Beauty and the Beasts

Bai Qingqing had never been out when she stayed at the village. This was the first time she got to see the night sky in this world. She thought to herself, Three moons! This is indeed not Earth!

Having not sensed the giant snake’s movement for a long time, Bai Qingqing lowered her head and cast a quick glance at him. Seeing him open his eyes, she instantly looked back up at the sky.

After a while, she lowered her head again. The snake’s red eyes were still open this time, and the expression in his eyes seemed identical to earlier.

She suddenly felt something amiss. Taking a deep breath to bold herself up, she forcefully lowered her head to look straight at the snake’s head.

This time, she finally realized what was off. At this moment, Cortis’s reddened eyes seemed a little blurry, as if there was a transparent film over it. Even though his eyes appeared to be open, he was, in fact, asleep already.

This was nature’s protective mechanism, wasn’t it?

Bai Qingqing heaved a big sigh of relief. Cortis had fallen asleep. At least tonight he wouldn’t be laying a finger on her. In order not to wake him up, she decided to sit like that for the entire night.

The night wind carried with it a cold mist, making one feel chilly. The sounds from the waterfall were like an effective lullaby the longer one listened to it.

Still wearing her wet clothes made from animal skin, Bai Qingqing felt all the colder, and her head felt a little drowsy too. With her arms around her shoulders, her eyelids started feeling heavy. Finally, she slumped asleep on the snake’s body.

Cortis opened his transparent eyelids and quietly gazed at Bai Qingqing. After confirming she was sound asleep, he curled his body around her.

…

Chirp chirp.

The gentle sunlight drifted into the forest, and the crisp and pleasant chirping of birds could be heard, sounding quite lively.

Abruptly woken by the chirping, Bai Qingqing bolted into an upright sitting position and realized that there was a heavy and cold thing lying on her.

“Ahhh!” Bai Qingqing couldn’t help but shriek out loud. To see the red and black snakeskin the instant she opened her eyes, she felt all the hairs on her body standing on end.

Cortis quickly let go of her and his upper body transformed into the human form. He anxiously asked, “What’s the matter?”

Bai Qingqing widened her eyes as she stared at Cortis’s face, nudging her body backward, yet she couldn’t get out of the encirclement of the snake. The more horrifying thing was sensing that she had the round body of a snake between her legs.

Her memories came back to her—but the reality was scarier than the nightmare she had last night. Bai Qingqing felt a splitting headache all of a sudden. Her pale face, upon waking up, turned even paler now. Even her lips were drained of the color of blood.

Cortis quickly realized that the female was reacting this way out of fear towards himself, making him feel sad.

“Let’s go and find rice today,” Cortis said coldly as he released Bai Qingqing and slithered into the lake.

Bai Qingqing bit her lower lip and innocently walked towards the river.

Her clothes had dried from her body temperature, but her body felt terrible. By the time she walked to the river, she felt utterly exhausted.

Looking at her reflection in the water, Bai Qingqing nearly couldn’t recognize herself. The girl staring back at her looked so frail and innocent, like a baby doe, making one want to protect her.

Because they were sleeping outside, no animals dared to come and eat the food. Hence, Bai Qingqing went over and took a few bites of the cold meat.

Hugging his snakeskin, Cortis swam to the shore. He then wedged his snakeskin under his armpit and circled one arm around Bai Qingqing’s waist, lifting her up. “Let’s go to the village to take a look.”

To the village?

Bai Qingqing’s dazed eyes lit up instantly. Her chance was here!