Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains 135

by Miiya · February 15, 2025

Chapter 135

This time, only two people from the Flame-Hill Tribe came. Ayan left Ayu behind, and Azhang, concerned that the other person might struggle with the long journey alone, arranged for one of the females from Qi Ze City to accompany him on the return trip.

Ayan thanked everyone before leaving, carrying with him some of the things he had gathered over the past period along with enough food. He didn’t take any of the paper, bamboo sieves, or cloth from Qi Ze City. However, he did bring along a wooden bow he had made himself. The arrowheads were crafted from the iron armor of the ironshell-drake, but since there wasn’t much, he only made two arrows with those. The rest of the arrows were still made from bone.

After the arrowheads were replaced with iron, their lethality was significantly stronger than the previous bone arrowheads. With little effort, they could easily pierce through the target. Unfortunately, forging iron was a labor-intensive task. Even though it had been proven that melting down the iron armor and re-casting it could produce iron tools, the resources and manpower required were considerable. Just for firewood, Ayan had already gone to the edge of the forest twice over the past few days, chopping down trees. Only then did he manage to make a few arrowheads, as well as an iron shovel and an iron hoe.

In addition to Ayan and Aming, who were heading back to their respective tribes to deliver messages, Azhang also sent Ahxu and another female to the Lion-Wolf Tribe. They would share all the information they knew with the Lion-Wolf Tribe, and from there, the Lion-Wolf Tribe would inform the other tribes.

There was no other choice; the population of Qi Ze City was simply too small, and they couldn’t spare enough people to notify each tribe individually. They had no choice but to entrust the task of spreading the news to the Lion-Wolf Tribe.

Having received the warning from the giant wolf-god, Azhang decided against sending anyone into the forest to hunt again. The primary source of meat for Qi Ze City would have to come from the Chishui River. This meant they could no longer use the laid-back fishing method they had relied on before. Instead, they followed the technique that Chen Qi had taught to the Salt-Water Tribe and weaved fishing nets to catch fish.

This time, the beastmen no longer fished at fixed spots. Instead, they alternated fishing locations along the Chishui River, covering enough distance to ensure they moved around the area within a day’s travel. This method prevented them from scaring all the fish away and allowed the fish populations to replenish and thrive.

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

Hunting activities continued to be carried out every other day, and the rest of the time was used for the massive construction projects.

Before Azhang and the others returned from the forest, Chen Qi had already drawn many conceptual designs for the moat. Since none of them were professionals, tasks like selecting the location and measurements were roughly handled by Chen Qi.

To avoid affecting the existing city wall, the moat was dug at a distance from it. The excavated soil and sand were then used to raise and compact the ground along the wall.

While Chen Qi was measuring the moat, Ali led a group of people to cut the sprouted potatoes, leaving only one sprout on each piece. They planted them in the remaining half of the land that had been cleared in Qi Ze City, and used the remaining space to plant sweet potatoes.

This time, with the iron armor pieces they’d brought back, Chen Qi had Ali turn them all into farming tools, and they only managed to make two hoes and three shovels. While these tools were not as sharp as the claws of the females, for those who could no longer beast-form and for the males, the iron tools were as effective as dragon-horn knives. Unfortunately, the supply of iron armor was limited, and they needed to prioritize digging the moat. Otherwise, Chen Qi would have really wanted to craft a few kitchen tools.

The midday heat was intense, and unlike the beastmen, who could remain lively under the scorching sun all day, Chen Qi, even with a hat on, started feeling dizzy and lightheaded before noon. Without saying a word, Aze carried him back home and firmly told him not to go back to the moat work.

Unable to argue, Chen Qi could only rest until he regained his strength, then went to the school to help Ka Luo prepare lunch for the beastmen.

Because all the beastmen in Qi Ze City were busy working on the construction of the moat, lunch and dinner were now delivered directly to the outskirts of the city. In order to finish the moat as soon as possible, the females worked until late into the night every day, except on Moonless Days. Their eyesight was exceptional, and even without oil lamps, they could still work in the faint moonlight. However, if it were Chen Qi, he wouldn’t be able to see anything in the darkness without proper lighting.

Now, Ka Luo and Ajing were in charge of managing all the food in Qi Ze City, while the little wolf cub was tasked with keeping a close watch on the unusually lively Ayao, making sure he didn’t get into any trouble.

Ayao was at the age where he was full of curiosity and energy. He could quickly disappear without a trace if they were not careful, which made Ka Luo hesitant to let him wander too far without supervision.

The little wolf cub, still young and impatient, would immediately grab Ayao by the scruff if he tried to run off or climb to high places. With a growl from deep in its throat, it would warn him to stay still and not move.

At first, Ayao was intimidated by the little wolf cub’s growl, but after realizing that it wouldn’t actually harm him, he started going about his business as usual. Eventually, the little wolf cub learned to use its front paws to pin Ayao down on the bed, not allowing him to move. In just over ten months, the little wolf cub had grown to be as tall as Ajing’s waist, making it an easy task to overpower the little three-head sized owl bundle.

When Chen Qi walked in, he saw Ka Luo frying fish balls. In this hot weather, he wondered how Ka Luo could still eat something so greasy.

Seeing Chen Qi walk in with a cloth bag, Ka Luo immediately knew that he must have been sent back by his big brother because he couldn’t handle the sun. He chuckled and said, “I told you not to go digging the moat yourself. The sun is so strong that it won’t take long for you to faint.”

Chen Qi paused, watching as Ka Luo happily blew on a freshly fried fish ball, still steaming hot, before tossing it into his mouth. Unsurprisingly, he was immediately burned, but refused to spit it out. Instead, Ka Luo kept puffing air to cool it down, only to end up with a foggy look in his eyes as he finally swallowed it.

