Beauty and the Beasts

“But there’s the scent of a snake beastman there.” Someone spoke up again.

Bai Qingqing said, “Bring us there to take a look.”

They realized that the location of the wolf king’s death was in a shady area in the corner of the streets. Curtis told Bai Qingqing that he had taken shelter from the sun here before, but that was when he went out hunting two days ago.

Bai Qingqing told everyone the truth, and as the beastmen were honest by nature, they accepted this explanation.

The group of beastmen returned to the wolf castle once again.

“If it wasn’t Curtis, who would kill the wolf king? Could it be that there’s a feral beast committing crimes?” Voices speaking similar questions rang out in the crowd.

Since Curtis’s suspicions had been cleared, Bai Qingqing walked up to the wolf king’s corpse with a peace of mind. She heard the female’s sobbing voice saying, “Before he died, the ape king came to look for him.”

“I knew it had to be him!” Bai Qingqing said angrily.

The female shook her head, and two large drops of tears rolled down again as she said, “The beastmen on watch said that after they left, they went in two different directions. It was just that…”

“Just what?” Bai Qingqing asked.

“I feel that… he was already dead at that time.” Saying that she shook her head. “It could be that there was an error in the time the guards gave.”

Bai Qingqing couldn’t figure out this either. Anyway, she just felt that the ape king definitely had something to do with the wolf king’s death. Other than him, who else would create trouble all the time?

It couldn’t be Winston. As for the leopard king… what would he possibly get from doing this? Killing Curtis so that his son would be able to have her to himself?

Beastmen, used to accepting polyandry, wouldn’t do something like this. Moreover, it didn’t seem as if the leopard king cared that much for Parker either. To the males, their mates were still the most important.

“Where is the ape king?” Bai Qingqing asked.

“Curtis wants to kill him. He went into hiding,” the female said.

Bai Qingqing had wanted to continue to say something when Curtis lifted her up, carrying her in his arms. “If this drags on, the sun will be getting up soon. Go back and sleep.”

Upon his reminder, Bai Qingqing let out a yawn and tiring tears welled up in her eyes. “Then we’ll be heading first. You have our condolences.”

…

Under the white moonlight, Jean was combing her dark blue waist-length curly hair when she heard the sound of the familiar footsteps. She said nonchalantly, “You’re willing to come back now?”

The ape king stroked Jean’s hair gently, unable to suppress the elation in his voice. “I’ve succeeded.”

“What?” Jean turned over, her eyes emitting joy. “You’re finally a three-striped beastman. Quickly help me to get green crystals.”

The ape king kissed the top of Jean’s head, saying, “There’s no hurry. Bai Qingqing’s mates and pursuers won’t let me off. I don’t feel at ease leaving you here alone. I want you to do me a favor.”

“What favor?”

“I want you to go get something from her. I don’t have anyone who can get close to Bai Qingqing,” the ape king said.

Jean threw the ape king a coy glance. “Is there no one who listens to you anymore? To think that you’d need to make use of me. Aren’t you afraid that they’d be attracted to me? Back then, you almost killed Winston just because I looked at him for a little longer.”

The ape king’s countenance turned dark, and his facial muscles kept on twitching. It sounded as if there was something stuck in his throat as he said, “I don’t have any other ways.

“Bai Qingqing is definitely not a female from the ape tribe. I want to expose her! She has her guards up after Rosa’s assassination the other time. Only females would have a chance to get close to her. Forget it, I’ll go myself!”

“Hey, don’t. I’ll go.” Jean stroke her hair, her full pink lips curled up into an enticing smile. “To be honest, I do have a good impression of Winston. If I can pull him over, it’d be helpful to you as well.”