Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains 162
Chapter 162
In the evening, after Chen Qi had finished washing, he came out and saw Aze sitting blankly by the fire; Aze’s hair still held droplets because it had not been dried, and the shoulders of his pajamas were wet.
Chen Qi walked over, placed his own towel on the other’s head, and slowly wiped, reproaching, “How could you wash your hair and not dry it? What if you caught a cold like this?”
Aze slightly raised his head and looked at Chen Qi, saying, “I won’t get sick.”
“Yes, yes — you’re so healthy you won’t get sick, but you still need to dry your hair properly after washing, you know.”
“En.” Aze obediently answered.
The two stopped talking; the wood crackled in the silent hall, and the water in the pottery kettle had boiled. Aze took the kettle out, placed a few dried flowers into both their teacups, then poured the boiling water in — the dried flowers spun in the cups with the current, and the originally clear water slowly took on a faint yellow tint.
“Did you have something on your mind?” Chen Qi asked softly as he pinched Aze’s earlobe, which had looked a little translucent against the backlight of the fire.
Aze heard this and nodded, paused, then shook his head.
Chen Qi sat down beside him with amusement, placed the towel — which had become damp from wiping Aze’s wet hair — on his own head, and continued to dry it; he had just washed his hair too, and the ends were still dripping. “Were you actually worried about something or not?”
Aze naturally took the towel from Chen Qi’s hand; Chen Qi handed it to him, and then skillfully found a comfortable position to lie back, resting his head on the other’s thigh.
“Ayan’s words today…”
“Hm?” Chen Qi narrowed his eyes lazily, enjoying the feeling of the other’s long, slightly cool fingers rubbing across his scalp as he waited for him to continue.
Aze fell silent for a moment. “Since last winter, the dragon activity in the forest has been very abnormal. This coming winter would probably be more dangerous than usual. Even if we hid in the tribe, the dragons would likely attack the tribe directly as before.” Aze’s hand, which had been drying his hair, paused. “In previous times, there hadn’t been many dragons, so the moat traps alone could stop them. But if next time the dragons came in several times or dozens of times more than before, these earthen walls alone might not be able to hold them 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.
Aze had been through that battle, which had nearly driven the Rock-Mountain Tribe to extinction — no matter how long the fight lasted, the area had been full of the silhouettes of hyena-drakes, the fallen were all tribesmen’s corpses, and blood had stained the snow red. Aze had once thought he would die in that battle; fortunately, they had held out in the end, and despite heavy casualties, many people had survived.
But Aze did not want Chen Qi to experience such a great battle; he could not guarantee that he could protect Chen Qi from even a little harm in such chaotic scenes.
Chen Qi opened his eyes, reached out and touched the furrowed spot between Aze’s brows, his lips curving slightly as he smiled, “What? Are you afraid?”
“No.” Aze shook his head. “I’m just worried you would get hurt.”
“Then what do you plan to do?”
“Hold the walls — if one hyena-drake comes in, I would kill one, if a pair comes, kill a pair.”
Aze’s gaze darkened, and the determination in it made Chen Qi feel warm inside; he hooked a finger to signal the other to lower his head, and when Aze bent slightly, he quickly kissed the corner of his lips.
“If a few giant creatures like stegosaurs charged in, the moat alone truly wouldn’t hold. Last year, we encountered hyena-drakes that used snow bears to dig through; this year, it wouldn’t be surprising if hyena-drakes used stegosauruses to cross the moat traps.”
“Hyena-drakes using the strength of stegosauruses to cross the moat?” Aze looked at Chen Qi in surprise — he had never considered that possibility. For reasons unknown, hyena-drakes had already appeared cooperating with ironshell-drakes; if even stegosauruses started appearing with hyena-drakes, it wouldn’t just be this small Qi Ze City of a few dozen people that might not hold — even the Lion-Wolf Tribe of several thousand might not be able to defend itself.
What would happen to the beastmen living in this area then? Move inland? Or merge into tribes more powerful than the Lion-Wolf Tribe?
“It was only a conjecture; after all, as long as we planned for the worst and considered defense with that as our objective, we wouldn’t fear whatever method the hyena-drakes might use to attack.”
Aze nodded in agreement.
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 continued, “With our current defenses, we can still barely hold off one or two stegosauruses, but stopping a whole group of them would be impossible. And you saw the situation with the locust dragons last year — if a swarm of them charged toward us, their massive bodies alone could fill up the moat in no time. As long as they trampled over their fallen companions and attacked without restraint, our earthen walls would probably collapse within minutes.”
As Chen Qi’s speculation went on, Aze’s expression grew heavier and heavier. The moat had originally been designed merely to prevent the relatively smaller hyena-drakes. If even those large dragons went mad alongside the hyena-drakes, Aze didn’t even dare to imagine it.
In the Loya Forest, only herbivorous dragons tended to grow to enormous sizes. Carnivorous dragons — such as hyena-drakes, ironshell-drakes, and pterosaurs — rarely exceeded three meters in height. Adult hyena-drakes were about the same size as lions. This trait had long maintained a balance between the beastmen living near the forest and the dragons.
