“Naughty girl. Your feet hurt again, don’t they?” Parker asked as he looked worriedly at Bai Qingqing’s small feet.

  Bai Qingqing stuck out her tongue as she sat by the river and soaked her legs in the water.

  Then, something suddenly tightened around her ankle, frightening her so much that she immediately lifted her leg out of the water, bringing with it a thick, black snake with red spots. The snake slithered up her fair calf, then lifted its round head and flicked out his tongue at her. “Ssss~”


  Bai Qingqing smiled and shook her leg. “Get off. Don’t you know that you’re really heavy now?”


  “Ssss~” The little snake reluctantly slithered back into the water. Several more snake heads then came to the surface and swam around her.

  Bai Qingqing smiled and looked at Parker as she asked, “You brought the little snakes out too?”


  Parker sprinkled some water on the sharpening stone before continuing to sharpen the stone blade. “They were so hot that their bodies had completely stiffened, so I decided to bring them outside while sharpening my stone blade.”


  Bai Qingqing couldn’t help but think of the little snakes’ father, Curtis. She turned around and glanced at the castle. “Curtis seems like he’s feeling unwell. He doesn’t pay attention to me anymore. He didn’t even move when I asked him to come downstairs to soak in the water,” she said worriedly.

  Parker’s heart leaped at Bai Qingqing’s words. He tried to control his expression as he moved closer to her. “Don’t worry, Qingqing. He’s a beastman with four animal stripes. He won’t fall ill. If he won’t keep you company, I will.”


  Bai Qingqing used her foot to play with the little snakes and said, “I want to get Harvey to take a look at him.”


  “What’s the use of doing that? If a male is sick, the doctor can’t do anything about it. Those gentle herbs aren’t really effective on a male.”


  Bai Qingqing hung her head resignedly. Parker rinsed the stone blade clean and said, “I’ll carry you back. I’m going to the fields.”


  “I’m coming with you.” When Bai Qingqing stood up, the snakes in the water immediately swam towards the shore.

  Parker tied the sharp blade to his waist before carrying Bai Qingqing bridal-style and rushing into the stone castle in large strides.

  The little snakes followed them under the sun. Their ice-cold bodies made sizzling sounds reminiscent of a barbecue as they made contact with the scorching hot ground. The wet trails they left behind on the ground disappeared at a speed visible to the naked eye.

  By the time they had slithered back to the stone castle, all the water on their bodies had evaporated.

  “Quickly go inside the house. It’s cooler there,” Bai Qingqing said.

  The little snakes glanced in the direction of their bedroom and rubbed their bodies against Parker’s. “Ssss~”


  Bai Qingqing tried to hold in her laughter as she glanced at Parker and asked, “Why are they close to you when they’re Curtis’s children?”


  Parker made a “tch” sound and replied, “They just want to go play with me.” His golden eyes shone with the intimidation of an adult beastman as he turned towards the little snakes on the ground. “You’re not allowed to follow me. It’s sunny outside.”


  “Ssss~” The little snakes lowered their heads and slowly slithered towards their bedroom.

  …


  Parker covered Bai Qingqing with some animal skin, then quickly ran towards a tree near their field.

  Under the scorching sun, the golden wheat field shone so brightly that it dazzled. The wheat made swishing sounds as the wind blew, creating golden waves in the field. Several groups of birds of different species circled the field in the sky. A white tiger tried to chase these birds, but they always managed to sneakily eat the crops.

  The rice field, on the other hand, didn’t have many birds. The beastmen had widened the nets and used logs to create a shelter, which was covered by another net made of bark. Birds weren’t able to go near the field at all. Hence, the beastmen only needed to patrol as usual.

  “Winston!” Bai Qingqing jumped out of Parker’s arms and furiously waved at the white tiger. “You’ve worked hard!”


  The white tiger jumped and bit two birds to death, then turned to look at Bai Qingqing and roared.