Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains 013

by Miiya · September 25, 2021

Chapter 13

The next day, when Chen Qi woke up he found that Aze had already left. The bone soup was reduced to less than half remaining and there was also half of a roasted rabbit by the fire which exuded a tempting aroma. Last night Chen Qi had only cured the pork and was going to use the rabbit for breakfast this morning. It seemed Aze had finished preparing it before he’d gone out.

Chen Qi went to check on the pork he cured last night, picking one up and giving it a whiff. There was no strange smell. Although it was simple, this curing method seemed to be feasible.

The glue mixture he’d used to attach the horn-blade with a handle had pretty much dried. He held it in his hand and gave it a little swing. The grip was good. Satisfied, Chen Qi took out the cloth Ali had given him yesterday and used his new dragon-horn knife to cut a small piece into a washcloth. Then he carefully cleaned the blade with the fruit from the fig tree. After cleaning it, the blade shined, giving off the impression that a cool light could slash out of it at any time. Could it contain some metal? Of course, Chen Qi had no way to prove his theory. He only had this one knife, so he couldn’t just melt it.

He spread the juice from half of an apple on the rabbit, then placed it over the fire to roast just a little longer as he filled a scorched laiche fruit husk with some bone soup. He used his knife to slice some roast meat to eat as he threw a disgusted look at the blackened laiche fruit husk that was being used as a bowl. He didn’t know who was responsible for making all the pottery. It seemed he’d need to ask Aze about making some bowls.

After eating, he wiped the blade clean, wrapped it with the hide he’d used as the scabbard yesterday, and stuffed it into his pocket. Last night, he had already changed back into his original clothes. Because the shirt had been used to filter the salt, it still had grayish smudges even though Aze had washed it carefully with figs. But as long as it could still be worn, Chen Qi did not mind the stains.

Today, Chen Qi planned to explore the area where his house would be built. He had chosen a piece of land next to Aze’s house where there was a tall fig tree which could be arranged to be included in his future yard. That way there would be a nice spot of cool shade as a reprieve during the hot summer.

Although he called it a piece of land, surveying the mass of various withered, yellow weeds covering it, Chen Qi couldn’t help but get a headache. It seemed that this place would have to be cleared before the house layout could be determined.

After wandering over, he noticed that because no one walked through the area at all, naturally there were no paths. Fortunately, the weeds were only knee-high and Chen Qi could clearly see the situation in the grass. Still, he did not dare to be careless. He chose a branch of an acacia tree to use as a switch to beat the grass, held his knife in the other hand, and walked bit by bit along the approximate size of his future house.

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 didn’t know how big the house needed to be. Ideally, he hoped to build at least 100 square meters, but he didn’t know if the construction methods here would support his hope. He preliminary imagined that the house would have two rooms, one living room, and one bathroom. One of the rooms would be for himself and the other for Aze. Chen Qi had not told Aze about this matter, but he was determined to invite the other party to move in after the house was completed. Chen Qi was really worried about whether Aze might develop some problems after living in that dark house for such a long time. Of course, the other man had probably already lived there for many years and it may only be Chen Qi himself who would develop problems if he lived there for a long time.

Reaching the back of Aze’s house, Chen Qi noticed that there was an obvious crevice in the ground not far away. When he approached it, it turned out to be a trench that was about half a person deep, more than one meter wide, and that extended out a distance. He was pleasantly surprised to find a few dandelions scatteredly growing on the edge of the trench.

Chen Qi squatted down to take a closer look. These dandelions bloomed with pale yellow petals. Chen Qi was very familiar with this common plant. He once worked on a project with various flowers as the theme and learned that dandelions were actually edible wild vegetables. For Chen Qi, who had been eating meat for several days in a row, he could already imagine how the dandelions would turn out after they were cooked.

He ran home to get a piece of hide and went back to the trench. He spread the hide on the ground, took out the dragon-horn knife, grabbed the dandelion stalk, cut it, and gently placed it on the hide. The dandelions grew quite sparsely. Every time he picked one, he had to reposition himself to the next one. Some of them were hidden within the withered grass and he had to dig through the grass to discover them.

After harvesting a large pile, Chen Qi found that he had been gone from the house for a long time. He stretched out his waist, which was a little sore from squatting, and discovered that not far away was a… banyan tree with small yellow flowers all over it?

Chen Qi walked closer to it. The banyan tree was blocked by a tall acacia tree, so Chen Qi hadn’t seen it earlier. Compared to the ten-meter-tall acacia tree, the banyan tree was not very tall. By visual inspection, it was only about three or four meters high. Its branches were also not as thick as the acacia’s, but each branch had roots* that resembled silky hair. Chen Qi tugged some off. The roots were very sturdy but also very flexible.

*The banyan trees have long aerial roots that grow down from branches to the ground. (term, prop roots) so while they resemble vines they are not vines.

Earlier, he’d been thinking that it was too inconvenient to have to use some hide to carry dandelions and how great it would have been to have a bag. He didn’t expect to find these roots right after. Chen Qi thought these roots would be suitable to make twine to sew a hide bag.

