Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains 099

Chapter 99

In the third month of summer, the construction of the tribe was finally completed. The city wall was more than seven meters high and about three meters wide. The base was made of stones and thick stone slabs, and the upper parts were made of reddish brown clay bricks.

In front of each house in the tribe was a path paved from bricks which led to the main road. The main road led directly to the city gate, where there were two tall fig trees, which were very conspicuous.

Chen Qi had painted two large drapes of fabric with white dye-fruits and hung them on both sides of the city wall. The Thousand Character Classic was written on one of the sides. Of course, because Chen Qi had forgotten most of them, only a few hundred words were cobbled together, but, no matter what, the words were without repetition. Chen Qi even deliberately arranged them according to their level and oblique tones so that they would be easier to remember when reading and would not hinder recognition and understanding of the words. On the other side, the multiplication tables were written. After this period of study, the best people in the tribe had only learned up to the number twenty. Currently, only Aze and Ajing understood the multiplication tables since Chen Qi gave them special attention every day.

After the four city gates were installed, Azhang excitedly rushed off to find Chen Qi. The other had said that they would name the tribe after the tribe was completed. Now that everything was finally finished, he just couldn’t wait.

“Ze City?” As soon as Azhang entered the courtyard, he heard Aze’s exclamation. He looked up and saw Chen Qi sitting at a wooden table in the courtyard, writing something, while Aze stood beside him with a surprised face.

“Chen Qi, have you decided on the name for our tribe?” Azhang asked loudly before he reached them.

Chen Qi followed the sound of the voice and saw Azhang who had already appeared in front of them. He put down his pen with a smile and handed him the paper that he’d just finished writing. “I’ve thought it over. I want to use this name.”

“No way.” Seeing Azhang accept the paper, Aze quickly voiced his opposition.

Azhang looked at him curiously, then he looked down at the paper in his hand. On it, written  evenly with black dye-fruit were two large characters. “Ze City?” Aze’s name?

Chen Qi touched his nose, a little shyly. In fact, he had already thought of using this name long ago, but he didn’t say it because he was afraid that Aze would object. Even if it would be considered doing things out of his own selfishness, if it were up to him, this name would not be changed.

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

“Have a look to see if this name can be used.” Chen Qi asked, nervously. He was really afraid that Azhang would reject the name outright. He knew that he should have discussed it with the other party first.

Azhang had no objection to the tribe’s name. “I said it before, no matter what name you choose, we will use it. I was just a little surprised that you would use this word.”

Chen Qi breathed a sigh of relief.

“You can’t use this name.” Aze pursed his lips and looked at Chen Qi stubbornly.

“You two… have not already discussed it?” Azhang asked in surprise.

Chen Qi paused, then said awkwardly, “I wanted to surprise him.” Then he looked back at Aze, “I like this name, and since I was asked to name it, I will not change it.”

Aze looked at Azhang as if asking for help. Azhang shrugged. “I’ve left the name up to Chen Qi. If you don’t like it, you can discuss it with him.”

Aze’s attitude softened. He was already not good with words, let alone facing Chen Qi, whose decision he had never refuted. “Chen Qi, don’t use this name, okay?”

“Why?”

Aze was stunned. Why? If the tribe was given my name… I am a man abandoned by the beast god. What if the beast god gets angry?

Chen Qi sighed. He held Aze’s slightly chilled hand. “I like this name, and I like this tribe. So I want to name my favorite tribe with my favorite name. Is that not possible?”

Aze frowned. He was now accustomed to Chen Qi speaking of the word ‘like’. Although he was moved, he still felt that the other’s decision was too hasty. Even if their tribespeople would not mind the name, what if people from other tribes come to see it in the future and knew that the name came from him?

Aze hesitated for a moment and said, “How about using your name?”

“My name? Qi City?” Chen Qi cupped his chin in thought for a while, as if he was really considering the feasibility of this name.

Aze nodded. Seeing Chen Qi’s facial expression that was a bit relaxed, he quickly urged, “Uncle Azhang originally asked you to name the tribe. You have taught the tribe so many things, so it should use your name.”

Azhang rolled his eyes, too lazy to reason with these two men. He sat down at the table, picked up a clean wooden cup nearby and poured himself a cup of scented tea. Unlike the daisy tea he’d drank before, which had a slightly sweet taste, today’s tea had an astringent taste to it. Azhang only drank a sip and wanted to pour out the rest of the tea in the cup.

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

“This tea is good for reducing heat in the body. It has been very hot recently. Drinking a little is good for your health.” Although Chen Qi was thinking about things, he was still paying attention to Azhang’s actions. When he saw that the other was about to secretly pour out the tea, he hurriedly reminded him.

Azhang looked at the cup of bitter tea in his hand with a bitter face and wondered where Chen Qi got such an unpalatable tea from. Didn’t he previously say that daisies also had this effect too? It’s better to drink that.

Chen Qi ignored Azhang, who was tangled with tea thoughts, but turned to look at Aze. “You want to change it to use my name?”

Aze nodded.

Chen Qi smiled, “Then… Qi Ze City. What do you think of this name? Name it after you and me.”

Azhang almost spat out the tea he was about to swallow. He began to doubt whether asking Chen Qi to name the tribe was the right thing to do. If he had known there was such a method, he should have named it after his and Ali’s names.

