Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains 190
Chapter 190
After resting in the tribe with Aze for a while, Chen Qi put the task of going out to catch live animals on the agenda. This time, the destination was a bit far away, so they would probably need to spend a night out on the plains. Several people went along.
The area they were heading to was a snow goose habitat. It wasn’t near the Chishui River, and the terrain was slightly higher than other places. Probably because it wasn’t near a water source, no large carnivores appeared nearby. Every time the snow geese returned from migration, this was a good place for them to hatch their eggs.
The group quietly lay in a patch of grass, observing the snow geese. It was still early, and a group of geese had just gone out to forage, but another goose remained behind at each nest, standing guard. Summer had been underway for a while, and winged birds returned earlier than other animals. The goose eggs were now almost ready to hatch.
“Are we catching them alive, or shooting them directly?” Ashu asked, running his fingers over his wooden bow, his eyes gleaming with excitement. This was his first time participating in a bird-catching mission. Before bows and arrows, winged birds had been extremely difficult prey for the beastmen. Their feathers weren’t as easy to strip as those of mammals, and the meat yield was small. So, unless they had no other options, beastmen rarely bothered hunting birds.
Chen Qi scanned the area. The snow goose habitat was vast. Although the nests on the periphery were spaced out, the number of birds in sight was still considerable. While they didn’t look threatening like other carnivores, a battle with a flock of geese could leave the hunters with nothing but scratches.
“Let’s approach slowly and try not to alert too many geese,” Chen Qi instructed.
Their main goal this time was to steal the eggs that were about to hatch. Adult snow geese could be caught alive if possible; if not, they would hunt a few for food.
The group spread out. They had some experience from catching red-billed sparrows in the tribe. Besides their bows, everyone carried a long net made from tough woven rope—strong enough that once a snow goose was trapped inside, there was no chance of escape.
“Stay behind me,” Aze said, taking Chen Qi’s wrist and keeping him protected behind himself. He crouched low, using the grass for cover, and crept towards the nearest nest.
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
In addition to the beastmen, several wild foxes had also set their sights on the snow-white eggs. The foxes were smaller than the adult geese and hid on the far side of the grass, completely unaware of the beastmen.
The foxes crept closer to their target. One suddenly pounced on an adult goose sitting on its eggs, trying to bite its neck with sharp teeth.
The snow goose was highly alert. As the fox attacked, it suddenly spread its wings and stood tall, its massive wings flinging the small fox to the ground. The fox tumbled several times, then steadied itself without injury.
The goose spread its wings over the eggs behind it, angered by the fox’s attack. Its sharp beak aimed at the predator, ready to strike if the fox tried to jump again.
A few other geese sitting on nearby nests had noticed the commotion. They raised their heads and honked, but didn’t come to help. They too, had eggs to protect, and wild foxes usually only stole one or two eggs per nest. Though they despised the foxes, leaving their own nests unguarded would risk losing their eggs to other foxes.
After the wild fox drew the snow goose’s attention, the other two foxes slowly crept up behind. One snatched an egg in its mouth and tried to escape. The snow goose looked back just in time and quickly flapped its wings, flying straight toward them. The fox that had been distracting the goose quietly crept forward, grabbed a snow-white egg, and, without lingering, ran straight into the nearby tall grass.
The other two foxes, having dodged the geese’s attacks, also scattered in different directions. A nest that had contained five or six eggs now had only half left. The goose chased them angrily for a short distance, then sulkily returned. Its mate was out foraging, and if it left the nest again, the remaining eggs would likely be lost.
Aze snapped the neck of the fox that had jumped right in front of him and caught the egg that had fallen from its mouth with his other hand.
The wild fox’s fur was a bit mottled—grayish yellow—and not particularly attractive, but it was smooth and pleasant to the touch. Chen Qi helped pack the dead fox into his backpack and carefully stowed away the intact egg. He smiled, “The fox’s fur isn’t much to look at, but it should make a good scarf. I’ll make one for you when we get back.” During winter, Aze disliked having his entire body in beast form, leaving his neck uncovered. Chen Qi had suggested several times that he make something to keep it warm, and ultimately decided to make a scarf.
