Beauty and the Beasts

The taste was very different from the meat Parker grilled. Although it wasn’t very flavorful, the layer of oil brushed during the grilling process made the grilled meat very aromatic and gave it a special flavor.

 Winston started eating too. From the way he was relishing in the food, it was easy to tell that he liked it.

 The salt jar was placed between the two of them, and they would dip the meat in it from time to time. Suddenly, something came to Bai Qingqing’s mind and she asked, “Oh right, do you still have salt in Camel Hump Valley? It’s so precious, you’d better bring it over as soon as possible.”

 Winston halted in his act of eating and said in his deep voice, “No.”

 Bai Qingqing, who had just stuffed a mouthful of meat into her mouth, accidentally bit her chopsticks upon hearing his reply, bringing a sharp pain to her front teeth.

 No salt… he was indeed eating raw meat?

 There was salt content in raw blood. Since Winston didn’t eat salt, he could only get his salt intake from raw blood.

 Bai Qingqing suddenly felt a little fearful. Recalling Eve’s frightful manner, and how everyone seemed scared of Winston, she realized there was probably a reason for it.

 This was indeed a little scary. Bai Qingqing stuffed a big piece of meat into her mouth and tried hard to suppress her discomfort.

 1After she was done eating the meat, Bai Qingqing returned to the bedroom. That tuft of grass under the grinding stone was gone. Bai Qingqing looked closely and found herself staring at a pair of red snake eyes suddenly appearing amidst the darkness in the crack, giving her a good scare.

 1Realizing that it was Curtis, Bai Qingqing calmed down.

 “What’s the matter?” Winston asked from outside. Bai Qingqing hurriedly replied, “Nothing.”

 Noticing the change in Bai Qingqing’s breathing, the worried Winston walked to the bedroom door. Bai Qingqing turned back, looked at the grinding stone, and saw that the crack was now sealed with dry grass.

 Bai Qingqing had a feeling that Curtis was clearly wary of Winston, and he didn’t wish for Winston to know that he was down there. Thus, she said to Winston, “Nothing. Hurry up and eat your meat.”

 Winston’s sharp gaze swept around in the bedroom before nodding at Bai Qingqing and leaving.

 Parker caught two prey at one go. He carried one on his back, and the other prey was hanging from his mouth, leaving behind traces of blood the entire way.

 The air in the City of Beastmen reeked of blood. Many beastmen were crouched by the river in groups of three to five, or alone, and the river in front was a patch of faint red.

 Parker, too, crouched down by the river in front of his house and prepared to handle the prey.

 Seeing Winston walk out, Bai Qingqing stood up, walked to the window, and looked out to see that Parker had returned.

 “Parker.” Bai Qingqing called out to him as she held onto the door frame.

 The leopard by the river turned his blood-stained head around and responded enthusiastically, “Roar!”

 “I caught a rabbit. I’ll make you new clothes today,” Parker said as he transformed into a human.

 Bai Qingqing’s eyes lit up. Ignoring her feeble body, she walked towards the river. “Let me take a look.”

 Like he said, he had caught a giant rabbit, and its fluffy white fur looked very cozy indeed.

 Winston said, “Let me handle it.”

 “No need. I’ll make clothes for Qingqing personally.” Enmity could be sensed in Parker’s voice, and such blatant rejection made the atmosphere a little tense. Bai Qingqing was about to say something to ease the tension when she heard Winston say, “Then I’ll go hunting.”

 Parker got anxious. But before he could react, Winston had already torn off his skirt and transformed into his beast form before running away.

 “Eh!” Bai Qingqing sighed. She wondered how she could repay Winston since she was always troubling him. She looked at Parker and said, “Are all guardian beasts like that? What are the other guardian beasts like?”

 Parker said, “Guardian beasts are males that are unpopular among the females. Unable to become mates with a female, their next best bet is to become a guardian to a female.”