The Beast's massive frame seemed to swallow what little light filtered into the dungeon. Up close, he was a chaotic mess of nature's most aggressive traits: the mane of a lion, the heavy brow of a gorilla, and a pair of jagged goat horns that looked like they could spear a charging bull.
To Belle, this was the stuff of nightmares, a literal demon standing in the path of her father's freedom. Instinctively, she pressed herself closer to Huang Wen. The man felt like a pillar of warm, unyielding iron—the only thing in this cursed castle that didn't feel like it was trying to eat her soul.
Huang Wen, however, was busy doing a mental comparison. 'So this is the Beast?' he thought, tilting his head. He couldn't help but compare him to the Beast from the X-Men. Hank McCoy was basically a blue, intellectual humanoid cat who looked like he'd be comfortable in a library. This guy? This guy looked like he belonged on the side of a heavy metal album cover.
He knew the back story, of course. This Beast was once a prince who had it all—looks, wealth, and power—but possessed the personality of a spoiled brat on a power trip. He'd taxed his people into poverty just to buy more gold-leaf mirrors and threw parties where the entry fee was "looking pretty." Then came the sorceress in disguise, the ragged old woman with the rose. The Prince didn't just say "no" to her; he'd laughed in her face, mocked her appearance, and treated her gift like trash.
The result? A hairy curse for him and a "mandatory transformation into household objects" for his staff. Classic high-stakes magical irony.
"So," Huang Wen said, breaking the heavy silence. He tucked his hands into his pockets, looking remarkably casual for a man standing three feet away from a clawed predator. "Let's cut to the chase. What's the 'price' for a single rose? You want his head? His gold? Or are you just looking for a new roommate?"
The Beast let out a low, guttural growl that vibrated in the floorboards. "He stays. This thief will be imprisoned here for life. Or," he paused, his burning eyes shifting toward Belle, a flicker of desperate hope crossing his face, "someone else can take his place. Someone who will stay here... forever."
"No!" Belle's voice cracked, but she tried to step forward anyway. "I won't let him rot in a cell! I'll stay! I'll—"
Huang Wen's hand shot out like a lightning bolt, catching her shoulder and pulling her back before she could finish that sentence. "Hold your horses, Belle. Let's not do anything dramatic yet."
He turned back to the Beast, a mocking smile playing on his lips. "You're really going with the 'life for a rose' defense? That's a bit weak, don't you think? Maurice here wandered into a castle that looks like a set from a horror movie, thought it was abandoned, and picked a flower for his daughter. You, on the other hand, actively insulted a powerful magic user because she didn't have a high enough fashion score. How is that even remotely a fair trade?"
"He broke the law of my domain!" the Beast roared.
"Actually, you just want her to fix you, don't you?" Huang Wen asked, pointing a thumb at Belle.
The Beast stiffened. He actually took half a step back, his claws scraping against the stone. "What... what are you talking about?"
"Oh, sorry! My mistake," Huang Wen said, spreading his hands with an exaggerated apologetic grin. "I probably phrased that wrong. It's not specifically Belle you want, is it? It's just any young, reasonably attractive woman who's desperate enough to trade her life for her father's. You're hoping that if you lock a girl in a room with enough library books and fancy dinners, she'll eventually forget you look like a rug and fall in love with you to break that curse. Am I hitting the mark?"
"YOU LIE!" The Beast's roar was deafening this time. He lunged forward, his mouth opening wide to let out a world-shaking scream.
Poof.
In the split second the Beast's mouth was open, Huang Wen's hand blurred. Something small, round, and slightly steaming flew into the Beast's gullet. The creature's roar ended in a wet GULP.
The Beast froze. He clutched his throat, his eyes wide with shock and confusion. He tried to growl, but he just ended up making a series of confused "hmpf" sounds.
"Huang Wen! What did you do?" Belle asked, her eyes wide with alarm. "Is he... is he choking? He looks like he's having a crisis."
"Nah, he just swallowed it the wrong way," Huang Wen said, waving a hand dismissively. "It's a little something from my personal stash. I call it the 'Truth-Telling Bean Bun.' Don't ask about the recipe; it's a family secret. For the next five minutes, his vocal cords are on a direct one-way trip from his brain. He literally can't lie, even if he wants to."
Belle looked skeptical. She turned to the Beast. "I'm asking you... is what Huang Wen said true? Did you lure my father into a trap just to get to me?"