“If you like fox fur, I’ll hunt some prettier ones for you next time.”
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
While they were talking, a commotion broke out in the snow goose flock. Chen Qi looked carefully and saw that Ashu had already trapped a snow goose in a net, and Ajing, following behind, was wrapping eggs in animal hides. Nearby stood a majestic giant wolf-god, which prevented the geese from charging directly. The flock began slowly gathering toward them, their loud calls spreading through the group, while some geese began circling overhead.
After the previous attack by the red-billed sparrows, the beastmen were wary of large flocks, especially since these snow geese were dozens of times larger and much stronger than the sparrows. Everyone wanted to finish the battle quickly.
Chen Qi tugged on Aze’s sleeve and pointed in another direction. With Ashu and the little wolf cub drawing the flock’s attention, they could easily approach another nest.
Aze didn’t even need his net. He shot several geese guarding a nest with his bow and arrows, protecting Chen Qi while picking up the eggs.
By the time the distant geese realized what was happening, Aze had collected the injured birds and carried Chen Qi out of the area, even catching a live one in a net before leaving.
“Ow, ow, ow… Ajing, are you okay?” Ashu’s head was surrounded by what looked like a thick cloud of geese swooping down. His net was useless, and even after shifting into beast form to try to fight them off, the geese were far more agile than he anticipated. He barely caused any damage and ended up with several scratches on his hands and face.
The little wolf cub stayed close to Ajing, shielding him from the enraged flock. Fortunately, after molting, the wolf’s skin had thickened, so aside from some ruffled fur, it remained uninjured.
Ajing slung the hide backpack full of eggs over his back, picked up the few geese the little wolf cub had bitten, and patted its back. The cub understood the signal, sweeping its massive tail forward to push the flock back, then followed Ajing in retreat.
As he ran, Ajing called to Ashu, still surrounded by geese, “Let’s go!”
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Ashu, surprised at how swiftly Ajing and the little wolf cub moved, cursed under his breath and ran after them. He had likely drawn most of the flock’s attention. Only after they had darted through several patches of tall grass were they able to lose the pursuing geese. When they returned to their resting spot from the night before, Chen Qi had already prepared lunch.
Ashu had been planning to complain to Chen Qi about Ajing and the little wolf cub leaving him behind, but at the sight of the food, he completely forgot and happily joined in.
Aze dug a lump of mud from the embers and tossed it to him. Reflexively, Ashu reached for it, only to find it too hot and dropped it with a complaint: “Why did you throw me a burning stone?”
Aze took a steaming bird leg handed by Chen Qi. “This snow goose is mine. If you want one, go get your own.”
“Just move the mud aside,” Chen Qi said, pointing to Ajing, who had already removed another lump by himself. “See how Ajing did it.”
Worried about burning himself, Ajing used his bone knife to tap the mud. It cracked, revealing a layer of cattail leaves, and beneath them, golden meat. A gust of wind carried the enticing aroma straight to their noses.
It was Ashu’s first time seeing food prepared this way. Curiously, he looked it over, tore a small piece of snow goose meat, and popped it into his mouth. He couldn’t tell what spices Chen Qi had used, but it was nothing like ordinary roasted or boiled meat—tender and flavorful. He immediately forgot his earlier grudge and joyfully enjoyed the meal, though he silently wished he had hunted a few more geese.
Ake came back only after several people had almost finished their lunch. Behind him hung two huge fur backpacks, one full of bird eggs and the other full of hunted snow geese. On his waist hung several still alive snow geese with their mouths and wings tied.
Ashu gaped in disbelief. “You weren’t discovered by the geese?” With dozens of nests disturbed, the snow geese would have surely attacked in swarms.
Ake unloaded his gear, tore a bird leg from the snow goose Ashu held, grinned broadly, and said, “Thanks to you leading the flock away, it was easy.”
“By the way, Chen Qi, you mentioned wanting to catch some wild horses. I saw a herd on my way back—do you want to catch them?”
Words from the Translation Crew
Miiya: 3 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.
