Beauty and the Beasts

“So those tribal heads have four animal stripes? They’re way too formidable.” Bai Qingqing frowned, worry written all over her face.

Actually, that did make sense. With ten thousand beastmen in the City of Beastmen, combined with the several hundred beastmen in neighboring villages, there were only four four-striped beastmen. As for the merfolk tribe, they had hundreds of thousands of mermen, so it shouldn’t be surprising that they had several four-striped beastmen amongst them.

Bai Qingqing was so anxious that her breathing quickened. Winston quickly patted her back to soothe her. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of these matters. Just stay in the village with peace of mind.”

“Then, how many four-striped mermen were there? Will you and Curtis be able to defeat them if you combine forces?” Still worried, Bai Qingqing asked as she gazed at Winston.

Winston, however, wore a relaxed expression, as though it was no big deal. He said confidently, “What’s there to fear about four-striped mermen on land? Even without Curtis, I can hold the situation.”

As he spoke, he sputtered with laughter. “But even if it’s in the water, Curtis won’t lose out to them. His size and level put him at an absolute advantage. I believe it’s not a problem for him to deal with three four-striped mermen.”

Winston always had a way of sounding convincing. Add to his logical reasoning, Bai Qingqing felt much more at ease now.

“Mm. Three four-striped mermen… Eh, we need to be more careful when we go to the river. It’d be bad if they emulated the alligators and launched a sneak attack.”

Confusion flashed in Winston’s eyes. “What’s an alligator?”

“I don’t know if they can be found in your world. They’re animals that float on the water surface like tree bark, with enormous mouths and a forceful bite. When other animals go near them to drink water, it’s easy for them to get bitten by the alligators,” Bai Qingqing explained casually.

Winston nodded. “Floating beast. There are many of them in the swamps. Your worry is valid, and I will raise this matter to my tribesmen.”

Bai Qingqing felt gleeful about getting his approval.

“As for the tiger beastmen, I brought them over from the smaller villages. They heard that there are many females in our village and wish to come here to look for a mate,” said Winston.

“The village really looks different every day.” Bai Qingqing couldn’t help sighing as she watched the lively scene outside.

Winston also gazed downwards. He said, “We’re letting them familiarize with the surroundings today, and tomorrow we will begin construction of the city walls.”

“Tsk~” Bai Qingqing shook her head and mused to herself: There’s indeed no free lunch in the world! While it’s true that those males now have more opportunities to find themselves a spouse, before they even managed to find one, they’re being deployed as manual laborers.

Parker came back with the leopard cubs and directly went to the fifth story upon seeing no one on the second story.

Once the cubs and Parker entered, the tree hole instantly became crowded.

“Has Curtis woken?” Parker transformed into a human and sat down by Bai Qingqing’s side, then pulled her towards him.

Winston lowered his gaze and shifted to one corner, then transformed into a tiger to take a nap.

Parker cast a sideways glance at him, raising his brows in glee.

“Mm,” responded Bai Qingqing. The leopard cubs squeezed to their mommy’s side from all corners and surrounded her tightly.

Bai Qingqing caressed their heads and said with a smile, “Now that our family is fully present, let’s make sashimi tonight.”

Speaking of fish, Parker licked his lips and instantly said, “Okay!”

Bai Qingqing then twisted her head to Winston and said, “Winston, hurry up and get some rest. When you wake up at night, you’ll get to eat sashimi.”

Heart brimming with sweetness, Winston couldn’t help clawing the grass pile underneath him and letting out a low growl.

Seeing him obediently go to bed, Bai Qingqing lowered her volume and said, “Bluepool likes to eat fish too. Shall we share some with him?”

Parker pouted. “Why should we give him? He’s not from our family.”

Knowing that he wouldn’t readily consent to it, Bai Qingqing said softly, “Sashimi will only taste good when it’s chilled.”