Beauty and the Beasts

“Why are you alone here?” Muir frowned. “It was too dangerous earlier. You almost capsized.”

Bai Qingqing scratched her head sheepishly, explaining, “I came here with Curtis. He’s eating fish below.”

Muir’s countenance turned even darker instantly. He clearly blamed Curtis.

Bai Qingqing quickly said, “I asked for this.”

Muir understood his mate’s intention. She didn’t wish for them to fight amongst themselves. Therefore, he suppressed his fury and said gently, “I’ll take you away. It isn’t safe here.”

“But…” Bai Qingqing hesitated as she looked toward the water. “Curtis will be worried if he doesn’t see me when he comes out.”

Muir reached one hand out to the other arm that was rapidly turning into his beast form, showing a stretch of black feathers. He plucked off a soft palm-sized feather and tossed it on the boat.

Bai Qingqing felt disinclined. She also felt that it was too dangerous to be on the sea. If the boat were to capsize, it wouldn’t be easy for him to swim back if his feathers got wet.

“Alright, then. Let’s go first.” As Bai Qingqing said that, she grabbed the backpack.

Muir immediately turned into his beast form, trying his best to lower his body to make it easier for his mate to get on his back.

“Muir, would there be any problems for you to fly back like this?” Bai Qingqing asked when she was on his back, feeling worried.

“Screech—” Muir assured his mate and then spread his wings to take flight.

When Curtis swam up anxiously, he saw Muir’s figure through the rippling water before he came up to the surface.

He felt that things weren’t good and rapidly swam up. After finding the inflatable boat, his mate was nowhere to be seen. In its place was… a bird feather.

“Ssss~” Curtis flicked out his tongue, feeling vexed. He then dived into the water again.

Despite feeling upset, Curtis was able to eat to his heart’s content without needing to worry for his mate’s safety. He also planned on bringing back a boat of fish.

Weren’t the fish in the restaurant very expensive? He should be able to get a lot of money from a boat of fish, right? Curtis thought this naively.

Putting Curtis aside, Muir and Bai Qingqing had already returned to the shore.

Muir’s clothes were hidden in a concealed gap. After he transformed, he put on his clothes and came out. He flipped over the fence, revealing a coastal road.

There were no bus stops to be seen on either side. Bai Qingqing threw him a doubtful look and asked, “Why did you get into the sea from here? You couldn’t have… drove here, could you?”

Did Muir know how to take the public bus? He had just come to China.

“When did you come back? I saw your live broadcast yesterday,” Bai Qingqing asked.

Muir held his mate’s hand tightly, his heart feeling as settled as if he had eaten a weight. He replied to her questions slowly. “I took a ride here. After my competitions ended, I took the earliest flight here and started looking for you. They didn’t lie to me and sent me to a place that’s very close to you, and you really saw me.”

Muir’s tone sounded very thankful, but Bai Qingqing’s heart ached when she heard this.

She could tell that Muir had treated “them” as his life-saving buoy. When he was overseas, he had a problem speaking a foreign language and had no one to rely on for help. Things were much more difficult than they had been for Curtis. She didn’t dare to imagine what kind of hurdles Muir had encountered and the situations in which he had made a fool of himself. They really should feel thankful that he could find her while staying safe and sound.

Bai Qingqing leaned on Muir’s body, consoling him, “It’s fine now. Everything is over now. We’ll be together forever from now on.”

Muir hugged her even tighter than before, replying solemnly.

The two of them were talking when a loud and piercing horn suddenly rang out nearby.

“Beep beep!!!”

Bai Qingqing raised her head and looked over. She saw a man dressed in a suit and leather shoes walking out from a black and glistening sedan, running over toward them.