Help! I transmigrated to a Beast World-Chapter 116: Bad Snake!

"Step aside, female," Sha Chen ordered, his voice calm as he spun his spear. "I will clear a path. Hei Yan, guard her back. Snake, try not to get in my way."

"I will bite your tongue out before I let you give me orders, Wolf," Qing Lin hissed, his fangs dripping venom onto the dry earth.

"Enough!" Xin Yi shouted, throwing her arms out wide to block her three Alphas. "Nobody is clearing a path! Nobody is biting anyone! Put your weapons down!"

She took a deep, steadying breath, summoning every single ounce of retail customer service energy she had ever possessed in her past life. She plastered a completely fake, incredibly strained smile on her face and turned to the giant, scarred Lion Chief.

"Greetings, Chief Jin Hai!" Xin Yi called out, bowing slightly. "We are travelers from the Neutral Zone! We come in peace!"

Jin Hai squinted at her, scratching his thick, unruly beard. "Neutral Zone? What is that? A new hunting ground?"

"No, no! It is a city!" Xin Yi explained quickly, desperately trying to ignore Jin Xuan, who was still grinning at her like a giant, naked idiot.

"A place where different tribes live together. We have built houses, we cook our food, and we have.....rules! We came here to teach your tribe how to do the same!"

A heavy silence fell over the savanna.

The Golden Mane lions looked at each other. Then, as if on cue, they all threw their heads back and burst into thunderous, booming laughter.

"Teach us?!" Jin Hai roared with laughter, slapping his massive thigh. "Why should we change our ways? We are Lions! We are the Kings of the Plains! We sleep where we want, we eat what we catch, and we take what is ours! Why would we want to live in a ’city’ like trapped prey?"

"Because you sleep in the dirt and smell like animal carcasses!" Sha Chen sneered, looking incredibly disgusted.

"And you have no concept of hygiene!" Hei Yan added, his purple eyes narrowing.

"You are all uncultured barbarians," Qing Lin finished, his voice dripping with disdain.

Xin Yi slapped her forehead. So much for diplomacy.

"I don’t care about any of that," a deep, rumbling voice interrupted.

Jin Xuan stepped forward, completely ignoring the deadly glares of the three Alphas. He pointed a massive finger directly at Xin Yi.

"I just want the tiny female," Jin Xuan declared stubbornly. "She hit me with a flat black rock. It was a clear challenge of strength, and I accept! She is going to be my mate!"

[Ding!]

[(⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠) System Notice: Host’s mating charm is simply too powerful! In unga-bunga logic, a concussion is equivalent to a love letter!]

[Host has unlocked the ’Caveman’s Dream’ achievement!]

Shut up, Xin Yi threatened the blue screen in her mind.

"Over my dead body," Hei Yan growled, his panther claws extending fully.

"That can be arranged," Qing Lin whispered, his green eyes flashing dangerously.

Before the Alphas could launch themselves at the Lion Prince, the tall grass violently parted again.

"STAY AWAY FROM THE SON OF THE CHIEF!"

A towering, heavily muscled female lioness stomped into the clearing. It was Wan Ning. She was still completely covered in dried gray mud, and she looked absolutely furious.

She marched right up to Xin Yi, towering over her by at least two feet. Wan Ning aggressively flexed her biceps, a fierce scowl on her face.

"Who is this hairless, weak creature?!" Wan Ning roared, pointing a muddy finger at Xin Yi. "She has no muscles! She has no scars! Jin Xuan, you cannot choose her! I crushed a boar’s skull today! Choose me!"

Xin Yi took a terrified step back, instinctively hiding behind Qing Lin’s flowing green robes. This woman was built like a professional wrestler!

"Go away, Wan Ning," Jin Xuan pouted, crossing his arms. "You smell like a swamp. The tiny female smells like flowers. I have made my choice."

"She is not yours to choose, you overgrown stray cat!" Qing Lin snapped, his patience officially evaporating.

"Alright, everyone shut up!" Chief Jin Hai bellowed. He looked at the sky, noting the position of the moon. "It is late. The Mating Brawl is over for tonight. You ’Neutral Zone’ people....."

