35 – Betwixted Translations

In the center of the Lion-Wolf Tribe was a huge public square. The gathering started on the second Moonless Day after the first snow, so when Chen Qi’s party arrived, the huge square was already full of people. Everyone occupied a small area with their goods in front of them and were either waiting for people wanting to trade for their goods or going around with their goods to find things they needed to trade for.

Upon entering the tribe, Chen Qi got down from Aze’s back. It was the first time he’d seen so many people since he’d arrived in this world so he looked around with curious eyes.

The beastmen who came to the gathering were very young. All of them seemed to have an abundance of youthful energy and bright, smiling expressions. Bare muscular arms; Colorful, clean and beautiful fur clothes. They looked very different from the beastmen he’d met in the Rock-Mountain Tribe. As Chen Qi continued walking, he also noticed several beastmen repeatedly wandering into his sight more than a few times, giving him a very strange feeling.

Azhang found a remote corner with relatively few people. This time they mainly wanted to trade for salt stones and flints, so there was no need to immediately rush to look for the goods.

While the Lion-Wolf Tribe was the host for the gathering, they did not arrange food or lodging for the visitors. Each tribe would pick an area in the square to settle at. Later, in the evening, a huge bonfire would be lit in the center of the square. Beastmen from the various tribes would barbeque and chat around the fire. After eating and drinking, they would return to their small stalls and spread out animal furs to sleep on for the night.

Azhang originally wanted to find a house with space to spare for Chen Qi to live in for two nights. Since most of the beastmen from the Rock-Mountain Tribe had merged into the Lion-Wolf Tribe, there were still many whom Azhang was familiar with. So it would not have been difficult to borrow some space in a room for two nights.

Naturally, Chen Qi refused. How could he leave them to sleep out here and run off to stay in a house by himself? It’s not like he had not slept under the sky before.

“Uncle Azhang, can I go look around?” After settling down, Ale had, at some unknown time, changed into brown and yellow fur clothes with tiger stripes. His face was flushed with excitement and he asked Azhang a little bashfully.

Azhang was stunned for a moment, then he laughed boisterously and patted Ale on the shoulder. “Go, go. I hope you find a male for yourself.”

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

Embarrassed, Ale stopped paying attention to Azhang. He slipped into the crowd and disappeared.

Chen Qi helped Aze arrange the things and rubbed his shoulders that had been strangled red by the backpack he’d been carrying for several days. “Aze, do you want to go look around?” Although it was already evening now, it did not affect Chen Qi’s interest in seeing if he could find anything useful that was worth trading for.

Aze paused, lowered his head, and said calmly, “We have too many things here. It would not be good if we were not here if someone wanted to trade for our stuff. Chen Qi, if you want to go take a look around, you can take some animal skins with you. If you see something you want, you can trade them for it. This tribe is a safe place and nothing will happen.”

Chen Qi thought for a while and realized what Aze said made sense. So he took out the hide backpacks that were in his backpack, leaving only two of them inside. Then he stuffed some animal skins into his backpack and slipped it back on his shoulders, ready to start his shopping journey.

It is unavoidable that a beastman world like this would have such limited things. After a lap around the nearby areas, Chen Qi found that basically all the stalls only had goods like various animal hides, some dried meat, newly picked wild fruits, some grayish-white salt stones or pottery. There was nothing else.

Chen Qi was a little disappointed and was about to head back when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a young beastman sitting on the ground gnawing on a piece of octopus. Chen Qi stared at him for several seconds and found it really was an octopus.

Ashu, the young beastman, also clearly noticed Chen Qi’s gaze. He raised his head and saw Chen Qi’s beautiful black eyes staring at him. Ashu had just come of age this year, and had never been so bluntly stared at by a male. His face that still carried some baby fat on it turned red from his ears down to his neck. Remembering that he still had the piece of octopus in his mouth, he hurriedly took it out and hid it behind him. He stammered a little as he asked, “Do you want to trade something?”

Chen Qi discovered that there was a small pile of the grayish-white salt stones in front of the other man. Beastmen were not like Chen Qi who needed salt to cure meat, so they did not have much demand for salt stones and naturally would not hoard a lot of them. Chen Qi’s gaze moved to the hand behind Ashu. “What was that you were eating just now? Can you exchange it with me?”

“Huh?” Ashu was a little dazed. He took out the half-eaten piece of octopus from behind him and asked uncertainly, “You want to trade for this octopus? Not for salt stones?”

Chen Qi nodded. It was a small piece of dried octopus.

“Do you not have enough food?” Ashu asked, still puzzled. Unmated males would have food uniformly distributed by the tribe. It was impossible for them to need to trade animal skins for food with others. Also, didn’t those from other tribes hate the salty smell of the aquatic creatures?

