Chapter 27

Telingewei reached out and pulled Xie Juanhan by the arm. "Let's go."

Telingewei wasn't fast underwater. In fact, he was quite slow.

Just as they were about to get sprayed-

Xie Juanhan let Telingewei pull him back a few meters, then transformed into a dragon underwater, grabbed Telingewei in his claws, and shot toward the sky.

"Hold on tight!" the white dragon shouted.

Telingewei was rather heavy.

The white dragon gripped his clothes at the shoulders and had to arch his back for leverage before he managed to lift Telingewei and the water bags clinking against him onto the reef.

When the Tata Fish saw them escape, they got even more excited. They increased the power and blasted enormous jets of water at them like giant water guns.

The spray forced the white dragon several meters farther forward before he could stop.

"!!!" The white dragon looked back at the Tata Fish.

The fish opened their mouths and laughed at them. "Kakaka!"

So the jets they'd sprayed at them at first had been the gentle version?

Had they been afraid that stronger jets would blast them away and keep them from coming back to feed the fish next time?

Telingewei had already landed.

Seeing Xie Juanhan getting sprayed,

Telingewei picked up some stones and tossed them down from the reef.

"Thud, thud, thud-" The stones struck each Tata Fish squarely on its bulging forehead.

The Tata Fish drew in water sharply after being hit and sprayed it out with force. "Splash, splash!"

Telingewei moved out of their range, picked up more stones, and threw them again.

Xie Juanhan changed back into human form and quickly joined the fray. Without hesitation, he grabbed stones and pelted the Tata Fish on their heads. "Thud, thud."

After several rounds, the Tata Fish had barely managed to spray Telingewei and Xie Juanhan.

The two dragons, on the other hand, had terrifyingly good aim. The Tata Fish's foreheads had been struck red and shiny.

They waved their stubby fins, trying to scratch their foreheads, but couldn't reach.

The Tata Fish spun around in the sea in a rage, whimpering for quite a while.

They had no way to fight back, and the stones really did hurt. Eventually, unable to take it anymore, they had no choice but to flick their tails and flee.

The Companion Beasts, who had scored a rare, resounding victory, puffed out their chests and ran over to rub against Xie Juanhan and Telingewei. "Chirp!"

Telingewei looked down at the Companion Beasts' fur, which the seawater had washed into clumps. "You're getting scrubbed when we get back. It's been a while since your last bath anyway."

The little ones stopped chirping. They dragged their tails and glared at Telingewei resentfully.

Xie Juanhan said, "While you're taking your bath, I'll steam some double-skin milk. You can eat it when you're done."

Hearing that there would be something tasty, the little ones perked up again. "Chirp, chirp!"

Telingewei transformed into a dragon and carried Xie Juanhan and the Companion Beasts back to Xie Juanhan's cabin.

On the way, Xie Juanhan kept the Tata Fish milk well chilled.

Back at the cabin, they poured the milk into a small milk pot and brought it to a boil on the flat-topped cast-iron stove.

Xie Juanhan leaned down to smell the fish milk. A fresh, sweet scent rose from it, rich with the aroma of milk.

He had smelled it while milking the fish. The milk really wasn't fishy, and heating it hadn't made it fishy either.

Not only was it free of any fishy smell, but it also smelled wonderfully fresh and sweet.

Perhaps because it was so thick, it needed that fresh sweetness to balance its richness.

Once the fish milk came to a boil, Xie Juanhan poured it out and released a little cold air to quickly bring it down to room temperature.

He couldn't wait any longer.

Xie Juanhan poured the fish milk into a cup, picked it up, and took a small sip.

The fish milk tasted a little like cream. He could clearly taste the rich milk fat in it.

Because it was fresh and sweet, and the milk fat was smooth enough, it didn't taste overly rich. Instead, it was exceptionally creamy and fragrant.

"It's delicious," Xie Juanhan exclaimed.

The little ones licking up fish milk beside him all nodded in agreement. "Chirp, chirp!"

Xie Juanhan held his cup of milk. "That trip really was worth all the trouble."

Beside him, Telingewei, who had already quickly finished a cup of fish milk, said, "Let's go again next time."

Xie Juanhan refused. "Better not. Fish soaked in liquor costs too much. We can have it once in a while."

Telingewei said, "It's fine. Catching a few extra fish while we're at it isn't any trouble."

"Let's talk about it next time." Xie Juanhan nudged Telingewei with his elbow. "Hurry and take the little ones for their bath. I'll steam the double-skin milk."

There was a hot spring right next to his cabin.

Telingewei nodded and carried the Companion Beasts off for their bath.

The little ones struggled with all four paws, but they still couldn't escape Telingewei's large hands.

After their bath, however, Xie Juanhan not only removed the moisture from their bodies, leaving them clean and refreshed, with fluffy, soft fur, but also gave each of them a small bowl of sweet, silky double-skin milk.

