Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains

Chen Qi had Aze pass the thistle to him then said to Axu, “This plant is a thistle. If you are injured during a hunt, you can mash it up and apply it to the wound to stop the bleeding.”

Axu and Ashu looked at each other. Chen Qi had found two thistles. Chen Qi was afraid that they didn’t understand, so he used one for demonstration.

Axu looked at the plant that Chen Qi had mashed into a lump of mud. “Can you stop bleeding by mashing it to this degree?”

“En, my arm was injured before. Chen Qi  mashed up this plant and applied it to the wound.” Aze said.

Ashu looked at Aze enviously and sighed, “Chen Qi, you really know a lot.”

Axu solemnly accepted the other intact thistle. Females were often injured when hunting. Sometimes, if the wound was too big and the bleeding was too serious, they could only try to paste on a little mud to stop the bleeding. However, if the mud was not handled well, it would often fall off and can cause a lot of problems. They had never tried to stop bleeding with plants. Of course, it’s not that Axu completely believed Chen Qi’s words. He just thought that if this method was feasible, it might save a life. After all, if their life was already in danger, there was no loss to give it a try.

“Thank you.” Axu seriously thanked him, “Can we go to your tribe in the future? I heard Ashu say that you had traded with him for half of an octopus. If possible, next time I can bring over some creatures from Salt Water Lake to your tribe to trade with you.” This male named Chen Qi knew so much. First, he’d traded the hide backpack to Ashu. Then he showed them the method of drilling into wood to start a fire. And now he gave them a plant that could stop bleeding. It would be good for the Salt-Water Tribe if they could remain in contact with him. It was a pity that he was not from his tribe. Axu glanced at Aze secretly.

“Really? That would be great. Please be sure to come.” Chen Qi was pleasantly surprised. This way, he would have seafood to eat in the future. Even though it was dried seafood, it was better than nothing. Or maybe when summer comes, he could drag Aze to take him to the Salt-Water Tribe for fresh seafood. Thinking of the seafood, Chen Qi couldn’t help but look forward to the coming of summer.

After all, Axu and his brother had to hurry back to the tribe. They said some parting words and took their leave.

Aze looked at the two brothers who were getting further away. “Axu is a very powerful female.” It was obvious at a glance that he had a stronger body than himself.

Towards these words from Aze that seemingly came out of nowhere, Chen Qi replied noncommittally, “I think you are also very powerful.”

Aze was stunned into a daze and the tips of his ears quickly turned red.

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

Chen Qi raised his spirits and prepared to continue his search for edible foods. This time he must find edible plants. After taking a few steps, he found that Aze had not followed him. He turned back and shouted loudly, “Aze, let’s go.”

Aze’s senses returned. Rubbing the hot tips of his ears vigorously, he replied,  “Okay.”

As they continued on their journey, it was unknown whether or not there was a sudden change in their fortune, but Chen Qi found a potato plant as well as several sweet potatoes. There were about 20 or more of them dug out, each about the size of a fist. Chen Qi was so excited that he lit a fire on the spot and roasted several sweet potatoes with Aze.

Smelling the fragrance of the roasted sweet potatoes once again, the tense expression Aze had been wearing since they’d arrived at the Lion-Wolf Tribe also eased away, revealing a smile that had not been seen for a long while.

“Aze, what is this fruit? Can it be eaten?” These two questions were what Chen Qi had asked the most in the past two days. After exerting two days’ worth of efforts, they’d managed not only to find potatoes and sweet potatoes, but they’d also found a handful of scallions and garlic, perilla, wild ginger and even a few fist-sized bell peppers, which made Chen Qi so happy he was almost broken. Now both of their backpacks were bulging with various kinds of plants.

Aze went over and saw that it was a small, calf-height fruit tree, with long, slender leaves, and between the branches were brown fruits, only three fingers thick, that were shaped  a little bit like strawberries. “This is a milk fruit.” Aze plucked one and cut a small opening at the top of the fruit with a light stroke of his fingernails then handed it to Chen Qi. “Try it. Although females usually prepare these fruits for newborn babies, it tastes very good.”

Chen Qi took it and found that the shell of the fruit was very hard. The incision was too small to see what was inside the fruit. He placed it under his nose and gave it a sniff. It smelled like milk. Chen Qi took a sip. The fruit juice was cold and had a hint of strawberry flavor. It was very similar to the milk cartons sold in a supermarket. It was delicious.

Chen Qi drank the milk fruit in a few swallows and reached out to wipe the milky white liquid from the corners of his mouth. “It’s delicious. Aze, how long can these milk fruits be kept for?” If the shelf life was too short, they should consider eating them first.

“The milk fruit can be stored for several months. During the winter, the milk fruits will begin to fall off. After falling off, its taste will become very strange, and if you eat too much of it, you will get diarrhea. Therefore, pregnant females would rush to collect the milk fruits before winter, so that even if the child is born in winter, there would be enough food.”

