Chapter 75 (continued)

"Grilled mushrooms for tonight?"

"No, this is for making seasoning powder. I think this kind of mushroom is quite flavorful; grinding it into powder for stir-frying should be great."

Mushrooms used to make seasoning powder need to be dried at low temperatures.

Xie Juanhan didn't know how to control the fire, so the temperature was a bit high, and he even burned a few pieces of mushrooms.

The burnt smell mixed with the mushroom smell, making the kitchen smell rather unpleasant.

Xie Juanhan had to manually extract the cooking fumes and manipulate the airflow to carry the smell outside before things got a little better.

Telingewei took over the mushroom baking job.

Xie Juanhan needed a temperature that was slightly hot to the touch, so he maintained the temperature within that range and baked it at a constant temperature.

Telingewei Baking.

Xie Juanhan stood to the side, bored, so he simply manipulated the airflow to circulate inside the oven.

The oven used a hot air fan, and the mushrooms dried faster than they had expected.

The mushrooms dried out completely in just over half an hour.

Xie Juanhan found a stone mortar and pestle, and Telingewei took over, grinding the mushrooms into powder.

The little ones sniffed the air, somewhat doubtfully. "Chirp?"

Xie Juanhan: "Once it's cooked into a dish, it'll smell delicious. Have you forgotten the soup I made? Magic herbs are originally bitter, but they taste great as soup."

The little ones instantly gained confidence and declared they wanted to try it, "Chirp!"

Xie Juanhan: "Wait a minute, I'll get a spoon."

Xie Juanhan washed a spoon and handed it to Telingewei, indicating that he should dry it.

Telingewei tapped the spoon lightly with his finger.

The spoon was instantly dried out.

Xie Juanhan scooped a spoonful of mushroom powder from the stone mortar, and the little ones opened their mouths wide in anticipation.

Xie Juanhan didn't give them any, but instead repeatedly asked Telingewei, "Would you like to try some?"

Telingewei nodded.

Xie Juanhan held the spoon to his lips, and he stuck out the tip of his tongue and licked it.

Xie Juanhan asked, "How is it?"

Telingewei tasted it carefully. "It's more delicious than I expected, with a very mild mushroom flavor."

Xie Juanhan: "Because it only contains mushroom powder, if I add some salt powder in it, it won't taste strange."

Telingewei: "Should we add salt now?"

Xie Juanhan shook his head. "No need. This mushroom powder is for cooking; adding salt would make it too salty."

The little ones waited for a long time, but the two of them only talked and didn't hand over the spoon.

Haxi couldn't resist grabbing Xie Juanhan's wrist with his two front paws, hooking his wrist, and quickly licking a big mouthful of mushroom powder.

It chirped triumphantly.

After it finished chirping, it frowned, its furry brows furrowing at the strong smell of mushroom powder. "Ouch."

Telingewei flicked its ear. "Serves you right."

Haxi turned around without hesitation and scratched Telingewei.

Xie Juanhan asked, "Would you like to try the mushroom powder?"

The little ones. "Aww!"

Xie Juanhan poured the mushroom powder onto a spoon, and each little guy licked it.

The little Griffin was the greediest; it took a big lick and then immediately showed a pained expression just like Haxi's.

Seeing that they liked it, Xie Juanhan rolled out dough and made wontons with Telingewei that evening.

The meat used to make wontons is specially aged.

Even the meat from a level three Demonic Beast, when chopped up, is a perfect balance of lean and fat, tender and delicious.

Xie Juanhan added wild scallions and various seasonings to the filling and wrapped it into wontons.

Finally, he cooked a pot of Demon Bird soup, specifically for cooking wontons.

Wontons are already delicious, but adding mushroom powder makes them even more delicious.

On a snowy day, eating a bowl of hot and delicious wontons left each little one with a full belly.

Especially the baby Griffin; if you touch its belly, you can almost feel the soup inside.

Xie Juanhan picked up the baby Griffin: "The baby Griffin has gained a lot of weight recently, it's heavier Harper and the others."

Telingewei took the baby Griffin and weighed it in his hand. "We can teach it to fly when spring comes."

The little Griffin's eyes lit up. "Awooo?"

Telingewei bowed his head. "Xie Juanhan and I are teaching. You should use your wings more during this time, so they won't become unusable later."

The little Griffin immediately pawed at his forearm with its two front paws, excitedly exclaiming, "Awooo!"

After the children finished eating, they ran to the study and lay down next to the warm fireplace to take a nap.

Xie Juanhan and Telingewei tidied up the kitchen and put the ground mushroom powder into a sealed jar.

Given the dryness here, this mushroom powder should last at least two months.

Telingewei watched as Xie Juanhan affixed the written label to the jar and said, "When I was an adventurer, I saw people use dried fish powder for seasoning. Mushroom powder is a bit like dried fish powder."

