Beauty and the Beasts

Ssss~

Hissing sounds that would make one’s scalp turn numb seemed to be mixed amidst the sound of the rain. Moreover, they were getting closer and increasingly clearer.

Right turned his pitch-black eyes, put out his claw to pry the grass pile open, then looked out from the gap.

“Ssss~” A little green snake was staring at the grass pile, and at that instant, their gazes met.

“Screech!” Right gathered strength secretly.

The green snake looked around, then got closer to the eagle head amidst the grass pile.

The little eagle suddenly shot up to his feet from the grass pile, backing off in defense.

The green snake was given a fright and also backed off instinctively, letting out a warning hiss.

The little eagle gulped. He hadn’t had a bite since the morning and had long gotten hungry. Now that there was food sent up right to him, how could he possibly let it slip by?

Seeing that the snake’s body wasn’t big, he gathered the courage to hunt, extending his long neck closer to the snake.

Ssss~

The snake and eagle fought. Although the snake was agile and seemed to have the upper hand in the situation, it was, in fact, on the passive side. In the end, the little eagle won.

Arthur didn’t dare to go too far. He immediately came back with firewood when he heard the sound of fighting. What he saw was the little eagle poking the snake’s upper body with his beak while his neck was being tightly tangled by the snake’s tail.

“Little eagle!” Arthur entered anxiously, tossing the firewood aside to help.

“Screech!” The little eagle’s cry was hoarse. Although he managed to restrain the snake, snakes had strong vitality. When the little eagle had restrained its critical point, it also used the last bit of its strength to tangle around his neck. Now that the snake had died, it wasn’t easy to get it off.

Arthur quickly tugged off the snake’s body and threw it out hard. He carried the little eagle nervously and then said, “Are you alright? Were you bitten? The venom of such snakes is very weak, but it’s still dangerous for a young child like you.”

“Screech screech screech!” Right shook his head vigorously and turned his head to search for the snake corpse.

“Oh, you’re hungry. It’s my oversight,” Arthur said reproachfully. He carried Right and picked the snake back, placing both of them onto the floor, then asked with uncertainty, “Can you eat it yourself?”

He had children who were similar to the little eagle’s age as well. They could catch bugs for themselves to eat. After seeing the little eagle hunting his own prey, he felt sincerely consoled. It was as if he had seen his own children.

Right lowered his head and took a peck. The smooth snake body slipped away. He took another peck and the snake continued to slip away.

Arthur smiled. He picked up the snake and tore it up into two pieces. Blood splattered all over his face, but he didn’t mind. He didn’t stop as he continued to tear up the snake into minced meat, placing it onto a leaf and pushing it to Right.

“Go ahead and eat,” Arthur said softly. He didn’t show off any hint of brutality despite his face being covered in blood. There were only strong feelings of concern and love.

Right nodded like a chick pecking rice, then started to gulp down the food.

Arthur looked at Right for a while, feeling extremely satisfied. Smiling, he started to light up a fire.

Right hadn’t finished one snake when two more crawled into the cave.

“This is strange. Why are there so many snakes today?” Arthur mumbled. Seeing that Right was looking at those two living snakes while eating the one from earlier, he knew that he didn’t have enough.

Snakes were troublesome to any beastman. In the past, Arthur wouldn’t take the initiative to offend them. However, seeing the little eagle’s craving gaze, he took in a deep breath, then looked for a piece of rock to smash the snakes.

The two snakes darted around while being smashed. They surrounded Arthur and bit at him. In the end, Arthur had a narrow victory and managed to add to Right’s meal.

These two snakes were very big, and Right wasn’t able to eat them even though he was bloated. Arthur also happened to not have eaten for half the day and thus finished up what Right hadn’t managed to finish.

After drying Right by the fire, Arthur carried him and squatted in a corner, entering into sleep while the cold wind blew outside.