Beauty and the Beasts

Seeing that all of Parker’s weight was pinned on his abdomen, Bai Qingqing wanted to get the man to use both his hands so that Parker would be in greater comfort.

But when she tilted her head sideways and glanced at the man, she noticed that the position of the man’s right arm wasn’t quite right; the bones on his shoulder joints seemed crooked. With his arm facing backward, he turned it several degrees, and his elbow also twisted unnaturally.

So, he was a cripple.

Bai Qingqing felt thankful she hadn’t misspoken as she continued moving Parker’s limbs.

With someone to lean on beside her, Bai Qingqing felt much more at ease.

“When will he wake up?” asked Bai Qingqing.

After a momentary silence, Muir replied, “He’s about to die.”

Bai Qingqing froze abruptly, then raised her head and glared at the figure above her.

“Nonsense! He’s strong. He can’t possibly die!” Bai Qingqing howled, completely forgetting about the fact that she couldn’t be discovered.

Parker’s life was still strong, his heart still pumping vigorously, and there weren’t many visible wounds on his body. So long as his blood circulation went back to normal, he would be a healthy leopard once more.

But the fear in Bai Qingqing’s heart made her show fury and repellence towards the man’s words. Even the gratitude she had felt towards him vanished in this instant.

The irritation in Bai Qingqing’s voice brought about a bout of heartache in Muir, who explained right away, “He just had a breakthrough and became a four-striped beastman.”

Bai Qingqing froze, then looked towards Parker and said, “Isn’t that a good thing?”

“But his capabilities are far from that of a four-striped beastman. Forcibly making this breakthrough depleted all his energy in one shot. At present, he’s merely an empty shell devoid of any strength.”

As Muir’s capabilities were four-striped and above, he could very easily sense Parker’s explosion of power earlier.

If it were any other leopard, he might not be able to make such a definite judgment.

But he knew Parker well. Back then, when Parker leveled up to three animal stripes, it was already a forced breakthrough. Considering the timeline, he should have just only stabilized at three stripes now and fell far short of the power of a four-striped beastman. It shouldn’t be surprising that his body gave way.

Bai Qingqing’s body turned limp, and she fell sitting on the pool of blood, tears falling down her face at the revelation.

“No, he won’t die.”

Bai Qingqing shook her head in disbelief. She immediately ran to hug the leopard’s head and leaned her forehead against his, saying gently, “Parker, quick, wake up. An’an is about to get well, and we’re going to head home soon. You still need to raise our little leopards with me.”

She then threatened, “If you die, they’re not going to help you raise the cubs. Hurry up and wake up.”

Parker would always dupe Bai Qingqing and wheedle to fight for her affection when he was perfectly fine. Yet, when he was genuinely severely injured, he would act as though nothing had happened.

This time, at the most perilous moments, his head bowed limply, showing no response at all.

Bai Qingqing planted a kiss on the leopard’s blood-stained lips, large tear droplets rolling down her cheeks. Her heart rose to her throat, unable to accept the possibility of Parker leaving her.

“There must be a way to save him, right?” A teary-faced Bai Qingqing gazed up at the figure above her with an intense pleading look in her eyes blurred by tears.

Muir involuntarily lifted that arm that wasn’t positioned quite right, placed his hand on the top of her head, and nodded.

“If his energy can be replenished, his body will stabilize.”

Bai Qingqing’s face lit up with joy, but a moment later it was replaced by a frown. “Are you talking about replenishing it with a transparent crystal? What do we do if we don’t have one? Can we use the black crystal dug out from the underground palace instead?”

Muir shook his head.

The smile on Bai Qingqing’s face froze, and the glow of hope in her eyes dimmed.

The female’s expression brought about a sharp stab of pain in Muir’s heart, as though it was being pierced by a fishbone. He blurted out, “I have it.”