Beauty and the Beasts

After a hailstorm, large snowflakes drifted in the air, slowly landing like small boats. The door had already been buried by ice, so Parker climbed out from the window and cleared up the ice in front of the door before opening it.

 “Wow!” Bai Qingqing wore thin sneakers as she walked to the door and saw a large snowflake the size of a bowl slowly landing in front of her. She put out her hand and caught it.

 The snowflake covered Bai Qingqing’s entire palm and rapidly melted from the warmth, turning into water.

 “It’s so beautiful…” Bai Qingqing raised her head and looked at this strange natural phenomena in the beastmen’s world.

 The world before her eyes was a stretch of white, and the yellowing willow branches were in a dire strait. What was left were their trunks that stood there firmly. Not many jerkies that were hung to dry on the trees to dry were left.

 The river was filled up with ice, and the water level had risen up quite a lot, not freezing up. Based on this, Bai Qingqing reckoned that the temperature was currently at around zero degrees Celsius.

 “The meat won’t spoil, right?” Bai Qingqing said worriedly. There was white frosted air under her feet, and Bai Qingqing was so cold that she stomped her feet.

 The white tiger came out from the house, jumped onto the layer of shattered ice, and quickly ran over to the tree, digging under. He then picked up a chunk of tough jerky.

 “You’re very cold?” Parker grabbed Bai Qingqing’s hand and wiped off the water in her palm onto his chest. “Your hand is so cold. Don’t play with snow anymore.”

 “A little.” Bai Qingqing grinned and said, her legs rubbing against each other.

 Parker carried her up by the waist and placed her down on the wolf skin laid out in the main room. He quickly started up a fire and then used vines to tie the jerky Winston had brought back, hanging it on the roof.

 These miscellaneous matters were taken care of very quickly. The only thing in a bad state was the bird’s shelter. Parker had used sturdier wood to build it, but many spots that still had holes. It was a state of chaos inside. Thankfully, the short-winged birds were all fine, with only a few bird eggs getting smashed.

 Parker immediately climbed up to mend the shelter’s roof.

 “Howl—”

 The long howl of a wolf beastman rang out from the center of the city. The howls were stable and long, extending out to every corner in the City of Beastmen.

 Bai Qingqing was warming up by the fire while seated on the soft animal skin, and the bottom of her feet had turned red. Under the fire’s lighting, they presented a semi-translucent state, and her delicate toes looked cute and exquisite like red jade.

 Hearing the wolf howl, Bai Qingqing looked outside and asked Winston, “That cry sounds different. Is something the matter?”

 As Bai Qingqing said that, she looked towards Winston. Winston seemed stunned for a moment, then he suddenly broke into a happy expression. Bai Qingqing knew that her guess was right and she was about to ask when Parker came back.

 “Qingqing, quickly put on your shoes. Let’s head to the ape castle quickly,” Parker said excitedly as he picked up her shoes, touched them, then put them aside. “These are too thin. You should wear animal skin instead.”

 Bai Qingqing didn’t dare to wear her sneakers that were meant for spring and autumn weather. She continued to warm up by the fire, barefooted. “Winston, why are we heading to the ape castle?”

 Winston said, “The ape king has brewed an amazing fruit syrup that will make one’s body warm-up after drinking it. After each year’s first hail, the ape king would distribute the fruit syrup to the females to prevent them from falling ill from the cold.”

 Fruit syrup? One’s body will heat up after drinking it? Why does that sound so much like wine?

 The ape king doesn’t seem bad. As a female, Bai Qingqing felt that she was a little bought over by him.

Parker took out a new piece of wolf hide and cut off the front paws. He then walked up to Bai Qingqing and squatted down.

 “Wearing it just like that?” Bai Qingqing moved her toes and put her feet into them.

 After Parker put the animal skin shoes on Bai Qingqing’s feet, he used animal skin rope to tie the opening tightly.