He hoped that this thing could really become the iron wall that would protect them as Chen Qi said.
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Ashu didn’t show as much talent as Axu. He shot seven or eight arrows in a row before finally getting the hang of it. Aze also patiently shared some of his own archery experiences with him. After all, Chen Qi was not that familiar with the bow and arrows, so he could only give a general description of how to use them. The rest could only be explored and grasped by the beastmen themselves.
After trying a few more times, Axu and Ashu did not continue practicing. Azhang took them for a lap up atop the city wall. They hadn’t felt anything special when they were on ground level, but once they set foot on top of it, Axu realized that the wall was surprisingly wide. With this thickness, it would probably have no problems stopping hyena-drakes.
“This city wall is made of baked clay bricks.” Azhang pointed to the reddish-brown wall under their feet.
Upon hearing this, Axu, who was just considering how to build such a city wall in his own tribe, could not help but lose some light from his eyes. Their tribe did not have suitable soil for firing bricks.
As if guessing what the other party was thinking, Azhang smiled and patted Axu on the shoulder. “Of course, there are many ways to build the city wall, not all of them involve baking clay bricks. You can see what is most abundant near your tribe, such as stones and trees, which can be used to build the city wall.”
Without guidance, it was difficult for the beastmen to have divergent thinking and come up with ideas on their own. That the city wall could be built with other materials was also something that Chen Qi had told him back when the construction of the wall had just started and the firing of the clay bricks was not going smoothly.
After hearing Azhang’s words, the light returned into Axu’s eyes again. Clay bricks could not be baked, but their tribe did not lack stones. There were several rocky mountains around the Salt-Water Tribe, which was a rare sight in the area.
After visiting the city wall, Azhang took the two brothers back to the school. As it was close to noon, Chen Qi went back to cook lunch. Before leaving, he asked Ashu if he would like to go back with him and they could cook together. He could teach him some cooking techniques.
The two brothers had eaten the food made by Chen Qi last night. They had never eaten food cooked by other methods besides roasted meat and boiled meat before. Moreover, the cooked food did not have the astringent taste of the salt stone. Obviously, the salt stones were the ones exchanged from their own hands yet it turned out that others could make the salt stone taste better than theirs. The two brothers were a little ashamed.
They could not stay here for too long. Axu didn’t want to waste any time since there were so many new things in Qi Ze City. After some discussion, the two brothers decided that Axu would learn bow-making from Azhang first, while Ashu would go back with Chen Qi to learn to cook.
Chen Qi didn’t mind either way. He was willing to teach them everything he knew.
Chen Qi had just returned home and had not yet entered the courtyard when Ale, carrying a large backpack, spotted him from afar and eagerly called out to him.
“What’s the matter?” Seeing Ale’s flushed face as he ran over, Chen Qi asked, puzzled.
Ale carefully took off the backpack from behind him and opened it, then pulled out an egg about the size of a basketball with light blue round spots on it and eagerly asked. “What kind of delicious food can we make with this pterosaur egg?”
“……”
Not just Ale, but now whenever anyone in the tribe found new food, they would bring it to show to Chen Qi first to see what kind of new dish could be made from it. Chen Qi did not disappoint them either, and he was able to come up with something new each time. Of course, the taste could not be guaranteed to be delicious every time.
Chen Qi sighed in his heart. Clearly his cooking skills were very basic, and even Ali and Aze, whom he taught, were better than him. However, in the eyes of the beastmen in the tribe, did he somehow have the title of ‘God of Cooking’ hanging over his head?
Words from the Translation Crew
Miiya: Happy weekend.
Translator: Miiya
Editor: MushroomNight73
Proofreader: Yume
Editor stepping into the realm of MTL translating, starting with CLWP. Support this translation with a Ko-fi. Three Ko-fis will add an extra chapter from the stockpile to the next weekly release.