Aze stared blankly at Chen Qi. He was unable to recover his senses for a long time. He could only repeat Chen Qi’s words, “Name it after you and me?”

Chen Qi nodded. At first, he wasn’t quite sure, but now, the more he thought about the name, the more satisfying he felt it was. He took out another piece of paper, and with a swish, swish, swish he wrote out the three characters for Qi Ze City and handed it to Azhang.

Azhang reluctantly took it and left after repeatedly confirming with Chen Qi that this name should be used. Before leaving, he also reminded the other man, “Since the name has been confirmed, the plaque you mentioned should be prepared sooner, and it will be hung up over the gate tomorrow, so that our tribe can be officially complete.”

En. The plaque will be handed to you tomorrow morning.” Chen Qi replied.

After the name was changed to Qi Ze City, Aze didn’t object as before. Chen Qi handed the finished plaque to the other and asked him to write the name on it. The next day, he handed it directly to Azhang.

The next day, just before dawn, all the people in the tribe crowded outside the city gate, each of them craning their necks to try to see what the name of the tribe would be. In order to add a little mystery, Chen Qi had covered the plaque with a layer of red cloth. Only after Azhang hung the plaque up well did he lift the red cloth.

“Qi Ze City?” Ake raised his eyebrows, looking at Aze standing next to him.

Aze’s ears were red, but there was no expression on his face, as if what Ake said had nothing to do with him.

The other beastmen who heard the name suddenly had epiphanies and smiled. They did not show any displeasure for the name. After arriving here, everything they’d come into contact with and the way they’d used to live had undergone great changes. Especially after some diet improvements under Chen Qi’s guidance, the conditions of the females who could not see at night also gradually improved. Even if no one said it out loud, they were all very grateful to Chen Qi in their hearts.

After the official completion of the tribe, everyone held a grand celebration ceremony on the playground at the school. The school was not built with walls like their houses, and was completely open. The weeds on the playground had been cleared up long ago, and the wild fruits added a lot of food to their dinner plates.

After the third month of summer, the first batch of wild fruits on the plains were ready to be eaten. Chen Qi had more than a dozen tables set up on the playground. Wild fruits and other prepared foods were placed on the tables, laid out in the form of a buffet. Whatever they liked to eat, they could just take it themselves.

It was a pity that there were not many recreational activities here. The few beastmen who had learned how to play a little in the winter took out their chess boards and straw ropes and taught others to play Gobang and jump rope. Everyone felt that these two things were very novel. They laughed and pulled in a few more people to teach them too. Even the oldest Acheng couldn’t help but play jump ropes twice, feeling several decades younger and the smile on his face never went away.

Chen Qi was sitting in a small corner with a cup of daisy tea. He quietly sipped the tea while admiring the huge moon that was always hanging in the sky.

Aze poured a little bit of the meat sauce Chen Qi had made onto the piece of roasted meat and walked over, handing the pottery bowl and chopsticks to the other.

“Thank you.” Chen Qi put down the teacup and accepted them. Then he patted the place beside him, motioning for him to sit down.

Aze sat down next to Chen Qi. Chen Qi picked up a piece of glistening roasted meat and brought it to Aze’s lips. After watching Aze eat it, he smiled and ate a piece of it himself, “Delicious.”

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

“There’s still a lot more over there. I’ll get you some more when this bowl is finished.” Aze said after eating another piece of meat that Chen Qi fed him.

Chen Qi narrowed his eyes and smiled. “Okay.”

“Chen Qi, why don’t you go play with them?” Ka Luo saw the two men sitting in the corner and very ignorantly approached them. On the way, he even snagged a piece of roast meat from Chen Qi’s bowl and stuffed it into his mouth, causing Aze to give him a dirty look.

“I’m admiring the moon.” Chen Qi took another piece of meat and fed it to the Aze beside him.

“Admiring the moon?” Ka Luo looked up at the huge moon in the sky. This thing was there every day. What was there to admire?

Chen Qi smiled, with bad intentions, “Do you want to hear a story about the moon?”

Hearing that there was a story to listen to, Ka Luo’s eyes lit up and he nodded quickly.

Chen Qi asked the other to sit down and look up at the moon before slowly telling the story of Chang’e flying to the moon.

Aze was also listening carefully, but the more he listened, his expression became more and more serious. Why did Chen Qi understand these things on the moon so clearly? He narrowed his eyes slightly and stared at the moon that was so far away that he couldn’t see the huge magnificent palace nor the people living on it. He reached out and held Chen Qi’s hand, clasping his fingers tightly, and unconsciously increasing the strength.

Chen Qi looked at him curiously, and then continued to talk about Wu Gang’s conquest of osmanthus and the jade rabbit’s tinkering with medicine to more and more people who gathered around him.

No matter where you come from, since you are here, I will never let you leave…

Seeing Chen Qi’s lips opening and closing as he spoke excitedly, Aze stared at the other’s face for a few moments without blinking, as if to firmly engrave the Chen Qi of this moment in his mind.

Words from the Translation Crew

Miiya: I wondered if Aze things Chen Qi is from the moon O.o Last 2 digit chapter! We’re almost half way done!

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.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

2 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Perr
June 4, 2023 9:53 am

Awesome! 100th chapter next update!
Thank you so much ♡(∩o∩)♡

lovewar66
lovewar66
May 4, 2025 12:05 am

Honestly that would be so funny if Aze thought Chen Qi was from the moon 😂

Thanks for translation