Beauty and the Beasts

And by then the weather would be severely cold.

Hence, Bai Qingqing said, “Don’t. You’d better hibernate. I’ll show her to you when the light rainy season ends.”

“Don’t go back on your word!” Bluepool’s words had a double meaning. Recalling that she had bluffed him once before, she felt embarrassed to take back what she said.

Bluepool also didn’t give her a chance, simply chuckling twice before diving into the water.

After he was done washing the fungus, Parker said, “Just ignore him. Let’s go back.”

“Mm.” By then the waterhole would have been covered with ice, and he would have long gone into hibernation.

The duo went home.

Rainwater had fallen upon Bai Qingqing’s clothes while she was picking the fungus. This gave her the perfect excuse to change out of the clothes stained with the little snake’s odor. She placed it on the first story.

Climbing up the tree hole in a thinly-clothed state, Bai Qingqing was so cold that she kept shivering. She instantly squirmed into the blanket. Parker transformed into a leopard and laid down to warm her.

Curtis transformed into a human and walked over. “Did you have fun?”

Bai Qingqing pulled the blanket up, gazing around sheepishly. “Mm.”

Curtis said nothing else and merely laid down on her other side, holding her with the blanket separating them.

Bai Qingqing’s body relaxed, and she exhaled a long murky breath.

The two of them slept in each other’s embrace. After warming up the bed, Parker headed downstairs to destroy the evidence (wash the clothes).

…

From this day onwards, every time the skies cleared up, Bai Qingqing would head outside. Curtis and Parker would take turns bringing her out to play. When she was out with Curtis, they would frequently go to look at Winston while he built the house and have a picnic there. (Of course, it would be food prepared by Parker).

The speed at which Winston built the house alarmed Bai Qingqing. Every time she came, she saw a visible transformation. From the looks of it, by the time the rainy season ended, the house would be fully completed.

When she went out with Parker, naturally it was to visit the little snake.

As the temperature quietly lowered, Bai Qingqing’s clothing became increasingly thick. Before they knew it, the heavy rainy season had ended.

Based on her calculations, she had been pregnant for more than nine months. Bai Qingqing was due to give birth soon.

Screech~

A black eagle weaved through the undulating tree crowns with bloody prey in his claws.

Clusters of smoke drifted in the green forest underneath, turning the area hazy and adding a hint of mysteriousness to this forest.

However, if one flew above this forest, they could still sniff the smell of smoked meat.

The eagle beastman swooped towards the forest, and in the blink of an eye vanished among the trees.

Roar! Roar!

As the leopard cubs sprinted maniacally on the withered grassland, their mother’s anxious calls could be heard from above.

“Babies! Come back! Don’t run out of the village!” Bai Qingqing shouted out loud as she stood at the entrance of the tree hole. She had heard Parker teach the cubs about how ferocious the wild animals were in this season, thus she forbade them from heading out. But they wouldn’t heed her words.

Parker simply washed his hands off of the kids after making them aware of this fact. Deeply alarmed by this, Bai Qingqing called for the cubs to stop when she saw them running away.

Roar! Roar!

The cubs completely disregarded their mother’s words and continued sprinting ahead. Suddenly, they saw a grown leopard pouncing towards them.

Roar! The leopard cubs were so startled that they shrieked out loud and turned around, bolting towards their home in unison. They ran for a great distance, before turning their heads around. Only then did they see that it was the village’s doctor, making them slow down.

Bai Qingqing heaved a sigh of relief and said to him, “Harvey, help me stop them and get them back to come back.”

Harvey let out a howl and charged towards the leopard cubs, who started running once more, all the way back to the tree hole where they lived.

Roar! Roar!

The cubs’ roars reverberated in the tree hole, and one could sense their recalcitrant attitudes from the tone of their roars.