Beauty and the Beasts

The chosen grapes were placed into the stone basin that had been similarly drained of water. The grapes were then crushed, and nothing else needed to be added. Finally, Bai Qingqing laid a piece of Curtis’s snakeskin over the stone basin.

 Of course, she had gone to great lengths to convince Curtis before getting this small piece of snakeskin that was scarcely able to cover the stone basin.

 The reason it had to be snakeskin was that snakeskin was thin and light and cleaner than other animal skins. Moreover, the fermentation of wine required minimal air, a condition which using snakeskin would satisfy.

 Parker acted according to Bai Qingqing’s instructions and carefully carried the stone basin back to the warehouse. Feeling perplexed, he asked, “Didn’t you say you didn’t like the fruit syrup fermented by the ape king? If you don’t drink the fruit juice, it will go bad.”

 “That depends on the taste. The wine fermented by the ape king tasted awful.” Bai Qingqing pouted, then abruptly covered her mouth.

 “I’m not talking to you today, hmph!” Bai Qingqing tossed her ponytail and ran away.

 Behind her, Parker’s heart skipped a beat.

 My goodness! Does Qingqing have to be that cute? She clearly wants to talk to me, yet she’s holding herself back.

 With his heart thumping wildly, Parker felt that there was a problem with him. Indeed, when one got a spouse, he would turn into a mindless idiot who loved his partner with no limits!

 After running upstairs, Bai Qingqing ran straight to Curtis’s nest.

 “Played enough?”

 Lying lazily in his nest, Curtis propped up his cheeks with his hands and gazed at her. Raising his tail, he laid it upon Bai Qingqing’s legs.

 Bai Qingqing easily removed the haphazardly weaved straw shoes and turned around, pouncing onto a cool body. With her lips pouted, she said, “I wasn’t playing, I was doing something serious.”

 “Got it.” Curtis’s tone was full of indulgence.

 Bai Qingqing said with a sigh, “It’s most comfortable hugging you. The sun was killing me out there. Look, the skin on my calves are about to peel.”

 This world truly wasn’t a place where normal human beings could survive. Although it was very cooling inside the house, once under the sun it made one feel so hot, almost like a roasted Peking duck.

 It was understandable why females weren’t good-looking here—they were too fragile; even a human male might not be able to adjust well. Only the strong and powerful beastmen could live like a fish in water here.

 Curtis kept away his joking manner and lifted Bai Qingqing’s foot to take a look. His heart ached so badly for her that he flicked out his tongue to touch that reddened patch of skin. “I told you not to run around…”

 Curtis halted in his words. Slapping his tail in unease, he finally said, “We can move to somewhere with a better environment. This isn’t a good place.”

 Bai Qingqing shook her head. “I don’t want to move. The ape king still owes me a life. I need to get it back from him!”

 Bai Qingqing’s eyes stung at the thought of the dead Shuu. She stiffly changed the topic. “Actually, only my legs were exposed to the sun. It’s fine for legs to become tanned. So long as my face doesn’t become tanned, it’s fine.”

 Curtis flicked out his tongue again. Suddenly, his countenance changed and he gazed at Bai Qingqing’s legs with a dark expression.

 For some reason, Bai Qingqing felt the hairs on her back standing up, as though chilly energy was moving on her skin, the coldness seeping through her pores and into her body.

 She looked up at Curtis and only then discovered the source of the threat. She said with trepidation, “What… what’s the matter?”

 “You went out today, just so that you can secretly be with Parker?” Curtis’s voice was icy, and it was as though his voice was laced with poison that had a numbing effect. Bai Qingqing’s entire body froze, and she forgot how to move.

“He even dares to do it outside?” Curtis’s rage was clearly soaring. Even he didn’t dare to do this recklessly, for it was easy for wild animals to attack them while they were doing the deed. How could Parker—a three-striped beastman—be so brazen? Clearly, he didn’t have any regard for Snow’s life at all.