Beauty and the Beasts

Bella just kept on eating the pine nuts Bai Qingqing peeled, throwing a glance at her as if she was a country bumpkin. She said, “Nuts are our primary source of food.”

“Huh?” Bai Qingqing’s hand shook and the rock almost smashed onto her fingers.

If her main food source was pine nuts, then how long would she have to continue smashing the nuts for?

Looking at the densely-packed red pine nuts, then at the thought of how it might be hard for her to get meat, Bai Qingqing felt as if there was no hope in life at all.

“Don’t you guys eat meat?” Bai Qingqing was unwilling to give up and asked.

“What’s so good about meat?” After eating one, Bella immediately urged, “Be quick. You’re so slow. We’ll still eat them occasionally, but not often. Meat is so troublesome.”

Bai Qingqing hastened her speed.

“That’s because you guys aren’t good at roasting. If the meat is roasted well, it’s delicious.” For the sake of her food, Bai Qingqing assured with confidence. “If you don’t believe me, I’ll roast some for you to try.”

“I don’t want to.”

Seeing that she was unmoved, Bai Qingqing could only give up on the idea.

It didn’t take long before Alva came back. A piece of snow-white animal skin was wrapped around his waist this time around, and he was holding onto two pine cones the size of winter melons. He casually tossed them toward Bai Qingqing.

“These are your food.”

The pine cones hit onto Bai Qingqing’s shoulder and quite a lot of pine nuts fell off.

Bai Qingqing felt some ache from the hit. She rubbed her shoulders and gave her thanks politely, then picked up the pine nuts.

“I’ll bring you to the place where you’ll be staying. You can just peel the pine nuts for Bella there,” Alva said.

Bai Qingqing quickly stood up. “Alright.”

“Hmph.”

Bai Qingqing’s residence was on a branch very far away. The branch which served as the walking path was very thin, resulting in the house shaking up and down when one stood in it and stomped their feet.

This house was a lot more dilapidated than the one Bella was staying in. There were holes where the wind would seep through, and the light was also coming in through the roof. She had no idea if the rain would get in.

Bai Qingqing wasn’t picky. It was good enough that she had a place to stay.

Alva wanted to leave after bringing her here. Bai Qingqing quickly said, “Wait a minute.”

“What else do you want?” Alva asked impatiently, glancing in Bella’s direction.

As someone from modern society, Bai Qingqing had seen many different types of people and could tell from one glance that Alva was impatient. She kept her question short and asked, “Do you have flint?”

“I’m not free now. I’ll bring it to you next time.” After saying that, Alva headed outside in big strides, moving so anxiously that Bai Qingqing’s house kept on shaking.

Bai Qingqing was so scared that she quickly sat down, afraid that the branch would break off. She had wanted to ask if he could catch some small animals for her as food. The babies in her stomach needed to eat more meat. However, seeing Alva like this, she gave up on the thought.

Sigh, she could only look for food herself.

…

On the other side, Muir managed to find Curtis in the forest.

The group of eagle beastmen keeping an eye on Curtis had also noticed him and immediately attacked him.

[Bai Qingqing is over there! Kill her!]

Muir dashed out toward Curtis at the fastest speed he could. He was grabbing onto a net with his claws and had a fake human figure inside that was made from dried grass and wrapped with tree leaves. It was as if he was flying along with Bai Qingqing with him.

Curtis noticed him as well and subconsciously dashed out toward him. However, a hint of suspicion arose in his heart.

That’s not right. Snow isn’t here.

Curtis glanced toward the direction of the peacock tribe.

Muir landed on the ground, taking on his human form, but with his arms still in the beast form, blocking the fake figure in his arms.

The eagle beastmen were wary against Curtis and didn’t dare to get close.

“Bai Qingqing is in a safe place,” Muir said in a soft voice. He should be thankful that the eagle beastmen only had a good sense of sight. Their sense of hearing and smell were both very bad. He purposely lowered his voice so that they wouldn’t be able to hear him.