“I’m saying there’s nowhere safe.” Curtis explained, “Snake beastmen don’t have long lifespans. I hadn’t considered the long term back then.”
Bai Qingqing abruptly sat up and stared at him in horror. “What do you mean by ‘don’t have long lifespans’?”
Curtis paused upon seeing her expression. Realizing that she was worried, he smiled happily. “They don’t live long because their spouses die early.”
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.
“There’s danger everywhere. The more abundant the resources, the more dangers there lurk.” Curtis coiled himself around her under the blanket and said, “It’s safest in the village, so let’s not move.”
Bai Qingqing’s 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 shouldn’t die from dryness.
Bai Qingqing, who gradually couldn’t sit still anymore, wondered: Surely Bluepool isn’t planning on not coming back anymore now that An’an 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 An’an, who was completely unaffected while being contained inside a bubble.
He even remembered to cover up An’an’s beauty by wrapping the bubble with a tree leaf, and only removing it when he arrived at the castle.
“An’an, my darling.” Bai Qingqing’s heart returned to its original position as she peppered kisses upon An’an’s tender little face.
However, An’an remained indifferent and continued playing with the conch in her hands.
“You guys went to the sea?” asked Bai Qingqing, glancing at the pretty conch.
Bluepool wrung the water from his animal skin skirt and vented his grievance. “You 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.”
Bai Qingqing felt a lingering fear after hearing him recount the incident. She planted a few more kisses on An’an’s face and said gratefully, “Thank you so much.”
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 An’an with her.
Although Bluepool wanted very much to accept the thanks, he still said honestly, “Even if not for An’an, I’d also have to avoid the behemoths.”
Though that was true, Bai Qingqing still felt very grateful towards him, for not abandoning An’an 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.
“Err, An’an’s been wearing these clothes for so many days. I’m going to bathe her and change her into a fresh set of clothes. Have a seat.” With that, Bai Qingqing carried An’an into the bedroom and left Winston, who was also in the main hall, to take care of Bluepool.
The beastman world didn’t have the concept of “having guests over at one’s place”. With Bai Qingqing gone, there was no point for Bluepool to hang around any longer. Also, he didn’t 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?
