Chapter 40: CH 40

Chen Qi looked at the little wolf cub that was not even as big as his palm. Then he looked at the huge giant wolf-god corpse beside him. What exactly did this creature eat to grow so big?

Aze carefully picked up the little wolf cub and handed it to Chen Qi. “It won’t survive here. Let’s take it with us.”

The little wolf cub was really too tiny. Chen Qi felt a little overwhelmed holding on to this fragile life, for fear that he would kill it if he accidentally used too much strength.

After Aze handed the giant wolf-god cub to Chen Qi, he sped away from the patch of tall grass. Aze ran very quickly this time. Chen Qi was worried that the little wolf cub would be blown away by the wind and could only very carefully hold it against his chest.

The little wolf pup was very quiet. Its big, round eyes stared at Chen Qi for a moment. It probably sensed that its mother’s scent was getting farther and farther away and let out a mournful sob, burying its head into Chen Qi’s palm as if seeking comfort.

Aze ran for a long time, and it was not until it was almost evening that he found a tall acacia tree to stop at. The reason he chose this acacia tree was because there was a small herd of elk taking a rest from their migration nearby. Judging from the leisurely manner of the elk herd, there should be no predators around. Additionally, one of the elk would serve nicely as dinner.

Aze carried Chen Qi to the very top of the acacia tree before letting him climb down. Chen Qi got down from Aze’s back and asked with a little worry, “Aze, is this little thing not going to make it? It hasn’t opened its eyes since earlier.” If it weren’t for the soft and warm temperature of the little wolf cub, Chen Qi would have suspected it was dead.

Aze reached out a finger and poked at the little wolf cub’s head. The pup turned its head slightly and stretched out its small, soft and pink tongue to lick the offending finger that was messing around atop its head. When it found that it could not eat it, he let out two discontented snorts.

“Don’t worry, the cub of a giant wolf-god is not that fragile. It should just be hungry.” Aze comforted. The two had traveled most of the day and he did not know when last the little wolf cub had eaten. “Chen Qi, take out a milk fruit.”

Chen Qi felt a little relieved and handed the pup to Aze. He quickly reached into his backpack to pull out a milk fruit and cut open a hole with the dragon-horn knife. He looked at the milk fruit and then at the size of the little wolf cub. The milk fruit was bigger than the pup’s head. He looked at Aze with some embarrassment and asked. “How do I feed it?”

Aze looked at the bewildered Chen Qi with amusement, and found it quite novel. Since he met Chen Qi, he’d always gotten the feeling that Chen Qi knew everything with ease.

“I’ll do it.” Aze reached out his hand to take the milk fruit. He plucked a tender, young leaf off the acacia tree then poured a little of the milky white fruit juice onto the leaf and moved it close to the little wolf cub’s face. Perhaps because it could smell the milk, the pup, who had been motionless and pretending to be dead, raised its head slightly. Its nose twitched a few times and it sniffed about a little, then it extended its small tongue to give it a lick. At the taste of food, the cub suddenly became energetic, almost biting down on the leaf in its urgency. It was a pity that only the sharp tips of the little wolf cub’s milk teeth had grown out and its bite had little strength. It could only do its utmost to stretch out its tongue to lap at it, hoping to be able to eat more of the delicious milk liquid.

Aze patiently fed the little wolf cub the milk fruit, bit by bit. After all, the little guy was so small and even if it was eating very eagerly, it was not very fast. Aze was afraid that the little wolf cub would be too full and did not dare to feed it too much at one time so he stopped after feeding it half the milk fruit. Noticing that the delicious food in front of him was gone, the little wolf cub grunted discontentedly. It opened its eyes slightly and found that there really was nothing in front of him anymore. The mist swirled around in his beautiful big eyes and slowly started to close back up. Then it proceeded to lie motionless in Aze’s palm.

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 handed the pup back to Chen Qi. “It’s getting dark, I’ll go hunting first.”

Chen Qi carefully took hold of the little wolf cub and told him, “Be careful.”

Aze nodded and took out two ghost needle flowers from his backpack. He went under the tree and sprinkled the crushed flower sap around it. The sap from the ghost needle flower not only repelled mosquitoes but also covered up their scents.

Aze’s target was the nearby elk herd. He darted out and snuck up close to them. He hid for a while and stared at a young adult elk then charged out directly at it. His left hand held down one antler, while the five fingers on his right hand spread out and sharp fingernails grew rapidly as he thrust deeply into the elk’s tender neck. Before blood could even flow out, the elk had fallen to the ground with a few spasms. The other elk had already scrambled away in a panic the moment they saw Aze rush out. Then they sensed that the danger had stopped and slowly calmed back down, gathering together again to leisurely continue grazing their dinner, as if nothing had just happened.

Due to the addition of a fragile cub, Chen Qi was not in the mood to continue wandering on the plains. Their backpacks were already full of things, so he suggested to Aze that they should go home early. Aze naturally had no objection to Chen Qi’s proposal, and they set off the next morning after a hasty breakfast.

