Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains 090
Chapter 90
Aze carefully erased his traces the entire way, and finally came back to the place where the locust dragon swarm and antelope-dragon herds had passed by before he breathed a sigh of relief. Then he followed the locust dragon’s trail of footprints to head towards the Chishui River. Although he was worried about Azhang’s safety, the snowfield was just too big that it was not only unrealistic to find him casually, it was also very dangerous.
There was a heaviness in Aze’s heart. There had just been too many hyena-drakes wandering on the plains this winter. In previous years, the hyena-drake packs would leave the forest to attack a tribe and then return back to the forest afterwards. They seldom wandered on the plains for such a long time. Moreover, the hyena-drakes’ hunting methods also appear to have changed now. This was the first time he’d encountered the hyena-drakes lying quietly in wait to ambush their prey.
After reaching the Chishui River, Aze first searched the vicinity to see if there were any traces left by Azhang, but the result was unexpectedly disappointing. He waited by the Chishui River until evening and found Azhang had not come back. He couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy, but this place was already very close to home. Aze planned to go home first then come back tomorrow to see the situation.
Chen Qi recently took a few boards to paint on and often stood on the wall as if thinking about something.
He no longer went to help with guard duty nowadays, and the job of cooking had been completely handed over to Ka Luo, so he could wholly devote his heart and soul into painting.
“Chen Qi, what are you doing?” Ake, who was on guard duty today, couldn’t control his curiosity and went forward to ask.
Chen Qi stopped his painting and pointed to the yard. “I’m going to plan out this space to build a new tribe.”
Ake looked at him slightly surprised, “How are you going to do that?”
Chen Qi took out a few of the boards he’d painted and briefly explained them to Ake. Although Ake did not understand them too well after listening to the explanations, he still knew that the layout for the tribe that Chen Qi had planned was much better than that of the Rock-Mountain Tribe they’d originally lived in. He looked at Chen Qi with bright eyes. “Then, you continue what you’re doing. If you need my help with anything, just let me know.”
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 nodded, picked up the charcoal pencil and began to draw again. He only had a rough idea at the moment, and there were still many details that he hadn’t thought through yet.
In fact, Chen Qi’s plans were not complicated. Rather, it was more accurate to say that he intended to directly copy from other people’s previous achievements. He wanted to imitate the symmetrical layout of the ancient city of Chang’an and then combine it with the general plan of the city he used to live in as the basis for the construction of the new tribe.
After all, the Rock-Mountain Tribe was going to be rebuilt on these barren plains, which would give Chen Qi a lot of room to play with. And if it developed well, there would probably be other beastmen joining them in the future. Therefore, the foundation of the infrastructure of the new tribe must be carefully considered first, so that even if subsequent expansions continued, it would not be a mess.
Sitting on the futon by the wall, Chen Qi was holding his chin up and looking at the wood board with a simple plan in his hand thoughtfully. He was completely unaware that his fingers had long been stained pitch black with charcoal. Now that he’d touched his face, finger marks of different shades were naturally left behind.
Although Chen Qi was not responsible for guarding, he would still stay on the wall most of the day. Although there was the excuse of surveying the terrain, the main purpose was also to be able to see Aze come back first.
The fire pan beside him was crackling and Chen Qi frowned unnaturally, calling back his wandering thoughts. Before he looked up, he was suddenly hugged tightly in a warm embrace. Chen Qi tilted his head slightly and saw the familiar head that he had missed for several days.
Chen Qi’s eyebrows could not help but spread out, his eyes softened, and he gently called the other’s name, “Aze.”
Aze buried his head in the crook of Chen Qi’s neck, smelling the familiar scent from Chen Qi’s body, and the restless emotions from wandering between life and death for the past few days finally calmed down.
Ali saw Aze in the watchtower and hurried out. Seeing the two hugging each other tightly, he swallowed back the words he was about to say to ask for news.
It was Chen Qi who couldn’t bear seeing Ali’s anxious face, so he patted Aze on the back lightly, gesturing for him to let go. “Aze, did you find Azhang yet?”
