Beauty and the Beasts

Chapter 40: Signal for Help

Although Bai Qingqing had thoughts of killing herself, she didn’t want to die this way. She said to the sheep beastman, “I caught a cold because I wore wet clothes to sleep. But I don’t have other clothes. Do you have clothes you no longer want?”

The old sheep beastman’s small eyes glared at Cortis and he bellowed. “You let the female sleep in wet clothes? Do you wish for her to die faster?”

Bai Qingqing was speechless.

I... really am fine.

Cortis had a confused look in his eyes as he made a mental note: Can’t let females wear wet clothes to sleep.

“What else do you want, little female? Feel free to ask. If I can help you, I’ll certainly do so,” the old sheep beastman said to Bai Qingqing in a regretful tone.

Delighted, Bai Qingqing asked, “Thank you. Can you give me some medicinal herbs?”

“Sure.” The old sheep beastman nodded his head in understanding. This little female roamed in the forests with the snake beastman and was bound to fall sick every so often. She should indeed bring some herbs along with her.

He went out and plucked several large tree leaves and used them to wrap the chill-dispelling yellow root and round garlic, which could be used to repel bugs and stop itching. Then, he motioned for Bai Qingqing to come over. “See what else you need.”

The old sheep beastman merely said this as an excuse to call the female over—what did a female know about medicinal herbs? But to his surprise, this little female really looked carefully at each and every one of his herbs.

After taking a proper look, Bai Qingqing realized that the level of medical care here was clearly lower than that of Camel Hump Valley. The types of medicinal herbs were few, and the only kind that could be used as seasoning was the dried chili.

Bai Qingqing pointed at the dried chilies and said, “I also want this.”

“Red spikes generate heat and have a strong medicinal effect. It’s generally used on males. Do be careful with it and don’t touch it with your hands directly.” The old sheep beastman then grabbed a few dried chilies and wrapped them up, thinking to himself that the female might actually have use for them if one day she caught a more severe cold.

Bai Qingqing replied smilingly, “I know.”

He’s exaggerating things! I’ve been eating chili for sixteen years. It was a common affair for me to feel the spicy sensation on my hands when I helped my mom cut it.

With their backs facing Cortis, when the old sheep beastman handed those stuff to Bai Qingqing, he suddenly patted the back of Bai Qingqing’s hand in a reassuring manner.

“?” Bai Qingqing raised her head, looked towards the old sheep beastman, and saw him mouth the words “don’t be scared.”

While Bai Qingqing was still feeling puzzled, the old sheep beastman had already turned to leave.

The old sheep beastman went out and helped Bai Qingqing borrow a small bag of salt. When he handed it to her, he said to her in a meaningful way, “Take this bag of salt with you. You shouldn’t consume cooked food without salt, or else, as time goes by, you will gradually lose strength.”

“Mm, mm, thank you,” Bai Qingqing replied, still mulling over what the sheep doctor’s words meant.

Cortis made another mental note: Female needs to eat salt.

But as salt was a rare commodity in this village, Cortis didn’t think of getting salt from here. He planned on bringing Xiao Bai to the seaside and getting a batch of salt there in the future.

Cortis rejected the crappy animal skin the old sheep beastman offered to Bai Qingqing, before carrying her with him and leaving the village.

As for the old sheep beastman’s doctor fees, the energy crystal Cortis gave to his village was more than enough to pay for it. Hence, neither party mentioned it.

After Cortis went far away, the old sheep beastman instantly dashed to the village head’s house.

“Village Head, release the black smoke signal. If that female belongs to a large tribe, there must be many people looking for her right now!”

The old sheep beastman said to a black sheep that was one-third bigger than an ordinary sheep. Because he had run all the way here, he was so exhausted that he was huffing and puffing, unable to straighten his body.

The sheep village head opened its mouth and bleated. “I’ve already sent someone to work on this.”

In the vast skies, a streak of black smoke gushed up into the clouds.

“Screech—”

A giant eagle hovering in mid-air suddenly emitted a high-pitch whistling. With a turn of its wings, it started dashing downwards. Just as it was about to land on the ground, it suddenly transformed into a youth with three animal stripes on his face, vigorously and steadily landing on the ground.

Following his descent, the beasts running on the ground halted. The leading leopard transformed into a human. “Moore, what have you found?”

The three-striped youth called Moore replied, “Someone released a black smoke signal, which indicates that a female has been captured. It’s highly possible she’s Parker’s female.”

“Great. Let’s rush over right away!”