Chapter 82: Ceremony

Village Chief Ash prayed with a solemn expression, then raised a piece of iron ore above his head.

Ethan hadn’t studied ores in depth, but even he could tell this chunk was speckled with a metallic luster, the quality had to be quite excellent.

Ash walked to a fox-shaped stone statue and respectfully placed the ore at its feet, around him, the other Fox Beastmen bowed their heads in prayer, as the prayers rose, the iron ore began to glow, bright enough to make everyone squint, and then vanished.

"This is a ceremony to offer sacrifices to the gods, meow."

"I see..." Ethan had experienced something similar, he had offered crops and dishes to Goddess Gaia before and received bountiful rewards in return.

’Will there be a reward this time?’

He watched curiously, but aside from the offering disappearing, nothing else changed.

"The god has accepted our offering!!" Ash and the other Fox Beastmen erupted into cheers.

Watching them celebrate, Ethan turned to Pearl. "As expected, Goddess Gaia is still the best."

"Meow-meow, you’re only saying that because Goddess Gaia gives you rewards, aren’t you, meow?"

"Of course." The world was all about give and take, after all.

They chatted a while longer, then left the Fox Beastmen to their celebration and headed back to the fields.

"When can we harvest these, meow?"

Under the meticulous care of Ethan and Pearl, the Fairy Beans and medicinal strawberries were growing beautifully, plump bean pods and bright red medicinal strawberries the size of fists — either crop qualified as a bumper harvest.

"They should be ready now... Let me check." Ethan plucked a bean pod and peeled it open, revealing plump, round yellow beans packed inside, he popped one into his mouth and chewed.

A rich fragrance spread across his tongue.

’Ready.’

Just as he was feeling satisfied, a voice came from behind. "How are the crops growing?"

It was Ash.

Ethan turned around, without a word, he handed Ash a Fairy Bean, Ash took a taste, and his eyes lit up.

"I didn’t expect the Fairy Beans to grow this well, it’s truly incredible, I’ve heard that humans are skilled at farming, but I never imagined you could grow such wonderful Fairy Beans so quickly, how are the medicinal strawberries doing?"

"The medicinal strawberries still need a bit more time." The strawberries had turned bright red, but they weren’t completely ripe yet, a few could be picked now for a taste, but a large-scale harvest was still a ways off.

"I see, our ceremony will last about three days, you can come watch anytime, and we’ll be holding a feast after it ends, you should join us."

"Meow! What are we eating, meow?"

"Roasted meat, of course."

"Fox Beastman roasted meat is very delicious too, meow! Ethan! Let’s go together, meow!"

"Alright." Since he was invited, Ethan could hardly refuse, he looked at the Fairy Bean field.

"Can I bring some dishes of my own?"

"Of course, your culinary skills are obvious to all of us, no one would refuse." During Ethan’s stay in the Fox Beastman village, he had cooked several times, every single meal had received unanimous praise, therefore, Ash firmly believed that the dishes Ethan brought would be absolutely delicious, and he smiled as he agreed to the request.

"What dish are you planning to make?"

"The Fairy Beans had a great harvest, so I want to use them to make some fried tofu."

"Fried tofu? What is that?"

"Haha... You’ll find out when the time comes." Ethan smiled without elaborating and began harvesting the beans.

With the help of Pearl and Walter, he shelled every pod, then he poured a full basin of beans into water to soak.

"Let’s go pick the medicinal strawberries now."

"Are we just going to leave those there, meow?"

"Yeah, it’s fine, the beans have to soak until they soften first." At least six hours, he answered Pearl’s question, then turned to Ash, who was watching with obvious curiosity.

"The rest of the work will have to wait six hours, if you’re interested, come back then."

"Alright."

For the next six hours, Ethan and the others stayed busy, picking medicinal strawberries, weeding, tending the field.

Once the beans were fully soaked, Ethan, Walter, and Pearl worked together, using Shatter to grind the beans into soy milk, after filtering the freshly ground milk through cheesecloth to separate the okara from the soy milk, Ethan moved on to the next step.

"What are you making, meow?"

"A brine coagulant, if I had gypsum, I could use that to set the tofu, but there isn’t any here, so I can only use brine." He looked at the soy milk in the Cauldron of Blessing with a hint of regret.

However, just as he said, without gypsum, this was the only way, actually, tofu made with brine was more traditional.

He poured the prepared brine into the soy milk just as it neared a boil, stirring gently as he poured, the process was delicate, pour too fast and the curds would be uneven; too slow and they wouldn’t set properly, Pearl and Walter watched his focused expression with open curiosity.

At that moment, Zharok strolled over. "Oh? What are you doing?"

"Making tofu, want some?"

"Sure, of course I have to taste whatever you make." He sat down and joined the audience.

Ethan ignored them all, his eyes were fixed entirely on the soy milk in the pot, watching for changes.

"That should do it." The soy milk had coagulated, transforming into tofu curds, Ethan took out the wooden box he had prepared earlier that day, lined it with cheesecloth, and ladled the tofu curds inside, then he pressed down firmly to squeeze out the excess moisture.

"So this is how it gets its shape?"

"Yes, now I need to prepare something else." The leftover okara could be put to good use, it would make excellent cookies.

Ethan mixed the okara with the flour, sugar, and a little oil he had brought along, kneading it all into a smooth dough, then he placed it into a makeshift oven to bake.

Minutes ticked by, the warm aroma of baking cookies filled the air, just as they were about to finish, Ash walked over.

"We plan to start the feast in two hours, if you’re still busy, you can finish your work afterward."

"I’m almost done on my end too, should all be ready in about two hours."

"Is that so? Huh? Is this the tofu thing you mentioned?"

"No, this is just dessert."

[Delicious Okara Cookies]

[Cookies baked from a mix of flour and the okara of Blessed Fairy Beans. Sweet and delicious, with a lingering aftertaste.]

[Delicious Effect: Increases Willpower upon first consumption.]

[Delicious Effect: Increases Willpower for 24 hours after consumption.]

[Delicious Effect: Increases Stamina for 24 hours after consumption.]

[Crafting Difficulty: ★★★]

Ethan ignored the hungry stares being drilled into the cookies, he smiled and distributed the cookies to them.

"Wow!"

"I’m digging in, meow!"

"Mmm! Crispy and fragrant, it’s so good."

"This is just the dessert? How rich is the main course going to be?"