âBai Qingqing,â Bluepool called out her name. This was met by a cold glance from Curtis, making him shift backward in reflex.
Bai Qingqing smiled at him and said, âThank you, I owe this to you. How are the merfolk?â
Bluepoolâs fishtail slapped against the grass underneath, and he said in a gloomy tone, âI donât dare to go back anymore. You mustnât go back on your wordâyou have to be responsible for me.â
âSsss~â
Curtis flicked out his tongue and looked towards Bai Qingqing, his voice rising a pitch. âResponsible?â
Bai Qingqing twirled her ten fingers together and murmured, âMm, ah⦠yeah.â
A murderous intent appeared in his eyes.
Although Bai Qingqing felt extremely guilty, she couldnât go back on her word, especially now that Curtis was here.
âBluepool, Iâll help you pursue a female you fancy.â
The merman on the grassland widened his deep blue eyes in hurt. He pointed a finger at her and furiously said, âYou deceived me again!â
âOther than this one time, since when have I ever deceived you? Then again, youâve accused me of that so many times, and I bore the accusation all this while. If I donât deceive you once, I canât take it lying down.â
Bai Qingqing said matter-of-factly. Initially, she had found it fun to tease him. However, upon seeing his expressionâhaving suffered a loss yet being unable to have his grievance be redressedâshe felt bad about it.
âI will surely help you find bliss.â Bai Qingqing solemnly swore. âActually, the females on land are great. Although theyâre not as pretty as Jean, they only have a few mates, so youâll get to be by her side every day.â
Bluepool rather looked forward to accompanying his mate every single day, but he had seen the females on land, and he had absolutely no interest in that type at all.
âCanât be uglier than you.â
Bluepool raised his only request. âOr else I will pester you relentlessly.â
âSsssââ Curtis flicked out his tongue dangerously.
Bluepool instantly shut up and shifted his fishtail sideways.
Upon seeing that she was fine, Parker sat by the side and licked his own wounds. Earlier on, Bai Qingqingâs vision was still blurry, and only now did she finally notice his injuries.
Only upon asking for the reason did she find out that he even went to ambush the ape king, and after that was chased by a group of merfolk to the shore. He couldnât bear to stay too far away from the shore, so he had climbed up a tree. That group of merfolk had fled in unison when Curtis arrived.
âYou really disregarded your life, to even dare to trifle with a formidable character like the ape king.â
Feeling a lingering fear, Bai Qingqing walked to his side to check on his wounds. The sight of his flesh underneath his torn skin made her feel awful.
âIf I had taken care of Jean on the shore, you wouldnât have been put in danger.â
There wasnât a tinge of remorse in Parkerâs tone, making Bai Qingqing feel both touched and angry.
âItâs more important to stay alive! Your rate of success was too low.â
Parker let out a chuckle. He pulled Bai Qingqingâs hand and said, âLetâs go to the peacock village to pick up our babies. They havenât eaten for half a day, they must be hungry to the point of tears.â
âYou didnât find them a female leopard?â
âHow could I have the time to?â
Back then, he really wanted to just hide his kids in the cave. In fact, if Alva hadnât stopped him from doing so, that was exactly what he would do.
Bai Qingqing was so furious that she punched him with her cotton-like fist.
âBabies?â
Curtis asked in a low voice.
With the sunlight looming overhead, his slim and long shadow was cast next to Bai Qingqing, making her feel nervous.
She nodded and said, âYes, I gave birth to a litter of leopard cubs. Theyâre already half a month old now.â
The shadow continued to move forward until it stood taller than Bai Qingqingâs shadow.
Curtis reached out and pulled her into his embrace as he said, âThatâs great. Bring me to take a look.â
Bai Qingqing felt herself relax as she raised her head to look at him. âMm.ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om