âIâm saying thereâs nowhere safe.â Curtis explained, âSnake beastmen donât have long lifespans. I hadnât considered the long term back then.â
Bai Qingqing abruptly sat up and stared at him in horror. âWhat do you mean by âdonât have long lifespansâ?â
Curtis paused upon seeing her expression. Realizing that she was worried, he smiled happily. âThey donât live long because their spouses die early.â
Bai Qingqing froze and squirmed back into her blanket.
That meant that even the cold-blooded and heartless snake beastmen all died in the name of love. They would merely live till adulthood, then die after procreating. The unluckier ones amongst them probably died without even leaving behind any offspring.
âThereâs danger everywhere. The more abundant the resources, the more dangers there lurk.â Curtis coiled himself around her under the blanket and said, âItâs safest in the village, so letâs not move.â
Bai Qingqingâs face turned glum at the revelation. Right now, she had yet to sort things out with Bluepool, so she had better avoid meeting him as much as possible.
When Winston and Muir entered the house and saw Bai Qingqing sleeping with Curtis, they said nothing and simply walked to their respective beds.
...
One who went straight to bed after eating would often find themselves waking up to intense hunger. Before Bai Qingqing even opened her eyes, she was first awakened by her hunger.
Muir had finished preparing breakfast before the skies even brightened, just in time for the famished Bai Qingqing, who immediately started digging in. Her appetite was excellent at night as well. She guessed her stomach must have expanded from eating so much.
Speaking of Bluepool, it had been many days since he showed up. Since it had started raining again, by right, he shouldnât die from dryness.
Bai Qingqing, who gradually couldnât sit still anymore, wondered: Surely Bluepool isnât planning on not coming back anymore now that Anâan is with him?
The more she thought about it, the more intense her fear grew. Just as she was about to get her mates to search for him, Bluepool finally braved the rain and returned to the City of Beastmen with Anâan, who was completely unaffected while being contained inside a bubble.
He even remembered to cover up Anâanâs beauty by wrapping the bubble with a tree leaf, and only removing it when he arrived at the castle.
âAnâan, my darling.â Bai Qingqingâs heart returned to its original position as she peppered kisses upon Anâanâs tender little face.
However, Anâan remained indifferent and continued playing with the conch in her hands.
âYou guys went to the sea?â asked Bai Qingqing, glancing at the pretty conch.
Bluepool wrung the water from his animal skin skirt and vented his grievance. âYou have no idea how much I suffered while being chased. Because the rivers changed their course, we very nearly got stomped on and turned into mush. Later on, I simply dove into the sea and let the behemoths be.â
Bai Qingqing felt a lingering fear after hearing him recount the incident. She planted a few more kisses on Anâanâs face and said gratefully, âThank you so much.â
She had thought that going by water was the safest option, yet it turned out she was shoving her baby into the most dangerous situation. She was overwhelmed with regret; if she had known things would turn out like this, she would have taken Anâan with her.
Although Bluepool wanted very much to accept the thanks, he still said honestly, âEven if not for Anâan, Iâd also have to avoid the behemoths.â
Though that was true, Bai Qingqing still felt very grateful towards him, for not abandoning Anâan in those perilous moments and fleeing by himself.
However, Bai Qingqing was very guarded against males right now, so Bluepool could only count himself unlucky.
âErr, Anâanâs been wearing these clothes for so many days. Iâm going to bathe her and change her into a fresh set of clothes. Have a seat.â With that, Bai Qingqing carried Anâan into the bedroom and left Winston, who was also in the main hall, to take care of Bluepool.
The beastman world didnât have the concept of âhaving guests over at oneâs placeâ. With Bai Qingqing gone, there was no point for Bluepool to hang around any longer. Also, he didnât have a reason for doing so. Thus, he left.
As he walked out of the house, Bluepool turned around and gazed at the tall and majestic stone castle with a complex expression.
He suddenly realized that it was getting harder to get close to Bai Qingqing now. Or was he imagining things?