Beauty and the Beasts

The next day.

“Darned leopard, get downstairs and cook!”

In the densely foliaged forest where the sun was blocked out, a girl’s roar broke the morning’s tranquility.

A leopard squirmed out of the hay on the tree branch as he was chased out of the nest. Yet, his tail was sticking high up, exuding a gleeful air.

Bai Qingqing wrapped herself cozily with the blanket and seethed with anger.

So embarrassing. Winston must have heard us yesterday. Ah! How am I going to face him?

“Meow~”

The little cubs had awoken as well. They were scurrying inside the blanket, searching for their mommy’s body with the help of their noses.

Bai Qingqing reached for the stone bowl Parker had placed beside the bed before leaving and started squeezing out the milk as she laid on her tummy, before placing it outside.

If she didn’t feed them now, it would be even more painful to do it later after she put on her clothes.

The three baby leopards fought to dash out to surround the stone bowl, before starting to lick the milk.

Two hours later, Bai Qingqing figured Parker should be done stewing the food, and only then did she take her own sweet time to put on the chilly clothes.

She had initially wanted to get him to fetch her down, but Winston then came down from the third story.

“You like to eat prickly fruits?” Winston jumped down with one hand pressed against the wooden board, landing steadily on the floor in the manner of a powerful beastman.

“I saw a lot of them in the third story.”

As Winston’s presence was way too strong, plus Bai Qingqing still felt embarrassed over what happened last night. So, her face instantly flushed like a red apple.

“Mm.” Realizing that her voice sounded a little shaky, Bai Qingqing swallowed the words she had initially planned to say back into her stomach. With her head lowered, she walked towards the entrance of the tree hole.

“I’ll send you downstairs.”

Winston’s voice sounded right behind her, messing up her heart rate. She forced herself to stay calm as she allowed Winston to carry her while he jumped down the tree.

Ever since the cubs started eating meat, their bodies had grown firmer. Today, they climbed out on their own, their short little limbs hugging around the tree trunk flat against the walls as they cautiously made their way down.

The delighted Bai Qingqing called out softly, “Parker, hurry over and see this.”

“Roar?” Third fell down as he pricked up his ears and twisted his head towards his mother as one of his hind legs wasn’t firmly gripped onto the tree bark.

On the way down, he fell upon Eldest and Second, resulting in the three cubs tumbling into a heap on the ground.

“Babies!” Bai Qingqing hurried over to check on them.

There was a pile of accumulated snow at the roots of the tree. Add to that the fact that the cubs were of petite sizes and lightweight, they quickly got up after they landed on the ground. They shook off the snow on their bodies and merrily spun circles around their mommy’s legs.

Bai Qingqing heaved a sigh of relief.

Parker lifted the pot lid to check on the stewed meat, then said, “Qingqing, hurry over and eat. I’ve boiled the water for you to wash your face. Never mind the cubs, they’ll be fine.”

“Mm.” Bai Qingqing glanced at Winston. Feeling much calmer now, she invited him to join them. “Come and eat with us.”

Winston looked towards the small stone pot on the fire. He could see that there wasn’t much food, and so figured that that was what Bai Qingqing was going to eat for the entire day. His vision then turned to Parker, whose nostrils were flaring and expression was giving off a clear message “If you dare to come over, I will bite you to death.”

“No need.” Winston said, “I’ll go and pick prickly fruits.”

With that, he grabbed the tree bark and climbed into the tree hole. When he came down again, he was in his tiger form and holding an animal skin bag between his jaws. After one final look at her, he ran off.

Bai Qingqing sat down beside Parker and mused to herself as she quietly gazed at Winston’s back view. “We’re back to the way we used to be in the City of Beastmen.”

“What are you looking at? Eat up.” Parker placed a bowl of food in front of her and forcibly made her turn her head to the front.

Bai Qingqing slapped his hand away, feeling anger surge inside of her as she recalled what happened last night.

The leopard cubs’ stomachs were like a bottomless pit—they had just drunk milk, yet here they were asking for cooked food. Bai Qingqing filled a small bowl of meat for them and placed it on the ground for them to eat by themselves.