Chapter 23
Telingewei said quietly, "Forget it. They're too weak. One hit would kill them."
Xie Juanhan really didn't make a habit of killing intelligent beings over trivial matters.
As Telingewei pushed him back a couple of steps, he caught sight of the goblins in the corner of his eye. They had taken two steps after them, still hurling abuse.
He flew into a rage.
Damn goblins!
Xie Juanhan put both hands behind his back and made a gesture to the Companion Beasts.
The Companion Beasts had been crouching nearby, enduring the goblins' insults along with them.
The little ones understood some of it, and the abuse had left them stunned too.
They saw Telingewei gently push Xie Juanhan away.
Still bewildered, they prepared to follow.
They had only taken two steps when they saw Xie Juanhan's gesture behind his back and tilted their heads.
Xie Juanhan gave an almost imperceptible nod.
The little ones perked right up. They stopped, turned around, and charged back to beat up the goblins.
The goblins panicked. "Squeak, squeak, squeak?"
It was already too late.
The Companion Beasts charged up to the goblins, pinned them down, and gave them a thorough beating. "Chirp, chirp!"
The goblins were stunned by the beating. "Squeak?!"
After the goblins had been beaten for several seconds, Telingewei looked back and stopped them. "Harper."
Feeling refreshed, Xie Juanhan stood beside Telingewei and gave the little ones a thumbs-up.
He decided to make the little ones something delicious when they got back.
Stopped by Telingewei, the little ones didn't pursue the goblins. They gave them two last swipes of their paws, then turned and walked back to Telingewei and Xie Juanhan with their tails held high and their heads and chests up.
After two steps, one little fellow turned and spat at the goblins.
"Ptui!"
Xie Juanhan stared in astonishment.
After two seconds of shock, he raised both thumbs.
Well done!
The little ones walked back proudly.
After their beating, the goblins lay on the ground, rolling around and crying at the top of their lungs.
They looked like rotten potatoes abandoned in a field.
They cried louder and louder, spreading their arms and legs where they lay and wailing.
Their voices echoed through the passage.
When Xie Juanhan had heard them cursing, he had been so angry that all he wanted was to beat them up.
But hearing them cry like this left him feeling a little troubled, as though he had bullied children.
Xie Juanhan looked back.
Telingewei noticed his reluctance and silently patted him on the back in comfort.
Then, without much expression, Telingewei gave a whistle.
The whistle traveled through the long passage, whistling away in every direction.
The magical elements trembled.
All the animals deep in the cave were startled.
Pairs of predators' eyes lit up in the darkness, all fixed on them.
The goblins froze, their cries catching in their throats.
They suddenly sprang up and moved their short little legs as fast as they could.
They dashed into the passage and vanished with a "pew, pew."
Xie Juanhan hadn't expected them to be so nimble.
Apparently, the beating had barely hurt them.
And they cried so loudly!
They were just faking it!
Xie Juanhan took a deep breath and felt like cursing the goblins too.
Just then, the Alf Mushrooms growing in the mound of earth swayed.
Xie Juanhan caught it out of the corner of his eye and thought the wind was moving the mushrooms, so he paid it no mind.
When he noticed that the mushrooms weren't swaying normally, he turned to look.
As he watched, a bunch of Alf Mushrooms sprouted legs.
They were short little legs just like the goblins'!
They pulled themselves out of the soil, scrambled on their little legs, and found the gap in the earthen fence, then pattered off in every direction.
Perhaps because they had no eyes,
several Alf Mushrooms bumped into their feet or into the Companion Beasts.
The collisions sent spores scattering all over the ground.
The Companion Beasts were startled and stood on their hind legs, raising both front paws. "Chirp?!"
The Alf Mushrooms quickly got up, ran a few steps, and vanished into thin air with a "pew, pew."
Xie Juanhan looked at the spot where they had disappeared, then at the gap in the earthen fence.
The goblins had made that gap when they threw clods of dirt at them.
Xie Juanhan stared for a long while, then suddenly pulled out the magical encyclopedia and flipped rapidly through its pages.
He wanted to see what was going on with these mushrooms!
He turned to the page on Alf Mushrooms.
Xie Juanhan read it over three times, suspecting that he had missed a word because he didn't know many.
"It doesn't say here that Alf Mushrooms can move, does it?!" Xie Juanhan poked Telingewei, asking him to confirm it.
Telingewei had been watching the astonished Xie Juanhan flip through the book the whole time.
Only when Xie Juanhan poked him did he come back to his senses.
Telingewei looked at the magical encyclopedia and checked the words one by one before saying with certainty, "It doesn't."
"How could they do that?!" Xie Juanhan was heartbroken. "A magical encyclopedia worth twelve gold coins, and it doesn't even have all the basic information?!"
If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they would never have known that Alf Mushrooms could move!
They could even run away!
