Beauty and the Beasts

Bai Qingqing nodded. “En, the sea domain further away will definitely be clean. Let’s go.”

Curtis took a look at Bai Qingqing and then carried her up. “It’s too dirty. I’ll go into the water by myself. You go home first.”

“No!” Bai Qingqing twisted her body, unwilling to give in. After they crossed the fence, she struggled to jump down.

She didn’t wish to go into the dirty water either, so she gave it some thought and said, “There’ll definitely be people selling or renting out motorboats. Let’s go check out the shops.”

Curtis’s brows relaxed. He heaved a sigh of relief and said, “Alright.”

Bai Qingqing’s guess was right. They went to a big supermarket nearby and saw an inflatable boat for sale.

They purchased the smallest one. It cost close to 300 yuan, but it was a lot cheaper than it would for Curtis to dine at restaurants. Moreover, it could be used repeatedly.

The salesperson was considerate and told them about the scenic locations nearby. Bai Qingqing and Curtis didn’t go to those places but returned to the desolate shore they had gone to at the very beginning.

The inflatable boat that could accommodate two was very narrow. After Bai Qingqing and her bag, there wasn’t much space for another.

Thankfully, Curtis wasn’t planning to go on it either. He entered the seawater and pushed Bai Qingqing into the distance.

In the water, Curtis’s speed was faster. The inflatable boat was like a motorboat, cutting across the surface of the sea, creating two streams of ripples.

Bai Qingqing took off her headband and let her hair drop down on her shoulders. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sea breeze, letting out a sigh, and said, “It’s really comfortable!”

Curtis’s snake tail waved at the back of the inflatable boat, looking like a kite’s tail while his upper body lay on the edge of the boat. The wind also brushed past his body, but they were unable to move his hair that was turned from his scales.

“Curtis,” Bai Qingqing tidied her messy hair and then turned to look at him. “Are there fish here? We’re already very far from the shores and can stop now.”

They had swum for over an hour, and there wasn’t any sight of land nearby anymore. There was only endless seawater. The seawater also had a blue glow, looking glistening and clear.

Curtis slowed down, let go of the boat, then lay on the surface of the water with his head facing upward, swimming a few rounds around the boat.

“Aren’t you scared to be here by yourself?” Curtis wasn’t assured to leave her here by herself. He took a look at the bottom of the water. Moreover, Snow was easily scared and was often scared of the dark.

Bai Qingqing hadn’t thought of her psychological fears yet. She raised her left leg that had a snake tattoo on it, then smiled as she shook it. “I have you. I’m not scared.”

Curtis smiled. “Then, I’ll be going down.”

“Mm.” Bai Qingqing nodded.

Curtis removed his clothes and turned into his snake form. He licked his mate’s face with reluctance before diving in.

“Curtis will finally be able to have his fill. That’s so good.” Bai Qingqing lay on her stomach by the edge of the boat, looking at the bottomless seawater.

Her reflection in the water was shattered by the waves. The water had shades of dark and light blue. The lighter blue shades were glistening like glaze while the dark shades were like hell. As Bai Qingqing looked at them, her breathing became increasingly intense and she suddenly felt a sense of horror for some reason.

She suddenly thought of one term—thalassophobia¹.

She had seen ocean pictures before and felt uncomfortable just from looking at the photos. Now that she was placed in this situation, unable to escape, she felt even more scared.

It wasn’t just a visual discomfort. What made her even more unsettled was that she kept having the feeling that some kind of monster would suddenly appear from the bottomless water.

If she were to stare at it, she’d feel uncomfortable. If she didn’t, her experience of watching a lot of horror movies made her feel even more unsettled if she didn’t stare at the dangerous spot. She was scared that some kind of monster would pounce at her from the back.

Bai Qingqing looked at the seawater without blinking. She put her hands to her chest, finding it increasingly harder to breathe.

Suddenly, a large wave came and all of the hair on Bai Qingqing’s body stood up. She screamed loudly as the inflatable boat rose higher.