Beauty and the Beasts

“In the wilderness. I remember where it is.” Parker said, “We’ve got to wait until at least the light rainy season before we can go back. Curtis needs to go into hibernation, and I need to stay here to take care of you.”

After saying this, Parker felt both sweet at heart and also apologetic towards her. Sweet at heart because Qingqing only had him and Curtis as spouses. Apologetic for exactly the same reason—because he forbade it, Qingqing didn’t look for other mates.

Actually, if Qingqing were to find a mate in the tiger tribe, he could set off to the City of Beastmen to retrieve their items right away.

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Bai Qingqing, however, didn’t think along these lines and merely felt overjoyed upon learning this. “Great. I had thought that the ape king had taken away all those things.”

Parker scoffed. “How could we let that happen? Even if we were to burn it, we wouldn’t leave it behind for him.”

Bai Qingqing agreed.

After walking some distance, Bai Qingqing only managed to find some grasses that appeared to be edible. She was beginning to feel tired when she sighted a river ahead, so she pulled Parker over there to drink water.

Black fog rose in the forest sparsely populated by plants, carried by the gentle breeze to the riverside.

“We’ve walked quite a great distance. I’ll carry you back later,” said Parker as he squatted by the riverside. Suddenly, his ears pricked up, and his nose started wrinkling furiously.

The air didn’t smell quite right.

“Okay,” Bai Qingqing responded. “Did you notice the rivers here are really shallow? The riverbeds are filled with yellow mud.”

Having not gotten a response, Bai Qingqing turned her head. Seeing the wary expression on Parker’s face, she instantly got to her feet and asked, “Are there ferocious beasts around?”

As she got up too quickly, Bai Qingqing’s head spun a little. She placed her hands on her lap and bent over.

Parker had wanted to support Bai Qingqing when a “whoosh” sound was heard from behind. Parker transformed into a leopard and turned around to let out a roar.

Roar! The masculine and rich roar caused the tree leaves to shake.

A black scorpion dashed out from the forest, moving speedily on his eight slim and long legs as he charged at Parker and Bai Qingqing.

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His scorpion tail was curled up to the height of a human being, and at its edge was a slim and long venomous hook. On his sides was a pair of enormous pincers that were disproportionate to the size of his body, making him look like a fully armored general.

“Ah!” Bai Qingqing shrieked out loud. She instinctively wanted to escape, but unexpectedly, the instant she moved her body, she collapsed to the ground feeling all strength drawn from her.

Staring at the indistinct black fog on the ground, only then did Bai Qingqing realize that the dizziness she experienced earlier wasn’t due to her low blood sugar level, but because she was poisoned by the scorpion’s venom.

Having gotten a proper look at Bai Qingqing’s face, that scorpion beastman’s eyes widened, and he dashed forward even more forcefully.

Parker let out a low growl, leaped into the air, and jumped onto the scorpion beastman’s back. The latter swung his long scorpion tail about wildly, the sharp edge of his tail attacking Parker swiftly and ferociously as though it had grown a pair of eyes.

After nimbly dodging it several times, Parker suddenly attacked instead of dodging, charging towards the scorpion’s tail to bite it. Just as the venomous hook came piercing at him, he turned his head at an unbelievable speed and bit off the scorpion’s tail in one swoop.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

The scorpion’s body shook violently, making loud “swoosh” sounds. His enormous pincers flailed wildly as his body swayed from left to right in an attempt to toss off the enemy from his back.

Parker expanded and retracted his claws, as he dug his sharp nails into the shell on the scorpion’s back. Roaring, he bit the scorpion on the back of his head, then violently shook his head.

Amid the vigorous “swoosh” sounds, Parker bit off a chunk of the scorpion shell that was stained with a white gooey substance.

The scorpion’s eight limbs turned weak, and his gigantic body collapsed with a loud crash.

Bai Qingqing, lying on her stomach on the ground, heaved a sigh of relief.

Parker jumped down from the scorpion’s corpse before transforming into a human to help her get back on her feet. With half his face covered in brain goop, he asked facing her, “Are you alright?”