Beauty and the Beasts

Cortis plucked a leaf and folded it into a cone, then picked up the bird’s eggs from the nest and placed them into it.

 “Aye, Cortis, don’t take that!” Bai Qingqing shook the tree. Cortis only had to move slightly and the tree would shake, but she didn’t even manage to budge it by a little.

 With his tail curled around a tree branch, Cortis’s upper body dropped from above and faced Bai Qingqing upside down, his long hair drifting in mid-air.

 “No need to be scared. These are eggs from the short-wing bird. They generally don’t hatch. Moreover, they lay one egg per day. Even if you don’t eat it, they would peck through the eggshell and eat it themselves.”

 Lay one egg per day? Isn’t this a chicken?

 Just as Bai Qingqing was thinking this, she heard the flapping of wings from the skies. She turned her head towards the source of the sound and saw a colorful pheasant flying towards the bird’s nest and maniacally pecking at Cortis’s tail.

 The short-wing bird wasn’t the chicken that Bai Qingqing had imagined—it could fly very high, but its body was on the heavier side, so it would charge about randomly like a fighting bull. It wasn’t as light as birds, and neither could it fly as freely.

 Its body was mostly brown, with some vibrant blue prints. Its tail was long and slim and of vibrant colors just like a peacock.

 Cortis was irritated from being pecked at by the short-wing bird. His upper body went up the tree and was prepared to crush it to death when he heard Bai Qingqing say, “Don’t kill it. Let’s bring it home and let it lay eggs for us.”

 “Okay.” Cortis retracted his strength and pinched the short-wing bird’s neck with an appropriate force before crawling down the tree and tying it with vines.

 Beastmen were highly efficient creatures. It didn’t take more than 15 minutes before Cortis and Parker piled up a mountain of tree branches. After respectively tying the tree branches into a bundle and placing it on their shoulders, the two of them couldn’t be seen anymore.

 All she could see now were two moving piles of firewood.

 Holding ten-odd eggs, Bai Qingqing tipped her toes and was prepared to bear with the pain and walk back by herself.

 She made a mental note to remember to wear shoes next time—even those weaved from grass would do. Else, she wouldn’t be able to enter the mountains.

 Cortis tossed out his tail and his voice was heard from inside the firewood pile. “Come over by yourself and sit on me. I can’t see you.”

 Bai Qingqing didn’t move and merely asked, “Would it inconvenience you?”

 Unwilling to be outdone, with the firewood on his shoulders, Parker walked towards her. “Qingqing, come over and sit on the firewood. I can manage the weight.”

 Based on his sensitivity towards sound and warmth, Cortis curled his tail around Bai Qingqnig and started slithering towards her.

 Seeing that Cortis’s movement wasn’t hindered in any way, she didn’t reject his offer. “It’s alright, Parker. I’m already sitting on Cortis’s tail.”

 Parker could only continue walking on glumly.

 The firewood they chopped this time occupied one-third of the central room. Bai Qingqing realized that she had belittled the beastmen. At this rate, she figured it would take them less than half a day to fill up the central room and bedroom with firewood.

 “Little female!” The rich voice of a male could be heard at the door.

 Bai Qingqing, who was squatting down and gazing at the short-wing bird, looked outside upon hearing the voice. It was that brown bear beastman who fought with Parker yesterday.

 Seeing that the female he fancied already had two males, Tony could no longer sit still. He had prepared his signature honey barbecued meat, and upon seeing that they had returned, came running over.

 “This is the honey-barbecued meat that I prepared. For you.” Tony didn’t enter the house, merely extending the barbecued meat with his hands into the house.

 Bai Qingqing knew the bear’s motive for coming, so she naturally had to reject him. But the instant she heard the words “honey-barbecued meat”, her focus shifted. “Honey-barbecued meat?”

 Looking at the golden thigh of an unknown animal’s glazed skin, Bai Qingqing’s mouth started watering.

 No males could tolerate seeing other males trying to please their females. Especially when their female seemed tempted.