Aze was now very familiar with potatoes and sweet potatoes. His eyes were sharp, and even if the two rhizome plants were withered and yellow, he could still accurately pick them out from a patch of weeds. On the way, the two harvested dozens of potatoes and sweet potatoes, which Aze had wrapped into hide bundles and held them in his hands.

In the last two days, they’d delayed their arrival home due to searching for things along the way. Additionally, they needed to stop from time to time to feed the little wolf cub the milk fruit. Even though Aze was very fast, it still took him two and a half days to get home.

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It was noon, when they arrived home. Chen Qi first went into the house to find a soft piece of hide and spread it into a pottery dish, building a simple nest for the pup. The little wolf cub’s spirit was obviously much better than before. He scrutinized everything around him with its beautiful golden eyes and was full of curiosity.

In the corner of the room were two big bags of salt stones, which were the two bags Chen Qi had asked Azhang to help them to bring back. The two racks for hanging the cured meat to dry by the door were laden with meat. It looked like there was rabbit meat. There were also several birds which were without heads and were hung up with a string on the rack by the claws. They looked like they’d been cured for several days. There were two whiter ones that looked like they had just been cured in the past two days.

Chen Qi knew without guessing that Ka Luo and Ake must have done all this. He’d hoped Ka Luo would bring back the prey caught in the traps so as not to waste them. Unexpectedly, they even helped him slaughter and cure the food.

Chen Qi made a simple dish of stir-fried pork with potatoes for lunch. After the two of them ate  quickly, Chen Qi fed the little wolf cub half a milk fruit and went out to inspect the newly built house.

After being away for a few days, the gum fruits in the walls had dried out. Chen Qi knocked on the wall joints and they returned a dull sound. He circled around the house several times and the more he looked at it, the more satisfied he was. Once the roof and windows were finished, the new house would be completed.

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

“Oh? You guys are back?”

Aze had just returned from checking the surrounding area. After being away for a few days, he always wanted to make sure that there weren’t any unknown predators trying to establish their territory here. Although most of the animals had already started to migrate, Aze still dared not be careless. As he finished his inspection, he found Ake in front of his house, carrying a large backpack.

“What are you doing over here at this time?” Aze asked, surprised.

Ake rolled his eyes and said, “Uncle Azhang and the others got back yesterday. They didn’t see you when they came to collect their prey last night. Ka Luo was worried and asked me to stop by after I finished hunting today.”

Aze nodded apologetically, “We were searching for food on the way home, so we’re back late.”

Ake understood and asked curiously, “What edible things did you find?” Nowadays, whenever he went out to hunt, he wanted to dig up and bring back all the green plants he encountered, roots and all, to ask Chen Qi if they could be eaten. Fortunately, he knew that even if the plants were not poisonous, they couldn’t be casually eaten, so he refrained from doing so and only dug back those that had been confirmed and that he’d eaten before. In the last couple of days, he’d dug up a large backpack full of potatoes and sweet potatoes alone. But the food they made was not as delicious as that made by Chen Qi.

“Ake, you’re here.” Chen Qi came up smiling, “I plan to lay the roof and floor soon. Would you happen to be available?” Winter was coming soon. It would be better if they could finish the house sooner so they could find time to go into the forest to forage. They still had too little food stored.

“Yes, I’ll go back to the tribe and tell Ka Luo first then I’ll come back.”

“En, then I’ll have to trouble you.”

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

When Ake came back, he was accompanied by Ka Luo, Azhang and Ali, the same few people who had been helping to build the house. Chen Qi’s house was very different from the ones in their tribe. It was tall, big, bright and the structure was strange. They all wanted to see what Chen Qi’s house would look like when it was finally finished. So when they heard that Chen Qi was about to make the roof, they decided to come over as well.

“Brother, how do you have the cub of a giant wolf-god here?” As soon as Ka Luo entered the door, he noticed the white little wolf cub sleeping soundly in the pottery dish by the fire. He looked, full of disbelief, at the two of them. Didn’t they go to the Lion-Wolf Tribe’s gathering? Don’t tell me they took a detour to the forest to steal a giant wolf-god cub?

Aze was choked by his brother’s look of incredulity and explained what happened with the giant wolf-god to everyone. After listening, their expressions turned solemn.

“It was already very strange to hear that the people from the Flame-Hill Tribe had been attacked by hyena-drakes on the plains. Now even the corpse of a giant wolf-god has appeared. Something must have happened in the Loya Forest. All of you should try to store more food for the winter.” Azhang looked at Aze gravely and irrefutably told him, “This year, the situation is too abnormal. Hyena-drakes have begun to appear on the plains before winter. You should not go on your own to hunt hydrochoerus dragons in the forest in the early winter. You are already familiar with most of the people remaining in the tribe now. It would be better for us to go together this time.”

Aze’s lips twitched. He looked at Chen Qi beside him and finally nodded, “Okay.”

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