Beauty and the Beasts

With a sweep of his tail, the beastmen quickly cleared a path for Cortis.

When they got home, Bai Qingqing’s mind was still filled with those gory scenes. Her face looked pretty pale.

With his arms around Bai Qingqing, Parker rubbed his face against her. “Shall I cook something for you to eat?”

Bai Qingqing rolled her eyes at him. “You think I’m a pig? I’ve just eaten. With rice, I can just eat two meals a day. There’s no need to cook at noon again.”

Rice again. Parker felt jealous. Now that there was rice, Bai Qingqing’s appetite had doubled.

“I’ll go and chop firewood,” Parker said. He picked up his ax from the ground. Seeing that Cortis had no intention to go with him, he said in a displeased tone, “Hey, Snake, come with me.”

Don’t dream of staying alone with Qingqing.

Cortis glanced coldly at Parker, the message clear from his eyes. Asking for a beating?

Parker’s heart quivered a little.

Bai Qingqing quickly tried to ease the situation. “I’m thinking of arranging the firewood we have here. Give me a hand, Cortis.”

Parker had no choice but to consent. Holding the ax in hand, he left by himself.

The twigs and branches took up a lot of space. Bai Qingqing thus thought of an idea—to extract the oil.

Not only would it occupy much less space, but it would also be a breeze to cook with. There were plenty of bamboos around the house, and they were most ideal for containing the oil.

“Cortis, help me carry the firewood down,” Bai Qingqing said with her eyes upon the pile of tree branches.

“Okay.” Cortis curled his tail and rolled down a bundle of tree branches.

Bai Qingqing bent down and tried to untie the vines binding the tree branches. But she lost patience after failing some attempts to do so and decided to simply snap the vines by brute force. Suddenly, she felt something tighten around her ankle, and she could feel her body filled with strength.

She was about to tug by force when a cold hand grabbed her hand.

“Do you wish to faint again, like last time?” Cortis asked.

“What?” Bai Qingqing looked up at Cortis, dazed. She suddenly recalled that on the day Cortis arrived, she had experienced an explosion in strength, which allowed her to snap the tree branches easily. But very soon her body collapsed in an abnormal manner, and she had fainted for a good while after that.

At that time she had thought it was because her body hadn’t fully recovered, so she didn’t pay much heed to that. Could that have something to do with this?

“How did you know that?” Bai Qingqing was bewildered. She felt a tightening sensation at her ankle, and something suddenly struck her. “Does it have something to do with you?”

Cortis stroked Bai Qingqing’s head and said gently, “This is the protection I provide to you after we become mates so that you can save your own skin at critical moments. But I’m too strong, so you weren’t able to take it. That’s why you fainted.”

Bai Qingqing’s lips parted. No wonder. No wonder she kept feeling an urge to curl her arms around a tree branch and ferociously snap it. Just like how a snake behaved.

“Do all males bestow such a strength upon their females upon becoming mates with them?”

“Mm,” Cortis said. “The more loving the relationship between the mates, the more completely that power is unleashed.”

Bai Qingqing’s heart started pounding wildly. Did that mean she could become very strong?

However, Cortis immediately splashed cold water on her idea. “Try your best not to use such powers. It’s going to make you collapse from exhaustion. Only use it when you need to save your own life.”

Bai Qingqing was left feeling deflated. Yeah. The instant she finished using that, she had collapsed.

The two of them arranged the willow branches into clean rods, washed them, and left them aside to dry.

After Parker returned, Bai Qingqing asked Cortis to get some firewood, and also asked Parker to find her two rocks and shape them according to her instructions.

She wanted one long rock and one round rock.

A trough was cut in the middle of the long rock for the tree branches to be placed. As for the round rock, its side was polished such that its width fit nicely into the trough. There was a hole through the center, and a piece of wood was placed through that hole—this would act as a shaft.

Staring at the weird-looking stones, Parker asked, “Qingqing, why exactly did you ask me to make this?”