Beauty and the Beasts

“Who is it?”

The figure of a female walked over and removed her animal skin hat. Turned out it was Molly.

“You couldn’t even tell who I am from my voice?” Molly asked, sounding a little upset.

Of course, Bai Qingqing could tell who it was; she had realized it was Molly when she spoke. However, she only asked as she didn’t want to sound like the two of them were chummy.

“Is something the matter?” asked Bai Qingqing coldly.

Molly held out a small animal skin bag. “Are you not mad at me anymore? I know I was in the wrong that day, and I don’t blame you for it. But they forbade me from looking for you, and as my mother was also around then, I didn’t dare to stand out. Later, I tried finding you but couldn’t. I really regret it.”

Molly lowered her head, sounding a little aggrieved. “Every time I see smoke rising from your house I would come and find you, but I never bumped into you. I thought that I need to go to the sandpit every morning, so I came here and camped early in the morning to wait for you. It’s so cold out here.”

Bai Qingqing’s heart softened as Molly spoke. However, she maintained an aloof expression as she took the small bag Molly held out. “Are they for me, as a form of apology?”

“Mm, mm. I heard you like stone fruits, so I brought you mine.” Molly nodded repeatedly, revealing a smile. “Have you forgiven me?”

Bai Qingqing rolled her eyes at her. “Turn around, I’m not done peeing.”

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This was the second time she was interrupted while peeing. Why was this so torturous?

Moreover, this time it was in the sandpit of her own home!

Molly: “Ah?”

Only when Bai Qingqing glared at her again, did she turn around. “Fine, I won’t watch.”

After she finished relieving herself, Bai Qingqing felt much more comfortable. Hence, she decided to forgive her.

Molly was only an immature little girl. And since she hadn’t really suffered a loss, it was good to have a friend of the same sex.

The two of them made up just like that and went back to their respective homes.

Parker brought Bai Qingqing her breakfast, then started removing his skirt.

“You’re going to hunt this early?”

Parker tossed the skirt onto the bed and said, “The sooner I catch the prey, the earlier I get to come back. This place can’t be compared to the City of Beastmen. There are very few prey in the cold season.”

“Mm, be careful,” Bai Qingqing reminded, as she picked up the skirt and folded it into a square.

Parker transformed into a leopard and licked Bai Qingqing before jumping out of the hole.

It wasn’t until the night that he came back. Thankfully, Bai Qingqing liked vegetables a lot, so she didn’t go hungry. The leopard cubs could also feed on breastmilk.

Parker caught a wild wolf that was equally hungry. He ate more than half of it, and Winston, who didn’t go out, ate less.

The disadvantage of having few mates was once again evident.

As Parker and Winston took turns hunting for prey, they needed more food if they wanted to maintain their energy levels.

For those with large families, the males only needed to go hunting once every few days. In fact, they could even go into hibernation and greatly conserve the need for food.

After a harsh winter, Parker and Winston grew visibly thinner. Even in their beast forms, the fur on their bodies wasn’t able to conceal how much thinner they had grown.

Thankfully, the cold season was over, and with the arrival of the light rainy season came the hope of life—the snow and ice melted, and everything came back to life again.

Winston counted the number of beastmen in the tiger tribe and found that other than the seven tiger beastmen who died fighting, another five died due to starvation.

“Roar!” The roar of a tiger reverberated throughout the mountains as a white tiger ran into the forest leading a streak of tigers, stomping so hard that it caused the ground to tremble slightly.

The animals in hibernation would require food after they woke up. Hence, the collective hunting activity that took place annually commenced.

Bai Qingqing pressed herself by the tree hole as she watched them go away. She said with anticipation, “There’ll finally be food again!”

Parker replied, “Yeah.”

“Ssss~”

The flicking of a tongue sounded from behind.

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