Beauty and the Beasts

As the temperature by the seaside was high, coupled with the strong winds, with each passing day a layer of the water in the salt pits would dry up. At the start, Winston would get the beastmen to continuously fill the salt pits with seawater so that the salt content would be richer. But as they approached their departure date, they stopped adding water into the pits.

After another few days passed, the seawater in the pits had more or less dried up completely. Under the vibrant sunlight, particles giving off a glistening glow were seen on a rock bulging up at the bottom of the salt pit—the salt crystals were formed.

Winston pinched some salt crystals with his fingers. “It’s salt!”

Roar!

The tiger beastmen cheered loudly and danced with excitement, spinning in circles around the salt pits maniacally and stirring up dust into the air.

Winston let out an angry roar, and the tiger beastmen instantly froze, as though someone had hit the pause button. They crouched their bodies as a show of submission.

“Don’t dirty the salt. Disperse!”

Gazing at the direction of the wind, Winston added, “Don’t block the wind. When the seawater in the pits completely evaporates, we’ll head back home.”

The tigers erupted into excitement once more but it toned down this time out of fear towards their king. Though, they couldn’t control themselves from gyrating their thick and long tails maniacally.

The beastmen watched as the salt pits dried, as the water level decreased and the number of white crystals increased until finally, all that was left in the salt pits were salt crystals glistening under the sunlight.

Roar? [So much?]

A tiger stuck his leg into the pit. He gently scooped up a pawful of salt, and he didn’t even feel the bottom.

Merely the salt he was holding in his paws would be enough to last him for several days.

But now, they had pools of salt before them!

The tiger beastmen’s feelings were similar to an ordinary folk winning a fifty-million yuan lottery.

The same thought occurred to all of them: Their village wouldn’t ever need to exchange for salt again, would they?

Although they cooked plenty of salt, when they dried it some more, half the amount evaporated. The salt filled up about half of the stone basin the size of a bathtub.

The salt in the pits filled up five full buckets.

Only when the salt was pressed did Winston realize there were minimal sand particles in the concentrated salt mixture.

After all, this was out in the open. And having been exposed to the wind for more than ten days, it was perfectly normal that there were some sand bits in them.

Winston didn’t mind it at all, and the same went for the other tiger beastmen. Loaded with enthusiasm, they fought to carry the salt buckets.

The tiger beastmen were about to head back home when Winston suddenly backtracked. “Wait a minute.”

“What’s the matter?”

A strong and muscular tiger beastmen who had snatched a bucket of salt asked, feeling perplexed.

Winston raised a stone bucket and set it down beside the pile of sand beside the pits. He started filling the stone bucket with sand as he said, “Fill the pits with sand before leaving.”

Roar?

A tiger beastman voiced his confusion. Yet, his body obeyed the tiger king’s commands by reflex, simply transforming into a human and filling the pits with sand.

After the plot of land was restored to its original state, the group of tiger beastmen then started rushing back to their village.

…

Chirp chirp.

Screech—

A pair of colorful birds stood perched on the tip of a tree branch, pecking at each other’s feathers. A few colorful and vibrant feathers fell off their bodies and slowly drifted through the air and descended upon the ground.

Bai Qingqing, sitting underneath the tree, reached out and grabbed a bird feather. Seeing that it looked soft and delicate, she couldn’t help but use it to sweep across her own face.

“Bai Qingqing.”

Molly walked over with her head bowed. Bai Qingqing looked up at her and asked, “You have yet to go into heat?”

“Yeah.” Molly sat down beside her with a bitter expression.

She could even feel her own father’s attitude towards her growing colder. That she hadn’t gone into heat up till now must mean that she had poor reproductive capabilities.

“Becky is only half a year older than me, and already it’s her second time going into heat. Sigh!” Molly gazed enviously at Becky’s home, then turned her head towards Bai Qingqing. “Even you went into heat. And just last year you gave birth to little cubs.”

Molly’s expression turned even more bitter. Wondering if those young males would despise her, she decided she had better confirm a spouse first.