Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains 142
Chapter 142
Ale was true to his word. The next day, he indeed went out and came back with a large sack of grapes. Along with it, he brought two bamboo tubes of freshly made chili powder and a pair of jars prepared for brewing wine.
When the others heard that Chen Qi’s latest batch of wine had turned out well, they couldn’t resist coming over to take a look. Generously, Chen Qi opened another jar and poured a small cup for everyone to try.
But wine was one of those things—some loved it instantly, while others didn’t care much for the taste. What surprised Chen Qi most was that Ahxu, whose rugged appearance would have screamed “heavy drinker” back in Chen Qi’s old world, turned out to be a complete lightweight—toppled after just a single cup.
Seeing Ahxu, who just a moment ago had been cheerfully downing his cup in one gulp, suddenly slump forward onto the table, everyone else who had been about to take a sip froze mid-motion. Fortunately, Axu, standing nearby, reacted quickly and caught him before he could slide off the bench and hit the floor.
“I’ll take him back,” Axu said, licking his lips. He actually liked the taste of the wine, but somehow it still felt that something about it was not very satisfying, leaving him a little regretful as he set the cup down. Then he hoisted the man who had already slumped over the table, his expression dazed, and carried him away.
Chen Qi rubbed his nose a little awkwardly and reminded the others to take it easy with the drinking, not to end up passed out like Ahxu.
After hearing Chen Qi’s explanation, everyone felt relieved, knowing that getting drunk would be fine after a good sleep. They each picked up their small cup of wine and began tasting it carefully.
From that day on, the wild fruit called grapes near the forest was completely picked clean. The potters worked through the night to make a large number of clay jars, and Chen Qi’s home soon had five or six jars of grape wine quietly fermenting.
The people of the Salt-Water Tribe quickly adapted to life in Qi Ze City. Axu completely entrusted his tribe members to Azhang’s arrangements. Since the people from the Flame-Hill Tribe were also expected to arrive, the gathering was postponed until after their arrival. In the meantime, the Salt-Water tribesmen were assigned to follow the residents of Qi Ze City and learn various crafts and skills.
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Seeing the sudden influx of labor, Chen Qi’s mind became lively again. After all, more people were still expected to arrive. So, behind the original two dormitory buildings, he had two more rows of houses built. In just about a week, the production of cloth sewing, papermaking, and pottery in Qi Ze City had increased several times over.
Azhang also felt embarrassed letting the people from the Salt-Water Tribe work for nothing, so he taught them carefully. But after several days of interaction, he still hadn’t seen any signs of a female and male becoming a couple, which made him a bit worried. He knew that the few single females in his own tribe were relatively older, and attracting the attention of the just-coming-of-age young males wasn’t easy. All he could do was hope that the performance Chen Qi had them rehearse would have some effect.
On days without hunting, Aze would stay home and make some furniture. Sometimes Chen Qi would draw lines on boxes, and Aze would carefully carve the shapes according to those lines. After all, it wasn’t highly technical work, but Aze took it seriously, and the results actually turned out quite well.
After Aze finished carving, Chen Qi would sometimes brush the pieces with dye-fruits, which added quite a bit of color. Placed in the house, they made the previously dull, gray stone rooms feel much less monotonous.
Chen Qi sat at the large wooden table under the fig tree, carefully copying out the passages he still remembered. Now that he had paper and pen, writing had become much more convenient. Aze sat beside him, with a bamboo tray in front of him filled with a pile of finger-length square wooden blocks. One end of each block had lines already drawn, and all Aze had to do was slowly carve along them to shape the pieces. Yet, though the lines looked like writing, they didn’t resemble any of the characters he had learned before.
Aze couldn’t help but feel a bit puzzled. “Chen Qi, what exactly are you having me carve this time?” The pile of small wooden blocks in front of him numbered at least a few hundred. Even yesterday, when Chen Qi first asked him to make these blocks, he had already been a little confused.