They lay on the chairs, licking up the delicious double-skin milk, and their spirits lifted again.

By the time they finished the double-skin milk, Xie Juanhan was already getting sleepy.

One of the little ones hopped lightly down from its chair and wandered over to Xie Juanhan's feet. "Chirp, chirp?"

It was quietly asking whether, now that they had fish milk, they could make ice cream.

The other little ones pricked up their ears. When they heard their companion mention ice cream, they immediately jumped down and ran to Xie Juanhan's feet too. "Chirp!"

Xie Juanhan looked down at them. "How have you still not forgotten about the ice cream?"

The little ones looked at him pleadingly. "Chirp, chirp."

Xie Juanhan had to concede. It looked like the little ones wouldn't give up until they got their ice cream.

He turned to Telingewei. "How about I make a little more? Just a tiny bit, enough for one serving each. I definitely won't make extra."

Telingewei asked, "Will you be tired?"

"I'm all right." Xie Juanhan smiled. "I'm pretty curious what ice cream made with fish milk would be like, too."

Telingewei said, "Then let's make it. I'll help with the churning."

The most troublesome part of making ice cream was the churning.

The other steps-cooking the custard, mixing the cream, and freezing it-were manageable enough for Xie Juanhan.

Xie Juanhan stood up, took out the small milk pot, and began cooking the custard.

The Companion Beasts all circled around his feet.

After he protested, the little ones obediently sat down in a row to one side and waited expectantly.

Soon, the ice cream base was ready.

Xie Juanhan stirred it as he froze it.

Telingewei watched from the side, ready to take over at any moment.

After churning for a while, Xie Juanhan's hand grew sore. He handed the ice cream tub to Telingewei, shook out his arm, and said, "There's no machinery in this world, so churning ice cream is the biggest hassle."

Telingewei churned rapidly as he asked, "What happens if you don't churn it?"

"Then it turns into a lump of ice and doesn't have that light, soft texture."

Xie Juanhan thought for a moment. "With ice cream made from fish milk being so rich, if you didn't churn enough air into it, it might even feel like sucking down a mouthful of fat."

Hearing his description, the little ones beside them showed vivid expressions of disgust on their furry faces.

Xie Juanhan laughed. "So there's no way around it. We just have to churn it longer. If we had a machine, it would be much simpler."

Telingewei said, "There are magical machines. I don't know if they're the same kind you mean, but one can be custom-made."

"That sounds expensive." Xie Juanhan wasn't very interested. "Forget it. Let's make it by hand for now."

Telingewei nodded, then remembered something. "Wait, I think I have an idea."

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

See you tonight.

Chapter 27: Chapter 27 [VIP]

After speaking, Telingewei whistled to the little ones, beckoning them over.

The little ones waddled over slowly, their tails dragging behind them.

They walked reluctantly.

Telingewei said, "Go and fetch the butter churn."

The little ones said, "Chirp?"

Telingewei looked down at them. "The butter churn you stepped on before, the one Meiruidisi gave me. It'll be easier to make ice cream with that."

"Chirp."

Telingewei said, "The sooner you bring it here, the sooner you can eat ice cream."

Only then did the little ones become a little more enthusiastic. "Chirp, chirp."

Telingewei turned back and saw the puzzled look in Xie Juanhan's eyes.

He explained to him, "Humans use butter churns to churn butter out of cream. Doing it by hand takes a lot of effort, so they invented a churn you work with your feet. I have one."

Once he put it that way, Xie Juanhan understood.

It was probably a device like a butter churn.

But-

Xie Juanhan was very curious. "Who's Meiruidisi? Why would they give you a butter churn?"

"An adventurer friend," Telingewei explained. "I used to enjoy cooking, so they gave me all kinds of kitchen utensils. The butter churn was just one of them."

Xie Juanhan said, "That explains it. You don't look like you have anything to do with farming or livestock, so I was wondering why you had a butter churn in your cave."

The Companion Beasts soon returned, working together to drag the butter churn along.

Telingewei showed the butter churn to Xie Juanhan. "See if you can use it."

Xie Juanhan took it and found that the churn was quite ingeniously designed.

There were two pedals at the bottom of the churn, and probably a wheel and axle inside.

To use it, you only had to sit on a chair and work the pedals back and forth with both feet. Two rods inside the churn, each attached to a perforated disc, would move back and forth and churn the liquid inside.

Xie Juanhan was rather impressed. "It should work. As long as it can stir, we can use it."

Telingewei said, "Shall we wash the churn and pour the ice cream into it?"

Xie Juanhan said, "Sure, let's try it."

The two of them washed the churn and dried the moisture inside.

Xie Juanhan lowered the temperature of the churn, then poured the ice cream into it.

He soon discovered that because the churn was made of metal, it could be frozen until it was very cold.

Churning the ice cream inside it was just like churning ice cream in a refrigerator. It worked much better than churning it at room temperature while releasing cold air.