Warden of the Beast World: Everyone is a Hakimi

Chi Heng is the type of person who, once he starts thinking, will think more and more. His brain doesn't work very well normally; he fights on instinct and eats on his appetite.

He would wag his tail when he was happy and burn things when he was unhappy. He had lived a simple and brutal life for more than 30 years, but what Ye Tang said in the yard today was like a bullet stuck in his mind.

It was late at night, and he managed to snag a guest room by his own efforts and shamelessness, but he couldn't sleep. He stared at the ceiling with bloodshot eyes.

She kept replaying what Ye Tang had said during the day in her mind. She had been kicked out of her home and was now traversing a primeval forest to apply for a job. A rabbit ran into her and died right in front of her; it was her only food.

What if the rabbit hadn't run into her and died? What if the wolf hadn't met her, hadn't let her ride on his back, and hadn't escorted her through the entire forest? Would that frail, still-infant female have died in the forest?

Chi Heng sat up abruptly. If Ye Tang died in the forest, she wouldn't be able to get to Prison Zero. If she couldn't get to Prison Zero, there would be no roasted lamb chops, no mango mille-feuille, no strawberry sundae, and no bubble tea.

There won't be a variety of desserts to feed him every day, and his mental breakdown value won't drop from 93 to 70. He'll just be locked up in the observation area until he dies. The more he thinks about it, the angrier he gets, and the angrier he gets, the more lucid he becomes.

Those bastards from that family almost killed his warden. Killing his warden is the same as killing his milk tea, cake, and ice cream, and it's the same as killing him.

Chi Heng's logical chain closed perfectly at this moment. He jumped out of bed, quietly pushed open the guest room window, and transformed into beast form in the night, his crimson wings silently unfolding.

The next morning, the headlines of all the major media outlets in the empire exploded simultaneously.

[Breaking News: The main gate of the Noji family's residence has been set on fire by unknown assailants, and the gate plaque has been severely damaged.]

[Update: The Ministry of Security has launched an investigation; the remains at the scene are suspected to be remnants of Suzaku clan feathers.]

[Update: Remains at the scene have been identified as Vermilion Bird True Fire; the suspect is suspected to be Chi Heng, the young patriarch of the Vermilion Bird clan; the Ministry of Security is questioning whether there were major oversights in the management of Prison Zero.]

Lu Yu sat at his desk, the coffee in front of him going from hot to cold. He had just given Chi Heng the right to come and go as he pleased yesterday, and he had also added a bunch of restrictions, such as not being allowed to burn anything or cause trouble for Warden Ye.

Chi Heng nodded in agreement on the spot, more readily than anyone else, but less than 24 hours later, he flew out and burned down the front door.

Lu Yu sighed, adjusted his glasses, and replied to the Security Department: "Chi Heng, the young clan leader, is still imprisoned in Prison Zero and has never left. The fire at the Ye family's residence last night was unrelated to Prison Zero."

After hanging up the call, he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment. He had lied. He, Lu Yu, an Imperial Colonel and the head of Prison Zero, a man who had never uttered a single lie in official business since childhood, had given false testimony for an arsonist today.

But what he was worried about was not the Ministry of Security's accountability—the young chieftain of the Vermilion Bird Clan burning down the gate of a noble family was, in the end, nothing more than a farce of youthful impulsiveness. Given the Vermilion Bird Clan's status in the empire, what could the Ministry of Security do to Chi Heng? At most, they would issue a notice of criticism, and wouldn't even put him in confinement.

He was worried about something else. The Ye family held a certain degree of influence in the empire. As one of the few families in the empire with more females than males, the high-level spiritual females produced by their family were the first choice for marriage alliances among various forces.

The Ye family's gate was burned down, and they will definitely investigate thoroughly. If they find out it was done by the orcs around Ye Tang, they will definitely come after Ye Tang. Offending Ye Tang will mean more than just the Ye family's gate being burned down.

He knew all too well how much Ye Tang meant to these big shots.

Jing Yao is a man of few words and never expresses his personal feelings, but he was the one who arranged Ye Tang's raise, and he was always the first to get extra meals and pay. Han Zhou is taciturn and always stays in a corner, keeping everyone at arm's length, but Ye Tang can freely enter and leave his territory, and he doesn't shy away from placing food in front of him—for Han Zhou, this is the highest level of "I am willing to trust you".

