Beauty and the Beasts

“I want to go see how the mud is burning,” Bai Qingqing said, handing An’an to Parker and then walking over to the window.

Once the windows were opened, the cold air from outside that was mixed with snowflakes immediately gushed in. Bai Qingqing, who had been cooped up for very long, felt some coolness.

Taking in a deep breath, she felt that even her mind had cleared up.

Standing by the window, Bai Qingqing only popped her head out and leaned on the window to look around. She called out loudly, “Winston, come get me. I can’t crawl out.”

At noon, heavy snow fell and the courtyard was covered up with a snow-white carpet. However, the floor outside the bed-stove was still the color of mud. There was an additional chimney made from mud next to the wall, and smoke was emitting from there. She had no idea when that was added in.

Winston sat by the stove, and the firelight caused the front of his body to look red and shiny, but there was a faint layer of white snow on his back.

Hearing Bai Qingqing’s voice, Winston blocked the stove with rocks and walked over to receive her.

Bai Qingqing touched his body. Winston’s back felt cold as ice, but his chest was scorching hot. Her countenance immediately changed. “Why didn’t you set up a booth to shield you from the wind?”

She panicked. Winston was put through both heat and cold. His blood circulation wouldn’t be affected in a bad way, would it?

What she didn’t know was that the beastmen’s skin was different from hers. There was a qualitative difference from humans’.

Beastman’s skin was condensed by hair. Even when they were in their human form, it was as if they had a layer of hair draped over them. Regardless of being cold or hot, it’d just be temperature changes to the hair, and there was almost no influence on the body.

Winston said, sounding like it didn’t matter, “It’s fine. My body is strong.”

“Even if you’re strong, you can’t treat yourself so badly.” Bai Qingqing glared at him. “Set up a booth when you’re free. I’ll come and take a look often as well. You don’t wish to see me exposed to the wind and snow, right?”

Only then did Winston give in. “Alright, I’ll build one later.”

Bai Qingqing’s countenance cleared up. “That’s better.”

The two of them sat next to each other by the stove. Winston pushed the rocks away, and Bai Qingqing immediately put her hands out to toast them.

“The fire’s so big. It’s no wonder that it’s so hot in the room.” Bai Qingqing took a look at the fire inside. The golden spares were burning fiercely like the scorching sun, looking a little glaring.

Her eyes felt sore after taking a look for a while. She turned her head away and blinked, then looked at the chimney by the side which had a twisted shape like an earthworm. She couldn’t help but laugh.

“When was this made? It’s quite effective.”

“Without this, the smoke would come out from the opening. If I were to block the opening, the fire would go out. I had no choice but to open another exit for the smoke to go out. I didn’t expect the results to be so good.”

Winston’s expression was solemn, but he held a little anticipation in his heart. After saying that, he threw her a glance.

“Clap clap clap!”

Bai Qingqing clapped. “Amazing!”

This world didn’t even have fixed stoves, let alone a chimney. Winston’s thoughts clicked with how the forefathers on Earth had thought. However, this was understandable.

Winston’s heart throbbed when he saw his mate’s admiring expression. His face, which looked red from the fire’s illumination, seemed even redder now.

“Has the fire been burning on all this while?” Bai Qingqing asked.

Winston replied, “En.”

Bai Qingqing then took a look inside again. She finally found the shaped mud on top of the blazing flames.

They were all burned until they glistened, looking red. If they were a spherical shape, they’d look like a sun.

Bai Qingqing asked curiously, “I wonder how those vessels are. Let’s bring them out to take a look.”

Winston picked up the fire poker at the side and said hesitantly, “Even if mud dried up, it’d still be mud. I’m worried that I might spoil them. Why not let the fire extinguish first, then I’ll crawl in to get them.”