Chen Qi didn’t pause his movements and didn’t look up as he answered, “Reversed characters.”
“Reversed characters?”
“En, they can be used for printing, so we won’t have to copy books by hand every day from now on.”
Right now, the people copying texts were basically just Ajing. Anyone who wanted to learn something new had to take paper and pen and copy it by hand before they could study it. With the relatively small population of Qi Ze City, this method still worked, but once the numbers grew, its efficiency would drop significantly. The Salt-Water Tribe had brought over quite a few things, and without exchanging anything, they had given everything to them—practically for free. Chen Qi thought it over and decided to print some books that the Salt-Water Tribe could actually read and take back with them.
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, this batch of reversed characters was different from the ones he had taught the beastmen before. So Chen Qi wrote the standard characters on the other end of each small wooden block with a pen. That way, when it came time to print, they could be arranged according to the standard characters, and even someone who couldn’t read the reversed characters could immediately recognize them—very convenient. Chen Qi planned that once Aze finished carving, he would have Azhang find someone to take charge of this task. In the future, spreading any new books would be much faster.
Aze didn’t ask any more questions. He picked up one of the small wooden blocks and began carving quietly.
Just as he finished carving one, Aze suddenly paused. He frowned and slightly raised his head. Their house happened to face the city gate, and though it was some distance away, Aze’s eyesight was sharp enough to see the crowd bustling near the gate.
Chen Qi looked up, following Aze’s line of sight. He could only make out some swaying figures and couldn’t see clearly what was happening at the city gate. Puzzled, he asked, “What’s going on?”
“Maybe the people from Flame-Hill Tribe have arrived.”
Chen Qi was a bit surprised. He had expected the Flame-Hill Tribe to arrive around the time of the first snow, but he hadn’t expected them to come early.
At that moment, Ale also ran over from a distance. Without even entering the yard, he leaned over the wall and greeted the two of them, “The Flame-Hill Tribe and the Lion-Wolf Tribe have arrived. Uncle Azhang wants everyone to go help welcome them.”
Aze and Chen Qi exchanged a glance. “The Lion-Wolf Tribe arrived early, too?”
“I don’t know. They brought quite a few people.”
Chen Qi stood up and asked, “How many of them have come?”
Ale tilted his head, thought for a moment, and said, “Maybe around two or three hundred people.”
“……”
Aze gathered up the things in his hands and said, “Got it. We’ll head over in a bit.”
After relaying the news, Ale ran next door to continue spreading the message.
Although the number of people from the Lion-Wolf and Flame-Hill tribes was large this time, the number of males was not too many—altogether only about twenty. The chiefs of the Lion-Wolf and Flame-Hill tribes did not come, but Azhang was acquainted with the two tribes’ leaders. Leading the Flame-Hill Tribe was still Ayan, while the leader of the Lion-Wolf tribesmen was a male, originally the chief of the Rock Mountain Tribe, Bo De.
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Seeing Bo De, it wasn’t just Azhang who felt surprised— even the former members of the Rock Mountain Tribe now living in Qi Ze City were taken aback. They hadn’t seen him last year when they went to the Salt-Water Tribe to trade goods, and yet here he was, coming of his own accord.
Azhang raised an eyebrow but didn’t say much, instead assigning a few people to register them one by one.
Ayan had previously stayed in Qi Ze City for a while, and before coming, he had explained the city’s situation in detail to his own tribe. So during the registration, everyone stood obediently to wait their turn. The Lion-Wolf Tribe, encountering the registration process for the first time, was curious and some of them came closer to watch. But since their numbers were relatively large, the scene looked a bit chaotic.
Seeing this scene, Bo De didn’t look very pleased, but he patiently led the others to follow the arrangements made by the people of Qi Ze City.
Ayan finished registering first. After giving a few instructions to his tribe members, he stepped forward, took Azhang with him to the side, and, glancing back to make sure no one was paying attention, lowered his voice and said, “Sorry, I went back on my word.”