The Beast's mouth opened. He fought it. His neck muscles bulged, and he looked like he was trying to swallow a porcupine. But then, the words just tumbled out.
"Yes!" the Beast blurted, looking horrified at his own voice. "But I'm desperate! I've been stuck in this body for years! I was a prince! I was beautiful! Everyone loved me! Now I'm a freak, and if that rose loses its petals, I'm stuck like this forever! I just wanted a girl to look at me without screaming!"
"Have you ever actually hurt anyone?" Huang Wen asked, narrowing his eyes. "Since the curse, I mean. Did you kill the last people who wandered in here?"
"No," the Beast groaned, his head hanging low. "I... I've brought others here. I tried to make them stay. But they always cried or fainted or tried to stab me with dinner forks. Eventually, I just got annoyed and let them go after a week or two. I'm a Beast, not a murderer!"
Huang Wen nodded to himself. 'Okay, so he's a jerk, but not a monster.' He looked at Belle, then back at the Beast. "Look, I'm not going to let you keep Maurice. And I'm certainly not leaving Belle here as a bargaining chip. But, because you haven't actually killed anyone yet, I'll give you a fair trade. I'll take them home, and in exchange, I will give you the actual solution to your problem. Because right now? You're doing it all wrong."
The Beast's ears perked up. The Truth-Telling Bun was still in effect, so his response was raw. "Really? You'd tell me? I'll do anything! I'll give you all the gold in the vault! Just tell me how to get my face back!"
"Gold is useless to me," Huang Wen said, stepping closer and lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "The problem, Prince, is your logic. Think about it. Why did the sorceress curse you?"
"Because I was mean to her?"
"Because you judged her by her cover!" Huang Wen corrected, tapping his temple. "You saw an ugly old woman and assumed she had no value. Now, you're trying to find a 'beautiful' girl like Belle to love you. But if a beautiful girl falls in love with you, what does that prove? It proves she has a good heart. It proves she can see past the surface."
Huang Wen paused for dramatic effect. In the shadows, the clock and the candelabra leaned in so far they nearly fell off their shelf.
"But what does it prove about you?" Huang Wen continued. "If you're only targeting 'Beauty,' aren't you still just obsessed with appearances? You haven't grown at all! You're just a Beast who wants a trophy to tell him he's a good boy."
The Beast blinked. For the first time, the rage in his eyes was replaced by a hollow, profound realization. "I... I never thought of it that way."
"Exactly," Huang Wen said, suppressed laughter bubbling in his chest. He was laying it on thick, but it was working. "The real way to break the curse isn't to find a beauty and make her love a beast. It's for the Beast to find someone 'ordinary'—someone you would have mocked before—and for you to fall in love with her inner beauty. Only when you can see value in someone without a pretty face will the sorceress be satisfied that you've actually learned your lesson."
A collective gasp came from the shadows. Lumière and Cogsworth looked at each other, their minds blown.
"He's right!" Lumière whispered. "We've been looking for a supermodel this whole time! We should have been looking for someone with a great personality and a mediocre nose!"
The Beast looked at Huang Wen with genuine gratitude. Even though the bean bun's effect was fading, the logic had taken root. "You... you've opened my eyes. All these years, I thought I was the victim. But I was just repeating the same mistake. Thank you, traveler."
He turned to the cell and smashed the lock with a single swipe of his claw. "Take him. Take them both. I have much to think about. I need to... I need to find someone average."
Huang Wen's mouth twitched. He'd done it. He'd successfully gaslit a magical creature into a completely different dating strategy just so he could get his friends out of the castle without a fight.
"Glad we could reach an agreement," Huang Wen said, helping a stunned Maurice out of the cell. "Good luck with the... average girl hunt. I hear the neighboring village has a very lovely girl with a slight squint and a great hobby in knitting."
As they walked away, Belle looked at Huang Wen with a mix of awe and sheer confusion. "Did you really just... solve a centuries-old curse with a bean bun and a lecture on dating ethics?"
"Knowledge is power, Belle," Huang Wen chuckled, leading them toward the exit. "But don't tell him the bean bun wears off. Let him think he's just naturally that honest."
But as they stepped out into the cold night air, Huang Wen knew one thing: the Beast was in for a rude awakening. Because as it turns out, 'average' girls were often even pickier about dating giant, hairy monsters than the beauties were...