Barto cursed, "Fools!"
Cowering in the tub, the Mixed Breed Gu Ning screamed internally, ’Help!!!!!’
By now, even without looking, she could tell from the sounds that the public bath was already packed with Beastmen.
All around her were the sounds of Beastmen undressing, accompanied by the CLICK-CLACK of belts being unbuckled.
Barto scooted closer to Gu Ning. He placed one hand on the edge of the tub above her head, shielding her, and whispered in her ear, "It’s okay. They’ll be done in ten minutes. Just keep soaking for a little longer."
Gu Ning paid no attention to what Barto said. Her hand fumbled around underwater, and when she couldn’t find his arm, she pinched the flesh on his waist instead.
Her worst fear had come to pass.
’I said we shouldn’t come to the bathhouse! What would have been so wrong with just fetching two buckets of water so I could wash back at our quarters?!’
Barto almost leaped up from her pinching.
"Don’t pinch there!" He grabbed Gu Ning’s hand.
’Serves you right for getting undressed!’ Gu Ning thought. ’I’ll pinch you all I want!’
She switched hands to pinch him again, and when her fingers brushed against his tail, she indignantly gave the fur on it a tug.
The expression on Barto’s face flickered. He caught one of Gu Ning’s hands but couldn’t get the other, and he didn’t dare make a big scene. He could only try to placate this little tyrant. "Stop feeling around... You can pinch me all you want when we get back!"
"What are you two doing?" Vine’s voice sounded from above them.
Barto pulled the clothes floating on the water’s surface to better cover Gu Ning. "None of your damn business."
Vine glanced at the little Mixed Breed, who was covered up so thoroughly even while bathing, and his sense of unease grew.
He knew this red-furred Beastman was that reverted fox, a rare case in recent years of one returning to a humanoid form from an atavistic state.
This wasn’t entirely unheard of; Mixed Breeds who underwent a second mutation had a chance of reverting to their previous form.
But most Mixed Breeds who went through a second mutation ended up like Cook, with regressed minds and unstable forms.
Barto looked far too much like a normal Beastman.
If Vine hadn’t been trained to deal with Mutant Species and Mixed Breeds all day, he wouldn’t have been able to identify Barto as a Mixed Breed at first glance.
As for the other little Mixed Breed...
She was even stranger.
Seeing the two larger ones guarding the smaller one so defensively, Vine averted his gaze, stripped off his clothes, turned on the faucet, and began to wash right next to them.
After pinching Barto a couple of times to blow off steam, Gu Ning fell silent. She anxiously counted the seconds, waiting for the horde of Beastmen to finish their baths and leave.
Every shower stall was occupied by a Beastman. In moments, the bathroom filled with steam, and the towel covering Gu Ning’s head was soon soaked through. Before long, she was struggling to breathe and had no choice but to carefully lift a corner of the towel to gasp for air.
There was no telling how many Beastmen were in the bathroom. They chatted idly as they washed. Listening to the noise, Gu Ning didn’t dare show her face, only using her mouth to inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale...
Gradually, the noise in the bathroom died down, and more and more eyes turned in Gu Ning’s direction.
By the time Barto realized this group of Beastmen was a well-trained elite unit whose noses were several times more sensitive than an ordinary Beastman’s, and moved to cover Gu Ning’s mouth, the bathroom had already fallen silent.
Every Beastman’s gaze was fixed on them.
Vine slicked his wet hair back and whipped his head around, his sharp gaze locking onto Gu Ning.
With Barto’s hand clamped over her face, Gu Ning couldn’t breathe at all.
She grabbed his arm and yanked it down. ’Is he trying to suffocate me?!’
Barto knew she was struggling, so he let go, pulled the towel up a little higher for her, and whispered close to her ear, "Breathe through your nose."
Gu Ning took a deep breath and exhaled audibly.
Barto: "..." ’Forget it,’ he thought. ’Time to grab her and run.’
"What’s that smell?"
Just then, one of the young wolves spoke up.
As he finished speaking, a young wolf standing to one side of their tub reached out from behind Gu Ning and snatched the towel from her head.
Gu Ning’s vision suddenly cleared. Before her was the swirling steam and, appearing and disappearing within it, the completely naked bodies of the Beastmen.
"You..."
Before she could react, the Beastman who had taken her towel was about to put his hand on her shoulder to turn her around for a better look.
Cook immediately tackled him away.
"That scent?!"
The other Beastmen crowded in, trying to get a clear look at the source of that unique fragrance. Whatever it was, it was no Mixed Breed!
Barto grabbed a wet piece of clothing and threw it over Gu Ning’s head. He leaped out of the tub, shoved the approaching Beastmen aside, and yelled, "Get the hell away from her!"
Cook’s fierce attack kept the young wolves at bay for a moment, but the floor was too slippery. Cook tackled one, who then knocked over two others, and the chain reaction even sent Barto to the ground.
Thinking he was under attack, Barto pinned down one of the young wolves and started throwing punches.
Instantly, the other young wolves caught in the fray stopped holding back and charged, brawling with the two Mixed Breeds.