However, with the various disturbances among the dragons in the past year, it felt as though they were no longer content to stay confined to the forest. In previous summers, beastmen never needed to worry about encountering dragons on the Dora Plains, but now not only were they appearing — they were doing so in groups. The hyena-drakes in particular, which used to attack beastmen only in the food-scarce winters, had begun prowling around the tribes much earlier. This was undoubtedly a warning to the beastmen: the long-standing balance between beastmen and dragons, maintained for thousands of years, was on the verge of breaking.
Seeing Aze’s somber expression, Chen Qi reached out to pinch and tug at the corners of his mouth. “Why do you always keep such a serious face at your age? Don’t you know how good you look when you smile? You should smile more.” Chen Qi grinned broadly, demonstrating, “Like me — smile more, and my Aze will become the most handsome beastman in the tribe.”
Chen Qi had never liked how beastmen distinguished between “females” and “males.” To him, these so-called females looked no different from ordinary men.
Aze’s mouth twitched; he caught Chen Qi’s mischievous hands from his face and lowered them. Though it felt awkward, he still tried smiling as Chen Qi had demonstrated, which only made Chen Qi burst into uncontrollable laughter, loud enough to draw Ajing out from his room, where he had been studying.
Ajing stood at the doorway, blinking at the two people rolling around by the fire. He bent down, covering the eyes of the little wolf cub who had followed him out. “See no evil, see no evil,” he muttered as he scooped the cub up, returned to his room, and locked the door.
Hearing the sound of the door locking, Aze turned around, his face flushed red, only to see the already-closed door.
After laughing his fill, Chen Qi wiped away the tears at the corners of his eyes. Aze, a little helpless, picked up the now fully steeped flower tea beside him and handed it over so Chen Qi could soothe his throat.
Chen Qi sat up, took the cup, and sipped it. “Actually, you don’t need to worry too much. Like I said, I was only thinking of the worst-case scenario. Hyena-drakes are carnivorous and even feed on herbivorous dragons — stegosauruses and locust dragons wouldn’t necessarily obey their command.”
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Moreover, stegosauruses and locust dragons were solitary creatures. Attacking beastmen brought them no benefit at all. As long as the beastmen didn’t provoke them first, it was hard to imagine they would attack the plains without reason. Of course, if something provoked them, that would be another matter.
“The situation you described isn’t impossible,” Aze said. “We should tell Uncle Azhang about this. If it really happens, we can be prepared early. Whether we fight, retreat, or merge with another tribe, Qi Ze City needs to plan its fallback route in advance.”
Chen Qi nodded. “But even if it happens, that doesn’t mean we have no way to defend ourselves.”
Aze looked at him with doubt. “Didn’t you just say our moat and city walls couldn’t hold?”
“It would indeed be difficult to defend completely relying only on the moat and earthen wall.” Chen Qi stood up, went to the table, and fetched a bound sketchbook. Taking a cooled charcoal stick from the fire, he began drawing while speaking to Aze. “Winter is almost here — and what’s most abundant in winter? Snow. We have an endless supply of snow to use.”
“Last year we built an ice wall, and we’ve discussed it before. This time, we can build another ice wall outside the moat. Then we can set up barriers like deer stakes and chevaux-de-frise*, and dig several large traps beyond the ice wall. Most importantly, we still have one crucial weapon.” Chen Qi quickly sketched a few diagrams in the book, tapping one with the charcoal. “Gunpowder. As long as we use it properly, no matter what kind of dragon comes, we’ll make sure it never returns.”
*A chevaux-de-frise is a defensive obstacle consisting of a timber frame with spikes, blades, or barbed wire protruding from it, used to block enemy troops, especially cavalry. It can be a portable barricade for closing gaps in fortifications or a static row of spikes or broken glass on top of a wall to prevent intrusion. The name is French for “Frisian horses,” supposedly because it was first used by the Frisian army to counter enemy cavalry (src google)
Listening to his partner’s calm yet powerful voice, Aze felt momentarily dazed. He had always believed that his mate needed his full protection — yet even though Chen Qi wasn’t a warrior, he could protect himself, and even protect the entire tribe. No one else in the tribe had ever spoken or acted the way Chen Qi did.
Aze’s lips parted slightly, but in the end, he only buried his head against Chen Qi’s shoulder. He didn’t know if Chen Qi’s ideas could truly stop a dragon attack, but whether or not they worked, if dragons dared to assault the tribe this winter, he would never allow even a single one to set foot in Qi Ze City.
“Let’s discuss the defenses with everyone tomorrow and prepare early,” Chen Qi said. “After all, winter’s almost here, and some things must be ready before it arrives.”
“Mmm.” Chen Qi ran his fingers through Aze’s still-damp, soft hair. “By the way, you missed your birthday this year while you were out hunting snow bears. I never told you — happy birthday, my Aze.”
Words from the Translation Crew
Miiya: 2 of 3 for the week.
Translator: Miiya
Editor: MushroomKnight73
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.
