Warden of the Beast World: Everyone is a Hakimi

Not two days after Youlie left, Chiheng broke through.

That morning, as usual, Ye Tang was watering the scallion seedlings in the yard when she suddenly felt a scorching wave of heat sweeping in from the direction of the guest rooms in the living area.

She instinctively turned around and saw a crimson pillar of fire shooting into the sky, accompanied by a thunderous roar that pierced through the clouds and split rocks, causing all the glass windows of the small detached house to vibrate and hum.

Chi Heng sat cross-legged in the guest room, his energy fluctuations so intense that they distorted the air in the room.

Fortunately, he remembered Youlie's last words before leaving, "Protect Tangtang," at the critical moment of his breakthrough. In the last second before his reason was completely swallowed up by the Vermilion Bird True Fire, he used all his willpower to flap his wings and transform into a streak of crimson light, rushing out of the window and plunging into the depths of the desolate mountains behind Prison Zero.

Immediately afterwards, the barren mountain suffered. Crimson flames exploded in the valley, and the Vermilion Bird True Fire erupted from the cracks in the mountain like a volcanic eruption. Trees within a radius of several hundred meters were instantly charred by the high temperature, rocks crackled and popped, and several huge rocks shattered into pieces and rolled down the hillside in the high temperature.

The alarm system of Prison Zero was triggered, triggering a full red alert. Lu Yu stood in the central observation room with a cup of coffee, looking through the floor-to-ceiling window at the fire-breathing mountain in the distance. He was silent for a moment, then looked down and wrote a line in his log: "Chi Heng, the young clan leader, has broken through to SS level. Wasteland Mountain No. 3 is scrapped. Request repair funds."

Ye Tang stood in the yard, still clutching the plastic watering can in her hand, looking at the desolate mountain in the distance that had been burned into a fiery mountain, with only one thought in her mind: Fortunately, Chi Heng flew away on his own.

If he were to break through in the guest room, her small detached house, which she had finally managed to install air conditioning on, the tender shoots of scallions, ginger, and garlic in the yard, and the rows of catnip plants that she had transplanted and were growing vigorously, would all be reduced to ashes.

As dusk approached, Chi Heng flew back from the desolate mountain, covered in soot and grime. His dark red robe was tattered from the fire, with several charred holes, and his face was smeared with soot.

But his crimson eyes were brighter than ever, his tail feathers were raised high with excitement, and he looked like a phoenix crawling out of a pile of ashes, eagerly pouncing on Ye Tang.

"Little Warden, I've broken through! Hahahaha—the Empire's fifth SS-rank combatant!"

With lightning speed, Ye Tang grabbed a broom from the corner and precisely positioned the broom head against Chi Heng's chest, shielding him with an arm's length. "Little firebird, are you planning to roast me along with you?"

He had just crawled out of a small volcanic eruption, his whole body still radiating intense heat, even his broom-like head smelled burnt.

Chi Heng was being held back by a broom, his toes still reaching forward, his face beaming with eager excitement for praise. "Little warden, little Tangtang, can't you just be a little closer to me...?" How long had he been waiting for this day?

When Youlie was around, he would always fawn over Yetang, wagging his tail and tilting his head, stealing all of Yetang's attention. Now that Xin Cun Lang is gone, he can finally monopolize Yetang's affections, but he can't even get close to her.

He tried to lower his body temperature until he felt a little chilly, but the broom in Ye Tang's hand remained firmly pressed against him.

"Don't you know how high your body temperature is?" Ye Tang remained unmoved. To make this energy-inefficient firebird more comfortable at home, she even paid extra to have the construction team upgrade the air conditioner to a military-grade refrigeration system. But even so, the room temperature would still soar if Chi Heng stayed in the living room for a while.

"Little Tangtang, you're disgusted with me..." Chi Heng's wings drooped, and the excited flame in his eyes was somewhat extinguished. Youlie was SS-rank, and he was also SS-rank. He thought that his treatment would be different after breaking through.

"There's nothing I can do, I just hate the heat." Ye Tang saw that he looked like a little bird that had been soaked by the rain with his wings drooping. Her tone softened a little.

"Little Tangtang..." Chi Heng pressed his body temperature down even further, until he himself started to feel cold. The Vermilion Bird Clan is naturally hot, and his pressing down was like letting a fish breathe on land.

But he didn't care. He took a half step forward, lowered his head, pointed to his cheek, and his crimson-gold eyes were filled with cautious expectation. "Then give me a kiss."

Looking at Chi Heng's face, still bearing a few gray marks, and his lips, slightly blue from the suppressed body heat, Ye Tang recalled how he would rather fly to a desolate mountain than harm her in the slightest when he broke through, and her heart softened for a moment. She quickly tiptoed and pecked Chi Heng's cheek.