Xie Juanhan: "My hometown also has similar seasoning methods. Speaking of which, we especially like to add fish powder when making wontons. The soup is particularly delicious, and the wontons are also particularly sweet."

Xie Juanhan put the mushroom powder away and smiled, "It seems that people's diets in different places have some things in common."

Telingewei thought for a moment, "I think I also have a book about fishmeal. I'll look for it later."

Telingewei didn't write many books, but over the years he's accumulated quite a few.

Xie Juanhan followed him back to the cave, where they found many ancient books under a pile of gold coins, including magic encyclopedias and magic textbooks.

Xie Juanhan picked up an illustrated guidebook. "I searched for it for a long time in Teme Port, I didn't expect you to have it here."

Telingewei glanced at it. "It's been too long, I forgot."

Xie Juanhan unceremoniously hugged the illustrated book to his chest. "Let me take a look."

Telingewei: "These are for you. Put them in your study too."

Xie Juanhan: "Then help me carry it back."

Most of the books preserved in Telingewei are considered rare treasures.

Xie Juanhan wasn't the type of person who particularly loved reading when he was in his hometown.

This world is just so boring.

Without reading, there's simply no way to pass the time.

It was winter, freezing cold outside, and there wasn't much to gather, so he could use this time to finish reading the new book he had found.

In winter, the little ones don't like to move around much and all stay at home.

Xie Juanhan placed several cushions in his study.

Every day, he would light the fireplace, drag a cushion over to sit down, then pick up the nearest little creature and place it on his lap, using it as a beast-shaped pillow.

Their little ones are all well-fed, chubby, with long, smooth fur, and a warm, hay-like scent.

The scent of hay on the Companion Beast is their natural scent, while the scent of hay on the little Demon Wolf and the little Griffin is something they picked up from spending a lot of time with the Companion Beast.

They're both very comfortable to hold.

Xie Juanhan would sometimes force Telingewei to sit down on the cushion and read.

When he got tired, he would rest his head on the lap of the maintenance chief, Telingewei.

That day, Telingewei said, "I haven't been out for a few days. I found a fish that can be ground into spice powder. Want to go catch some together?"

Xie Juanhan sat up abruptly. "Now?!"

Telingewei said with a smile, "Right now."

Xie Juanhan immediately said, "Let's go, I'll go get the bucket."

As soon as Xie Juanhan said he was going out, the little ones all rolled over and stared at them with their big, round eyes.

I want to go with them.

Xie Juanhan waved his hand. "Hold onto your baskets, let's go."

The little guys cried out excitedly and ran to the kitchen, grabbing their special baskets.

Telingewei transformed back into his dragon form and personally carried his entire family to find fish.

Xie Juanhan was unfamiliar with the ocean.

Telingewei had a keen understanding of the ocean's resources and soon flew to a specific sea area.

After stopping on a deserted island, Telingewei transformed back into human form and said, "There should be those fish here that can be ground into fishmeal. I checked the fish encyclopedia, so I shouldn't be mistaken."

Xie Juanhan immediately said, "It's okay if we're mistaken, we can just treat it as a beachcombing trip."

Telingewei usually speaks only after he has prepared thoroughly.

He said there were fish here that could be ground into fishmeal, and after searching around for a while, they found a rather small target fish.

Xie Juanhan looked at the small fish, about three fingers wide, in the bucket, then at the magic encyclopedia that Telingewei had brought.

The small fish's scales, body color, and eyes all match the description.

Meeting the expectant eyes around him, Xie Juanhan announced with a smile, "A resounding victory!"

The little ones didn't understand what he meant at all; they just cheered "Aww!" whenever he spoke.

Xie Juanhan: "Let's go, let's continue the search."

They searched along the coastline.

There are no other intelligent beings on this deserted island.

Besides the fish they were looking for, the coastline is also home to many shellfish, mollusks, crabs, and even shrimp.

They saw it and didn't hesitate to pick it up, putting some in the bucket and some in the basket.

By noon, they had gathered their catch together, and it was more than half a bucket full.

Xie Juanhan asked the children for their opinions, "How about we have seafood with soy sauce for lunch?"

The little ones still didn't understand what it meant, but they still obligingly cheered, "Aww!"

Xie Juanhan took out a pot, put a large piece of butter in it, and half a bottle of mixed spice powder. He then neatly arranged all kinds of small seafood in the pot.

After stacking them up, there's no need to light a fire; just put the lid on and let Telingewei release a little Dragon Flame.

Soon, the seafood in the pot was cooked.

They didn't add a drop of water, yet the seafood in the pot still produced a lot of seafood juice.

Xie Juanhan scooped up the seafood and divided it into the little ones' plates, then poured a little soy sauce for each of them to dip in.

He collected the white seafood sauce from the pot.