Aze’s body froze for a moment, then looked back at Ali, who was standing beside him. He nodded, then shook his head. After thinking about it, he ended up telling the two about what happened on the journey back.
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 more Ali heard, the colder his hands and feet became, and he finally just stood there with a blank expression for a while. Chen Qi went over to comfort him and said, “Don’t worry too much. Azhang is so strong, he will be fine. Maybe he will be back in a couple days.”
Ali raised his head to look at Chen Qi, and responded with a small inexplicable sound, then turned back to the watchtower, letting the tower door close heavily.
Seeing that he was about to go forward, Chen Qi held Aze ‘s hand. “Let him be alone for a while. You must be hungry, too. I’ll make you something delicious.”
“En.”
As soon as Aze entered the house, the little wolf cub jumped into his arms, its tail wagging hard and its big eyes were shining. Its little pink tongue could not reach Aze’s face, so it just licked at Aze’s hands that were holding it instead.
Chen Qi felt that half of the little wolf cub’s blood must be of a dog. Otherwise a purebred wolf had been raised by him to look like this. He wasn’t sure if the little wolf cub’s mother would be so angry to climb out from the grave to give him a slap with both paws.
Aze hadn’t seen the little wolf cub for a few days, and he missed it very much too. Recalling the giant wolf-god who had saved him, he looked at the little wolf cub with a much more pampering look than before. He gently rubbed its little head and directly held the little wolf cub in his arms and entered the house.
Chen Qi now cooked bone soup and fish cakes every day, simply because he was worried that Aze would be hungry when he returned. At the moment, he first filled a bowl of soup for Aze and seasoned it with salt. Then he took out the fish cakes and cut them into pieces, setting them on the small table by the fire to let Aze eat something to pad his stomach. Then he turned around and went out to get some meat to prepare some other dishes.
Since he’d thrown away the backpack that contained the food, Aze had not eaten anything for a long time and he was really hungry at the moment. He set down the little wolf cub beside him, then brought over its special little wooden dish, and first put a piece of fish cake into the small wooden dish. The little wolf cub sniffed at it a little and then ate it with a few big bites.
Now the little wolf cub no longer just ate milk fruit. Chen Qi had tried to feed it raw meat before, but the little wolf cub seemed to dislike the taste of raw meat very much. It would rather starve than eat the food that was uncooked. Later he found out that the little wolf cub wasn’t picky at all, and even the cabbage that Ka Luo disliked so much, it would eat with great relish.
“Do you think that if it went back to the wild in the future, would it end up starving to death for being a picky eater?” Chen Qi couldn’t help worrying every time he saw the little wolf cub eating cooked food.
“Why would it go back to the wild? Can’t Little Wolf live with us forever?” Ajing came to help Chen Qi, and when he heard Chen Qi’s words, he couldn’t help but ask with a frown. He didn’t want to separate from Little Wolf after he raised it to be a big wolf.
Aze nodded approvingly, “En, we will keep raising it.”
After watching the little wolf cub eat its own fish cake then begin staring at Aze pitifully, Ajing thought for a moment and said, “When I can go hunt, I will also help hunt for Little Wolf’s food.” Can’t get rid of it just because it ate too much.
At this time, Ake and Ka Luo, who heard the movements, also came over with Ayao. When Ka Luo entered the door, he found only Aze and hurriedly asked, “Brother, you didn’t find Uncle Azhang?”
Chen Qi motioned for them to sit down first, then simply relayed what Aze had said just now. Ake pondered for a moment, “Tomorrow I’ll go to the Chishui River and take a look around the area. You’ve been tired for a few days. Take a rest first.”
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
“No.” Aze shook his head. “It’s too dangerous outside. I’m going with you. If we find that something is wrong, we must evacuate immediately.”
“Yes, if you and my brother go together, you can take care of each other. Don’t take risks alone.” Ka Luo always felt a little nervous in his heart.