"Don't go into the bedroom, and don't get too close to me. You can do whatever you want with me." Ye Tang put away the broom and turned to walk towards the kitchen.

Chi Heng stood rooted to the spot, as if his pressure points had been frozen. His wings slowly opened, then closed, then opened again, his tail feathers swaying behind him from left to right, then from right to left.

Little Tangtang kissed him. Not the kind of kiss you give a dog, but the kind of kiss you give a male beast. He touched his cheek where he had been kissed, his mouth stretching to his ears. "Mmm, I'm the most obedient one!" he said, then happily squatted down at the kitchen doorway, keeping a safe distance of an arm's length, his tail wagging wildly behind him.

"Little Tangtang, do you want to go for a walk?" Chiheng was holding half a watermelon, scooping it out with a spoon, a watermelon seed still stuck to the corner of his mouth.

He broke through to SS rank, and every pore of his body was filled with excitement. Even the soles of his feet were itching. He wished he could fly over the capital and circle a few times to let the whole empire know that the Vermilion Bird Clan had gained another SS rank member.

Unfortunately, the only audience member in Prison Zero, Ye Tang, was sprawled on the cool mat in the living room, with an ice towel on his face and the military-grade air conditioner above him running at full power. He looked like a salted fish that had been roasted by the summer heat.

"No, I'm afraid of getting heatstroke." Ye Tang turned over and buried her face in the ice pillow. Summer in the Beast World was unreasonably hot, with the temperature remaining steadily at forty-two degrees Celsius. The stone slabs in the courtyard were so hot that you could fry an egg on them.

For a modern person like her who relies on air conditioning to survive the summer on Earth, going out in this heat is no different from committing suicide.

Chi Heng put the watermelon rind on the table, his eyes darting around several times. That cunning wolf carried Ye Tang quite a few times, from the forest to the prison, from the yard to the shopping mall, and Ye Tang rode on the wolf's back, laughing happily.

He is a bird of prey, and when it comes to carrying people, he is the most professional. The cool airflow at high altitudes is more effective than any air conditioner, and he can fly much faster than a hunter.

With that thought, he suddenly unfurled his wings from behind, the crimson feathers shimmering under the light: "You ride on my back, I'll take you for a ride! It's cool up there, a hundred times more comfortable than air conditioning!"

"Hmm... I'm a little tempted." Ye Tang removed the ice towel from her face, her eyes brightening. She had flown on airplanes on Blue Star, but that was sitting in a sealed metal can, which was completely different from riding on the back of a living Vermilion Bird and soaring through the air.

"I fly very steadily, a hundred times more steadily than that wolf!" Seeing that there was a chance, Chi Heng sprang up from the sofa, his wings fully spread, with a wingspan of several meters, almost overturning the coffee table in the living room.

He recalled Youlie's calm and composed demeanor whenever he carried Yetang, and secretly vowed to fly more steadily, faster, and higher than the scheming wolf, so that Yetang would know that he was the best mount.

"Give it a try, Little Tangtang—you're mine now—no, I'm your bird now—you have to give your bird a chance to shine—" Chiheng squatted by the cool mat, his tail sweeping back and forth on the ground.

"Okay." Ye Tang sat up from the mat. Chi Heng immediately transformed into his beast form, the enormous Vermilion Bird almost filling the entire living room. He quickly lowered his body, spreading his wings into a gentle slope. Ye Tang carefully climbed onto his back, her hands grasping the thicker, reddish-brown downy feathers on the back of his neck, which felt warm and soft. Chi Heng waited until she had a firm grip before standing up, then flapped his wings and took flight from the courtyard.

His takeoff was a hundred times gentler than when he was fighting, almost without any turbulence, as smooth as riding an elevator. After flying high into the sky, cool air currents surged in from all directions, making Ye Tang's hair fly wildly. She looked down and saw that Prison Zero had become a small gray-black square in the forest, with rolling mountains and silver ribbon-like rivers in the distance.

"Little Firebird, where are you taking me?" Ye Tang realized that the flight direction was not random. Chi Heng was flying south at a fast speed, but occasionally he would deliberately take a small detour so that she could take a few more glances at the scenery.

"You'll see when we get there!" Chi Heng turned back and winked his crimson eyes at her, flapping his wings even more merrily.

After flying for a long time, Ye Tang finally spotted a magnificent complex of buildings deep within the Yanling Mountains, built against the mountainside with an imposing presence. Chi Heng lowered his altitude as he approached the main house, and before even landing, he started chattering at the top of his lungs, "Grandpa! Grandpa! Look who's here!"