Help! I transmigrated to a Beast World

Chapter 127: Woke Up Wrapped in Men

The Badlands were finally quiet.

Well, mostly quiet. The silence was occasionally broken by the crackle of the iron pot’s dying fire and the synchronized, pathetic sniffling of four men.

Xin Yi sat cross-legged on the only flat, comfortable rock in the clearing, completely embodying the aura of a tyrannical queen.

To her left stood Gou Sheng, holding a massive, slightly withered palm leaf he had scavenged from somewhere. He was aggressively fanning her, though he was mostly just blowing hot dust directly into her face. To her right sat Er Gou and Da Sha, aggressively baring their yellowed fangs and growling whenever anyone so much as looked at their tiny pink Boss.

And directly in front of her, sitting in a perfectly straight line in the dirt, were the Alphas.

Hei Yan, Sha Chen, Qing Lin, and Jin Xuan were all sporting matching, incredibly massive, glowing red lumps right on the top of their heads.

"I am an Alpha," Hei Yan whimpered, sitting cross-legged and gently prodding the swollen bump on his head with his panther claws. "I lead the Shadow Claw Tribe. I have slain rogue beasts with my bare hands. And I was defeated by a piece of dead bone."

"It is a magical bone," Jin Xuan offered helpfully, completely ignoring the fact that he was still entirely naked. He rubbed his own bump, though he was still smiling like a massive, golden idiot. "The tiny female hits very hard! It means she loves us very much! In the Golden Mane Tribe, a concussion is a promise of marriage!"

"Shut up, you brainless feline," Sha Chen scoffed, though the threat lost a lot of its intimidating edge considering the Arctic Wolf was currently pouting, his hair completely ruined and sticking up in all directions around his own red lump. "If you speak again, I will snap your neck."

"Try it, Wolf!" Jin Xuan puffed out his chest.

Xin Yi slammed the glowing Bone of Discipline against the ground. THWACK!

All four men instantly flinched, their shoulders hiking up to their ears.

"Not another word from any of you," Xin Yi warned. "I said time-out! If you cannot behave like civilized people, you get treated like toddlers!"

[Ding!]

[(⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠) System Notice: Harem Status Update!]

[Threat Level: ZERO.]

[Dignity Level: NEGATIVE ONE HUNDRED.]

[Status Effect Applied: ’Concussed Pride’. Host’s Harem Management Skill has leveled up to Level 50!]

Qing Lin could not take the distance any longer.

The Azure Snake King, who usually prided himself on his impeccable dignity, looked miserable. His dark green silk robes were covered in Badlands dust, his hair was a mess, and the lump on his head was completely ruining his ethereal aesthetic.

"Xin Yi," Qing Lin murmured, his voice dropping to a hypnotic purr as he smoothly shifted forward on his knees, completely ignoring the growling hyenas.

He reached out a pale, elegant hand, begging for affection. "My scales are so cold without your warmth. Please. Forgive this unworthy serpent. Let me hold you. I only wished to melt your enemies."

"Grrr! Back away from Boss, long noodle!" Da Sha barked, snapping his jaws at Qing Lin’s fingers.

Xin Yi didn’t even use the bone this time. She just reached out and flatly placed her palm against Qing Lin’s perfectly sculpted face, aggressively shoving him backward.

"No," Xin Yi said firmly, ignoring the way his skin practically burned against her palm. "You tried to vaporize my hyenas. You stay in the dirt, Snake."

Qing Lin let out a tragic, dramatic hiss, collapsing back onto his heels and crossing his arms with a thoroughly venomous pout. "They are not hyenas. They are dogs. They are walking diseases. They smell like rotting cabbage."

"They smell like loyalty!" Xin Yi countered, gently patting Da Sha’s scruffy head.

Sha Chen sighed, rubbing his temples to soothe his aching head.

"Alright, we apologize for the overreaction," Sha Chen grumbled, the words physically paining him to say. "But we found you. You are safe. Now, what is the plan? Are we marching back to the Neutral Zone? Because if we are, I am skinning this naked lion and using him as a rug for the journey."

"Hey!" Jin Xuan protested.

"No," Xin Yi stated flatly, her brown eyes hardening with sudden, fierce determination. "We are not going back to the Neutral Zone."

Hei Yan blinked, his panther ears perking up. "Then where? We cannot stay in the Badlands. There is no water, and the... uh... your new ’pack’ has eaten all the warthogs."

"Will you go back to the Golden Mane Tribe?" Qing Lin asked. "After what that filthy, mud-covered lioness did to you? I will not allow it. I will flood their entire savanna before I let you step foot near them again."

