Beauty and the Beasts

Gah gah—

When Winston came out of the grave pit and saw the peacock beastman grab the female, he heaved a sigh of relief.

Amid the scorching hot air, the intense odor of blood permeated throughout the place. Winston wrinkled his nose and walked to the third story of Flame City.

Chomping sounds rang from the stone hole, and a bloody stench wafted out. A red tiger leg with black stripes fell in front of Winston.

Winston lowered his head and sniffed it.

A lion head instantly stuck out from the hole. At the sight of Winston, fear clouded his eyes.

“The female is not with us. She’s been snatched by a peacock beastman,” the lion beastman transformed into a human and explained frantically.

Winston simply turned around and left without a word.

The lion beastman watched as the tiger king went far away, before crawling out in trepidation to pick up the tiger leg between his jaws and went back into the hole.

The sunlight in the desert was so blazingly bright that it made one unable to open their eyes, the temperatures so scorching hot one could roast a piece of meat in the sweltering heat.

Even Alva—whose body was covered with thick feathers—started feeling a searing pain all over after flying for a while. Even the color and lustrousness of his feathers seemed to have dimmed by several notches.

He lowered his head and looked at the female under his claws, his countenance changing drastically.

Molly, who had long fallen unconscious, had lips so dry that it cracked and bled. Also, her naked body was scorching hot and reddened from exposure to the blazing sun.

“Molly?” Alva descended upon the ground, then transformed into a human and slapped her face gently.

Her body temperature was frighteningly high.

He couldn’t continue flying with her.

Alva thought for a moment, then transformed his arms into a pair of wings and firmly covered her body, before walking in the direction of the forest.

It was only when nighttime fell and the temperatures lowered that Alva transformed into a peacock once more and flew in the night with Molly riding on his back.

A distance that a beastman would take ten days to travel on foot, Alva only took three days through flying. Sensing the breathing of the female getting increasingly weaker, Alva made it back to the village before the skies turned bright.

He even shocked himself with this speed.

The sun was just starting to rise, and sunlight was scattered throughout the forest, dispelling the gloomy fog. The screeching of various birds and insects made the forest buzz with life.

A tiger was seated at the city entrance, not budging an inch, as though he was a stone statue, tiny water droplets densely covering his fur. Nobody knew for how long he had been sitting there.

Gah Gah— The screeching of a peacock rang from far away.

The tiger beastman’s eyes, which were dull before this, revealed a different countenance a moment later. His head jerked up.

Only at the second screeching of the peacock did Edgar pumped up with energy. Roaring, he leaped down from the city wall and maniacally sprinted in the direction of that sound.

Roar! Roar!

Upon hearing the sound, Alva turned around and flew into the forest, where he bumped into the tiger beastman.

“Molly!” Edgar transformed into a human mid-sprint, then ran a few more steps in his human form on his four limbs, before getting to his feet.

Alva spread out his wings and let the female slide down from his back.

Having gotten a proper look at the female, panic overwhelmed the burly tiger’s face. He didn’t even dare touch her.

After halting his hand in the air for a good while, he touched her testingly, before hugging her tightly, a choked sound escaping his throat.

Alva transformed into a human and licked his dry lips, then said, “Hurry up and feed her with some water. It’s been a day since I found her, and she hasn’t had a single drop of water. She probably hasn’t drunk much water these past few days.”

A drop of clear water landed on the female’s lips which were filled with bloody scabs. Edgar raised a hand and wiped away his tears, then carried her and ran to the nearest river.

…

Only when the village erupted with the joyful cheers of the females did Bai Qingqing find out Molly had been rescued.

She was drinking bird’s soup in the tree hole at the time. Upon learning that Molly was unconscious, she immediately asked Parker to pack up some of that bird’s soup for her. She quickly finished drinking her soup, then went down the tree to bring it over to Molly.