Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains 214
Chapter 214
Seeing their companion suddenly vanish right in front of them, the ironshell-drakes at the front all came to a halt. Chen Qi ordered the huge net covering the pit to be pulled away. In no time, a massive pit opened up between the two walls, and at the bottom stood several ironshell-drakes that had just fallen in.
The ironshell-drakes at the bottom turned in place a few times. After confirming there was no danger, they cautiously began moving forward.
The pit was very deep. Neither ironshell-drakes nor hyena-drakes could climb out on their own. The walls of the pit had been compacted until their hardness was nearly equal to that of the city walls. However, because the pit was wide enough, the bottom—aside from some scattered snow and a layer of dead leaves and branches—wasn’t filled with traps like the areas the dragons had passed earlier. And now that the snow-blocking net had been removed, nothing above appeared dangerous either.
The dragons lingering at the rim of the pit hesitated for a long time. One ironshell-drake tentatively tried to cross by stepping down into the pit, but misjudged its footing and tumbled straight in. Meanwhile, the ironshell-drakes that had fallen earlier had already made it nearly halfway across.
A hyena-drake poked its head out from behind. Seeing that the ironshell-drakes who had fallen earlier quickly got up unharmed, it lingered at the edge, deliberated for a moment, then cautiously decided to try as well. This hyena-drake was much smarter than the ironshell-drake. It slid down the frozen wall bit by bit—the wall had long since frozen rock-solid—and landed steadily on the bottom instead of tumbling over like its predecessors.
With the first hyena-drake’s successful attempt, the rest of the dragons began to follow. Very soon, the pit was packed densely with dragons of all kinds.
The beastmen atop the wall didn’t rush to attack. Aside from the occasional arrow shot at the pterosaurs still trying to force their way in, Chen Qi let the beastmen—who had been fighting nonstop through the night—use this window to rest and catch their breath.
As the dragon horde slowly approached the inner wall, the beastmen gradually saw what was happening behind them.
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
“Are those beastmen?” Ake sat cross-legged on the battlements, tearing at a piece of dried meat while staring at the dragon group without blinking. His tone was casual, as if chatting idly with the person beside him.
Azhang sat on the other side. His fur clothing had long been torn to shreds in the battles, leaving his tan fur exposed to the air. The black stripes on it were clotted with frozen blood. His face was tight, exhaustion from the night’s fighting showing faintly, but his eyes remained bright and resolute—unshaken by the collapse of two walls in succession.
“Those are half-beastmen,” Aze replied lightly at Ake’s question. He and Chen Qi were leaning against each other beside a burning brazier. Aze angled his body to block the wind for Chen Qi, holding a bamboo tube filled with freshly heated ginger soup warmed over the fire.
Only a portion of the tribe knew about the half-beastmen. After months of contact with Lang Yan, they’d gained at least some understanding. So when they saw those white figures suddenly appear behind the hyena-drake horde, they immediately had their suspicions.
At some point, the little wolf cub had also scampered up onto the wall. With agile movements, it leapt onto an empty part of the battlements. Its golden eyes shimmered faintly as it pressed its lips together, watching silently toward the rear of the hyena-drake group.
The rear of the hyena-drake horde remained in utter chaos. The half-beastmen were clearly stronger fighters than ordinary beastmen. Though few in number, each could take on a hyena-drake alone—or even several at once. Since they were fighting at the outermost edge, the hyena-drakes couldn’t completely encircle them. And whenever the beasts began to close in, the half-beastmen would swiftly pull back a distance, ensuring their escape route remained open.
Although Chen Qi very much wanted to take the chance to attack the dragon horde from both sides—front and rear—while the half-beastmen disrupted the enemy’s back lines, Qi Ze City simply didn’t have enough fighters. A close-range confrontation with the dragons would yield no advantage at all. Thus, despite the anxiety twisting in his chest, he could only force himself to wait and watch as the unexpected reinforcements fought desperately behind the dragon horde.
They waited for all the dragons to enter the pit—until the entire massive pit was filled to the brim.
For the beastmen, this waiting was pure torment.
At the rear of the hyena-drake horde, a tall white giant wolf-god tossed aside a hyena-drake that had already stopped breathing. Sensing something, he lifted his head and looked toward the inner wall of Qi Ze City, his eyes devoid of emotion. When he spotted a certain white figure, he suddenly let out a thunderous roar. Several hyena-drakes had already fallen around him. The surrounding hyena-drakes, intimidated by the giant wolf-god’s threatening gaze, couldn’t help but back away a few steps. They hesitated for a moment before leaping forward again.
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
The little wolf cub’s fur bristled the instant it heard the giant wolf-god’s roar. It turned to look at Chen Qi, who was standing not far away, and then—as if responding to the giant wolf-god—also raised its head and howled. Two sharp wolf howls pierced straight through the dense dragon crowd, resonating with one another.
