Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains

The next day.

Chen Qi woke up before dawn. He packed the backpack that Aze was going to take on his journey with some flint and a bamboo tube of salt, while the lighter that he’d crossed over with had always been kept on Aze’s self. The hares caught in the traps yesterday were simply salted by Chen Qi, wrapped in cattail leaves and stuffed into the backpack. There was also a thick rope he’d made overnight, which he’d intended for Aze to use to bundle the eyes of the locust dragon. Chen Qi had taught Aze a simple knot for tying things up. Only after confirming that Aze could flawlessly make the knot several times in a row did he feel relieved. 

After a simple breakfast, Chen Qi carried another backpack on his back. It contained the two bone needles he’d made before, a large bunch of banyan tree roots and one of the cloth pieces that Ali had given him yesterday, while his knife was kept in his pocket.

Before heading out, Chen Qi checked on the boiled syrup. It continued to be sticky but no crystals were precipitated after drying in the sun for a day. Fortunately, it was still milky white in color and there was no sign of deterioration. The rack for drying the cured meat was moved by the door, and the door curtain was opened slightly for ventilation. Fearing that passing animals would be enticed to come in if they caught the scent of meat, Chen Qi set up a little thorn barrier by the door, and added several small traps, arranged all over the house. Only after all that did he let Aze carry him to the tribe.

This was Chen Qi’s second visit to the Rock-Mountain Tribe. The beastman that stood guard by the fig tree outside the tribe had been replaced by a younger female, and he waved enthusiastically when he saw Aze.

Ka Luo’s house was not far from Ali’s, with about four or five houses between them. However, since it was around the corner, they had to walk all the way to the intersection before they’d be able to see it.

When Chen Qi arrived, Ka Luo was moving the meat outside to let it dry in the sun. The ground was thickly covered with cattail leaves or clean animal skins. The meat Ka Luo was drying was not cut into strips like Chen Qi’s, but were in chunks. The dried meat was placed outside the house during the day and moved back into the house at night. Relying on the residual heat of the fire, it would continue to be dried until meat was completely dehydrated so that it could be stored until winter.

“You’re here.” Ake took out the last dish of dried meat, already carrying his backpack, as if he were ready to go out.

“The room has been tidied up. It’s just the next room. Chen Qi, you can stay as long as you want.” Ka Luo said. He finished handling the things in his hands, then wiped them on some hay on the side of the road to remove the greasiness.

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

“Then I’ll be troubling you to take care of Chen Qi.” Aze lowered Chen Qi off his back and said to the two.

“Exactly who will be taking care of the other is still uncertain.” Ake poured the dried meat from the pottery dish onto the cattail leaves. “Today, people from the tribe are going to the Loya Forest. So it happens they are just about to head out. Let’s go together.”

Aze nodded, and reminded Chen Qi with a few words that he should look for Ali or Azhang if he needed anything. Chen Qi secretly rolled his eyes. Right now, he is the one actually taking the trip a long ways out of town. How come he’s acting like I’m the one that’ll be leaving for a long time?

The two men shared a few more words with each other before Aze and Ake left. Ka Luo then took Chen Qi over to the next room. The structure of the room was similar to that of Aze’s house, except that it was about half the size and was also shorter. This time, it seemed it wouldn’t be necessary to stretch out a hand to reach the ceiling, since you could probably just tiptoe and already come into close contact with it. There was only one slate bed in the corner, and in the middle of the room was the place for a fire, with two bundles of dry wood already placed beside it.

Chen Qi set down his backpack onto the bed and said to Ka Luo, who was following him, “Ka Luo, I’m going to Ali’s for a bit.”

“Okay, I’ll go with you.”

“En.”.

A lot of dried meat was also placed outside Ali’s house. There were several simple racks on which a few hares hung as well. The racks were a bit like those made by Chen Qi to dry the cured meat. Ka Luo slapped his forehead when he saw them. “Why didn’t I think to make two racks like this? It’s much more convenient and we wouldn’t have spread the meat all across the ground.”

Ali’s door curtain was pushed aside by several thick wooden poles to reveal a gap, and sunlight poured through the half-opened door curtain. When the two entered the room, Ali was weaving cloth. He had followed Chen Qi for the last two days, and the cloths that Ake and Ka Luo needed had already been delayed for several days. Fortunately, the baby would not be born for several more months, so they were not needed in a hurry.

Seeing the two who entered the room, Ali stopped his work and gave them a smile, “What are you two doing over here? You don’t need to work on building the house today, right? Why don’t you let Ka Luo take you to the nearby abandoned houses to pick out stone slates?”

Although the tribe was called the Rock-Mountain Tribe, the rock mountain behind them was not large, and its height was only about 20 meters at most. Thus, the people in the tribe would not consider using this mountain, which was meant for a protective barrier, as a source for building materials. However, since it was near the Chishui River, it was much more convenient to get water. It was not necessary to make long trips to fetch water like Chen Qi and Aze had to.

The Dora Plains were not rich in large stones. The beastmen in the tribe have to go to the Loya Forest when they need to build their houses. There were several large rocky mountains in the Loya Forest, and the stones there were much larger and harder than those in this rocky mountain in their tribe.