…… This way of eating shows he isn’t afraid of getting burned*.

*literally translates to “not afraid of getting burned” but it is more referring to a Chinese saying referring to a state of internal heat, often linked to health issues like mouth ulcers, sore throats, or irritability due to eating overly spicy or greasy food. It’s used metaphorically to describe discomfort or excess heat in the body. So, in this case, the idiom suggests that the person wasn’t concerned about the usual health repercussions of such a way of eating.

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

When Chen Qi opened the cloth bag he was holding and took out several packages, Ka Luo curiously leaned in and asked, “What did you bring over?”

“Millet, mung beans, and sugar,” Chen Qi replied as he laid the items out.

The millet he had gathered with Aze earlier had dried out in the sun after just a couple of days. He reserved half of the seeds to plant in the designated plots of land he had set aside, while the remaining half, unable to resist, he used a stone mortar to thresh the millet and obtained a small bag of grains.

When he had felt dizzy from the sun earlier, he had been thinking of making something to cool down and relieve the heat for the hardworking beastmen under the scorching sun. Seeing the millet nearby, he decided to gather the remaining mung beans and a bag of sugar, then came to the school’s cooking classroom to look for Ka Luo.

Since the ingredients were limited, Chen Qi could only divide them into two large pottery dishes and add a little more water to make it thinner. This way, he could ensure that everyone would get a bowl.

First, wash the mung beans and place them in the pottery plate with water to cook until soft. Then, wash the millet and add it to the plate. Continue cooking until it becomes slightly thickened, and finally, add sugar.

For this one time where he could enjoy mung bean porridge, Chen Qi even used saltpeter to make a tray of ice, placing the cooked mung bean porridge in it to chill. During this time, he also took out a large jar of pickled vegetables he had prepared earlier, washed it all clean, then cut the cured meat and fried a large pottery plate full.

Then, he used rice berries to cook two plates of fish porridge. Seeing that the time was almost up, he sent Ajing to call the beastmen back for the meal. After all, the ice melted too easily, and if he carried everything out to the city, the ice-cold mung bean porridge wouldn’t be the same by then.

Hearing that Chen Qi was calling them back for a meal today, Azhang was a bit puzzled, but he still stopped what he was doing and called the others to tidy up before heading back.

Chen Qi had already prepared two large wooden barrels outside the door, filled with well water that Ajiing had just fetched. He instructed the beastmen to wash their hands before coming inside.

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

Since there were many people, the meal was divided into two locations: the classroom and the sewing room.

Aze came over to help carry the cooked side dishes outside, and only then did Chen Qi serve each of them a bowl of mung bean porridge—just enough for each person, neither too much nor too little.

The beastmen had been eating the fried meat patties and fried fish balls cooked by Ka Luo for two consecutive days. Suddenly, holding the chilled mung bean porridge, they were a little taken aback. The people of Qi Ze City had never had anything frozen in the hot summer, but the Salt-Water Tribe had a period where they’d been eating it every day. Now, seeing the chilled porridge, their eyes lit up. Eagerly, they took a big gulp. From the outside to the inside, it felt like the heat from being under the sun all morning had been half-dispelled.

Ale was the first to shout, “Chen Qi, from now on, you cook the meals! I’ll take over your job of digging the moat!”

Ashu, who was sitting next to him, quickly nodded in agreement.

Chen Qi smiled and said, “The millet and mung beans for this mung bean porridge are all used up, so this is the only serving. If you want more, there won’t be any left.”

… After hearing Chen Qi’s words, everyone suddenly slowed down their eating. No one wanted to finish this cold treat too quickly.

Ka Luo held his own bowl of mung bean porridge, glancing at the plates piled high with golden fried fish balls on the table. Silently, he reached for the pickled vegetables and stir-fried meat that Chen Qi had made. Pairing it with the sweet, cold mung bean porridge, he felt the intense heat around him become much more bearable.

With the mung bean porridge whetting their appetites, the fish fillet porridge was quickly devoured by the beastmen. Even Ka Luo’s fried fish balls, which were already a popular dish, couldn’t last in front of the beastmen, who were expending so much energy from their hard labor. There was nothing left.

Seeing that everyone had eaten their fill, Chen Qi went back to the cooking classroom and brought out a few honeydew, cutting them into pieces. The honeydew hadn’t been chilled, but they’d been soaked in the freshly drawn well water for a long time. Even in such hot weather, the well water was still cool. Though it didn’t have the same effect as true ice, it was much better than eating them without soaking them in the well water.

“I never thought well water could be used like this,” Ali said, feeling impressed after taking a bite of the honeydew.

Chen Qi carefully placed the small pieces of honeydew onto a pottery plate and handed it to Aze, also thoughtfully providing him with a bamboo skewer so he wouldn’t have to hold a large piece and bite directly like the others.

“From now on, if you want to eat fruit, you can soak it like this first,” Chen Qi said, admiring Aze’s elegant way of eating as he spoke.

Today’s lunch was undoubtedly the most comfortable meal the people of Qi Ze City had enjoyed since the start of summer. Even though there was no meat dish, which the females loved the most, everyone was still very satisfied. After a short rest, they all returned to their work.

Since the porridge was easy to digest, it wasn’t long after noon when Chen Qi made a batch of flatbreads with plenty of meat filling and sent them out. Before long, they were all eaten up.

As a result, even after the completion of the moat, the females, despite the daily hard labor, felt that their companions seemed to have become stronger than before.

Words from the Translation Crew

Miiya: Happy Valentine’s Day

Translator: Miiya
Editor: Yume
Proofreader: Yume/Miiya

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.