Beauty and the Beasts

“Aye!” Bai Qingqing let out a cry of surprise. She swung her legs, wanting to slide down from Cortis’s body. “There’s fungus here. Cortis, hurry up and let me come down.”

 Cortis held Bai Qingqing even more tightly and said sternly, “You’re going to catch a cold.” He then cast a glance at Parker. “You go pick it.”

 Parker shifted both shoes to one hand and walked to the spot Bai Qingqing was pointing at. He asked with uncertainty, “Qingqing, you sure you want to eat this?”

 “Yes, yes.” Bai Qingqing nodded repeatedly. She felt like Cortis was treating her like a child. She grabbed his arm and pleaded. “I’m not going to get sick. From the time I was a child to now, the number of times I’ve fallen sick is countable on two hands.”

 Cortis gazed at Bai Qingqing, and she saw the disbelief in his eyes. Her face fell. Well, right after she was abducted by Cortis, she fell severely ill. But that was because she was in a cold state for too long, okay?

 Parker tugged at a black piece of fungus, placed it in his mouth, and chewed it. Immediately, he spat it out. “Qingqing, this tastes awful.”

 1Looking at the chewed piece of fungus, Bai Qingqing said with an aching heart, “Don’t bite it. You can only eat this after cooking it.”

 “Is this really edible?” Parker still didn’t quite believe her. Still, he obediently started plucking the fungus. Under Bai Qingqing’s strong request, Parker gave up the large tree leaves found everywhere on the mountain and tossed the fungus into the basket he was carrying with a constipated expression.

 Some mushrooms were hidden among the rotten tree leaves. As Bai Qingqing was unable to get on the ground, she asked Cortis to help her snap a tree branch for her to poke at the tree branches along the way. Shortly after, she discovered a nest of pearl oyster mushrooms.

 With a phobia of such white mushrooms now, Bai Qingqing subconsciously glanced at Cortis.

 “You want to eat this?” Cortis halted in his tracks considerately and said to Parker, “Pluck this.”

 “Aye, wait.” Before Bai Qingqing could finish speaking, the manual laborer Parker came running back. Upon seeing this mushroom, Parker’s expression changed, and he retracted the hand he just stuck out.

 “This is poisonous,” Parker said.

 “Are you sure? Has someone been poisoned after eating this?” Bai Qingqing asked. If this happened in the past, she would rebut him with a firm attitude. But ever since she caused Cortis to be nearly poisoned, she was more cautious now.

 Parker bent over and sniffed it, then said, “I don’t know much about mushrooms, but I always hear the old beastmen say that mushrooms are poisonous. Once upon a time, several females ate some very pretty-looking mushrooms, then they all died from poisoning.”

 “That means you’re not sure.” Bai Qingqing’s eyes darted around, then said, “Let’s pluck and bring them back. Feed it to the chic… short-winged bird to test it out.”

 1Parker’s expression changed drastically. He moved his hands behind his back and said anxiously, “I’m not plucking it. What if the short-winged bird is fine after eating it, but beastmen die from eating it? Qingqing, don’t eat this, alright? I’ll find you some fungus.”

 A now impatient Cortis placed one hand on Bai Qingqing’s back and bent over to pluck this nest of pearl oyster mushrooms, before putting it into the basket on Parker’s back.

 Bai Qingqing felt guilty seeing this. Especially since she had once thought of using poisonous fungi to harm Cortis. She hugged him, leaning her chin against his shoulder and keeping quiet.

 There were plenty of mushrooms in a primitive forest. It didn’t take long before Parker filled his basket with mushrooms.

 A “pff pff pff” sound could suddenly be heard in the quiet forest. Startled by the sounds they were making, a short-winged bird flapped its wings and flew towards a tree.

 Bai Qingqing pointed at the short-winged bird and shouted, “Short-winged bird! Hurry up and catch it!”

 Now that he had built a shelter for the bird, Parker didn’t mind having a few more birds in the house. He quickly set the stuff he was carrying on the ground, transformed into a leopard, and pounced onto the tree.