The trunk of the banyan tree was indented. He could only call it a banyan tree since, from the tree structure to the leaves, it looked very much like a banyan tree. The trunk was only a little over two meters tall. Chen Qi gave it a try and it seemed like he would be able to climb it. He planned to cut these roots for later use. He hoped the roots would not become brittle and break after they dried out.

When he climbed further up the tree, Chen Qi found that the small yellow flowers on the tree were actually golden lilies. If they were dried, golden lilies would be sold in supermarkets. Chen Qi had stopped worrying about how the golden lilies grew on banyan trees. These kinds of flowers were also called “daylilies” and could be boiled and eaten directly. However, since they were growing on this strange tree, Chen Qi was not sure if these golden lilies were different from the ones he was thinking of. He was going to take some of them back and ask Aze before making a decision.

Chen Qi climbed the branches carefully, lest he fell off. He took out his dragon-horn knife and cut off a handful of the roots. The roots were very long, hanging nearly to the ground from branches more than two meters high. There were already dozens of roots in this small handful, and Chen Qi was not greedy, so he only cut two bunches and decided to go home to test their usage.

Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.

Just as he was about to climb down the tree, he heard a loud noise from the grass nearby. A short moment later, a small impala sprang into Chen Qi’s sight, and right behind it was a male cheetah that had just come of age in close pursuit.

Chen Qi’s body tensed tightly, clinging to the branches of the banyan tree and praying in his heart that the impala would lead the cheetah away in another direction. However, the impala obviously couldn’t hear Chen Qi’s prayer, and it abruptly made a sharp turn around, intending to shake off its pursuer, and ran straight towards the banyan tree where Chen Qi was hiding. How could the cheetah do what it wanted? It was the famous “king of speed”. Finally, 50 meters away from the banyan tree, the cheetah leapt at the impala and threw it to the ground. The impala didn’t even get a chance to struggle before the cheetah had bit into its throat.

Chen Qi was so anxious that goosebumps appeared all over his skin. He was too close to the cheetah. This was the first time that he, who had been to zoos many times, had encountered a big cat this close.

The cheetah easily found Chen Qi in the tree since there were no lush branches or leaves on the banyan tree to hide him. The cheetah still tightly gripped the impala’s neck in its mouth. Chen Qi knew that it was waiting for the impala to draw its last breath. At this moment, the cheetah had been running at a high speed and did not have the energy to pose a threat to Chen Qi. However, Chen Qi also didn’t dare to climb down the tree and run away at this time, since the cheetah would just need another minute to catch up with him after catching its breath.

But he couldn’t stay in the tree forever. Cheetahs were not as good as leopards at climbing trees, but cheetahs could still climb trees. Chen Qi tightened his grip on his knife and started regretting going so far from the house. He did not know when Aze would come back and whether he’d be able to find him here.

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 cheetah’s beautiful, golden pupils had been following Chen Qi’s movements. It found that this was not the beastman that it was afraid of and slightly narrowed its eyes. Then it delicately let go of the suffocated impala and stood up to look at the surrounding situation. The grass around here was not high, at least not enough to conceal it, but the banyan tree was a good spot since it could block the sight of those damn vultures. Most importantly, the banyan tree was the closest to its current position and it had no more strength to drag the prey a long distance.

The cheetah bent down and seized the impala’s neck again, dragging it to the banyan tree. Then it bit off the soft fur from the impala’s hind leg and began eating it. It took a bite and looked up at Chen Qi, then took another bite and looked up at him again. It seemed to consider that Chen Qi was not a threat to it, and there was no fear in its eyes. Instead, there was a bit of a mischievous glint.

The cheetah ate very fast, swallowing the torn meat almost without chewing. The cheetah was already full when a pair of coyotes, who’d been following it, found that the cheetah had caught its prey. The coyotes did not come near, but instead started howling to attract other predators to drive the cheetah away so that they could seize the opportunity to snag a free meal.

The cheetah licked its paws gracefully. After hearing the cries of the vultures that disgusted it, it took one last glance at Chen Qi in the tree and quickly left on its long legs.

Chen Qi wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but that last meaningful glance the cheetah gave him made him feel like he was despised by the other creature. Chen Qi’s head was full of black lines. He didn’t want to admit that he was despised by a male cheetah who had just come of age. Were all the animals here that advanced?

The coyotes took advantage of the fact that other predators had not yet arrived and rushed to the impala to grab a bite. Not long after, a lion’s roar sounded from nearby. It was an old, wandering lion that had followed the vulture’s cue. Although this was the beastmen’s territory, it had not had food to eat for a long time. The old lion who had lost its hunting ability could only pick up the food discarded by other animals. Therefore, even though he knew that it could be dangerous, he still planned to try his luck.

Chen Qi wanted to cry. What luck he had today. A cheetah just left and a lion just came.

Words from the Translation Crew

Miiya: Chen Qi has a dog’s luck today… This extra chapter is brought to you this week, courtesy of Kofis received. Thank you for the Kofis. Enjoy!

Translator: Miiya
Editor: Avalie
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.