Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains 169
Chapter 169
Unlike the Salt-Water Tribe, even though dragons still appeared near Qi Ze City from time to time, life for the beastmen living behind the two city walls had not changed much.
The swarm of locust dragons had been gone for more than two months before they began to return. However, the number of returning ones was less than one-third of those that had left. Each locust dragon moved much more slowly than before, and the formation was no longer neat and orderly. The whole swarm stretched out sparsely, looking more like defeated soldiers fleeing home.
The locust dragons were still not interested in Qi Ze City. They merely passed by and disappeared across the plains.
However, the hydrochoerus dragons seemed to have developed a strong interest in Qi Ze City. After several incidents where they fell into traps, more and more hydrochoerus dragons began to appear on the plains. By the fifth time they had caught several hydrochoerus dragons easily, Azhang finally convened a meeting.
As soon as Azhang sat down, he stated the purpose of the meeting. “These hydrochoerus dragons are probably related to the situation in the forest. I want to send someone to check whether the hydrochoerus dragons have returned to their usual state near the forest.”
“Shouldn’t we go deeper into the forest to investigate?” Aze asked. Merely checking the edges wouldn’t reveal much—if something had happened in the forest, it was most likely in its center.
Azhang shook his head. “We don’t have many people, and it’s too dangerous to enter the forest. We just need to find out whether the hydrochoerus dragons have returned to normal. Even if we discover other problems, there’s nothing we can do with our current ability.” Thus, this expedition was not meant to resolve the root of the threat, but merely to confirm whether danger was nearby.
“Could the appearance of the hydrochoerus dragons be related to the hyena-drakes entering the plains? Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that once news of hyena-drakes appearing spread, the hydrochoerus dragons that had disappeared for nearly a year suddenly reappeared?” Chen Qi voiced his thoughts.
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
“That’s also possible.” Azhang rubbed his temples tiredly. Although life within the tribe still seemed peaceful as always, the sense of danger outside the two city walls was growing stronger.
“We also need to resume nearby patrols and keep in regular contact with the Lion-Wolf Tribe,” Azhang continued. “That way, even if something happens, we’ll have a fallback. The locust swarms last time moved toward the Lion-Wolf Tribe, but the number returning this time is much smaller. Was it because someone wiped them out, or did something else prevent them from going back to the forest? We need to discuss this with the Lion-Wolf Tribe. We can’t just stay inside Qi Ze City waiting all winter.”
Azhang glanced around at everyone, his tone growing heavy. “I can’t shake off the unease I’ve been feeling lately.”
It wasn’t just Azhang—others felt it too. It was an instinctive sense of danger born in females, one that had helped them escape many crises before. Even without evidence that something might happen, no one dared to take that unease lightly.
“Even if we contact the Lion-Wolf Tribe, we can’t send too many people. The plains might be crawling with hyena-drakes now. Once we go out, we might not come back alive.” Ake said, expressing his concerns
That was also what worried Azhang. After all, he and Aze had been ambushed by hyena-drakes on their way back the previous year. The Lion-Wolf Tribe was far from here, but it was the only large tribe nearby—and several other tribes had recently merged into it. If Qi Ze City were ever attacked, the Lion-Wolf Tribe would be their only refuge. And if any nearby tribes were attacked by hyena-drakes, they would surely go there for help first.
“As long as we mask our scent and avoid paths frequently used by beastmen, it should be fine,” Aze said. “Last year, we were ambushed because we followed the locust swarm’s route. The plains are vast—hyena-drakes can’t just ambush anywhere. The ones I met last time didn’t notice me until I intruded into their territory.”
Azhang thought for a moment. “Tomorrow, send people to patrol from the forest’s edge to the area around the Chishui River. If they encounter dragons, they must retreat immediately and avoid direct combat at all costs. Even if they lure them toward Qi Ze City, it doesn’t matter—it’ll give us a chance to test whether our traps can withstand several dragon attacks.”
Azhang said this because he feared that the females going on patrol might risk their lives to hold the dragons off for the tribe’s safety. With so few people in Qi Ze City, he could not afford to lose anyone.
The group discussed some details for a while, reassigned the patrol teams, and selected a five-person group to go to the Lion-Wolf Tribe to gather information. Ahxu was chosen as the leader, and they would only depart after confirming the safety of the area near the Chishui River.
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
The patrol moved quickly and surveyed the area near the forest the next day. As expected, it was the same as in previous years—not only had the hydrochoerus dragons that disappeared last winter reappeared, but other herbivorous dragon species had also begun showing up near the forest, their numbers greater than before. Some even extended their range into the plains, explaining why so many hydrochoerus dragons were appearing near Qi Ze City. If this continued, even the antelope-dragons might soon appear nearby.
