Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains

Aze was much more gentle. He cut several slices of mutton and placed them neatly on a cattail leaf. At first glance, it looked pretty good. Then, he handed it to Chen Qi, along with a pair of chopsticks.

Today, no bone soup was cooked. Chen Qi used a pottery dish to boil some dandelion tea and poured some into the bamboo tubes they made yesterday. Each person was given a portion. “After eating so much meat, you should drink a little tea to neutralize the greasiness.”

Ka Luo frowned and took it with a little reluctance. “This thing doesn’t taste good at all.”

“You can finish eating the meat before drinking it.” Chen Qi suggested.

Aze gave Ka Luo a light glance. Ka Luo covertly stuck out his tongue at him, but then he stopped talking and concentrated on eating the meat.

Chen Qi took a piece of golden lily and ate it. It tasted a little sweet and bitter. Perhaps it was because the cooking method was too crude, it was not particularly tasty. But in this place where vegetables were completely lacking, Chen Qi was already satisfied to be able to cook the golden lilies.

This was Azhang’s and Ali’s first time eating vegetables and animal viscera in this way. They tried a little bit of each dish. Compared with meat, the taste was a bit strange, but they weren’t repelled by it. “Maybe we should also keep the internal organs in the future so that we can reduce the number of times we have to enter the forest in the winter.” Azhang commented.

The other beastmen nodded in agreement. The reason why they hadn’t eaten the internal organs of animals before this was not because they couldn’t eat them, but rather it was that the way to prepare the hunted prey had been handed down since ancient times. For hundreds of thousands of years, no one had ever thought to change it. Moreover, during the summer, there was no shortage of food in the Dora Plains, and the animals all migrate away during the winter. Naturally, no one would consider whether the animal viscera could be edible or not.

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

After eating and drinking their fill, Ake and Azhang needed to go out to hunt again. Three more Moonless Days and winter would arrive. Next week, Azhang would also need to take the tribesmen to the Lion-Wolf Tribe to trade for more salt stones and flints, so time was very tight.

Before the two were ready to leave, Aze offered a suggestion, “Chen Qi, why don’t you lend Ake your backpack this afternoon? The backpack can hold a lot of things and is convenient to carry, so Ake can collect edible wild fruits on the way.” 

“Yes, yes, that backpack can hold so many things, and there’s no need to worry about anything falling out.” Ka Luo agreed.

Azhang wondered, “Backpack?”

Chen Qi brought out the empty backpack and showed Ake how to carry it. Azhang leaned over curiously and tugged at it with his hand. He found that it was very firm and that carrying it on the back would not affect their movements. If every female could have one of these backpacks, they would be much more efficient at gathering food.

“Chen Qi, can you make more of these backpacks? Azhang asked with bright eyes.

Chen Qi hesitated and said, “Yes, I can, but I still have to build a house so I may not have much time to make more.” Azhang was the acting chief of the tribe. Chen Qi could roughly guess the other’s thoughts.

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

“You can teach me and Ka Luo how to make them.” Ali interjected. “Also, we can help with the construction of the house. Winter is approaching, so it would be better if the house was built earlier.

“I haven’t figured out the specific plan for the house yet. Why don’t I teach you how to make the backpacks this afternoon? I’ll plan and design the house in the evening. Then, tomorrow, how about all of you come over to help with the house construction?” With so many people working together, it would undoubtedly be much faster than if only Aze and him worked on it.

“Yes.” Everyone nodded in agreement.

With that settled, Ake and Azhang left. Chen Qi went to dig out several suitable bones from Aze’s bone collection. The tip of the bones were a bit blunt. Chen Qi instructed Ali and Ka Luo to grind the bones to match the bone needle he’d used. Then, he took a stone slab and used a cooled charcoal to draw a simple front and back view of a backpack on it.

He only had the one whetstone that Aze had brought back last night, and Ka Luo did not do this kind of labor-intensive work as well as Ali. Thus, Ali ended up having to grind the two bone needles on his own. Chen Qi and Aze took advantage of this time to cure more meat. They boiled yesterday’s leftover venison, removed the blood foam impurities and then they marinated it with salt. Then, using banyan tree roots, they hung the cured meat on the newly-made drying rack. The previously cured pork also needed another round of salt.

Once Chen Qi finished processing all the meat, Ali just finished making the two bone needles.

Chen Qi found some light but tough animal skins. Then, he brought over the stone slab with the design to explain to the two men. Aze sat next to them. According to Chen Qi’s request, he slowly, and one-handedly, grinded the bone that Chen Qi had chosen to make the hoe. The stegosaurus bone was very hard. Grinding this was not just a matter of strength, but it also required a lot of patience.

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

Even though Chen Qi had tried his best to explain it in straightforward words, the two men were still dazedly looking at him. Chen Qi had no other choice and could only explain it via demonstration. The beastmen actually have strong learning abilities, but their thinking was too rigid and couldn’t easily be changed. However, as long as they were shown it so they could imitate it, they were gradually able to do it better than Chen Qi, who was teaching them, could.

Chen Qi’s backpack design was to just sew a whole piece of hide. As long as there was the general idea, the basic shape of the backpack would soon be ready. The difficulty in the process was in perforating the hide for the stitches. Initially, Chen Qi had asked them to use a rock to knock the bone needle into the hide to make each hole. Later, he thought that the female’s fingernails were much sharper than the bone needle, and suggested that Ali try to use his fingernail to poke a hole in the hide. Unexpectedly, Ali was able to poke holes much faster than he could when he was using the bone needle. In the end, Ali even had to help poke the holes for the backpack Ka Luo was making.

It was the first time these beastmen had used a needle and thread. Although they were always accidentally pricking their fingers in the first few tries, as they became proficient with it, their stitches were better looking than Chen Qi’s.

The few of them muddled about. One taught, two learned, the atmosphere was one of rare serenity. Aze grinded the bone and occasionally looked up at the three of them. If he knew the phrase ‘Peaceful times were great’, then these four words would have been the best portrayal of this moment.