Beauty and the Beasts

As Winston spoke, he glanced towards the tree hole at Bai Qingqing. She happened to be gazing outwards, so their eyes met.

The reluctance to part briefly flashed by in the tiger’s eyes, which he suppressed almost immediately.

Winston turned towards Curtis and said, “You need to protect Qingqing. The village… I’ll leave them in your hands. Qingqing needs a safe village.”

Curtis agreed after considering his suggestion for a moment.

Qingqing indeed needed a village, and it would be best if they could stay with the tiger tribe where Winston was in charge.

Although Curtis and Winston had come to an agreement, the tiger beastmen didn’t believe in Curtis’s capabilities. Voices of doubt started ringing from the crowd.

“Your Majesty, he’s only a feral beast without any animal stripes. What abilities does he have to protect the village?”

Curtis allowed him to finish what he had to say. Right after he uttered out the last syllable, the crowd merely saw a black and red figure flash by, and the next moment that three-striped tiger beastman was being tightly squeezed by his snake tail.

The crowd instantly backed off, emptying a round-shaped area where Curtis was standing, instinctively flashing their teeth and letting out growls.

“Curtis!” Winston called out immediately. The muscles all over his body involuntarily tensed.

Even though it didn’t look like the snake tail was exerting any strength, the bones of the tiger beastman held in strangulation could be heard cracking. The tiger opened his mouth but wasn’t able to let out a howl, and only a breath of foul air escaped from his mouth.

“Curtis, don’t kill him!” Bai Qingqing shouted from above. She stuck one leg out of the tree hole, wanting to come down.

Curtis flung the beastman into the far distance with his snake tail and slithered towards Bai Qingqing.

The crowd instantly cleared out a path for him amidst gasps.

Winston heaved a sigh of relief and said to the tribal head, “I’ll get going now.”

The tribal head was still in a state of shock. By the time he managed to react, Winston had disappeared from view.

That three-striped beastman ranked number two in terms of abilities in the village. Yet, he was overpowered by the snake beastman in an instant, with the speed at which it happened rendering him unable to react in time.

And even if they were to fight head-on, he wasn’t sure he would be able to avoid the snake beastman’s attacks.

What kind of beast was Curtis, exactly? His capabilities seemed on par with their tiger king.

But judging from how their king looked wary around him, it seemed as though the snake’s abilities might even be superior to their king’s.

Bai Qingqing only felt her heart put to ease upon seeing Curtis return. She was truly worried that he would kill the tiger beastman.

“Is it fine for Winston to go alone?”

As Winston had been poisoned by the scorpions’ venom before, she had an ominous feeling about this. No matter how Bai Qingqing thought about it, she was still worried.

“If he can’t handle it, I’ll go then,” Curtis said nonchalantly. But if that happened, since Winston wouldn’t be around anymore, there was no need for them to stay on in this village.

Bai Qingqing clasped her hands together and prayed. “Never mind if he can’t kill the leader of the scorpion tribe. Please make it back safely, Winston.”

…

In the windy and chilly desert.

Although the air was still cold, the sand underneath his feet was scorching hot under the sun.

A white tiger walked alone in the desert. In the vast expanse, the only thing that could be seen was the movement of a white figure, and nothing else.

As the scorpion tribe’s nest was underground, and they were great at concealing their tracks, it was extremely difficult to find the nest’s location.

After several days of fruitless search, Winston changed his direction and sped towards Flame City.

Flame City was situated in the depths of the desert. Just like the City of Beastmen, it was built from stone. Having withstood the battering of the winds and sand, the surface of the rock had long turned a withered shade of yellow, giving off a desolate and bleak vibe.

With no one standing guard at the entrance, Winston ran straight into the city. A beastman who was on his way out of the city greeted him. “You’re here again.”

Ignoring him, Winston continued sprinting ahead.

“Tsk, it’s still so cold.”

Four-striped beastmen were also undoubtedly considered powerful in Flame City. There wasn’t a single beastman here who didn’t recognize the disfigured white tiger.

The beastman curled his lips, yet there was a murderous aura on his handsome face. “Now that the cold season has passed, my beloved little female will definitely come out to play. It’s time to pay her a visit.”

With that, he transformed into a beast and dashed out of the city.

There were plenty of males like him scattered throughout the entire city.