Chapter 10

The little ones had been rolling around on the bark and hay, but his movements gradually caught their attention, and they all ran over to watch.

Xie Juanhan saw them sitting or lying obediently beside him and smiled. "Are you having dinner here again today? I caught some fish."

"Chirp, chirp!"

"Then how about fish grilled on a stone slab? All the fish I caught today are little ones full of roe. I'll marinate them in a bit, then grill them on the slab until they're crisp and golden. The roe should smell wonderful."

The little ones' eyes lit up even more. "Chirp!"

Almost every day when Xie Juanhan prepared food, he made extra for the little ones.

Seeing that they liked it too, just as he'd expected, Xie Juanhan smiled.

Over dinner, Xie Juanhan mentioned little fish cakes.

They were fried cakes made from fish and flour, eaten hot after being fried until fragrant and crisp. For a more elaborate meal, they could be dipped in sauce.

The little ones listened with longing in their eyes.

Xie Juanhan promised to make them some the next day.

The next day, however, Xie Juanhan was getting ready to make dinner, and the little ones still hadn't arrived.

==========Author's note:==========

See you tomorrow!

Thanks to Gulingjingguai Xiaoyatou for the grenade; thanks to Shuixing Xiandingban, Junmuxi, Quantang 0 Zhi Liangcha, insomnia, Nanzhi, Zaibopian, Yangmei Shuxia Zhai Pingguo, and Wutong for the landmines!

Chapter 10: Chapter 10

Xie Juanhan lit the stove, brewed some Ksorn tea, added milk and butter, and sat by the river drinking it.

He had almost finished his tea, but the area around him was still empty.

The sun was about to set, and the wind stirred the treetops with a low, whistling sound.

Xie Juanhan frowned at the cup on the tree stump, wondering whether he should go look for them at Telingewei's place.

They had agreed to eat fried fish cakes, so the little ones shouldn't have stood him up.

Just as Xie Juanhan was about to go find Telingewei, he suddenly heard a faint sound from the woods.

He stood up and turned his head to look.

A group of fluffy little creatures came racing out of the woods, dry twigs and fallen leaves crackling underfoot.

"Chirp, chirp!"

When the little ones noticed Xie Juanhan looking at them, they called out excitedly and ran even faster.

Their heads and chests held high, every one of them had its tail sticking straight up, all four paws pattering along.

They were beside themselves with excitement.

"What have you brought me?" Xie Juanhan crouched down to wait for them.

The little one in front raced toward him and ran headfirst into his shin, then looked up. "Chirp!"

Xie Juanhan opened his palm and caught what the little one spat out. "Oh?"

The little one rubbed hard against his shin, urging him to look.

Xie Juanhan looked at what lay in his palm and saw that it was a tuft of down.

A very soft, thick tuft of down.

Even when he squeezed it tightly, it didn't prick his hand at all.

When he opened his hand, it fluffed up into a large, airy mass again, looking like a gray cloud.

Before he could take a closer look, the other little ones pushed and shoved around him, wanting to spit out their down for him too. "Chirp, chirp!"

Xie Juanhan held out his palm.

The little ones lined up and spat the down they were carrying into his hand.

Before long, he had a big pile of it.

"Where did this come from?" Xie Juanhan turned the down over and over. "Is it some kind of wild animal's fur?"

The little one in front of him tilted its head. "Chirp, chirp."

Xie Juanhan was baffled. "Yes and no? What does that mean?"

The little ones said, "Chirp, chirp, chirp!"

Xie Juanhan felt even more confused. "A wild animal? A bird? Flying? Down?"

He hadn't understood them correctly.

The little ones grew even more anxious.

One of them couldn't take it anymore. With a little "Awoo," it grabbed his trouser leg in its mouth. "Chirp!"

"You want me to come with you?"

"Chirp, chirp!"

Xie Juanhan was genuinely curious about the material. He smiled. "Wait a moment. I'll get a bag."

Xie Juanhan had ordered several cloth bags from the tailor's stall to use when gathering nuts and wild vegetables in the woods.

Seeing how anxious the little ones were, he grabbed the largest bag and followed them.

The little ones led Xie Juanhan onward.

They didn't run deeper into the magical forest, but headed in the other direction.

Xie Juanhan had rarely gone that way. All he knew was that the sea lay at the end of it.

He guessed that the down the little ones had collected came from some animal that lived by the sea.

The sun was setting, but there was still some time before dark.

The little ones picked up their pace.

The temperature dropped.

The wind blew from the land toward the sea. There was less moisture in the air, and the scents were more varied.

Xie Juanhan stood upwind and sniffed, but couldn't make out anything in particular.

The little ones led Xie Juanhan across two mountains.

