Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains 112
Chapter 112
After dinner, Achu and Lu Se left. After helping to tidy things up, Axu told the others, “Rest for now, and tomorrow morning I will take you to the salt mountain to collect salt stones.”
Chen Qi nodded. The original intention for this trip was to exchange for enough salt stones to last the entire Qi Ze City until the next summer. However, the salt stones contained many impurities, and Chen Qi preferred to bring back already refined salt. This way, they could save the trouble of refining it when they return and also bring back a larger quantity.
“Axu, can we ask the beastmen from your tribe to help refine the salt stones tomorrow?” Chen Qi took advantage of the time while the others were busying about to inspect the latest sketches he’d made, and by the way, briefly recorded the scene of Achu and the others hunting that evening.
“Yes, of course. After refining them here, you won’t need to bring back the impurities.” Ever since they’d had the not-bitter tasting salt in Qi Ze City, the pair of brothers had developed a strong aversion to unrefined salt stones. However, by the time they’d arrived in Qi Ze City, the salt stones had already been processed, and despite others having explained the refining process to them, Axu couldn’t fully grasp the steps without witnessing the actual operations with his own eyes.
“It’s just that I don’t fully understand the steps for refining the salt stones. So I’ll have to trouble you to demonstrate the process again tomorrow.” Axu said apologetically.
Chen Qi smiled, “Of course, that’s only expected.”
“Tomorrow, let me teach you. Refining salt stones is very simple. I’ve learned it a long time ago.” Ale knew that Chen Qi was busy drawing materials for his map, and it was not like he had anything special to do here anyway. So he may as well take the initiative to take matters into his own hands, so that Chen Qi could have more time to focus on his own tasks.
Seeing Ale’s enthusiasm, Chen Qi didn’t compete with him for the task. Tomorrow, he planned to take a stroll around the vicinity as well. Rocky mountains like these were rare on the Dora Plains.
Ashu had long gotten used to sleeping with them and had no intention to return to his father’s cave that night. He found a few pieces of animal hides and spread them out by the fire, then very quickly settled down beside Ale for the night. On the other hand, Axu did not stay with them. After having left for over two months, he was eager to share all the things he had seen and experienced during his journey with his dad and father in detail, especially the skills he learned in Qi Ze City. He wanted to teach them to the members of the tribe as soon as possible.
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
After tidying up the drawings, Aze had already laid out some furs over the slate bed in the corner closest to the wall. The two stone beds in the cave were not very large, just enough for an adult man to lie down comfortably. Though if they made any big movements or tried to turn over, they might risk falling off the bed.
Unable to share the slate bed with Chen Qi, Aze decided to make do with spreading out some animal hides on the ground by the bed, and added some furs to create some padding, while the other stone bed was given to Ahxu for him to sleep on.
“Aze, you can sleep on the bed tonight.” This period of time, on top of carrying him, Aze had carried heavy luggage, and had to take turns keeping watch at night. Chen Qi felt quite distressed. Now that they had arrived in the Salt-Water Tribe, he naturally hoped that the other man could have a good rest.
Aze shook his head. “I’ll be fine sleeping on the ground. Chen Qi, you should take the bed.”
Chen Qi walked over and dragged Aze to the bed without saying a word. He then took out a piece of hide from his backpack and rolled it up to use as a makeshift pillow.
“Chen Qi, what are you doing?” Aze sat on the edge of the bed, feeling a little at a loss, seeing Chen Qi who had already laid down on his own.
Hearing Aze’s question, Chen Qi spread out his arms and smiled, pointing to the space beside him, “Do you want to sleep with me?”
Aze naturally understood Chen Qi’s intention, but just as Chen Qi was distressed over his self, he also felt distressed for Chen Qi. Chen Qi yawned and rubbed his eyes. “Aze, you’ve had a tiring day today. Get some rest.” After that, he paid no further attention to Aze’s inner conflict and closed his eyes, quickly falling into a deep sleep.
Aze sighed helplessly and fetched a thin cloth to cover Chen Qi as a makeshift blanket. Despite it being summer, the ground was still chilly since it was close to the Salt-Water Lake.
After covering Chen Qi with the cloth, Aze looked up to find two curious pairs of eyes staring at them from the side. When they realized they had been caught, Ale and Ashu quickly turned over and pretended to be asleep.
The next day, just as dawn broke, Axu arrived. Apart from Ahxu, who was preparing breakfast, there were two people sprawled out sleeping by the side of the fire. However, Chen Qi and Aze were not inside the cave.
“Where did Chen Qi and Aze go?” Axu asked curiously.
Ahxu pointed his finger towards the top of the cave. “Chen Qi said he wanted to see the sunrise. So, he had Aze carry him up the mountain top early in the morning. They should still be up there at the moment.”
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Axu nodded and rolled up his sleeves, walking over to Ahxu’s side. “Let me help you with the cooking.”
The mountaintop where Axu lived was covered with uneven and jagged pieces of rocks. There was only one huge sandstone that could barely accommodate two adults sitting on it.
The surroundings were very quiet. Chen Qi was surrounded by several open bamboo tubes and in front of him lay a piece of paper with a finished painting on it. Aze stood quietly behind him, watching as a gentle breeze tousled Chen Qi’s hair.
When Axu climbed up and called them down to eat, Chen Qi had not only painted the sunrise but also a panoramic view of Rock Mountain’s range. Axu admired it greatly, but was also too embarrassed to ask Chen Qi for it. He decided that after collecting salt stones, he would go out to find some dye-fruits. While Chen Qi was still around, he planned to learn a bit about painting from him. Perhaps someday, he’d also be able to draw a panoramic painting of the tribe.
