Beauty and the Beasts

At this moment, Cortis and Bai Qingqing were in the forest. Seeing smoke rise ahead, the previously dejected-looking Bai Qingqing pointed excitedly in the direction of the smoke and exclaimed excitedly, “There!”

Once they got to the village, she’d have an opportunity to seek help. She hoped that this was a larger village and that formidable beastmen resided there.

How could Cortis not see what Bai Qingqing was thinking? However, he felt no fear at all, speedily swimming towards that place.

Once they were out of the forest, they saw square-shaped golden rice fields on the grassland, one on the east side and one on the west side, each field merely 100 square meters or so.

It was the hottest time of the day, yet there were male beastmen with black horns on their heads bent over removing the weed. They slogged over this small plot of rice field, to the point of being drenched in sweat.

The excited Bai Qingqing looked at them with a scorching hot gaze, hoping they would be able to help her.

Sensing someone was here, the males looked towards Bai Qingqing and Cortis in unison.

Bai Qingqing stared at them hopefully. Cortis’s snake form already made clear his identity. If they had the ability, they would definitely drive out Cortis right away.

Those males looked stiffly at them for a moment before bending over and resuming working as though nothing had happened. Yet, their hands and legs were shaking violently against their will.

Bai Qingqing felt an emptiness in her heart as she slumped on Cortis’s shoulder as if all strength had been drawn from her.

“Those living here are herbivorous beastmen, so they’re naturally scared of me,” Cortis explained to Bai Qingqing, then moving its tail and slithered into the village.

So that’s why, Bai Qingqing thought to herself with her head lying lifelessly on Cortis’s shoulder.

The sheep tribe was the best at planting crops among all the beastmen. But they didn’t plant the crops for their own consumption and instead would exchange them with the more powerful carnivorous beastmen for salt, an indispensable item in their everyday life.

So this was a commercial village. Every day, carnivorous beastmen would come here to exchange for food, to use it to please their females.

Following Cortis’s entry, the prosperous streets of the Sheep Village fell into a dead silence.

All the beastmen’s gazes were on the half-human half-snake Cortis. The herbivorous beastman’s eyes were filled with terror. As for the carnivorous beastmen, after seeing the four animal stripes on his face, their gazes turned from one of fury to that of dread.

Thankfully, Cortis was carrying a female in his arms. Else, the surrounding male beastmen probably would have dashed right back to their mate’s sides.

They looked towards the female in the homeless beast’s arms, curious as to what the pitiful female looked like. And when their gazes fell upon that female’s face, they couldn’t shift their eyes away from her.

My god, how could such a beautiful female exist in this world? That fair skin was like the winter snow, and her large watery eyes seemed as though they could peer right into others’ hearts.

However, her face was terribly pale. It made one feel such heartache for her that they wished they could offer her the best of everything, just so that she could be happier.

This must be a cherished female painstakingly raised by some large tribe!

A homeless beast actually managed to get through all the barriers and snatched away the most cherished female. Unbelievable. But then again, when they saw the four animal stripes on the homeless beast’s face, they felt at ease.

With a cold and murderous look in his eyes, Cortis suddenly swept at those males who had been staring eagerly at his female with his snake’s tail.

“You’re seeking death!” Cortis said in a sinister and cold voice.

The males who came here to exchange for food didn’t dare to even look up. They crawled to their feet and ran away instantly. In no time, all that was left were the pitiful sheep beastmen manning their shopfronts.

“You, you, what do you want to exchange for?” A young male sheep beastman selling rice stammered as he saw the four-striped snake beastman walk towards him, the black horns on his head trembling violently.

“Rice,” Cortis replied simply.

The sheep beastman immediately took out a small bag of rice and placed it on the stone counter. Bai Qingqing figured it was only about 500g.