Warden of the Beast World: Everyone is a Hakimi

When Chi Heng flew back from the Vermilion Bird Clan's old residence, it was already broad daylight. The straight-line distance from the Flame Ridge Mountains to Prison Zero wasn't far, but carrying a stack of property documents taller than his head, he flew much slower than usual.

The morning light streamed down from behind him, gilding his crimson wings with a golden edge. From the ground, he looked like a shooting star with a red tail streaking across the sky above the forest.

He caught sight of the dark gray walls of Prison Zero and the small, gray-white detached house in the living quarters, and his heart pounded faster. He had been caught off guard by the Ghost Hunter's dowry offensive last night and had flown back to the old house to get help. In his grandfather's office, he had been both charming and slapping the table, and finally managed to win over half of the Vermilion Bird Clan's warehouse.

The gold-embossed documents he now possesses could feed an ordinary beastman for a lifetime if he picked out just one of them—three mansions in the east of the capital, two estates in the west, mining rights to three spirit mines in the Flame Ridge Mountains, all shares in six auction houses owned by the Vermilion Bird Clan, annuity bonds from the Imperial Central Bank, and a special allowance account from the Ministry of Security that his grandfather had been saving since the year he was born.

He bet that no male beast in the entire empire could offer a more substantial dowry than him; the Ghost Hunter's meager resources were nothing compared to his.

"Little Warden—!"

Ye Tang was squatting in the yard watering the newly planted scallion seedlings. These seedlings were replanted after Chi Heng burned down the kitchen last time, and they had just sprouted tender green tips, as delicate as newly hatched chicks. She watered them very gently, afraid that too much water would wash the seedlings over, but she was startled by the loud shout that pierced the clouds and split rocks, so her hand trembled violently, the spout of the watering can tilted, and half a can of water was poured all over her feet.

Before she could even take off her wet slippers, a crimson figure descended upon her in a gust of hot air. Chi Heng's movements in human form were ten times more agile than usual. The moment his feet touched the ground, he shoved the stack of documents he was carrying into her arms. The thick stack of gold-embossed covers piled up in front of her chest, so heavy that she staggered back half a step before regaining her balance.

Chi Heng's tail sprang out from under his robe, wagging behind him more enthusiastically than You Lie's, at a speed so fast that it left afterimages. He leaned over, hands on his knees, panting heavily. Carrying a mountain and flying this far was indeed tiring, but as soon as he caught his breath, he straightened up. His crimson eyes shone like two small suns, and his voice was loud and clear, audible throughout the entire living area.

"Young warden, my dowry is far more generous than that of the Shadow Hunter. Marry me!"

Ye Tang looked down at the stack of densely packed gold-embossed documents in her arms. The top one was an annuity bond from the Imperial Central Bank, with a face value so large that she thought she was seeing things.

She looked up again at the firebird in front of her, its nostrils practically steaming with excitement, and felt the veins on her forehead throbbing again.

One Ghost Hunter wasn't enough, so another one came. She never even had a boyfriend in her past life, but in this life, fluffy creatures are lining up to stuff her with dowry.

"Little Firebird, there are plenty of females outside. Why don't you reconsider?" She tried to gently but politely push back this overly enthusiastic flame.

"I won't consider it!" Chi Heng said decisively, his voice not lowering at all. "I just like you, and I'm going to marry you, Warden..." Chi Heng suddenly stopped his loud voice, lowering it to a soft and low tone, with a slightly coquettish upward inflection at the end.

He still remembered how Youlie always pleased Yetang—that cunning wolf would tilt its head, twitch its ears, and look up at Yetang with those innocent and pitiful eyes, and then Yetang's eyes would light up and she would abandon all her principles. So he imitated it, blinking his big red eyes and trying his best to imitate the round-haired orc's coquettish and cute manner, tilting his neck slightly to the side.

Unfortunately, he has flat feathers. His eyelashes are long and thick, fluttering like two small crimson fans when he blinks, paired with his crimson-gold pupils. The tilt of his head is exactly like the posture of an owl locking onto a field mouse. He's not cute, but he has a kind of focused, chilling feeling unique to birds of prey.

Looking at that face, Ye Tang sighed inwardly and decided to relinquish the choice. She turned around and looked at You Lie, who had just come out of the kitchen.

Youlie was carrying two glasses of chilled lemonade, intending to help Yetang cool off in the heat. He had also heard Chiheng's resounding cry of "Little Warden" earlier, but he didn't rush out—he knew that Chiheng had gone back to the old house to get reinforcements, and he could roughly guess how much the firebird would bring back.

He walked to the old tree in the yard and handed one of the glasses of lemonade to Ye Tang with a calm and natural gesture, as if Chi Heng and his dowry were just another talking potted plant in the yard.

"Youlie, what do you think?" Yetang took the lemonade, her gaze falling on the calm face of the silver-haired major general.

Ghost Hunter held another glass of lemonade, his fingers lightly tracing the inside of the glass. A fine layer of water droplets condensed on the glass, wetting his fingertips.

Imperial females can marry beastmen without needing the consent of other beastmen—this is a right explicitly stipulated by law and a tradition deeply ingrained for thousands of years.

From birth, the male beast is taught to accept all of his wife's choices, not to be jealous, and not to interfere. Whether she takes her first husband or her tenth, the male beast can only stand silently in the corner and watch his position be diluted.

From a young age, he had seen the wives of the elders in his clan bring new beast husbands home one after another. The first male beast to marry in would stand by the door with a polite smile on his face, but when he turned his back, the light in his eyes was as dark as the polar night sky in the north.

No female would turn around and ask, "What do you think?" It's not a question they need to consider.

But now Ye Tang is asking him. Holding all the wealth of a firebird, when deciding whether to take a second beast husband, she turns around and asks him what he thinks.

"Little warden, you married a beastman, he has no right to interfere!" Chi Heng was anxious, peeking out from behind Ye Tang and baring his teeth at You Lie. If this cunning wolf dared to say a word against it, he would pounce on him and fight him to the death, even if he couldn't win.

"But I think he has the right to interfere." Ye Tang's voice was very calm, so calm that Chi Heng's open mouth slowly closed again.

Youlie lowered his eyelashes and placed the lemonade into Yetang's palm. His voice was muffled, as if it had been ground from the depths of his chest before being exhaled: "Tangtang, if you want to marry her, then marry her. You don't need to ask me."

His eyes were fixed on the glass of lemonade in Ye Tang's hand. His tone was as steady as when he was reporting military intelligence, but Ye Tang, standing closer, noticed that his tail, hanging at his side, trembled slightly uncontrollably. It was clear that he cared, but he couldn't say it.

"Chiheng's dowry is indeed more generous than mine. You won't lose out by marrying him..." His gaze swept over the stack of documents in Yetang's arms; just the few he could see were worth far more than the national treasury deeds he had brought. The Vermilion Bird Clan was indeed wealthy and powerful, and Chixiong was quite generous as well.

In the empire's marriage rules, the more generous the dowry, the better the marriage for the male beast. This is an ironclad rule written in textbooks, and he had to admit that Chi Heng was indeed superior to him in this respect.