Beauty and the Beasts

The snake beastman in the river swam to the shore, his snake tail leaving a wet trail on the scorched ground. The beastmen lazing around under the sun outside began letting out low growls, signaling for everyone to get their defense up.

The contents of the stone pot crackled and spluttered as smoke rose from it.

Parker huffed and puffed with Bai Qingqing in his arms, looking more nervous than any of the other males. However, he feigned a relaxed expression on his face as he sneered provocatively. “This is the City of Beastmen. Even if you manage to snatch Qingqing, you won’t be able to bring her out of here!”

Cortis looked as though he had heard nothing. He held a stack of white articles of clothing in his hands, staring straight ahead as he slithered towards them.

“Roar!” The male beastmen nearby crouched down and moved closer to the snake beastman, surrounding him.

Parker was on his guard, every muscle of his body tensed up and the yellow fur on his head had exploded, just like the stone pot next to him that had been burned into a shade of red and seemed about to crack and explode.

Cortis slithered to the entrance of the stone house and gazed deeply at the female who appeared even more petite in Parker’s arms.

Bai Qingqing gradually recovered her strength. The law of conservation of energy held true—it wouldn’t appear out of the blue. She had suddenly gathered energy for some reason, and after unleashing that strength at one go, she collapsed when it was depleted.

When she snapped back to reality, she could feel the heavy atmosphere. Still in a shocked and confused state, she looked outside and her eyes met Cortis’s blood-red ones.

The piercing sunlight made those deep and unfathomable eyes narrow into slits, and his emotions were condensed in them.

“Cortis…” Gazing at Cortis, Bai Qingqing felt as though she had returned to the gloomy and cold forest, the blood all over her body turning cold. The pain coming from her chest caused her to instinctively shrink into Parker’s arms.

Parker hugged Bai Qingqing even tighter now.

Cortis lowered his gaze and looked away, then bent over and placed the articles of clothing at the door. As he was about to turn around, he suddenly said to Parker, “Focus on cooking for her.”

With that, Cortis slithered towards the river and those beastmen surrounding him retreated continuously.

Parker was dumbfounded for a moment when he suddenly realized the stone pot was burnt. He yelped and, with one hand carrying Bai Qingqing, used his other hand to haphazardly remove the firewood under the stone pot.

Seeing how Cortis was being surrounded, Bai Qingqing couldn’t help but worry for him.

For a homeless beast like him to be coming to the City of Beastmen, would the beastmen here jointly attack him?

Luckily the beastmen present merely stared at him until Cortis entered the water. After the water surface became calm again, the beastmen let down their guards and went back to doing whatever they were doing.

Cortis swam out of the city through that river. The well-connected rivers in the City of Beastmen gave him a chance to slip into the city. But it was impossible for him to use this route if he wished to take the female away with him because females couldn’t hold their breaths for prolonged periods.

That leopard admirer of Xiao Bai was right. Indeed, he wouldn’t be able to take Xiao Bai away from the City of Beastmen.

So, could he only protect Xiao Bai from afar from now on?

The dejected Cortis laid at the bottom of the river, the river water gently flowing around him. He gazed at the ripples on the water surface, feeling unprecedented helplessness.

Parker was focused on pan-frying the fish. After he tossed the dried chilies into the pot, a pungent fragrance drifted from the stone house and Parker and Bai Qingqing were heard sneezing, one after the other.

“Ahchoo!” Choked by the smell, Bai Qingqing covered her nose and ran outside with a running nose. It was only after taking in a few fresh breaths of air under the tree that she managed to ease her breathing.

Several beastmen living next door sniffed the aroma of the pan-fried fish, so they came over to check out the source of the smell.

“What are you guys cooking? Smells so fragrant.”

“We’re cooking fish,” Bai Qingqing replied. Parker was in a bad mood, so she didn’t wish to mention Cortis in his presence. Now was a good chance to ask them about him. “That homeless beast just now, why didn’t you guys attack him?”