Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains 015

Chapter 15

Chen Qi picked up the hide-wrapped bundle and brought it into the room. Ka Luo and his mate were already sitting by the firepit. The fire in the pit had long since been extinguished by Chen Qi. Now there were only a few red coals that were still glowing with residual heat. Ka Luo was holding a stick and poking at the bone in the bone soup that Chen Qi hadn’t finished drinking in the morning. This thing can’t be eaten, so why bother cooking it? Ka Luo narrowed his eyes in disdain.

Chen Qi was not very good at dealing with others, especially when those others acted like they didn’t want to bother with you. He thought all the beastmen would be like Aze, enthusiastically helping strangers in trouble by bringing them home. But it seemed that the two of them were a little hostile towards him.

Chen Qi felt a little troubled, but in the end, the other party was Aze’s family. He was living under a sponsor. Besides, one of them had saved him just now, so he really shouldn’t be too discourteous to them. After thinking for a moment, he carefully picked up a handful of tender yellow dandelions from the bundle, then found a relatively small pottery dish and carefully cleaned it. Afterwards, he put a few sticks of wood into the firepit to light a fire and filled up the dish till it was about half full of water before setting it over the fire.

That morning, Chen Qi had found fresh water in the two large pottery jars. He did not know how early Aze got up so that he was able to fetch water and roast meat before Chen Qi woke up. Chen Qi clearly remembered that the sun had just risen when he himself had gotten up.

Although the dandelions looked clean, they were not short of water now, so Chen Qi washed them. When the water in the dish was boiling, he put in the dandelions. The beautiful flowers instantly rolled in the boiling water, and they looked really pretty.

Although Ka Luo seemed to be uninterested in Chen Qi, intentionally or unintentionally, his eyes always drifted over to him. He finally couldn’t help but ask curiously, β€œWhat are you doing?”

β€œBoiling tea.” The only small container that could be used to hold things was the laiche fruit husk that had been burned black. Chen Qi sighed silently. It seemed that it would be necessary to get some pottery bowls soon. Things were just too inconvenient right now.

β€œBoiling tea? What is that?”

Chen Qi used a fig to carefully clean the laiche fruit husk several times.Β  He’d just used this fruit husk to drink bone soup in the morning, so it was covered with a layer of grease. Without lifting his head, he explained, β€œA kind of water with flavor.”

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

β€œA water with flavor? Is it drinkable?” Ka Luo tilted his head, he still wore a childlike appearance, looking like an inquisitive and proper student. Ake was not interested in Chen Qi’s tea. In a daze, he used a wooden stick to poke at the firewood. His mind was absorbed in thinking about which animal would be better to hunt after sending Ka Luo back to the tribe in the afternoon.

Chen Qi offered Ka Luo the husk that was half full of dandelion tea. β€œTry it, there is only one husk left. You both wouldn’t mind drinking out of one together, would you?”

Ka Luo abandoned his disdain and the corners of his mouth twitched as he reached for it. The boiling water was still steaming. Ka Luo blew at it a few times before taking a sip. Chen Qi hadn’t put in very many of the flowers, so the taste was very light, with only a little flower fragrance. β€œNothing special,” Ka Luo said, handing the dandelion tea to Ake who was next to him. Ake directly took a mouthful, unafraid of scalding, and he felt it was a little plain.

Ka Luo glared at him angrily. β€œNobody’s going to steal it from you. Can’t you drink it more slowly?”

Ake smiled at him and returned the empty husk to Chen Qi.

Chen Qi retrieved it. The two apparently held no interest in this dandelion tea. It was also not suitable to drink too much of it, so Chen Qi did not refill the husk for them. The atmosphere changed back to a slightly awkward silence. Chen Qi sighed softly in his heart. Forget it. In any case, they drank the tea, so I shouldn’t be considered lacking in manners.

Chen Qi stood up and planned to go to the back room to get a few longer pieces of firewood. Aze had already chopped up the several bundles of wood in this room, so the longest one was just the length of one’s forearm, which was not suitable to use as a rack to leave the cured meat on to dry. In fact, Chen Qi initially planned to set up a frame under the fig tree outside to dry them. However, after the earlier encounter with the vultures, he was now concerned that the meat would attract all kinds of predators if it was hung outside. If Aze were not around, he wouldn’t be able to handle those creatures that were considerably more violent than him, so he could only fall back to the plan of leaving them to dry on a rack inside.

Ka Luo saw Chen Qi planning to go outside and asked disapprovingly, β€œWhere are you going now?”

β€œI’m going to the back room to get some firewood.”

After seeing Chen Qi disappear behind the hide curtain, he also hurriedly stood up and followed him out. Where Ka Luo went, Ake naturally had to follow.

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

The three men went to the back of the house, and Chen Qi picked out several wood pieces, each about half a person in length. Seeing that Chen Qi really had come to get some firewood, Ka Luo was secretly relieved. The male that Aze had rescued the last time was full of lies. He’d clearly said that he wasn’t interested in finding himself a partner, but in the end, he went back on his word and hooked up with the patriarch’s son. Ka Luo thought of this past event and angrily grit and ground his back teeth. Ake patted his head comfortingly and Ka Luo gave him a dirty look.

