Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains 211
Chapter 211
“It’s the hyena-drakes.”
No one knew who whispered it first, but the beastmen who had been resting shot to their feet. A wolf howl rang out, and the remaining females inside Qi Ze City quickly rushed up onto the ice wall. They carried wooden bows in hand and quivers stuffed with arrows across their backs. Those assigned to operate the catapults and siege crossbows took their positions with practiced speed, ready for battle at any moment.
Chen Qi watched the hyena-drakes’ movements with a grim expression. The hyena-drakes didn’t advance toward Qi Ze City. Instead, as that beastly howl echoed, the ones behind slowly stepped forward and began spreading outward, creating a faint but unmistakable trend of encircling the entire city.
The traps had been set around the outer perimeter of the walls, and the hyena-drakes had kept a certain distance from them—the kind of distance that put them completely outside the siege crossbows’ range. The beastmen atop the wall could do nothing but quietly watch their movements.
“Why are there so many of them?” Achu’s brow tightened. But no one could answer him.
This hyena-drake horde was twice—no, perhaps three times—the size of the last one. It felt as if every hyena-drake in the entire forest had poured out at once.
Their pace wasn’t fast, and by the time they were nearly done surrounding Qi Ze City, it was already close to noon.
“Is there… a person among the hyena-drakes?” Axu, who had been crouching atop the battlement watching the horde, suddenly turned his head and asked.
Following the direction of Axu’s finger, Chen Qi squinted. His eyesight wasn’t as good as a female’s. The hyena-drakes’ fur blended into the snow, and with so many packed together, he couldn’t tell whether there were beastmen mixed in at all.
“There is someone there,” Aze said, lightly brushing the bowstring with his thumb. “The hyena-drake giving the earlier orders just went back to that person.”
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
“Who is that? Could it be a hyena-drake that’s taken human form?” Chen Qi guessed.
The others all turned to Chen Qi at once, their expressions heavy—mixed with something more complicated. But regardless of whether the person was a normal beastman or a shapeshifted hyena-drake, anyone standing among the hyena-drakes could only be an enemy.
“Just looking at this many hyena-drakes is making my scalp tingle,” Ale muttered. He took out a small chili-stuffed pastry from his pocket and popped it into his mouth. The scorching heat spread through his belly, driving out some of the cold that had seeped into him.
“What do we do now? Just wait?”
“Our weapons don’t have the range. We wait and see what the hyena-drakes do,” Azhang, who had been silent this whole time, ordered.
They waited for more than another hour. Chen Qi had only grabbed a bit of dry food at noon. The wind picked up again, and he huddled closer to a brazier for warmth. Aze watched him with distress, stepping over to shield him from the wind.
“Do you want to go back and warm up first?”
“No need. Don’t worry.” Seeing Aze’s concern, Chen Qi soothed him with a few quiet words.
Bang.
Another explosion sounded just then—the last of the mines left from yesterday that hadn’t gone off yet. Chen Qi looked out. A hyena-drake was walking toward the ice wall, its fur torn open in several places by the blast. A few streaks of bright red blood seeped from the wounds, stark and vivid against the endless white.
Chen Qi narrowed his eyes. As expected, these mines were far too crude—they barely injured the hyena-drakes at all.
Perhaps the hyena-drakes had also realized that these loud, explosive things did little besides make noise. Their courage swelled. A small cluster of hyena-drakes stepped out from the main group and began edging cautiously toward the wall.
This time, because there were so many hyena-drakes, their probing attack wasn’t limited to the main gate like before. Aside from the front gate facing the Chishui River, the hyena-drakes were also approaching from all three other directions.
The makeshift mines had never been numerous, and after a few consecutive explosions, everything fell quiet. Beyond the mines were several rows of trip ropes buried beneath the snow. The hyena-drakes didn’t notice at all. The ones in front stumbled and crashed to the ground—and now they were finally within the siege crossbows’ range.
At Azhang’s command, the siege crossbows on all four walls—already armed with arrows—fired in unison toward the approaching hyena-drakes.
The once-silent plains erupted with the sharp hiss of arrows cutting through the air, followed by the hyena-drakes’ anguished screams.
The trip ropes were only meant to hinder them and were even less lethal than the crude mines. Several hyena-drakes dodged the ropes the moment they tripped, and once the ropes had been triggered and exposed, a few that avoided the arrows simply skirted around them and continued forward.
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 hyena-drakes’ assault had truly begun—and the beastmen’s defense began with it.
Whether the hyena-drakes relied on their numbers or simply didn’t care about the ones sent forward, the result was the same. After the first wave of probing attackers was wiped out by the arrow barrage, the thick-skinned, heavy-bodied ironshell-drakes lumbered forward at last. By now, aside from the rows of barricades and chevaux-de-frise near the ice wall, all the other traps had already been trampled flat by the hyena-drakes.