“You don’t have to worry. We have made a lot of more defensive weapons than before, and now we have a lot of oil in storage. Everyone will stay in the watchtower tomorrow, and we will be able to deal with the situation if we find something wrong.” Chen Qi looked at the two seriously. “If you encounter hyena-drakes, you must run home. Since we could kill the first batch of hyena-drakes, we can naturally kill the second batch. Don’t try to lure the hyena-drakes away on your own.”
Looking at Chen Qi’s firm eyes that didn’t allow any refute, Aze walked over and gently leaned his head into the crook of the other’s neck. “Okay.”
When he was trapped in the acacia tree and thought he was going to die alone in the wilderness, Aze was not actually as calm as his outward appearance looked. He was afraid. A fear he had never felt before. He was afraid that he would never see Chen Qi again, that he would lose Chen Qi forever, that Chen Qi would be like other single males and soon find another strong mate, and that Chen Qi would gradually forget his existence. If possible……
If possible, he hoped to die with Chen Qi, so that Chen Qi would be his forever.
When this thought first came up, Aze was taken aback by his own selfish thoughts. How could he have such a thought?
He did not dare to raise his head, fearing that Chen Qi would find out about his terrible thoughts.
Aze and Ake set out early the next morning. Chen Qi prepared enough arrows and food for them. Then the few of them who stayed home moved to the watchtower.
With everyone waiting anxiously, they finally saw Aze and Ake return in the evening. They had walked along the Chishui River for a while, and searched for a period of time in the direction that Azhang had fled in. They were worried that the hyena-drakes were still nearby, so they were very careful in their actions. However, they didn’t find any trace even until sunset, so they decided to go home first.
Ali saw the two men returning alone and his heart turned half a notch colder, while his face was blank and expressionless. At that very moment, the little wolf cub who was nestled in Ajing’s arms, suddenly jumped to the ground and ran to the edge of the wall in two or three steps. Before the startled Ajing could pick it back up, the little wolf cub suddenly howled into the distance.
The howl that obviously sounded like it was from a cub, spread a far distance across the empty snowfield. The beastmen looked in the direction that the little wolf cub was howling in, and the sharp-eyed Ka Luo was the first to exclaim, “Is there someone there?”
Before the others could react, Ali had already nimbly landed on the ground along the wooden stakes from the wall and was running towards the distant figure at a high speed, limp after limp.
Aze and Ake also quickly got down from the wall.
Azhang, with only half of his hide pants left on his body, appeared a sorry figure on the snowy fields. With all four limbs on the ground, completely in beast form, some would think he was a wild beast if they didn’t look closely enough. Several patches of his fur were scratched off, exposing the red skin underneath, and blood still oozed from a few stitched wounds, and because the temperature was too cold, the blood was frozen.
Ali threw himself into Azhang’s arms. Azhang’s weak body could not bear this impact at all, and the two men fell heavily onto the snow, splashing snow into the air.
Feeling the trembling body in his arms, Azhang raised his hand to run along his back. With a hoarse voice, he comforted the person in his arms for a long time, “I’m sorry for making you worry. I’m fine.”
Hearing the familiar voice in his ear, Ali’s almost dead heart finally started beating again. He let go of Azhang and took in the other’s miserable appearance. Feeling annoyed at his own reckless move just now, he then, with the help of the pair of Ake and Aze, hurriedly helped him back to the wall.
Next to a remote mound of snow that no one noticed, the tall and elegant figure of the giant wolf-god disappeared behind the snow. It raised its head slightly, and its gaze fell on the tiny figure on the wall that was almost not visible but barking vigorously. Its eyes flashed with a hint of mockery, then it turned and left the place without hesitation.
Words from the Translation Crew
Miiya: Yay!
Translator: Miiya
Editor: MushroomNight73
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.
Im so glad Azhang is okay 😭😭😭
Is he also saved by the giant wolf?
Thank you for the update~
Ok for sure now that that’s little wolfs daddy
Thanks for translation
They saved and are raising his pup, so he saved them? I am guessing Wolf Daddy is trying to save the other animals too…?