Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains

Chapter 42

Since so much cured meat had been stored in Aze’s house for a long time, it had long been overwhelmed by the smell of cured meat. The new house had been built and Chen Qi could not wait to move out of the room full of meat.

Aze first set up the slate bed in Chen Qi’s room, then spread two layers of soft fur pelts to make a mattress. Chen Qi began to prepare dinner in his new home.

The two men had harvested two big bags full of potatoes and sweet potatoes during their trip back, so they did not need to save food. The first meal Chen Qi made in the new house was very hearty. A few sweet potatoes were steamed for staple food; a dish of meat and potato stew was made; a large bowl of pork with shredded potatoes was stir-fried; and there was also a sweet soup of laiche fruit and sweet potatoes. Fearing that Aze would not be used to the spicy taste, he cut up a bell pepper and carefully removed the seeds within, then added it, along with little ginger and green onions, to stir-fry a large plate of pork kidney. It did not need to be said, but Chen Qi felt that this meal full of a variety of meat and vegetables was his most presentable yet.

It’s a pity that there is no table. These several dishes placed on the floor make it feel a little less cozy. Chen Qi thought with some regret.

After dinner, Chen Qi began to make preparations to head to the Loya Forest the next day . Although, with Aze by his side, it was unlikely for things to get too dangerous, Chen Qi’s cautious nature always made him preemptively consider the worst case scenarios.

Chen Qi hoped that, even if he couldn’t help Aze in a dangerous situation, he had to at least strive not to be a burden to the other man. At present, he could only defend himself with the dragon-horn knife. Although the dragon-horn knife was sharp, its attack range was too short. Chen Qi had zero experience in close combat with wild animals, and he didn’t think he could protect himself with such a weapon. He needed a weapon that could attack from a long distance. At least if the wild animals weren’t able to get close to him, his chances of escaping would be higher. As far as long-ranged weapons go, one that he could make and quickly get started on, Chen Qi’s first thought was a bow.

Chen Qi only knew the general composition of a bow, formed from content he’d watched on the TV and movies. He was, unfortunately, completely unclear on how it was made. However, this did not dispel Chen Qi’s enthusiasm for making the bow.

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 found a wooden stick that was more than a meter long and as thick as an arm. Chen Qi chose it because the material was sturdy enough that there would be no fear of it breaking. He got Aze to help break the stick in half, chose the thicker half, and used a piece of charcoal to draw out the approximate shape of the bow on it. Then Aze cut out the prototype of the bow according to the drawn shape under Chen Qi’s directions.

For the bowstring Chen Qi used root threads, which were a little elastic and strong enough, and weaved a slightly thicker rope to tie across both ends of the bow. To fix the rope onto both ends, he made several shallow notches on both ends using the knife. Then he grabbed another long wooden stick, drew the bow into an arc, and set the long wooden stick in the middle to fix the shape.

After the prototype of the wood bow was completed, Aze went to feed the little wolf cub who’d just woken up. The little wolf cub, perhaps because it was still so young, would sleep after eating its fill, and when it awoke, would let out tiny whines, wanting to eat again.

Chen Qi was making arrows. There was no metal here, and one night was not enough time to grind stones or animal bones into arrows. Chen Qi was not going to make trouble for himself, and directly decided to use wooden sticks to make the arrows for the time being. The fletchings were made of feathers from the various birds they’d hunted previously. The feathers were glued to the tail of the arrow with melted gum fruit. Chen Qi was afraid that the glue would not hold it firmly enough and also tied a root thread around it. Chen Qi made two kinds of fletchings, one with two feathers, and the other with three. The one with two feathers was fast, but the aim was unstable. The three-feathered one was slower, but the aim was more stable, which was conducive for hitting the target.

“Aze, we won’t be here tomorrow, what should we do with this little wolf cub? Leave it at home alone?” Chen Qi set aside the arrows glued with feather fletchings and asked.

Aze rinsed out the cub’s small wooden dish which had just held the milk fruit it’d eaten. “Take it to the tribe tomorrow and let Ka Luo take care of it while we’re away. It’s too young to be left at home.”

Chen Qi found that, when facing the pup, Aze’s facial expression was especially gentle and his movements were much more meticulous than usual. The pup just needed to let out two little whines, and he’d immediately pull out a milk fruit to feed it. “It seems that you like this little pup very much.”

Aze paused a little in his action of placing the little wolf cub back into its fur nest.

The next morning, Chen Qi went to check the bending of the wood bow. It was just a single night’s work and the effect was not very satisfactory. Chen Qi found an unusable piece of hide and hung it on the fig tree outside the house. He tightened the bowstring and took out a three-feathered arrow for a try. The first arrow missed the target.

Chen Qi coughed a little awkwardly and secretly peeked at Aze, who was next to him. He found that the other man’s expression had not changed much at all. He was just watching intently as he drew his bow and let loose an arrow.

Beastmen who had never seen bows and arrows naturally would not understand the embarrassment of being full of confidence yet completely missing the target. Chen Qi restrained his mind’s rambling, drew the second arrow, and the arrow flew off. This time, it firmly stayed on the edge of the hide. Chen Qi, who did not expect the second arrow to hit, happily handed the wood bow to Aze. “Aze, you should also give it a try.”