Aze glanced at the little wolf cub, squeezed Chen Qi’s palm gently, and shook his head. Clearly, every beastman still standing on the wall could more or less guess that these unexpected reinforcements were connected to the little wolf cub.
Perhaps because an attack order had been issued, more and more ironshell-drakes and hyena-drakes poured into the pit, cramming together at the bottom in dense masses—thousands upon thousands, so many that it was impossible to determine the exact number.
The ironshell-drakes that had entered first had already reached the far end of the pit and were trying to climb up. A few smaller hyena-drakes even scrambled onto the ironshell-drakes’ backs. Unfortunately, even stacked together, they were still a short distance from the top. One hyena-drake lost its balance and tumbled to the ground, nearly getting trampled by the ironshell-drake next to it.
Hyena-drakes were smart—and Chen Qi had no intention of letting them figure out a way to climb out. Seeing that the number of dragons in the pit was almost sufficient, he gave Azhang a nod.
Azhang jumped down from the battlements and relayed the counterattack order to the nearby females.
All the catapults atop the city walls switched to launching fireballs. The beastmen who weren’t manning the catapults picked up their wooden bows, lighting every arrow on fire. At Azhang’s command, fireballs and flaming arrows rained toward the pit.
Seeing the projectiles coming, the dragon horde—already on high alert—quickly dodged. The arrows struck the ground, trampled into chaos by the dragons.
Strangely, with the beastmen’s accuracy, even if they couldn’t kill the dragons in a single shot, leaving wounds should have been easy. Yet this volley seemed almost deliberately off-target—nearly all the fireballs and flaming arrows missed the dragons entirely.
The first wave fell, followed swiftly by a second. The hyena-drakes trying to climb out were forced to abandon the attempt and dodge the falling arrows instead.
Many arrows that struck the ground were not extinguished by the cold or the patches of snow. Even when reduced to tiny flames, they continued to burn stubbornly. At first, the dragons assumed this attack was no different from previous ones—so long as they weren’t directly hit, they’d be fine. But after burning for a while, the flames began to seep downward into the soil. It wasn’t obvious at first. Then, clusters of larger flames burst forth around the arrows.
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
The flames grew higher and fiercer. Several nearby flames even merged into a small blaze. If one listened closely, one could hear the crackling of burning wood.
The dead branches and leaves inside the pit were ignited as well. The fire spread rapidly. The once rock-hard frozen ground softened as the ice melted. Although the damp soil slowed the fire here and there, the vast amount of specially treated firewood buried beneath soon caught fire.
Thick black smoke rose from the pit. The beastmen on the walls pulled on the masks they had long prepared. This was no ordinary woodsmoke—this was smoke from burning tobacco, possessing a mild anesthetic effect. The bottom of the pit was layered with a thick bed of tobacco—enough to put every dragon inside it to sleep.
The hyena-drakes reacted the fastest. The moment the smoke rose, they tried to flee. But dragons were not humans; when they entered the pit, they had never considered retreat. Now they ran in frantic circles, many of them clawing desperately at the pit walls—walls packed so hard they were nearly indestructible. Climbing out in a short time was simply impossible.
Once the flames melted through the thin ice at the surface and reached the fuel beneath, the fire spread with explosive speed. When the layers of firewood and grass ignited, and when the layer mixed with grease melted and began to burn, the entire pit turned into a sea of flames.
The stench of burning flesh spread through the air. The dragons’ screams echoed to the heavens. The hyena-drake leader, who had been fighting the great dragon, snapped his gaze toward the pit. When he saw the towering inferno, his heart sank. His brief distraction was immediately exploited—the dragon’s massive tail whipped around, slamming him into the ground. Cracks spread across his tough scales, and blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.
The dragon’s tail coiled around him before he could get up, binding him tightly. It bent its neck, sank its sharp teeth into the hyena-drake leader’s hind leg, and tore through his tendons. The leader’s face went pale from the pain, twisted in agony, but aside from a brief grunt, he made no sound.
The dragons at the edge of the pit stared in horror at their companions burning inside. Most beasts feared fire—dragons were no exception.
The pterosaurs circling above attempted to rescue the burning dragons, but aside from a few they managed to snatch out early on, they were soon forced back by the surging heat waves. They couldn’t get close at all. The dragons at the pit’s edge retreated as well, no longer daring to approach recklessly.
The half-beastmen still fighting the hyena-drakes were visibly surprised. They had assumed this beastman tribe was doomed. They only intended to hold out long enough to slip away with the little wolf cub when the dragons breached the walls. They hadn’t expected that—though small—this tribe’s resistance would be so fierce.
“You’ve lost.”
Words from the Translation Crew
Miiya: 3 of 3 for the week. Next weekend, all 4 remaining will be posted. Along with updates on “next” things.
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.