Chen Qi’s eyes lit up and he made a big, excited wave. “Aze, if you see any milk fruits in the future, you must pluck them all.”

Aze smiled, “Okay.”

A milk fruit tree did not bear many fruits. There were only seven or eight milk fruits. Chen Qi put them all into his backpack. Then, he just looked up and found a pair of golden eyes staring at him from within the tall grass nearby. Aze stepped two steps forward to protect Chen Qi and whispered, “That’s the same cheetah that we encountered near our house.”

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

Chen Qi’s thoughts were a mess. There are so many cheetahs in the Dora Plains. How could we have run into the same cheetah even after we’d crossed over to the other side of the Chishui River? Is this the legendary ‘inevitable clash between enemies’?

At this time, the cheetah was also cursing it’s dog luck. It had just come of age, and for the first migration as an adult, it still needed to come back and follow its mother. Its mother’s territory was on the other side of Chishui River. Today, it had just crossed the river and noticed some strange movements in the nearby tall grass. It originally planned to come over to check whether it was a dangerous predator. Unexpectedly, it had encountered the two hateful beastmen from before.

If it hadn’t been for these two beastmen, it would have had a rich territory. It wouldn’t have been forced to become a vagrant cheetah, trembling in fear each day as it wandered through other dangerous predators’ territories in search of prey.

Aze let out a threatening growl. The cheetah had experienced Aze’s power before and naturally would not insist on trying to smash a rock with an egg. It still very much cherished its little life. The beautiful golden eyes glanced at the two men for a short moment, then shook its tail and dashed towards its mother’s territory.

Although the cheetah had left, Aze’s expression did not relax with the departure of this harmless big cat.

Chen Qi asked anxiously, “Aze, is there something over there?”

Aze shook his head. “I don’t know. Something over there gives me a strange feeling. The cheetah was probably going over there to check it out too.” To allay Chen Qi’s worries, Aze added, “There shouldn’t be anything dangerous there. Otherwise the cheetah wouldn’t try to get so close. Shall we go and have a look?”

After all, the two were not far from the tall grass. A known danger was much safer than an unknown danger. Chen Qi thought for a moment, “Then let’s go and have a look.”

Aze crouched down, “Get on my back first. If there’s any danger, we will leave immediately.”

Chen Qi nodded and climbed onto Aze’s back.

This patch of the plains was basically filled with reeds that were even taller than Aze and the withered leaves tickled Chen Qi’s face. Soon after, the two men noticed a large area of dried grass flattened in front of them. A few more steps forward and they saw a huge white beast lying in the grass. The beast’s back was facing them and they could not see what kind of creature it was. However, the dried dark red blood on the white fur showed that the beast had been seriously injured.

Aze did not approach it directly, but walked around the beast slowly instead, quietly observing for any movements. If the beast did anything, he planned to leave immediately, carrying Chen Qi.

Until Aze walked around to the front of the beast, it remained motionless. At this time, Chen Qi could see what kind of creature it was. “Wolf?”

Aze frowned and set Chen Qi down. “This is a giant wolf-god. They are the guardians of Sanchen River and do not harm the beastmen.” Aze paused, then continued, “But this giant wolf-god seems to have been dead for a long 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.

Giant wolf-god? Chen Qi was a little surprised. He had no impression of this species. Even the information he’d received when he first crossed into this world had not mentioned anything about the giant wolf-god. However, since he was crowned with the word “god” by the beast people, like the beast god, it showed that this creature must not be so simple. But how could this giant wolf-god lie dead here in the wilderness plains? The Sanchen River is the main river in the Loya Forest, with only one tributary, the Chishui River, that passes through the Dora Plains.

This giant wolf-god was huge. If it stood up, it would probably be about one and a half meters tall. The fur on its chest was badly bitten and there was a long incision across its abdomen. Aze touched the wound on the giant wolf-god’s abdomen. The incision was smooth. “This was caused by a stegosaurus.”

“Stegosaurus? Weren’t they herbivores?”

“Stegosauruses will still fight back when confronted with threats, but the giant wolf-gods would not eat it. Chen Qi, let’s get out of here quickly. I’m worried that the hyena-drake on the plains will come.” While the hyena-drakes would not take the initiative to attack a giant wolf-god, the carcass of a giant wolf-god would be a delicious meal for a hyena-drake who’d long been starving since leaving the forest for so long.

Chen Qi nodded and climbed up onto Aze’s back again. The two were about to leave when the grass beside them suddenly stirred and there was a faint whimper. If it weren’t for their sharp ears, they probably would not have heard it.

“Aze, did you hear that sound?”

Aze nodded. The movement from the grass wasn’t very big, and the small patch of grass was less than the height of his calf. Aze wasn’t worried that it could be dangerous.

Aze crouched down and pulled apart the small patch of grass. What entered their vision was a palm-sized milky white creature. Beautiful golden eyes, bright and big, shimmering with mist, dazedly stared at them.

“A dog?”

“. . . . . . This is the cub of a giant wolf-god.”