Beauty and the Beasts

“Indeed, just as I thought.” Bai Qingqing let out another sigh, but this time it was filled with hope.

So long as this path was feasible, she wasn’t afraid of anything.

Since Muir had come as well, he should be able to find her very quickly. Next up would be Parker and Winston. Them being so formidable, they would definitely successfully level up!

She wondered if there was any pattern to the time in the two worlds.

“Curtis, when were you summoned by me?” asked Bai Qingqing.

Curtis replied, “About half a day after you disappeared.”

That meant about the time she got back home.

Though she had stayed in the beastman world for five years, when she returned, time didn’t seem to have changed. However, in this instance, the time seemed to be equivalent. Seems like there wasn’t any pattern to it?

Bai Qingqing nibbled at her finger. There was nothing else she could do in such a situation. The only thing she could do was to summon them more diligently and hope they would arrive shortly.

The two of them finished showering and then sneaked back to the bedroom.

Bai Qingqing cleared away the broken glass bits in the house and then went to sit on the bed. She pressed upon the bed and waved at Curtis, saying, “I don’t know if this bed can support your weight. Be gentler when you sit upon it.”

“Mm.” Curtis sat down on the edge of the bed. Nothing abnormal seemed to happen.

Bai Qingqing heaved a sigh of relief and climbed to the center of the bed. “Come over and sleep.”

Before her last note ended, as Curtis placed his entire weight on it, an ominous creak sounded from the bed, as though something had snapped. Curtis’s body sank following that sound.

Bai Qingqing hurriedly kicked him away and patted the edge of the bed. To her dismay, she discovered that the part of the Simmons mattress where Curtis had sat on was unable to spring up anymore.

First the glass window and now the bed. Plus the backpack, handphone, keys, and other items she lost during the day, Bai Qingqing sensed that her parents were going to flare up.

Thankfully, she was going to school tomorrow.

Bai Qingqing got down from the bed and said, “Curtis, let’s sleep on the floor.”

“Okay.”

After laying a blanket on the floor, the duo leaned against each other.

“I’m going to school tomorrow and can’t return home. What will you do?” Bai Qingqing said softly as she doodled circles on his chest.

“I’ll go together with you,” Curtis said without hesitation.

Bai Qingqing pressed her face against his icy chest and felt extremely comfortable as the night breeze blew in from outside the window.

“This won’t do. A school isn’t a place where anyone can enter at a whim. You’ll be chased out if you are discovered.” After some thought, Bai Qingqing retrieved a dusty money jar from underneath the bed.

“If I wish to stay, no one can chase me away.” Curtis didn’t care. Now that they were in a different world, Bai Qingqing suddenly felt that his tone was extremely opinionated.

With a pursed-lip smile, Bai Qingqing said, “This is the money I saved up starting from junior high. It should be enough for us to rent an apartment near the school. In the future when I go to school, you can stay there.”

“Money?” Curtis could sense the importance Bai Qingqing placed on these things. He took out a brand new red packet from the money jar and asked, “What’s this used for?”

Bai Qingqing explained, “This is the currency used here. Works like salt and transparent crystals back in the beastmen world. We can’t do without this in our lives. From food to clothes to accommodation, and even when we go out, we can’t live without this. Without it, we will starve to death. Just like your hunting abilities—the more powerful you are, the more food you obtain. In our world, the more money you have, the more food you can obtain.”

Curtis’s gaze turned into one of concentration. He placed the red packet back into the money jar, then tightly held her hand and solemnly promised, “In the future, I’ll earn money and support you!”