After a simple breakfast, they cleaned out a few empty hide backpacks and set off for the salt mountain.
The salt mountain was located on the outermost edge, far from the tribe, near the Salt-Water Lake. It would take about half an hour of walking along the shores of Salt-Water Lake to reach it.
After leaving the shore and walking a distance, they reached a rocky area. The small stones were dampened by the water, covered with moss and clusters of dark brown things. Chen Qi thought they looked familiar and went over to have a closer look. He bent down and plucked one of them, examining it for a few minutes before confirming. On this stretch of rocky terrain that extended for several hundred meters, there was an abundance of mussels densely covering the area.
As Chen Qi walked towards the edge of the rocky beach, the others stopped and watched him closely. Chen Qi held the dark brown object and studied it for a while, before excitedly waving them over, signaling for them to come over. They exchanged glances and walked over, their expressions marked with curiosity.
Chen Qi handed the mussel in his hand to Axu. “What do you call this stuff?”
Axu looked at it and shook his head. “This thing doesn’t have a name.” Although many of the names of the animals and plants here were the same as those Chen Qi knew of, the beastmen generally didn’t bother naming things that were useless and didn’t need to be remembered.
“Do you all not eat mussels here?” Chen Qi asked in surprise. No wonder mussels grew so densely in this area.
It was still quite a distance to the Salt Mountain. He worried that going back and forth would take until the afternoon to gather the salt stones. Chen Qi thought for a moment, then looked at everyone expectantly. “Do you all want to try a new type of food?”
Ashu pointed to dark brown mussels in Chen Qi’s hand, “Are you going to eat this thing? Those things are very hard.”
Chen Qi gave him a disdainful look, “Who told you to eat them with the shells?”
“I’d like to try it.” Ahxu saw that Chen Qi was clearly interested in these so-called mussels, so he turned to ask Axu, “Can we collect the salt stones in the afternoon?”
Axu shrugged, “Sure, we can go whenever you want.” Then, he looked at Chen Qi, “Do you want to pick these mussels now?”
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 enthusiastically. Seeing that the others had no objections, with a wave of his hand, he took the lead in bending down to start picking the largest mussels.
After picking about half a bag of mussels, Chen Qi led the group back. He wasn’t sure if the beastmen could eat mussels and he didn’t want to waste them in case they didn’t like them and they would be wasted.
When they returned to the lakeside, Chen Qi washed the mussels directly in the Salt-Water Lake. Once they were back in the cave, he took out a pottery cooking dish, added sliced ginger and wild onions then placed the mussels in the dish, filled it with water and covered it with a wooden lid. Finally, he waited for the mussels to open up as they were boiled and then served them.
Since the mussels themselves were salty, Chen Qi didn’t add any salt to them. After serving them, Chen Qi could not wait any longer and picked one up, holding it by the shell, and used chopsticks to pluck out the meat inside. The taste was delightful, especially for Chen Qi, who had not eaten seafood for more than a year. Even just boiling them in plain water was much more delicious than the usual roasted meat.
After eating one himself, Chen Qi picked up another mussel, plucked out the meat within and held it up to Aze’s lips. Seeing Aze chew it a few times before swallowing, Chen Qi asked with some apprehension, “Does it taste good?” People like Aze who have lived near the Chishui River for a long time should seldom eat fresh seafood. Chen Qi was worried that the other would not be used to it.
Aze nodded, “It’s delicious.”
Chen Qi breathed a sigh of relief, then invited everyone else to eat as well.
Ashu picked one up. These were obviously hard things when they grew by the lake. Now that they were boiled and the shell opened up, the brownish-yellow meat inside could be seen. He directly used his fingers to pluck out the meat inside and put it in his mouth. Chewing it a few times, he muttered inarticulately, “I thought these were stones. I didn’t expect them to be able to be eaten.”
The texture of mussels was different from that of meat, and the beastmen weren’t accustomed to it initially, so they took their time savoring each mussel before swallowing. After eating a few of them, they found the taste quite pleasant and became less reserved. Since it hadn’t been that long since they had breakfast, the half a hide bag of mussels was still a bit too much for them. In the end, Axu took the extra mussels they couldn’t finish and shared them with the other beastmen in different caves in the tribe.
So, before long, the people of the Salt-Water Tribe all knew that those densely packed, hard, dark-brown things growing on the rocky beach were actually edible.
After tasting the delicious mussels, Chen Qi decided to go ahead with his plan to bring back mussels to Qi Ze City. He went back to the rocky beach with a few others and filled two hide backpacks full of mussels before returning.
After cooking the mussel and removing the shell, Chen Qi laid down a layer of cattail leaves on an open space outside the cave, then spread the mussel meat piece by piece on the cattail leaves to dry. His plan was to turn the mussels into dried mussels to take back with him. Raw mussels wouldn’t keep for long, but dried mussels could last through winter without any issues, if properly stored.
Mussels couldn’t be left to dry with only one side under the sun continuously. Ale and Ashu volunteered to stay behind and look after the drying process. In Axu’s home, there were still many unrefined raw salt stones. Ale planned to take this opportunity to teach Ashu the method of refining salt stones so that Ashu could then pass it on to others in the tribe.
Meanwhile, Chen Qi and the others, under Axu’s guidance, went up to the Salt Mountain to collect salt stones.
Words from the Translation Crew
Miiya: Thank you for your patience!
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.
And here I was about to shout those mussles would go bad before they return home, but I didn’t think they would just dry them 😮
Ah, but my lily-ship with Ale and Ashu is still in construction! Hurry up and set sail already!!! 😀