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 don’t lack food. I just think the food you were eating looked delicious. I want to trade for it, for a taste.” Chen Qi took off the backpack behind him and took out a new hide backpack and a whole animal skin. “Do you need this kind of backpack or hide? If you need food, I can go back and get it.” Before entering the tribe, they’d hunted two adult male warthogs for food for tonight and tomorrow.

Ashu looked curiously at the backpack that was full of things. This was his first time seeing this kind of animal skin that could be stuffed with so many things. It looked very convenient. Several thoughts circled through Ashu’s mind, then he explained, a little embarrassed, “We hunt prey on the way over here. I secretly brought these octopuses with me to satisfy my own craving, so I don’t have much.”

“That’s fine. I’ll trade for as many as you have for trade.”

“Oh, good.” Ashu turned to the pile of animal skins beside him and dug out half of an octopus that had been dried. The octopus was not big. Ashu thought for a moment and then pulled out a cattail leaf that held several beautiful shells on it, then handed it to Chen Qi with a little embarrassment. “This is all I have. Can I trade these for that very convenient animal skin?”

Chen Qi looked at Ashu’s offering, smiled and handed the hide backpack to him. He also taught him how to put things in it and fasten the backpack lid. Ashu carried the backpack and circled around a few times. He then realized that he was lacking in manners and looked back but discovered that Chen Qi had already taken the octopus and shells and left.

Ashu was a little upset and felt that he had taken advantage of the male. Such a useful backpack, he should have given the male some more salt stones.

As Chen Qi reached the place where his party had settled at, he saw from a distance that a strange man stood opposite Aze saying something. Aze occasionally shook his head and pursed his lips, not speaking. Agitation was obvious on his face, yet he didn’t look at the other man. Chen Qi was too far away and could not hear what was being said.

The other members of the tribe were not present and their luggage appeared reduced. They probably went to the gathering to trade with the other tribes.

“Aze.” Chen Qi called out. Aze looked over at Chen Qi coming towards him and was a little flustered. He subconsciously stepped two steps back and formed a little distance from the man in front of him.

Ai Li frowned. Before, it was always him who disliked being close to Aze. Whenever he saw him, he was intent on staying away from him, the female without a pregnancy pattern.

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

Ai Li looked sullenly, following Aze’s gaze and saw a male in gray and white hide clothing walking towards Aze with a smile. That bright smile on his face irked him for some reason. “Is this the male you found for yourself? Does he know that you don’t have a pregnancy pattern?”

Chen Qi raised his eyebrows. What’s with this lofty tone? An acquaintance of Aze’s? “Are you looking to trade with us? We only trade for salt stones.”

“I’m not here to trade. I’m here to meet with Aze.”

“Are you Aze’s friend?”

A trace of disgust flashed in Ai Li’s eyes. He was clearly repulsed with the word ‘friend’. He glanced at Chen Qi contemptuously, before turning his line of sight back onto Aze, “Didn’t you trade for enough salt stones last year? You still dare to return here this year. I told you if you dared to come again I would tell the chief of the Lion-Wolf Tribe that you have no pregnancy patterns. Then they will definitely drive you out of the tribe. You have already harmed the Rock-Mountain Tribe. Are you also trying to drag in the Lion-Wolf Tribe?”

Aze lowered his head and did not dare to look at Chen Qi. His clenched fist trembled slightly.

Chen Qi saw Aze’s unnatural emotions and stepped between the two. The smile on his face vanished and he looked coldly at Ai Li. “It seems that you and my Aze are not friends. If you are not here to trade, please leave. We are still busy trading things.”

“He must not have told you that he doesn’t have a pregnancy pattern. A female without a pregnancy pattern is one who is abandoned by the beast god. I advise you to stay away from him, or he will bring disaster upon you.”

Chen Qi took two more steps forward. He was a little taller than Ai Li and was able to completely block the other’s view. “This is my own business, so there’s no need to bother you to care about it. We still have a lot of things to do. Can you leave now?” With that, he also made a gesture of sending off the other party.

Ai Li’s chest tightened with anger at this ungrateful male. He was kind enough to remind him yet he didn’t appreciate it. He turned to leave with a cold snort. Sooner or later, he would definitely regret it when Aze gets him killed.

Chen Qi didn’t know how to quarrel with people. He was really afraid that the other party would keep nagging endlessly. He turned around and saw Aze, whose head was drooped down, and reached out a hand to rub his shiny black hair. “I just traded for a bit of octopus. When we get home, I’ll make you something delicious to eat. There are also some beautiful shells that would look nice if we hang them around the door as decorations.”

Aze was stiff and, without replying, tacitly allowed Chen Qi’s hand to rub his head.

Chen Qi sighed and took hold of the other’s hand. Only then did he realize that Aze’s hand was astonishingly cold. “Aze, after trading for salt stones tonight, let’s go home early tomorrow morning.”