Beauty and the Beasts

Amid skies so blue they looked like they had been brushed with a layer of vibrant paint, the scorching sun was the most dazzling focal point.

The wind flew about without a hint of restraint, stirring the surface of the sea and shattering the glistening sunlight.

Splash!

A smudge of even prettier blue flickered across the shimmering azure surface of the sea, and in the water, one could vaguely make out the silhouette of a merman.

The merman flashed like lightning in the water, and with a “swoosh”, vanished where he had been a moment ago, leaving behind only circles of ripples.

The sea surface was vast and boundless, and in the distance stood a small island abundant in greenery. This smudge of green appeared particularly full of life and gorgeous amid the blue background.

Zooming in, waves crashed upon the shore one after another, accumulating white bubbles on the edge of the sand and the seawater.

Since God knew when a head had bobbed up from the seawater. This head had smooth blue long hair, which greatly resembled a bunch of gorgeous seaweed as it dispersed in the water.

The merman swam to the shore and, lying on the shoal on his stomach, slapped his tail twice before standing up. Following that, his tail disappeared and in its place, a pair of slim, long, and powerful human legs appeared, leaving behind a wet trail as he walked on the shore.

“I’m back, An’an,” Bluepool said loudly as he held fresh and plump seaweed in one hand and a small gray fish the length of two palms in the other.

It was very quiet on the island, so quiet that it made the chirping of the insects and birds appear particularly noisy.

Bluepool smiled to himself as he briskly strode to a tuft of tall grass opposite.

Prying away the grass, a tree hole the size of a bathtub was revealed. Despite the dim lighting inside, one could see a fair face within at one glance.

Bluepool set down the food and reached out with both hands towards the tree hole, carrying out a young lady 13 or 14 years of age.

At a growing age, her height had already reached nearly 1.6m. She was clad in a light blue spaghetti strap dress made of a fabric resembling silk, which shimmered with a fluorescent glow under the sunlight, complementing her fair skin and making it look all the more like snow.

Bluepool couldn’t help but glance over. His face instantly started heating up, and he shifted his gaze away unnaturally.

Holding the girl’s hand, he walked to a shaded flat stretch of sand.

There the dust had accumulated over a long period of time in the open space. Bluepool placed a bunch of withered grass on top of it and rapped it a few times with the flint that had turned scorching hot under the blazing sun, and very quickly started a fire.

“Fish soup stewed with seaweed. Eat some seaweed first,” Bluepool said as he prepared.

An’an turned her head to look at the food on the clean rock, before reaching out to pick up a strand of seaweed.

The seaweed was thin and long. As the proverb goes: pull one hair and the whole body is affected. As An’an picked up a strand of the seaweed, the entire bunch of seaweed was dragged to the sandy ground.

Bluepool wasn’t annoyed and merely glanced at her helplessly, before picking up the seaweed and saying, “I’ll go wash it. Be good and stay here. Don’t move.”

Although they were already living on an island uninhabited by other beastmen, there were still large birds that could endanger a female’s life. Also, mermen of other tribes might have designs on An’an.

As a lone fish, in order to protect a female from all perils, Bluepool had to be vigilant at all times.

Thankfully, An’an was very obedient and never ran around at a whim, therefore nothing serious had happened so far.

Though seaweed was bland, after one got used to eating it they could also taste a salty fishy flavor. An’an ate with relish, staring at the fish next to her. After finishing the seaweed, she casually picked up the fish and opened her mouth to bite it.

“Hey, wait. If you want to eat sashimi I’ll cut it into slices for you..” Bluepool hurriedly jogged over and snatched the fish from her.