Azhang looked over the few people brought by the Flame-Hill Tribe. There weren’t many—fewer than thirty in total. There were only about ten males, all roughly the same age as them, while the remaining females numbered six or seven and looked relatively young. The rest were either gray-haired and aged or clearly had mobility issues.
Azhang withdrew his gaze knowingly. “Did you go to the Lion-Wolf Tribe first?”
“En.” Ayan nodded sheepishly, then told Azhang about the current situation in the Flame-Hill Tribe.
Ayan’s original plan had been to merge the Flame-Hill Tribe into Qi Ze City. After all, he was the mate of the Flame-Hill Tribe’s chief, so he had some say in tribal matters. However, when he shared his idea with the tribe, the first to oppose it was his own partner—the current chief of the Flame-Hill Tribe.
The Flame-Hill Tribe’s problems had actually begun several years earlier, but last year they worsened. During the journey to the gathering, they had been attacked by hyena-drakes, and on top of that, there had been unusual hyena-drake activity in the forest during summer, which made the situation more severe. They not only sent Ayan to seek help from the Salt-Water Tribe, but also dispatched people to the Lion-Wolf Tribe. After all, the Lion-Wolf Tribe was currently the largest tribe in the area, so even if a merger were considered, it would make sense to prioritize them.
When Ayan returned with the news that he wanted to merge the Flame-Hill Tribe into Qi Ze City, the people who had gone to the Lion-Wolf Tribe also returned with the Lion-Wolf Tribe’s agreement to allow the merger. If it weren’t for the news of unusual Giant Wolf God activity in the forest, the Flame-Hill Tribe might have still considered Qi Ze City. But knowing that there was unrest in the forest, the Flame-Hill Tribe’s chief immediately made a decision to lead the tribe to merge into the Lion-Wolf Tribe without further discussion.
The reason wasn’t just that Qi Ze City had too few people, but also that, like the Flame-Hill Tribe, it was too close to the forest. For the beastmen of the Flame-Hill Tribe, who had spent the entire summer threatened by dragons, this proximity was far too unsafe.
No matter how much Ayan tried to persuade them later, not only the chief but also the other members of the tribe refused. With no other option, he could only lead his people to first reach the Lion-Wolf Tribe.
However, shortly after joining the Lion-Wolf Tribe, Ayan heard that the Lion-Wolf Tribe’s people would also attend the gathering in Qi Ze City. He discussed it again with his partner and then spoke individually with the other tribe members. Only then did he assemble the group that would come this time. Most of the attendees were motivated by the fact that even elderly or mobility-impaired members could find plenty to do in Qi Ze City. The younger warriors, having just joined the larger tribe, wanted to make their mark there and had little interest in attending a gathering in a small settlement of only a few dozen people; after all, the Lion-Wolf Tribe had its own gatherings.
Hence, the current situation.
After listening to Ayan’s explanation, Azhang reached out and patted his shoulder, comforting him, “It’s alright, don’t take it too hard. After all, the Lion-Wolf Tribe is a big tribe—merging in there is definitely much safer than coming to our small settlement.” Still, deep down, he couldn’t help feeling a bit of regret; no one could resist wanting their own tribe to be stronger.
Ayan nodded gratefully to Azhang. In truth, he really wished he could stay in Qi Ze City—he had a gut feeling that, although the settlement seemed small in numbers, it was absolutely safer than the Lion-Wolf Tribe. Yet he knew he couldn’t stay; after all, his partner was still with the Lion-Wolf Tribe, and there was no way he could abandon him and run off to another settlement.
“These females who came this time, although they are a bit older and some carry injuries, were all very brave warriors when they were young. If there’s a place in your tribe where you need them, I hope you won’t look down on them.”
Words from the Translation Crew
Miiya: More characters~
Translator: Miiya
Editor: MushroomKnight73
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.
