Beauty and the Beasts

Bai Qingqing was on the brink of tears. That long and chilly thing… how could she—who had raised a nest of little snakes—not be able to tell what that was.

“It’s under my skirt. Ah!” Bai Qingqing let out a raspy shriek, her voice sounding even shakier now. “It’s coiled itself around my leg…”

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Muir swam to Bai Qingqing’s side and reached out a hand towards her skirt.

“Oi!” Bai Qingqing was so startled that she felt a layer of heat spread over her cold body. Her originally stiff body became stiffer yet.

“Don’t cry, I’m just catching the snake,” Muir replied in his deep voice. His arms were rather long, to begin with, so, when he stood at the same height as Bai Qingqing, his hand could just nicely reach Bai Qingqing’s leg.

Who… who’s crying! Why are the males accusing me of crying all the time?

Bai Qingqing blinked and gently trod the water. She didn’t dare to move recklessly, her senses occupied by the chilly and smooth water snake.

It would be terrible if the poisonous snake bit her. There are babies in my tummy!

Damn. It’s coming towards me.

Bai Qingqing was so freaked out that she wanted to scream out loud, and it was only by trying very hard did she manage to not squeak out any sound. Muir’s hand felt its way up, before grabbing the water snake in a sudden movement.

“Ah!”

The scream stuck in her throat finally managed to break through the barrier. Bai Qingqing, who could sense the snake twisting violently, screamed as she struggled.

“Caught it.” Muir retracted his hand from underneath Bai Qingqing’s skirt, before retreating some distance.

Muir’s hand was tightly gripped around a dark-green snake. Though slim, it was nearly two meters long.

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He turned his head towards Bai Qingqing, his expression momentarily dazed.

In the clear lake, the girl’s slightly bulging tummy looked so adorable. Especially since he knew there were several little lives inside the tummy right now.

Upon hearing this, Bai Qingqing let out a long exhale of foul air. “Don’t kill it.”

She swam towards Muir and had only glided through the water twice when she realized that her skirt had floated up. She hurriedly held it down, but the redness on her face didn’t dissipate so easily.

“Ssss~”

Muir looked at the snake he was holding and asked, “Does it remind you of your own children?”

“Mm.” Bai Qingqing didn’t dare to go too near to Muir. She still felt fear towards snakes and was even worried that it would spit out venom onto her face.

As though sensing that the one in control of his fate was Bai Qingqing, the green snake turned its head towards Bai Qingqing.

Although it had a green body, its eyes were a dark shade of red and appeared very watery. However, there was no hint of emotion in them.

“Could this be a snake beastman?” Bai Qingqing asked. Her heart couldn’t help but soften as she looked at this pair of familiar-looking eyes.

Muir pinched the neck of the green snake tightly to force it to open its mouth, and two slim and long fangs were revealed as the snake did so.

“It’s already an adult. Seems like it’s just a wild snake.”

“I see.” Bai Qingqing felt dejected.

She wondered how her little snakes were doing. At that time they were still sleeping at home. Would Curtis remember to bring them along? Would the beastmen in the City of Beastmen have killed them?

The more she thought about this, the more worried she got. Bai Qingqing washed her face, before saying, “Let’s set it free.”

Muir tossed the snake into the grass several tens of meters away, before wading towards Bai Qingqing.

“I haven’t taken a shower in many days, I’d like to bathe.” Bai Qingqing turned away from Muir.

“I’ll stand here and protect you.”

“Mm.”

After going through this one to two months of drought and rushing for seven to eight days, Bai Qingqing’s hair was feeling incredibly greasy. Even soaking it in the water didn’t seem to cleanse it properly.