Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains 130
Chapter 130
After finishing the delicious tofu pudding, Chen Qi didn’t rush to leave. Instead, he stayed with Aze, quietly squatting by the city wall. Aze stood nearby, using his shadow to shield Chen Qi from the harsh sun.
“Why don’t you head back? It’s too hot here,” Aze suggested, noticing the sweat rolling down Chen Qi’s neck.
Chen Qi shook his head. “I’ll stay a little longer.”
Chen Qi watched for a while before standing up and walking a short distance away. He then propped his chin in his hand, as if deep in thought. Aze quietly stayed by his side, not saying a word to disturb him.
“You tell me,” Chen Qi pointed down to the area below the city wall, “should we dig a moat?”
Aze tilted his head, recalling that Chen Qi had mentioned the idea of a moat during the tribe’s initial planning stages. The plan was to divert water from the Chishui River, but after the incident with the champsosaurus and the well being dug near the school after the tribe was established, the idea of a moat had been set aside and never brought up again.
“Didn’t you say that the water from the Chishui River couldn’t be used?”
The scale of the moat would naturally need to be substantial, and if it were to deter dragons, its depth couldn’t be shallow either. This would require a large amount of water, far more than the two wells could supply. Without diverting water from the Chishui River, it would be unrealistic to rely on the beastmen to manually fill it.
Chen Qi shook his head. “No, we don’t need water.”
Chen Qi briefly shared his idea with Aze.
The new moat couldn’t exactly be called a river; it was more like a massive trap. Chen Qi’s idea was to use it as an additional layer of defense. Dragons entering the plains don’t fly. For example, locust dragons, despite their massive size, are not very agile and would find it difficult to climb out once trapped. On the other hand, hyena-drakes are relatively smaller compared to other dragons. As long as the trap is effective against locust dragons, it would be more than sufficient to contain hyena-drakes.
Additionally, Chen Qi planned to build an ice wall outside the city wall this winter as a secondary defense. Even if dragons managed to breach the first wall and the moat, they would face the second wall. The beastmen wouldn’t just wait to be attacked; they would have ample time to deal with any invaders. After all, building an ice wall was not difficult since they had done it before. Winter might lack many things, but snow would certainly be plentiful.
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
However, the melting of the ice wall in summer would pose a problem. Such a large volume of water, if it directly impacted the mud-brick walls, could potentially destroy them within a few years. At that time, having a moat would help contain the water flow and prevent damage to the walls.
Furthermore, with many females from the Salt-Water Tribe now present, they are here to learn skills, and digging a moat is a skill in itself. Previously, Chen Qi had dismissed the idea of a moat because the tribe’s members were already occupied with hunting and other tasks, leaving them with no extra energy for such a large project. However, with the additional labor available, the situation is different.
Chen Qi enumerated the benefits of having a moat, even without water. Aze’s eyes lit up as he listened, recognizing that Chen Qi’s plan would indeed add an extra layer of security to the tribe.
He reached out and tucked the hair beside Chen Qi’s ear behind it. “We’ll discuss this with Uncle Azhang when he returns.”
“En.”Chen Qi nodded, brushing his slightly long hair. It was strange; his hairstyle hadn’t changed much since he arrived in this world. In over a year, it had only grown about a finger’s length. Although it wasn’t causing much trouble now, Chen Qi wondered if it might be time to trim his hair.
Looking at Aze’s nearly unchanged hairstyle, could it be that the beastmen’s ability to automatically retract their fur also allowed them to control the length of their hair?.
Upon returning home and seeing Ajing’s much longer, softer hair compared to winter, Chen Qi couldn’t help but ask.
Ajing brushed aside his long bangs, clearing up Chen Qi’s confusion. “Females can control the growth rate of their hair once they reach adulthood because they stop growing at that point. But since I’m still growing, my hair will continue to grow as well. By next summer, I’ll be able to retract it and keep it shorter.”
“That ability is quite handy,” Chen Qi remarked. It completely eliminated the hassle of haircuts.
“En, but it’s quite inconvenient during the growth period,” Ajing said. His bangs had grown long enough to block his eyes, making it difficult during study sessions. Chen Qi had already started teaching Ajing basic math.
Chen Qi’s eyes lit up as he blinked and looked at Ajing. “Ajing, do you want to get a haircut?”
“Can you help me cut it?”
“Of course,” Chen Qi said with a beaming smile as he pulled out his dragon-horn knife
When Ajing appeared with a buzz cut, he really wished he had refused Chen Qi’s request at that moment. He spent the entire night hiding in his room, comforting himself with the little wolf cub, but it didn’t quite heal his injured little heart.
The little wolf cub licked Ajing’s fair, delicate face sympathetically. Fortunately, it had cleverly run away when it saw Chen Qi approaching with the dragon-horn knife.
Azhang clung tightly to the pterosaur’s tail and worked hard to pull himself onto its back. He quickly pulled out a rope from his backpack. Before he could adjust his backpack properly, the pterosaur, which had been flying steadily, suddenly flipped, trying to throw Azhang to the ground.
At this height, the trees below had already become tiny dots. Falling from here, even the strongest female would have no chance of survival—only the fate of being splattered into a puddle of flesh awaited.
