Chapter 121 | The Otherworld Journey That Starts From a Slime

By the time Zhang Ye returned to the dormitory, it was just in time for dinner.

While he started wrapping dumplings, he sent Gujiu to fetch Lina and the others.

Soon, the group gathered once again. Watching Zhang Ye wrap the dumplings, everyone was filled with curiosity.

“Big Brother Ye, can I try?” Lina asked, eager to give it a go.

Zhang Ye smiled. “Sure! Let’s all do it together. Dumplings you wrap yourself always taste better!”

The group immediately huddled around, learning from Zhang Ye how to wrap them.

None of them had ever handled this kind of dough before, so they were all quite clumsy.

“Big Brother Ye, look at this. How is it?” Lina held up a dumpling for Zhang Ye to see.

Zhang Ye took one look and burst out laughing. “Why does your dumpling look like a little foot?”

It was remarkably lifelike and even a bit cute.

Lina said innocently, “Isn’t it… wrapping feet? I was wrapping it based on my own little foot.”

Zhang Ye laughed even harder. “It’s not the jiao for ‘foot,’ it’s the… jiao from that ‘sister-in-law’ joke.”

Everyone: “???”

“How about this?” Samanra also held up a dumpling. It was quite pretty, shaped like a flower, but the filling was a bit sparse. It looked more like a wonton than a dumpling.

“Not bad, but you can add more filling,” Zhang Ye said with a smile.

“Big Brother Ye, look at mine!” Copico produced a dumpling that made Zhang Ye beam with amusement.

This kid couldn’t figure out how to wrap one skin, so he stacked two skins together and stuffed the middle with meat filling. The whole thing was larger than a goose egg and packed to the brim.

“Big Brother Ye, how’s this one?” Renomon suddenly asked, then held up… wait, what?!

Zhang Ye let out a snort and laughed hysterically. Compared to Copico, Renomon was even more exaggerated. He had pressed a dozen dumpling skins into one giant sheet and stuffed it with filling. The entire dumpling was as big as half a head!

“Big Lion, that dumpling of yours is way too big!” Copico clutched his stomach, laughing his head off.

Renomon scratched the side of his face. “I just wanted to eat more…”

“Hahaha!” The group dissolved into a fit of laughter.

Nan watched from the side, a hint of envy flickering in his beautiful eyes.

However, he soon shook his head inwardly and turned toward his room.

But in the next moment, a hand suddenly grabbed his.

“Nan, go wash your hands and come wrap some dumplings,” Zhang Ye said.

Nan wanted to refuse, but the words that came out were: “I don’t know how.”

“It’s fine, I’ll teach you,” Zhang Ye said with a grin.

Nan was silent for a moment before nodding and using magic to wash his hands.

Then, Zhang Ye gave everyone another demonstration.

“Look here. Put the skin in the upper half of your palm, and one spoonful of filling is about right. Then fold it over, press the edges firmly between your fingers, and give it some pleats—and a perfect dumpling is complete!”

“Whoa…” The group let out exclamations of awe and began to imitate him.

Nan tried, but for some reason, despite his usually exceptional control over his body, he couldn’t seem to handle a thin dumpling skin. He tore the skin several times, letting the filling squeeze out all over his hands.

Watching the others gradually produce better-looking dumplings, Nan felt a growing sense of frustration.

Just as he was about to toss the skin aside and leave, a large hand suddenly covered his.

“Like this. Don’t use too much filling, then fold it…” Zhang Ye gently held Nan’s hand and pressed down on the dumpling skin. A decent-looking dumpling was born.

Seeing this, Lina leaned in and said, “What a cute dumpling!”

Nan froze. Looking at Zhang Ye’s handsome profile, the irritation in his heart slowly vanished without a trace.

“Gujiu~” Suddenly, Gujiu reached out its two tiny hands and held up a dumpling.

Zhang Ye looked over and laughed. “Gujiu knows how to wrap dumplings too!”

“Gujiu~” the slime chirped proudly, drawing a round of laughter from everyone.

Once they finished wrapping, they began to boil the dumplings. The group gathered around the large pot, watching the rolling water with immense anticipation. Even Nan stared intently.

In there were dumplings he had wrapped himself.

The moment the dumplings were pulled from the pot, a wonderful aroma hit them.

The scent of dough and meat wasn’t as heavy as other dishes, but it had a rich, mellow fragrance that made everyone’s mouths water.

“Time to eat sist—cough, time to eat dumplings!” Zhang Ye set plate after plate of dumplings on the table.

Lina said, “I’ll go get the plates.”

Zhang Ye smiled. “No need, small bowls are enough. Dumplings are meant to be shared. Just grab whatever you want; it’s more cozy that way.”

Zhang Ye didn’t want to see that Western way of eating, where a table of food is divided into individual plates for everyone to eat separately.

“Hahaha, this is Lina’s ‘foot-ling’!” Zhang Ye picked up a little foot-shaped dumpling and couldn’t help but laugh.

“The Big Lion’s giant dumpling is seriously massive!” Copico pointed at the oversized dumpling standing out like a sore thumb on the plate and laughed.

Everyone began picking up dumplings. Whenever someone found a strangely shaped one, they would laugh and tease the person who made it.

Nan looked at the dumpling in his bowl, and a smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

This was a dumpling he had wrapped himself.

Suddenly, he felt a gaze on him. Turning his head, he saw Zhang Ye looking at him with a smile.

Startled, he quickly looked away and focused on eating his dumpling.

“Mmm, so delicious!”

“This is way too good!”

“Pfft, the Big Lion’s giant dumpling isn’t cooked all the way through inside…”

“Hahaha, I’ll take it back and boil it some more!”

“This one was wrapped by Nan, wasn’t it? It’s top-notch!”

Laughter and chatter filled the dining table. The process of wrapping and the delicious taste of the dumplings brought immense satisfaction and a deep sense of happiness to everyone.

After they had eaten their fill and chatted for a while, everyone headed back. They left with smiles on their faces, clamoring to have dumplings again in the future, and Zhang Ye readily agreed.

Now that he was full, he still had to feed the three creatures in his contract space.

Bolabo and Labella only needed to eat ores. Conveniently, Zhang Ye had dug up plenty of ores earlier, enough to last them a long time.

Tei Tei, on the other hand, needed meat. Zhang Ye specifically prepared some roasted meat and dumplings for her, and she ate them with great joy.

After feeding his contracted beasts, Zhang Ye glanced at Nan’s closed door and then returned to his own room. With a wave of his hand, he covered the room in mana to block out any sound.

He wanted to try using mana vibrations to produce various sound effects.

Through his control over mana, he quickly figured it out.

“Compressing metal-attribute mana produces the sound of a drum kit’s cymbals. By changing the density of the compression, the sound changes.”

“Wood-attribute mana doesn’t need compression. Forming it directly into drum-like vibrating mana can produce drum sounds. Adjusting the shape produces different types of drums.”

“Guitar sounds… hmm, I can directly condense lines of metal and light-attribute mana. By adjusting them, I can create the sounds of various guitars, even electric ones!”

“And the piano sound is…”

After three continuous hours of experimentation, Zhang Ye successfully worked out various sound effects. By adjusting or compressing different attributes of mana and then using high-frequency vibrations, he could produce the sounds of various instruments.

Furthermore, Zhang Ye discovered that incorporating different attributes of mana into the sound waves could change the effects—such as reverb or a robotic voice. It was a massive discovery!