Telingewei said, "Perhaps the fairies who compiled the encyclopedia never saw a live Alf Mushroom."
"Maybe." Xie Juanhan accepted the explanation and took a deep breath. "We'll compile our own encyclopedia in the future."
The Alf Mushrooms had run away.
Xie Juanhan had just made enemies of the goblins, so he had no desire to help them repair their earthen fence.
Nor did he have any intention of helping them catch the Alf Mushrooms.
They were lucky he wasn't smashing up their mushroom patch.
Xie Juanhan rolled up his sleeves and called to Telingewei and the Companion Beasts, "Let's collect the spores first."
The little ones scampered over to help, holding cloth bags in their mouths and pulling them open.
Telingewei took out a small shovel and, together with Xie Juanhan, scooped up the spores along with the thin layer of soil.
Afterward, Xie Juanhan took Telingewei by the hand and ran off too, bringing the Companion Beasts with them.
As for the mess they left behind, the goblins could deal with it.
They deserved it!
The newly collected spores were full of vitality.
Xie Juanhan took Telingewei along to scatter them while they were still fresh.
The two dragons went downstream and took out the silt that had been soaking in the water.
"There's much less salt in it." Xie Juanhan took a handful of silt and rubbed it in his palm. "There's less alkali in it too, but we still can't use it yet."
Telingewei took a look as well. "After growing a few rounds of mushrooms, it should be ready to use."
"That's what I thought too." Xie Juanhan picked up the silt. "Let's carry it back to the forest and find a cool, damp place to put it later, somewhere suitable for growing mushrooms."
"Put it in the shade by the river."
"That sounds good. It'd be best to find a shady spot with good airflow."
"No problem. I know where to find one."
Telingewei helped find a grove by the river.
The shade in this primeval forest was dense, and because it was close to the river, damp moisture filled the grove.
Whenever day turned to night or night to day, the difference in temperature inside and outside the woods brought a breeze.
Xie Juanhan looked at their surroundings and was delighted. "Dark, damp, and ventilated. It meets every condition for growing mushrooms."
Telingewei asked, "Should we spread out the soil and make a mushroom bed?"
"Yes!" Xie Juanhan directed him. "Use a wooden board to spread it."
The two dragons spread the silt flat.
Xie Juanhan carefully scattered the collected spores and soil over the silt, then infused them with Dragon Power.
These magical mushrooms, somewhere between fungi and animals, needed a great deal of energy to grow and didn't grow as quickly as ordinary mushrooms.
They would probably need dozens of days, or even months, to grow.
They couldn't stay here and watch them the whole time, so Telingewei drew a magic circle to keep the mushrooms from escaping.
When he was done, Telingewei gently covered the outside of the magic circle with soil, so the wind or small animals wouldn't disturb it.
Xie Juanhan looked at the little earthen fence rising from the flat ground, his heart full of accomplishment. "I didn't expect we'd be growing Alf Mushrooms too."
Telingewei said, "We'll definitely grow them better than the goblins."
Remembering the goblins' habit of stealing plants, Xie Juanhan went ahead and set several traps around the mushroom patch.
Xie Juanhan said, "Those goblins had better not come steal our mushrooms, or I'll hang them upside down from a tree and won't let them down for a full day and night!"
==========Author's note:==========
See you tonight!
Thanks to Gulingjingguai Xiaoyatou for the grenade; and thanks to xXYx (*2), Mango King (*2), Nanzhi, Peach Blossoms Ashamed to Die Without Love, I Don't Know You, Lying Flat Coconut, the Ratel in the Melon Field, Big Wolf Radish, sleep, Full-Sugar Zero-Fat Herbal Tea, and AAA Hyrule Castle Ice Dragon Scale for the landmines!
Chapter 23: Chapter 23 [VIP]
After more than half a month of construction, Xie Juanhan's house had finally begun to take shape.
Before the dwarves formally began decorating, they went over the specific details with Xie Juanhan.
Xie Juanhan studied the plans carefully, then stood in the rooms and examined them closely. After spending half the morning checking, he told the dwarf foreman confidently, "No problem."
The dwarf foreman said, "That's wonderful. We'll bring the windows over tomorrow and start installing them."
Xie Juanhan nodded. "Thank you for your hard work."
The dwarf foreman said, "It's no trouble! You gave us plenty of Demonic Cores, so we're delighted!"
After speaking with Xie Juanhan, the dwarf foreman bowed to him and happily rejoined his companions.
The other little dwarves had already packed up their tools and were just waiting for the foreman.
Once everyone had regrouped,
the little dwarves, carrying hammers and pickaxes and wearing little pointed hats, hopped and skipped down the forest path, running away from the setting sun.
After they had gone some distance, no one knew who started it, but the little dwarves began bellowing a song:
"Among the mountains, the dwarves' royal city-"