Ling Shou argues with Ye Tang every day, getting so angry he's practically jumping up and down. But if anyone dares to actually touch Ye Tang, Lu Yu has no doubt that the peregrine falcon will tear that person to shreds. Cang Ming, that proud and awkward mermaid, still holds a grudge against Ye Tang for using a net to catch him, but every time Ye Tang brings seafood, a few more mermaid scales appear by the pool—scales of SS-level mermaids, each capable of withstanding a full-force attack from an S-level beastman. He's given away no fewer than five scales in total.

These five bigwigs combined could wipe the Ye family off the map of the empire. Hopefully, the Ye family will understand his good intentions and won't cause trouble at Prison Zero.

When the news popped up on Ye Tang's personal computer, she was ladling the cooked shrimp wontons into Chi Heng's bowl.

He casually swiped the back of his hand across the computer, and a holographic screen popped up, displaying a larger and bolder headline.

The main gate of the Noji family's residence was set on fire by unknown assailants, and the gate plaque was severely damaged.

The heavy bronze door that had been closed when she was thrown out half a month ago is now burned beyond recognition.

Ye Tang placed the wonton bowl in front of Chi Heng, then shifted her gaze from the screen to the firebird, who was engrossed in eating. "Did you do this?"

"That's right," Chi Heng swallowed the wonton in his mouth, puffed out his chest, and said with a sense of entitlement, "I keep my word."

Ye Tang gave him a thumbs up, "Well done." This bird is really something. She thought he was just talking big, like she said in her past life, "I quit, I'm resigning tomorrow." She didn't expect him to be a man of action.

Ye Tang was in a great mood. She turned around and took out an extra box of strawberry ice cream and mango mille-feuille from her space and added it to his breakfast.

While eating, Chi Heng stole glances at Ye Tang's expression, confirming that she was genuinely happy. His courage immediately grew, "How about it? Let me be your beast husband, I guarantee you won't lose out."

Ye Tang paused in her eating, wondering why this firebird kept bringing up this topic. She said helplessly, "Why are you bringing this up again?"

"You accepted my tail feathers," Chi Heng said, his usual playful smile gone, his crimson eyes filled with seriousness, "which means you agree."

Tail feather? She only accepted that beautiful feather because it was pretty, how did that become a promise?

So, Ye Tang handed the feather to Chi Heng, saying, "Here you go. I didn't know it meant that."

Chi Heng's expression froze. He looked at the tail feather that had been handed back to him, his eyes flashing with hurt and disbelief. "You didn't know? The tail feathers of the Vermilion Bird Clan are courtship tokens. It's clearly written in the Imperial textbooks, in Chapter 3, Section 5 of the elementary school textbook 'Fundamentals of Imperial Culture and Customs'."

Ye Tang rolled her eyes: "Big brother, I've never been to school."

The original owner of this body had never experienced it. As a soul from the 21st century, how would she know about these customs? She should have looked it up if she had known.

"No way, you're lying to me."

"Do you think the Ye family would let a female with double F-level mental strength go out and embarrass herself?"

Chi Heng was stunned. He knew that the Ye family was rich in females with high-level spiritual power, and there were even a few elders from collateral branches of the Vermilion Bird Clan who wanted to arrange a marriage between him and a female from the Ye family.

He never imagined that while high-ranking females were treated like royalty and families vied for marriage alliances, a lowly female with double F-cup breasts was living a life of luxury.

Then, Chiheng's mind began to work uncontrollably. A thin, small female cub was huddled in the most secluded little room in the backyard of a wild family. There was no glass in the window, so cold winds blew in during winter and rain leaked in during summer.

No one taught her to read and write, no one gave her nutritional supplements. While those glamorous noble ladies were studying in the school, she could only squat on the ground in the backyard, scratching at the soil with a twig, or peeking through the crack in the door.

Chi Heng's eyes instantly reddened. How did she grow up like this? "Waaah... I was wrong..."

Ye Tang was at her wits' end. He was here again. She looked at the firebird in front of her and cried like a child whose candy had been stolen, tears streaming down her face.

"Why are you crying again?" Ye Tang threw down her chopsticks, her voice carrying three parts helplessness and seven parts disgust.

"You've never been to school, sob sob sob, and they locked you up and didn't even give you food..." Chi Heng cried as he intermittently accused them, tears and anger mingling on his face.

"I didn't say I was locked up..."

"They threw you out without giving you a single penny, waaaaah... If it weren't for the Shadow Hunter, you would have died in the forest, waaaah... My little warden almost died..."