Bai Qingqing gave him a look of approval. She thought to herself, Honest beastmen are indeed more reliable and don't get into trouble as easily.

"Then what about the kids? How are they doing?" Bai Qingqing's heart clenched after she finished asking, and she stared intently at Winston.

Feeling heartened, Winston's expression turned gentle. "Since I had nothing much to do, I frequently went back to the City of Beastmen to take a look. They're all very independent."

"What about An'an? She's a girl and needs to be taken care of by an adult." Due to her nervousness, Bai Qingqing started twirling her two index fingers. She couldn't think of a suitable candidate for taking care of An'an.

Since this matter concerned a female, no male would relent. The tribal head definitely wouldn't be able to shield her.

An'an was way too pretty, a lot of beastmen would definitely vie for her. But there wasn't any beastman in the City of Beastmen with the absolute capability to protect her. She feared there would be chaos, for it wouldn't be beneficial for An'an's growth. Also, other females might plot against her out of jealousy.

"She's nine now, right? Has she learned to speak? Who's taking care of her?" Bai Qingqing widened her eyes at Winston as she asked. When she left, An'an was already three, and she hadn't yet learned to speak by then. She was so quiet one might mistake her for an exquisite wooden doll with flesh and blood.

Winston didn't dare to look into her eyes, so he lowered his gaze.

Bai Qingqing's heart rose to her throat and she hurriedly grabbed his hand. "What happened?"

"I handed her to Bluepool. They probably went to the depths of the sea. No one can hurt her. After sending her away six years ago, I never saw her again."

After he finished speaking, Winston bowed his head even lower. But other than his vision not being upon Bai Qingqing, all his other senses were gathered on her, guessing her emotions through her heart rate, breathing, and even scent.

Having gotten her answer, Bai Qingqing's body slumped and she fell kneeling on her calves.

After a long period of silence, she placed her palm over the back of Winston's rough hand. As her tender fingers caressed that patch of skin, she felt a mild, prickly pain.

Winston suddenly felt at ease. He flipped his hand over to envelop his spouse's petite hand, then looked up and met her peaceful gaze.

"That's probably for the best. Bluepool is the most suitable person to take care of her."

As she spoke, she let out a sigh, and a nostalgic expression appeared on her face. "Back then I was the one who brought Bluepool to the land. I promised him I would be responsible for him, yet I left him hanging for a few years. I've always felt guilty towards him. By giving him An'an, I would've fulfilled my promise to him. After the only female in their merfolk tribe died, the female baby born before her death would be their new spouse. I think Bluepool won't mind raising An'an from a young age."

Curtis, who suddenly noticed something amiss, asked, "Bluepool told you that?"

"Yeah."

Curtis narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "I knew he had ulterior motives towards you!"

From the looks of it, if Bluepool hadn't concealed his intentions towards Bai Qingqing, Curtis wouldn't have let him off.

In any case, there was nothing Curtis could do to Bluepool, so Bai Qingqing didn't feel any pressure. She smiled at Curtis, then turned her vision back to Winston's face.

"And then? What happened over there during these six years?" asked Bai Qingqing.

Winston said, "Without us there, other powerful settlements wanted to take over the City of Beastmen. But because the City of Beastmen has iron armor, under the joint cooperation of the beastmen from various tribes, they held on for two years with much difficulty. But perhaps due to the nervous environment, one three-striped beastman suddenly had a breakthrough and earned his fourth stripe, thus stabilizing the situation. From then onwards, it has been peaceful in the city."

Bai Qingqing heaved a sigh of relief. "That's great. If a war had broken out, there would have been many casualties."

Just then, Winston removed the animal skin bag tied to his waist and handed it to her as though presenting a treasure. "For you."