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Without hesitation, Azhang swiftly transformed his nails into their beast form. He held tightly onto the backpack with one hand and drove his claws into the pterosaur’s thick flesh with the other. The pterosaur, lacking scales for protection, felt Azhang’s claws sink deeply into its flesh, blood staining Azhang’s hand. The pain caused the pterosaur to let out a long, anguished roar.
Azhang was careful with his grip, controlling the force so that it was enough to keep himself from falling but not so painful that the pterosaur would reflexively drop Ashu.
Once he had a firm hold, Azhang ignored how the pterosaur was flying. He efficiently adjusted his backpack, secured the rope around his waist with one hand, and threw the other end of the rope down to Ashu.
Despite the pain making his hands feel weak, Ashu didn’t dare let go of the pterosaur’s iron claws. When he saw the rope Azhang had thrown down, he reached for it, managing to grab it after several attempts. Tying the rope around his waist quickly, Ashu finally breathed a sigh of relief. Pterosaurs, when they capture live prey, will often find an open area to drop their prey and kill it before bringing it back to their nest.
Since they had taken to the sky, Ashu had been worried about when the pterosaur might drop him.
Having temporarily resolved Ashu’s safety, Azhang needed to figure out how to get down from the sky. Pterosaurs lived in family units and would stay together as long as there were no conflicts; they would remain together as blood relatives.
Azhang couldn’t risk betting that this pterosaur was solitary. He had to ensure Ashu was out of danger before the pterosaur returned to its nest.
“Hold on to the pterosaur!” Azhang shouted to Ashu.
Ashu gripped the pterosaur’s iron claws even more tightly in his anxiety. Likely due to its experience in capturing large prey, the pterosaur’s claws were both sharp and hard. Beastmen’s claws couldn’t scratch them, and Ashu didn’t dare to injure the pterosaur now. If it loosened its grip, his life would be at risk.
Ashu nodded at Azhang. His face was pale from the pain, and breathing was difficult in the high altitude with the strong wind. Just staying on the pterosaur was almost draining all his energy. He wasn’t sure if Azhang could see his nod, but he didn’t have the strength to respond verbally.
Azhang took out the cloth he had retrieved earlier and began to climb slowly up the pterosaur’s back. With each step, the pterosaur’s back was punctured with several bloody holes from his sharp claws. No matter how bizarrely it flew, it couldn’t shake off the beastman on its back and had to endure the damage.
Once he reached the pterosaur’s neck, Azhang didn’t intend to harm it. Instead, he used the cloth to cover the pterosaur’s eyes. The sudden loss of vision panicked the pterosaur, causing it to loosen its claws. Azhang was briefly staggered by the force of Ashu’s sudden drop, but he quickly steadied himself.
Azhang’s face was tense as he kept his eyes fixed on the ground. The cloth covering the pterosaur’s eyes was pulled tight, ensuring that it couldn’t see even a hint of what was in front of it.
With the grip loosened, Ashu finally felt some strength return to his hands. However, his situation was still far from ideal. Although one hand was still tightly gripping the pterosaur’s claw, the other hand was left hanging in midair, and he could only rely on the rope tied around his waist to stabilize himself.
Before Ashu could catch his breath, the pterosaur suddenly flipped and dove. The speed nearly made Ashu lose his grip. He had originally intended to climb onto the pterosaur’s back when it loosened its hold, like Azhang had done, but now he could only continue drifting helplessly through the air like a fallen leaf.
As the ground drew nearer, Ashu’s heart was in his throat.
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Azhang kept a close eye on the distance between himself and the ground. Just before impact, he quickly removed the cloth covering the pterosaur’s eyes. Seeing the ground so close, the pterosaur was startled and flapped its wings to stabilize itself. As it tried to regain altitude, Azhang made sure not to give it another chance.
Azhang’s ten transformed claws plunged directly into the pterosaur’s throat. The pterosaur, unable to resist, weakly flapped its wings before crashing heavily to the ground.
As the pterosaur was about to crash, Azhang leaped off in advance, catching Ashu mid-air. He then grabbed a sturdy branch extending from a tall tree to absorb the impact of their fall, and they landed gently on the ground.
“Thank you,” Ashu said, slightly bowing his head, apologetically.
The pterosaur had clearly been focused on the ichthyosaur discarded by the giant wolf-god. If Ashu hadn’t attempted to claim the ichthyosaur, he wouldn’t have been captured by the pterosaur, and Azhang wouldn’t have been put in danger either.
“It’s all good if you’re okay,” Azhang said without blame. He looked at Ashu’s still-bleeding wounds and took out a bamboo tube filled with water from his backpack. He used it to clean the wounds, then crushed some familiar herbs to apply to them. Finally, he pulled out a pre-sized bandage from the backpack, which Ali had specially woven for situations like this, to directly use if anyone got hurt.
After bandaging Ashu’s wounds, Azhang asked, “Are you able to walk?”
Ashu nodded. Although the wound on his shoulder was still very painful, his legs were fine, and walking wasn’t a problem.
Azhang glanced around the environment, his expression darkening immediately. There was no sign of relief from surviving the ordeal; instead, his tone took on an unusual gravity. “We’d better get out of here as soon as possible.”
Words from the Translation Crew
Miiya: Extra chapter because I’m sorry for irregular updates…
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.
Has this been dropped?