Beauty and the Beasts

Second and Third finished their short-winged birds in no time, but the pitiful Eldest—who had caught a porcupine-like animal, merely attempted a few bites, and his nose and mouth were covered with spikes. Never mind the fact that he didn’t even manage to eat a mouthful of meat, the blood he now tasted in his mouth even belonged to himself.

At the start, Bai Qingqing had thought that those spikes merely pricked Eldest’s hands, and it was only upon seeing his bloody mouth that she sensed something wasn’t right.

“Eldest?”

Bai Qingqing held up her skirt and walked towards him.

Eldest raised his head at his mommy, his yellowish-orange eyes brimming with a layer of tears, looking incredibly pitiful.

Bai Qingqing felt painful by the mere sight of it. Squatting down by his side, she hurriedly removed the spikes for him. “Are you silly? Why did you carry on eating it when it’s making your mouth bleed? Weren’t you fed at home?”

“Ooh ooh~”

Eldest rubbed the top of his head against her hand and shook his tail, clearly in a good mood.

“You don’t remember your lesson!” Bai Qingqing smacked Eldest’s buttocks with a displeased expression. “You’re not to eat such stuff in the future, okay? Even if you’re going to eat it, you can only try when you’ve grown up.”

Roar! Eldest responded, before casting one final look at the spiky animal.

Seeing that it wasn’t being attacked anymore, the spiky animal revealed its short limbs and ran away.

Howl—

From the front came a soft, long, and sorrowful howl of an animal. Shortly after, another howl sounded.

“Is there a wolf around?” The howl of a wolf always sounded sorrowful.

Bai Qingqing glanced in the direction of the source of the sound and pulled Eldest—who happened to be nearest to her—over and stroked him as she held him in his arms.

Parker frowned. After a pause, he said, “It’s Edgar.”

The worry that finally dissipated from Bai Qingqing’s face showed at her brows again.

“What’s he doing?”

Parker said, “He has yet to mate with Molly, so he can’t sense her and has no idea how to find her. So he sits at the city entrance waiting for her every day.”

Bai Qingqing’s eyes stung and turned moist.

As the howls continued ringing, Curtis and Parker exchanged a gaze, then Parker said, “It’s hot here. Let’s go back.”

“Mm, mm.” Bai Qingqing, who couldn’t bear to listen to those howls anymore, nodded.

…

Flame City.

Winston searched all the living spaces in the center of Flame City but failed to find Molly. Since they had lost track of Carl’s trail, he went straight to the scorpion king’s castle.

“Are there other entrances in Flame City?” Winston went straight to the point.

Seated in an elevated position, the scorpion king finished sucking a cactus fruit, before slowly transforming into a black-haired gorgeous man.

“That’s right.” The scorpion beastman cast a sideways glance at him and replied lazily, “Every beastmen who made it to the supreme rank would know. But you left in a hurry, so I didn’t get to tell you.”

What Winston was worried about came true. He regretted letting Carl go after wounding him. Perhaps Carl had already left with Molly by now.

How dumb of him! He ought to have investigated this doubtful point right at the start when Carl entered the city without a trace.

“Where’s the passageway?” Winston asked sternly.

The scorpion king asked in turn, “Are you a rootless beast?”

Winston paused.

“It’s said that males with spouses are unable to leave their mate’s side for prolonged periods. Back then the only reason I didn’t suspect you was because you were in Flame City for a long time. But I have my doubts now.” The scorpion king got to his feet and moved closer to him. “How would I know if you’re not a normal male who came here to save the females?”

Actually, Winston had never claimed to be a rootless beast. It was just that he exuded such a strong murderous aura that no beastmen had ever suspected otherwise. Now that the murderous vibe grew weaker, he felt more like an ordinary male, which was different from how he was before.

“You’re wary of me?” Like the scorpion king, Winston asked a question instead of answering the one he was given, taking offense for defense.

The scorpion king said with a smile laced with contempt, “The place where the defeated beastmen go is an entry/exit point.”