“Have you noticed the hyena-drakes are getting smarter?” After loosing another bolt, Chen Qi walked over to Azhang and asked. He was using a crossbow—easy to fire, though its range couldn’t compare to the wooden bows the females used. But at close distance, its power was decent enough to disrupt the ironshell-drakes’ footing.
Azhang nodded. “They seem to know better than last time how to dodge arrows and avoid the traps.”
“I feel like they’re learning,” Chen Qi said, frowning as he searched for the right words. “It’s not just that they’re testing for danger ahead. It’s more like… they’re learning how the traps work and then passing that knowledge on to the ones behind.”
Azhang released the arrow he had fully drawn. It scraped a shallow mark across a hyena-drake’s back before falling uselessly to the ground. The creature didn’t even seem to feel it; it simply lowered its head and kept plowing forward. Hearing Chen Qi’s words, Azhang’s movements paused slightly.
“Doesn’t that just mean they’ll be even harder to deal with?” Ale, who had been operating one of the siege crossbows nearby, turned his head and asked.
“They are harder to deal with.” Aze refilled the emptied quiver at his hip and gestured toward the ironshell-drakes already charging their way forward. “Have you noticed? This is only the second wave of ironshell-drakes, yet they’re reaching the wall in almost half the time they took last time.”
Only then did the beastmen—who had been so busy fighting they barely had time to think—realize this problem.
As the ironshell-drakes approached, the first row of barricades was quickly set ablaze. The sudden wall of fire brought both ironshell-drakes and hyena-drakes to an abrupt halt. They even retreated beyond bow range, refusing to stand in front of the burning barrier and be pelted by the rain of arrows from above. They waited until the flames fully died out before advancing again.
There were no pit traps dug outside the ice wall, and only three rows of barricades had been set up. By the time those three rows had burned through, the sun was already close to setting. The chevaux-de-frise buried under the snow were knocked aside by the ironshell-drakes, sending snow mixed with reddish-brown soil flying. The ironshell-drakes weren’t in a hurry to storm the wall—they focused only on smashing open several massive gaps in the defensive row of spikes.
By the time the sunset cast its final glow over the plains, the dragons’ assault finally ceased. Other than the scattered, half-shattered chevaux-de-frise outside the ice wall, there was nothing left that could hinder the hyena-drakes’ advance.
“Why’d they stop?” Achu returned to the main gate after directing the other side’s defenses. Taking advantage of the lull, Azhang was ordering everyone to rest in turns and grab a little food.
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Chen Qi had brewed a pot of thin soup over a crude firepan, tossing in a handful of ginger slices for warmth. The flavor wasn’t great, but no one had the luxury to complain.
Azhang sat down where he stood, leaning against the icy battlements and closing his eyes. He hadn’t slept since the night before, and after fighting through a full day and night, even he felt a bit worn out. Fortunately, his thick fur kept the cold at bay. Hearing Achu’s voice, he opened his eyes slightly.
“While the hyenas aren’t moving, let everyone rest for a bit. I’m afraid they’ll start attacking again soon.”
“Should we start boiling the grease now?” Chen Qi handed Azhang a steaming bowl of soup.
Thick chunks of meat floated inside. Azhang accepted the bowl, didn’t bother with chopsticks, braced his wooden bow in one hand and the bowl in the other, and drank directly from the rim. After finishing the broth, he grabbed a chunk of meat with his fingers and popped it into his mouth.
“Start heating it.”
One by one, clay and iron pots were carried down from the watchtowers and set onto firepans. The prepared, flammable grease slowly began to melt. Each firepan was guarded closely.
Taking advantage of the temporary halt, Chen Qi slipped into a nearby watchtower to escape the wind. Even though he had kept up with training and had grown much stronger, he still couldn’t compare to the beastmen; staying outside in such bitter cold for so long was taking its toll.
The hyena-drakes didn’t seem impatient. They remained unmoving even as darkness fully settled over the plains.
The moon on the first night of the month was bright. By its pale light, Chen Qi could faintly make out the silhouettes of the hyena-drake horde.
The first night passed in tense silence. Not a single attack came. The hyena-drakes surrounding them stood motionless, like ice sculptures. If the beastmen hadn’t seen their savagery during an assault, they might have been fooled into thinking the creatures were harmless.
Snow continued to fall—light, but steady—slowly burying the bodies of fallen hyena-drakes and ironshell-drakes. The dried blood had long vanished beneath the white. The plains returned to a deceptive calm; only the crackling firewood and the sound of nearby breathing broke the stillness.
Chen Qi originally thought the hyena-drakes would resume their attacks the next day. But unexpectedly, they remained still—calm, vigilant, unmoving—just outside attack range.
They stood like that for four full days.
During that time, Chen Qi and Aze went back to the cellar to check on the little bun. Since the tribe was still surrounded by the hyena-drakes, even though no further attacks came, all the beastmen continued to hide underground.
The fires in the cellar were few, so the temperature was far from comfortable. Fortunately, the little bun wasn’t frail; after several days inside, his spirits were still good.
Words from the Translation Crew
Miiya: 3 of 3 for the week.
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.