Having seen it twice, Aze had a rough understanding on how to use the wood bow. “I should try to shoot that piece of hide?”

Chen Qi nodded, “It’s best to hit the center of the hide.”

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

Aze did not understand the difference between the two-feathered or three-feathered arrows. He casually picked up the nearest two-feathered arrow. He set the arrow and drew the bow. The arrow flew out and plunged firmly into the hide, right in the middle of it. Chen Qi looked in surprise at the arrow with its still quivering tail. He walked over to check it and found that the arrowhead had broken through the bark and was buried into the wood.

“Maybe you are more suitable for this bow than I am.” Chen Qi said in a somewhat complicated mood. In the future, when there’s time, he may be able to make a good wood bow. Hunting with a bow would also greatly reduce Aze’s burden.

After breakfast, the two of them dropped off the little wolf cub at Ka Luo’s place then set off for the forest. The Loya Forest was not far from the Rock-Mountain Tribe. It would only take half a day at a female’s pace. Aze did not plan to spend the night outside. They would head home after filling the two hide backpacks they were carrying. As long as Chen Qi was present to identify the plants that needed to be gathered this time, he could frequent the forest later to look for them on his own.

The plants in the Loya Forest were very different from the plants in the Dora Plains. Most of the plants in the Dora Plains withered early, but the forest was still mostly green, and some of the trees with withered and yellow leaves were still full of fruit, which surprised Chen Qi.

Aze checked the surrounding conditions before setting Chen Qi down. The trees here were not as tall as those on the plains. They were more like the small trees in the park beside Chen Qi’s former neighborhood, but the plant species were somewhat different from his own recollections. Chen Qi looked at the tree, that was the height of a man, with bunches of grape-like fruits on it, very similar to those Ake had brought back before.

Chen Qi did not dwell on the fact that these grapes grew on a tree and not on a vine. After confirming with Aze that the fruit was indeed a grape, he promptly plucked all the grapes from the tree and instantly filled up most of the backpack. Chen Qi took one and wiped it with his sleeve then stuffed it into Aze’s mouth, before eating one himself. It was a little sweet and a little sour. He wondered if it could be used to make fruit wine. Thinking about fruit wine, he suddenly wondered how the laiche fruit soup that he’d set aside before was doing. He had been so busy recently and even forgot about its existence. When he gets back, he’d have to go check on it.

“We can find some of everything instead of picking so many at once.” Aze took the backpack that was almost stuffed full of grapes and reminded him. He could pluck grapes from the forest on his own anytime.

Chen Qi inwardly stuck out his tongue. He had been so excited to see the trees bearing so many fruits for the first time that he almost forgot that their main purpose to enter the forest this time was to gather milk fruits for the little wolf cub and to find other plants that could be eaten or used for cooking.

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

Forests were indeed worthy to be called treasures. In just a short search around, Chen Qi found many kinds of wild fruits. He also found several wild cabbages. The cabbages were very big. Chen Qi directly cut them out and tied them with ropes for Aze to carry. It had been too long since he’d eaten vegetables. Besides, cabbages could be stored for a long time and could be pickled if they couldn’t be finished. Chen Qi didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

“Chen Qi, do you need this kind of rice berry?” Aze asked, pointing to a fruit tree that looked a little bit like a coconut tree and was covered with green basketball-sized fruits.

Chen Qi’s ears twitched. The names of plants and animals here were similar to the ones that originally existed in Chen Qi’s world. If the fruit had the word ‘rice’ in it, then even if it was different in appearance from the rice he knew of, it at least showed that it would be a similar kind of thing. Chen Qi went over and said, “Aze, please pick one for me to have a look.”

Aze picked one and handed it to Chen Qi. Although the rice berry’s husk looked very hard, it was easily cut through with a light stroke from the dragon-horn knife. The inside was white and resembled rice congee in texture. It was also a little sticky to the touch. He put it into his mouth and tried it. It had a bit of a rice flavor to it, and the taste was a little strange.

“This kind of rice berry tastes better when it’s cooked. The beastmen children will change to have this kind of food in their diet when they are about a year old.” Aze stopped Chen Qi who was about to try and taste it again.

Chen Qi’s eyes lit up. Finally found the staple food. ” Aze, let’s take some rice berries home.”

“Okay.” Aze nimbly climbed up the tree and brought a few down. They’d only brought out three hide backpacks. The rice berries were very big and just a few of them filled a backpack.

“I wish the backpacks could fit a little more.” Chen Qi muttered, a little disappointed.

“There are still a few days before winter. I’ll come and get some more before then.” Aze comforted.

“Seems that’s the only way.”

While the two were talking, there was a deafening roar from not far away, and a group of iguanodons were startled into rushing around. Loud noises from trees falling to the ground broke the calm in the forest.

Aze’s previously relaxed expression sank. He moved Chen Qi behind him and fixed his eyes on the direction of the disturbance.

Chen Qi felt a sense of crisis in his heart. With one hand, he took the wood bow from his back and held an arrow firmly in his other. He asked anxiously, “What’s going on?”