To everyone’s relief, there were no carnivorous dragons spotted near the forest. At least for now, they didn’t need to worry about dragon attacks on Qi Ze City. Upon receiving this news, the tense atmosphere that had hung over the city for the past few days finally eased.
The Chishui River had frozen over again. After several days of patrolling the area and confirming there were no problems, Azhang instructed Ahxu to lead his team to the Lion-Wolf Tribe. This was the first exchange of information in nearly three months since the last message had been sent there.
Chen Qi had Aze take him up onto the icy city wall every evening, where they would watch until the sunset before returning home.
Lately, Chen Qi had been very busy. He had begun working with several older females to design large siege weapons. However, while he could sketch the rough appearance, he didn’t fully understand the internal mechanics, so progress was extremely slow. Even Chen Qi wasn’t sure if these devices could actually be completed.
Fortunately, once winter arrived, the beastmen of Qi Ze City had little else to do. Aside from a few who still made daily necessities, most patiently stayed to help Chen Qi with his projects.
“Chen Qi.”
Chen Qi was in the middle of improving the design for a new siege crossbow—one that could be mounted on the city wall, with greater range and piercing power. Though it couldn’t break an ironshell-drake’s shell, it should be strong enough to wound a hyena-drake from afar. He was focused on his drawings when he heard someone call his name from outside. Looking up in confusion, he saw a fiery-red, furry figure burst in, bringing a gust of cold wind with it.
The siege crossbow was far too large for Chen Qi to build alone, so the workshop had been set up in the old sewing classroom. Each day, the beastmen gathered there on time to discuss and work on construction.
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
They were exceptionally skilled with their hands—after a single explanation, they could imitate what was on the drawings almost perfectly. However, the results still needed repeated adjustments and testing, and only real combat would show their true effectiveness.
“What’s wrong?” Chen Qi caught Ajing, who had rushed in recklessly.
Ajing’s small face was full of panic. He grabbed Chen Qi’s hand and pulled him toward the door, explaining as he went, “Hurry and check on Little Wolf—he’s sick!”
Chen Qi’s heart jumped. For the past few days, the little wolf cub had been listless and extremely sleepy, lying by the fire all day. Since its appetite hadn’t decreased, Chen Qi hadn’t suspected illness—he had simply thought the little wolf cub wanted to hibernate as the weather grew colder and several blizzards had passed.
Hearing Ajing’s words now, Chen Qi didn’t even stop to explain to the others. He rushed after Ajing, hurrying home.
“Keep working, I’ll go take a look,” Ali said as he stood and followed after them.
Outside, the snow along the road had been cleared. The gathered snow had been shaped into many ice balls and stored on the city walls as ammunition. Though not very deadly, as Chen Qi said, they were “better than nothing.”
When Chen Qi stepped inside the house, the little wolf cub lay weakly on a fur blanket by the fire, covered with another blanket on top. Upon seeing Chen Qi and Ajing enter, it gave two soft whimpers before burying its head into the furs, curling itself into a tight ball.
Ali came in behind them and closed the door, shutting out the cold wind. The room gradually warmed.
“Little Wolf, what’s wrong?” Chen Qi squatted down in front of the little wolf cub and tried to lift the fur blanket. But somehow, the little wolf cub had tangled itself in the furs and clung to them tightly. No matter how Chen Qi tried, he couldn’t lift even a corner. The little wolf cub kept pawing at the blanket while whining pitifully.
“What’s going on?” Ali asked worriedly. He had watched the little wolf pup grow from the size of a palm to its current form and had long treated it like family. Seeing it like this now filled him with worry and heartache.
Ajing opened his hand to show them what he was holding—a small tuft of pure white fur. Chen Qi looked at him in confusion, not understanding why he was handing him fur at this moment.
It was Ali who reacted first. He glanced at the little wolf cub curled under the fur blanket, then at the handful of fur, and asked uncertainly, “Is this Little Wolf’s fur?”
Ajing nodded quickly. “I didn’t pull it out! I just touched him gently, and then his fur started falling off nonstop.” His eyes began to redden. “Chen Qi, is Little Wolf sick?”
“……”
Chen Qi turned to look at Ali with a complicated expression, hesitated, and asked, “Do giant wolf-gods shed their fur?”
Words from the Translation Crew
Miiya: 3 of 3 for the week. Poor little wolf cub… :p
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.