"Of course I am going back!" Xin Yi declared, standing up and crossing her arms.

The three Alphas stared at her like she had completely lost her mind.

"Why?!" Hei Yan demanded.

"Because I need to give Wan Ning a piece of my mind!" Xin Yi snarled. "That giant, over-muscled amazon picked me up like a sack of potatoes, insulted my completely normal amount of chest hair, and threw me into a literal garbage pit to be eaten!"

She began pacing back and forth in front of the fire, the hyenas tracking her every movement with awe.

"I am the Chief Architect!" Xin Yi ranted, gesturing wildly. "I built a city! I introduced indoor plumbing to a bunch of unga-bunga barbarians! And she thinks I am weak?! I am going to march back into that camp, and I am going to show Wan Ning and that entire tribe of arrogant cats exactly what happens when you mess with me!"

[Ding!]

[(⁠★⁠ω⁠★⁠) NEW REVENGE QUEST TRIGGERED!]

[Quest Title: The Boss Strikes Back!]

[Objective: Return to the Golden Mane Tribe and assert absolute dominance over Wan Ning!]

[Reward: +1000 Civilization Points, Blueprint: Advanced Weapons Forge, and the sweet, sweet taste of vengeance!]

Jin Xuan beamed, clapping his massive hands together. "Yes! The tiny female is returning to my cave! We will be mates!"

"I will bury you alive," Qing Lin and Hei Yan hissed at the exact same time.

"Alright, that’s enough for tonight," Xin Yi groaned, her burst of adrenaline fading as complete and utter exhaustion crashed into her. Her bones ached. "I am going to sleep. Gou Sheng, Er Gou, Da Sha!"

The three hyenas snapped to attention, saluting her with their dirt-caked claws. "Yes, Boss!"

"Guard me," Xin Yi ordered, pointing at the four pouting Alphas. "Do not let them within ten feet of my sleeping spot. If they try to cross the line, bite their ankles."

"We bite hard!" the hyenas promised, forming a protective, growling perimeter around the soft patch of dry grass Xin Yi had claimed for herself.

Satisfied, Xin Yi collapsed onto the grass. She didn’t care about the dirt. She didn’t care about the cold wind. Within seconds, her eyes fluttered shut, and she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

~

The next morning, the sun rose over the Badlands.

Xin Yi stirred.

She let out a soft, contented sigh. She felt incredibly comfortable. Surprisingly, she wasn’t cold at all. In fact, she was enveloped in a furnace of solid, comforting heat.

Wow, the savanna grass is really soft today, Xin Yi thought sleepily, nuzzling her cheek against something smooth and undeniably muscular.

Wait. Grass didn’t have a heartbeat.

And grass absolutely did not possess a heavy, incredibly thick, dark-skinned arm that was currently wrapped around her waist.

Xin Yi’s brain slowly booted up. The memory of the Badlands, the hyenas, and the Alphas rushed back into her mind.

She froze.

She slowly, agonizingly peeled her right eye open.

Directly in front of her face was a broad, incredibly scarred, dark-skinned chest. She traced the muscles up to a sharp jawline, and finally to the peaceful, sleeping face of Hei Yan. The Black Panther Alpha had a triumphant, smug little smile on his lips, even in his sleep.

How did he get past the hyenas?! Xin Yi panicked internally.

She tried to slowly wiggle out of his iron grip.

But as she moved her leg, it brushed against something freezing cold and incredibly smooth.

Xin Yi gasped, looking down.

A massive, thick, dark green python tail was casually draped completely over her ankles, pinning her legs to the dirt. Qing Lin was sleeping right behind her, his back pressed against hers, completely entwining her in his scales to ensure she couldn’t escape.

And it didn’t stop there.

Across the dead campfire, she could see Sha Chen sleeping comfortably on his back, but his heavy leather boot was aggressively resting right on top of Jin Xuan’s face. The naked Lion Prince was completely sprawled out like a starfish, snoring loud enough to wake the dead, completely unfazed by the wolf’s foot on his nose.

As for her fierce, loyal, ankle-biting hyena guards?

Gou Sheng, Er Gou, and Da Sha were completely passed out in a pile a few feet away, snoring happily, their paws wrapped tightly around three massive, freshly caught antelopes that the Alphas had clearly used to bribe them into submission.

Traitors. Absolute, food-motivated traitors.

Hei Yan shifted in his sleep, his arm tightening around her waist as he pulled her completely against his chest, his panther tail lazily wrapping around her thigh.

Xin Yi stared at the sky. She took a deep, deep breath, filling her lungs to maximum capacity.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"