Beauty and the Beasts

The threat earlier was too terrifying. Even though the lion beastman felt that something was amiss, he didn’t dare to make a sound and only watched as the two of them left.

“What a sweet female scent…”

They were definitely hiding a female with them!

The lion beastman thought this but didn’t make a fuss about it. He threw glances at a few beastmen nearby.

Immediately, a few beastmen went after Parker and Curtis. They followed far behind them and weren’t noticed.

Parker turned into his beast form, rubbed a few rounds on the ground, then changed into his human form and said to Curtis, “That beastman from earlier must have smelled the scent on us. Quickly cover up Qingqing’s scent!”

Curtis flicked out his tongue impatiently, carrying Bai Qingqing with him as he rubbed against the sand wall.

After the scent of sand and rocks covered their bodies, they no longer stood out as much.

Roaaaar!

A tiger dashed out from the wall at the side, roaring at Parker and Curtis. His gaze landed on the three animal stripes, and his voice became diffident.

Curtis slithered over and took a look at the cave the tiger was hiding in. He lashed out with his tail, sending the tiger flying away.

“This cave isn’t bad. Let’s just live here.” Parker ran over to take a look, then entered the sand cave excitedly.

The tiger paced around outside, unwilling to leave. He wanted to enter but didn’t dare to do so.

Parker bellowed at him angrily. “If you don’t scram, I”ll bite you to death!”

The tiger beastman backed off a few steps in fear, groveling on the ground and turning into his human form before saying, “I don’t want the cave anymore. Give me my ore!”

“What ore?” Parker took a look around in the cave and pointed his leg out toward a big piece of rock in the corner. “That one?”

The tiger beastman said angrily, “It’s that piece! Give it to me quickly!”

Parker walked over to the rock, picked it up to take a look, and noticed a hole inside. A few small rocks were contained in it.

“These are the ores that you guys want?”

The tiger beastman threw a strange glance at Parker, taking him as someone who had just come down. He said, “That’s right.”

“What’s the use of it?” Parker assessed it carefully. These rocks were pitch-black like ink as if they had absorbed all light rays. They looked quite creepy, like many black holes.

Upon a careful inspection, he realized that they were crystals and were also octahedrons. It was just that their color was different from the crystal they found in the village.

“Down here, we need to trade ores for food and water. If we gather 1,000 of them, we’re even able to leave this place.”

The tiger beastman said anxiously, “You’re so strong, so you’ll definitely be able to find a lot of them very quickly. Return these few to me.”

Beastmen in this place didn’t know how immense the world was. The tiger beastman hoped that they could be deceived by his words. Otherwise, his hard work over the past few days would all go to waste.

After having taken a look at them, Parker tossed the rock, and the tiger beastman’s eyes followed it. His breathing even seemed to stop for a moment.

“You guys can use ores to trade for food and water. It seems that your life down here isn’t bad.”

The tiger beastman said, “It’s true that living here is better than living up there. However, it’s very difficult to save up to 1,000 ores. It’d be considered good for one person to leave in ten years.”

Hearing the clanking sounds of the ores in the rock, the tiger beastman’s heart also palpitated with it.

Looking at how the sound of the ores had attracted the gaze of the beastmen nearby, the tiger beastman said anxiously, “Quickly return them to me. Otherwise, even I won’t be able to keep them.”

Parker smiled and said, “I’ll ask you one more question before returning them to you.”

“Go ahead.” The tiger beastman immediately said.

“How many four-striped beastmen are there here? Do you know of a four-striped lion beastman?”

To quickly take the ores back, the tiger beastman replied anxiously before Parker finished his words, “Of course I do!”