Beauty and the Beasts

No one was seen in the house now. Beside the river stood the half-naked Cortis, his tail laying at the bottom of the river.

“Wah wah wah—”

Despite the splattering sounds of rain outside, Bai Qingqing could vaguely hear the struggle that was taking place in the water. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted as loudly as she could, “Cortis!”

Cortis finally turned his head. Even though he was standing far away, Bai Qingqing, standing in the house, could sense his coldness.

Bai Qingqing shouted, “Don’t kill anyone!”

Don’t kill anyone. Bai Qingqing had given this much thought before saying it out loud. If she had specified for him not to kill Hugh, Cortis might get even more furious.

Cortis quietly gazed at her for a moment. Just as Bai Qingqing was about to dash out, he finally scooped out the wolf beastman from the water before tossing him out with a sweep of his tail.

The wolf beastman had transformed into his beast form under the danger he was facing. As he saw a black figure flying across the sky amidst the rain, he fell to the wet ground with a loud thud.

Bai Qingqing heaved a big sigh of relief.

The wolf beastman kicked his four limbs, then staggered to his feet before gazing towards Bai Qingqing. She wasn’t looking at him.

He retracted his gaze and limped away, his back view looking rather pitiful.

Shaking his tail, Cortis instantly returned to the house.

“Where’s that leopard?” Cortis asked, evidently displeased as he held up Bai Qingqing’s hand.

Bai Qingqing walked into the bedroom with Cortis. “He went to look for his dad.”

Cortis’s expression was still very dark. A little afraid of him, Bai Qingqing explained, “That wolf beastman is the descendant of the wolf king. If you kill him, we would be in trouble.”

Bai Qingqing had thought that he was still bothered about Hugh’s matter. Surprisingly, Cortis replied, “I know.”

She was shocked to hear this. Even though Cortis seemed not to care about anything, he was clear about everything.

“Then why did you nearly kill him? But it’s just as well. I guess Hugh won’t be coming to look for me again,” Bai Qingqing said with a smile. After she finished speaking, she could keenly sense that Cortis, whose countenance had slightly improved, now wore a dark expression again.

“Hugh?”

Bai Qingqing had said so much, yet this was the only point Cortis caught.

Bai Qingqing felt like slapping herself. She corrected herself. “That wolf beastman.”

Cortis decided not to pursue the matter.

In order to bring back the thorny fruit, Parker remained in his human form both ways, so he was gone for a slightly longer period of time. He scraped away the mud on his feet before entering the house.

“Qingqing, I’m back. I brought back the thorny fruit for you.”

Bai Qingqing raised her head in delight. Looking at Parker entering the house, she said, “Hurry up and show it to me.”

When Parker got drenched in the rain, his hair would stick to his head. Water kept dripping down his face and from his chin.

He handed a green fruit the size of a peanut to Bai Qingqing and said, “Be careful of the thorns.”

The obedient Bai Qingqing carefully picked up the thorny fruit.

True to its name, this fruit was full of thorns. After taking a careful look at it, Bai Qingqing realized that this thing was very similar to a kind of shrub found in the modern ages.

She didn’t know what that shrub was called, but it was seen by the roadsides everywhere. After the fruit withered, the thorns would become sharp and prickly. The worst thing about it was that once it got onto someone’s hair, it was extremely difficult to remove.

But this soft and green ball of thorns seemed like it could be used to brush teeth.

“Hurry up and try it,” Parker said with a look of anticipation.

Cortis also glanced towards the thing she was holding.

Bai Qingqing had wanted to soak it in water and use it tomorrow. However, at Parker’s request, she nodded and agreed.