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

“I’m staying here for the night, so I’m not in a hurry.” Ali did not light a fire during the day. In the Dora Plains, there was not only a shortage of stones but also a shortage of trees. All the firewood used at home needed to be brought back from the Loya Forest. Ali’s legs and feet were inconvenient for much movement, so most of the firewood was brought over by Azhang. In return, Ali would help handle other things such as cooking and tanning of various skins.

On his way over, Chen Qi had picked up a palm-sized stone slab. At this time, he directly took a piece of charcoal from the extinguished fire and drew the shape of a bowl on the stone slab. Then, he handed the stone slab to Ali and got straight to the point, “Aze told me that you made all the potteryware in his house. Can you help me make some pottery bowls?”

“Pottery bowls?” Chen Qi’s drawing was only a crude side view. For the beast people who were not used to seeing things on a flat surface, they could not understand what it should look like at all.

Chen Qi thought for a moment, “Do you still have any clay? I’ll show you how to make one and you’ll understand.” Although Chen Qi did not know how to burn and make finished pottery, he had still done several years of design work and could make a rough impression with clay.

“Yes.” Ali dug out a handful of clay, which was a little dry. So Ali added some water to it and then kneaded it gently before handing it to Chen Qi.

Ka Luo also leaned in, wanting to see what Chen Qi would make this time.

Although the bowl had a simple shape, it was really not an easy thing to make it look good. Chen Qi had just roughly made out the size and shape of the bowl when Ali already managed to understand it. After all, he was still a person who had made pottery for decades. Naturally, his speed and technique were much better than Chen Qi’s amateur attempt. When Chen Qi finally finished moulding a slightly crooked pottery bowl, Ali had also finished one.

“Chen Qi, why do you want such small pottery ware?” Ka Luo asked in puzzlement. Chen Qi’s pottery bowl was not the ‘small rice bowl’ kind used at home, but rather it was more like the ‘large bowl’ kind used at a ramen store. Considering Aze’s appetite, it would be more convenient to use the large bowl for meat dishes.

“This can be used to hold meat instead of cattail leaves.” Remembering that beastmen eat roast meat directly by hand, Chen Qi added, “Also, using this instead of bamboo tubes to hold the sweet soup would make it much easier to eat and clean.”

Ka Luo recalled yesterday’s bamboo tube. Although it was quite convenient to hold soup, the bamboo tube itself was relatively deep, and its opening was only large enough to fit a fist. It was not convenient to clean, not to mention, accidentally getting poked by splinters from the bamboo was unpleasant. Looking at the pottery bowls made by Chen Qi and Ali, it really felt better than the bamboo tube. “Uncle Ali, please make me some of these pottery bowls too.”

Afterwards, Ka Luo also tried his hand at moulding some bowls, but his moulding was not even as good as Chen Qi’s. They ended up crooked, but Ali didn’t intend to remake them.

Ali took out all the remaining clay he had. Since it had been quite a long time since he’d made any pottery ware, there was not much clay left in the house. After about a dozen clay bowls were made, the clay was all used up. Though Chen Qi did manage to take advantage of this opportunity to also mould a few teacups.

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 three men were busy all morning. After unfinished pottery pieces were made, they could not be burned in the furnace immediately. They needed to be left to dry for a period of time.

As Ake had gone with the tribe to the Loya Forest and would not be returning at noon, the two had lunch at Ali’s place.

Ali took the opportunity to ask Chen Qi to teach him how to make his kind of dried meat. Chen Qi explained it to him carefully, step by step, and also gave him a demonstration. Then, he asked Ali to repeat it himself. Finally, he reminded Ali that to cure the meat, it was not enough to apply salt just once. In order to preserve it longer, salt should be applied to the meat again every other day, up to about three times or so. Moreover, the meat must not be taken to dry in the sun immediately after curing it. It must be left in a cool and ventilated place to dry in the shade for a few days before it can be put under the sun to continue drying. This was the method to make preserved meat.

Of course, in the cases where there was simply a lack of materials, there was no need to be so particular, as long as the meat could be preserved for a longer time. Moreover, the method of drying meat under the sun was only suitable during the period after the first snow, and the summer sun was not suitable for curing meat. Ka Luo earnestly committed Chen Qi’s words to heart. Since Ali had already stored a lot of meat, he planned to do it too.

In the afternoon, Ali planned to finish weaving the cloths in his hand. Ka Luo took Chen Qi to pick out the stone slates needed for building the house. Most of the collapsed houses were in the periphery of the tribe. Even if they’d collapsed, most of the stone slates remained undamaged due to their sturdiness. In order to reduce the efforts of carrying the stone slabs, Chen Qi had the idea to further break down these already collapsed houses.

Ka Luo was not good at choosing which stone slates were suitable to use to build a house. He very much believed that Chen Qi was so amazing, so since Chen Qi said that he would choose from the collapsed houses, he directly took him to them. After all, they would still need to use fire to melt the glue at the joints before the stone slabs could be taken, and with no female around, they couldn’t quite do that with their small bodies.