Chen Qi took the wood pieces back to the front room, then checked on the two bundles of banyan roots he’d brought back. Upon visual inspection, he estimated that there were at least one or two hundred pieces of these roots. He picked one up, pulled it forcefully, and it made a slight zing sound. It was tough and not easy to break. Satisfied, Chen Qi chose two or three of the roots and simply twisted them together, then he used it to tie three wood pieces together to make a simple tripod. He repeated this to make another one, and then he placed them both by the door, where the door-curtain was half-open. This was the most well-ventilated place, which was conducive for drying the cured meat in the shade, though the room might pick up a rank smell.

He placed a stick between the two tripods, and a simple drying rack was completed. It even looked pretty good.

Ka Luo became a curious baby again. When Chen Qi finished the rack, he could not help but ask, β€œWhat is this thing you made in the room for?”

Chen Qi went to the pottery dish with the cured meat, pointed to the neatly packed strips of meat in the dish, and replied, β€œDrying the cured meat.”

β€œHow would they dry in the room?” Ka Luo was still puzzled.

β€œEn, the meat can’t be directly exposed to the sun, so it can only be dried in the shade,” Chen Qi explained as he sat on the floor. He picked up a few of the banyan tree roots and began to weave them together, like braiding hair, to make a rope. He’d just made up this kind of a rope-weaving method. Although the roots were very tough, Chen Qi still planned to make the rope thicker to add a little insurance.

The rope was soon woven. Next, Chen Qi used his dragon-horn knife to make a hole in the salted wart-pork, threaded the rope through the hole and, after visually inspecting the required length, cut off the extra length of the rope. The tied wart-pork was then hung on the newly made rack.

Without realizing it, Ka Luo had moved over to Chen Qi’s side and was watching him busying about. When the cured meat was packed in the pottery dish, it looked like there was a lot. But when hung up, it only took up half the length of the stick on the rack.

Watching Chen Qi washing his hands with a fig from a pottery dish, Ka Luo asked, β€œWhat are you going to do next?”

Chen Qi thought for a moment. β€œClean up the land where the house will be built.”

β€œClean up? Clean up what?”

β€œWeeds and stuff.”

β€œIsn’t it enough to just directly place the stone slabs on it? There are many empty houses in the tribe now. Just go there and move the stones over instead of going to look for them in the Loya Forest.”

Chen Qi paused. β€œWhen you build houses, don’t you need to dig the foundation first?”

β€œWhat is a foundation?” Ka Luo asked incredulously, which made him feel angry again. Why did this male always speak about things he couldn’t understand?

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

Chen Qi was silent for a moment. He finally knew why all the houses here were built so short. No wonder the stone slabs on the base of the house were so thick. It seemed that they were built directly on the flat ground, which made it harder to build the house to stand firm. Chen Qi sighed softly. β€œThe house I’m building will be a little different than yours. I plan to build a house like how they were where I am from.”

β€œHow will it be different?”

Chen Qi compared the height. β€œEn, it’ll be at least a little taller than the houses here.”

β€œIf it’s too tall, won’t it collapse? The previous patriarch built a very tall house, but it didn’t even make it through the first winter before it collapsed, and he had to move back to his original house dejectedly.” Speaking of this, Ka Luo couldn’t help gloating.

Chen Qi didn’t know how to explain it to Ka Luo, he could only reply vaguely, β€œMine should not collapse.” Then he picked up the knife to go out and Ka Luo quickly followed. Ake threw the stick he was using to poke at the charcoal in the firepit and followed them out.

Chen Qi had already marked out the scope of the house to be built. Although the demarcation lines drawn with his feet were crooked, it was still sufficient to distinguish the area. Chen Qi crouched down and grasped the yellow weeds in one hand and the dragon-horn knife in the other. There were many kinds of weeds, most of which Chen Qi was not familiar with. Some of them were still green. Chen Qi directly pulled them out and set them aside. He planned to finish everything before examining them to see if there were any among these that he’d have some impression of.

After watching for a while, Ka Luo asked, β€œJust need to clear up these weeds?” 

β€œEn, just along this area that I’ve marked out would be enough.”

Ka Luo raised his chin at Ake. β€œLet’s help too.” Unexpectedly, this male really planned to build a house next to Aze’s. He thought he would already have given up and had Aze send him to the big tribe. Looking at Chen Qi, who was busy in the grass, Ka Luo’s eyes, which had always held rejection, slightly softened. Forget it. I’ll just observe for a little while. If he dares to bully Aze, I will have plenty of opportunities to clean him up. Ka Luo showed his sharp little tiger teeth and smiled with hidden intentions at Chen Qi’s back.

Ake looked at Ka Luo, who was grinning like a small milk cat, with a funny look. HeΒ  extended his long fingernails and squatted down to work with resignation. Chen Qi was ultimately someone that Aze had brought back. He did not share Ka Luo’s preconceived hostility towards Chen Qi.

Chen Qi was surprised and smiled helplessly. Ka Luo really was Aze’s younger brother. Although his expressions were full of critique and rejection, he would still enthusiastically help him out. He resembled an awkward older child.

Words from the Translation Crew

Miiya: 2 of 3 for the week.

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.

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lorenao
lorenao
October 25, 2021 4:37 pm

really decent people

Arelim
Arelim
November 16, 2021 6:02 pm

😍😍😍