The closer they got to the sea, the fewer trees and the more rocks there were on the mountains.

All kinds of seabirds nested on the mountains.

Their nests contained feathers and animal fur too, but these clearly weren't what the little ones had brought back, and the little ones didn't stop.

At last they reached the mountaintop, facing the sea with the land behind them.

Only then did the little ones give a couple of chirps to signal that they had arrived.

Xie Juanhan looked around, trying to find the source of the down.

The little ones had already run to the edge of the mountain and jumped down from the summit.

The side of the mountain facing the sea was a cliff.

When Xie Juanhan saw the little ones jump down so eagerly, he knew there had to be something over there.

He hurried over and looked down, discovering rocks of all sizes jutting out from the cliff face.

Many of the protruding rocks held enormous nests.

The down the little ones had brought back must have come from the nests.

Xie Juanhan sniffed the air.

The scent in the air was very faint.

He couldn't tell whether any birds still lived in these nests.

It was already spring, and many birds had a habit of migrating.

Perhaps these birds had already left.

With that thought, Xie Juanhan ran to the edge of the cliff and leaped down nimbly.

He had barely cleared the cliff when he transformed back into his dragon form.

A powerful current of air held him steady. He flew swiftly forward, passing the little ones in an instant.

"Chirp, chirp!"

The little ones stood on all fours at the edge of the cliff, tails taut and necks stretched out, watching the slender, graceful dragon with shining eyes.

Xie Juanhan made a sharp turn in the air and swept over the little ones' heads, catching them by the scruffs of their necks with his claws and gently tossing them onto his back.

The little ones tumbled together on the dragon's back like solid balls of fluff.

Once they realized what had happened, they grew even more excited. "Chirp!"

Xie Juanhan carried all eight Dragon Companion Beasts on his back, flying a light circuit with them before depositing them in separate nests.

Only when he flew closer did Xie Juanhan discover how enormous the nests were.

They were larger than the two-by-two-meter bed he'd had in his original world. Even in his dragon form, he could curl up and sleep in one.

There were actually birds this large in this world.

Xie Juanhan took an interested look and noticed that the down lining the enormous nests was good too.

There was more hay lining the bottoms of the nests, though.

Only a thin layer of down had been spread over the hay.

Xie Juanhan had been collecting hay lately, and the hay underneath caught his eye at once.

This hay was excellent: soft, fragrant, and just the right thickness, now glowing golden in the setting sun.

He couldn't resist landing in a nest, changing back into human form, and picking up a bundle of hay to examine.

Just as Xie Juanhan was absorbed in looking at it, he heard the rush of wind.

He looked up.

A giant deer with eagle wings and a coat of eagle feathers was flying toward them.

Its wings looked especially broad and thick, and their beats stirred a muffled rush of wind.

It didn't seem to see Xie Juanhan or the Dragon Companion Beasts. After circling once by the cliff, it flew toward one of the nests.

The setting sun shone on it.

But the shadow it cast on the cliff was not that of a bird, but of a human.

Xie Juanhan recognized the half-deer, half-eagle magical beast at once.

A Peryton.

According to legend, when travelers died away from home and their souls couldn't return, their spirits became Perytons.

So it was this kind of magical creature!

Xie Juanhan was a little surprised.

He quickly realized that the down in the Perytons' nests must be their down feathers.

They bred in winter and spring, and would deliberately pluck the softest down from their bellies and spread it in their nests to keep their eggs warm.

Disturbing such down was sure to bring their retaliation.

Once Xie Juanhan realized this, his expression changed slightly.

Although none of the Dragon Companion Beasts were in the nest where that Peryton had landed, if other Perytons came back, they would most likely be trapped here.

Xie Juanhan wasn't afraid of creatures like Perytons.

It was just that, according to legend, Perytons held grudges fiercely. They were more like vengeful spirits, and if provoked, they would almost certainly fight until one side was dead.

Although Xie Juanhan hunted too, he didn't kill indiscriminately.

He was usually quite careful to maintain the balance of the prey populations.

He needed money lately, so he had been hunting more, but he still deliberately sought out the old and weak animals in a herd.

He didn't want to kill creatures like Perytons, which were highly vengeful and often came out in groups, over such a small problem.

He had to leave quietly.

Thinking this, Xie Juanhan quietly changed back into his dragon form and slipped out. He went to the nearest nest and picked up the two Dragon Companion Beasts inside.

The two little ones had also seen the Peryton return. They huddled in the nest, not daring to move, their fluffy faces full of guilt.

The white dragon flicked the two little ones' thick, soft pointed ears with his claws, then silently placed them on his back as they looked at him aggrievedly.

One dragon and eight Dragon Companion Beasts.

And the dragon was so big.