He looked at Xin Yi, then at her three deadly companions.

"You are strange. And you travel with natural enemies. That takes strength," Jin Hai admitted grudgingly. "You may stay the night in our camp. Tomorrow, you will show us this ’teaching’. If it is useless, we will chase you out. Understand?"

Xin Yi let out a massive sigh of relief. "Yes. Thank you, Chief."

"Good," Jin Xuan cheered happily. "The tiny female will sleep in my cave!"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Hei Yan, Sha Chen, and Qing Lin roared at the exact same time.

"My cave is the biggest!" Jin Xuan argued, completely unbothered by the three murderous auras. "It has the softest grass! She will be very comfortable!"

Xin Yi was too exhausted to fight. Her feet ached, her head was throbbing, and all she wanted to do was lie down on a relatively flat surface and pass out.

"Fine," Xin Yi groaned, rubbing her eyes. "I don’t care. Just take me to the cave. But I am sleeping on my own side! Nobody touches me! Do you hear me?!"

The Alphas instantly protested, but Xin Yi just shot them a glare so terrifying that even Sha Chen swallowed his words.

Ten minutes later, Xin Yi found herself standing inside Jin Xuan’s "cave."

It wasn’t even a real cave. It was just a large, shallow indentation under a massive boulder. There was no door, no walls, and the "bed" was literally just a pile of dry, scratchy savanna grass.

"Here!" Jin Xuan beamed proudly, gesturing to the grass. He was still wearing the linen cloth Sha Chen had thrown at him, though it was tied very loosely. "My rock is the flattest rock in the tribe!"

"It’s beautiful," Xin Yi deadpanned, her soul completely empty.

She collapsed onto the grass pile, not even bothering to take off her boots. She curled up into a tight ball, completely ignoring the fact that Hei Yan, Sha Chen, and Qing Lin had immediately surrounded the perimeter of the cave like a team of highly lethal security guards.

Sha Chen leaned against the entrance, his spear resting on his shoulder. Hei Yan sat cross-legged near her feet, his eyes scanning the darkness. Qing Lin sat closest to her head, his posture rigid and his eyes glued to the Lion Prince.

Jin Xuan completely ignored the guards. He happily plopped down on the grass right next to Xin Yi.

"You are so small," Jin Xuan whispered, his golden eyes wide with fascination.

He leaned closer. His wild, untamed hair brushed against her arm.

"I said my own side," Xin Yi mumbled sleepily, too tired to move away.

Jin Xuan pouted. "But I like to cuddle when I sleep. I am very warm. Feel my chest."

He reached out a massive, heavily calloused hand. He didn’t mean any harm, he was just genuinely curious. He reached out with one thick finger and gently, softly poked Xin Yi’s soft cheek.

"Squishy," Jin Xuan grinned.

SNAP.

Qing Lin finally snapped.

"Die."

Before Jin Xuan could even pull his finger back, a blinding flash of green light illuminated the cave.

Xin Yi’s eyes snapped open just in time to see a massive, terrifying wall of dark green scales block out the moonlight.

Qing Lin exploded into his true Beast Form.

A colossal, fifty-foot-long Azure Python filled the entire cave, its massive coils thrashing violently.

"Woah!" Jin Xuan yelled, tumbling backward as a giant, scaled tail whipped past his face.

With terrifying speed, the giant snake lunged. Qing Lin’s massive jaws snapped open, his fangs gleaming in the dark. He didn’t bite the lion, he simply slammed his massive head into Jin Xuan’s chest, completely tackling the Lion Prince out of the cave and into the dirt.

"QING LIN!" Xin Yi screamed, scrambling up from the grass.

Outside the cave, chaos had erupted.

The giant python had completely wrapped its thick, muscular coils around Jin Xuan’s body, literally strangling the breath out of the golden lion.

"Let him go!" Sha Chen yelled, though he wasn’t helping at all, the wolf was actually leaning on his spear and laughing.

"Choke him harder, Snake!" Hei Yan cheered from the sidelines, pumping a fist in the air.

"ACK—" Jin Xuan gagged, his face turning a fascinating shade of purple as the giant snake tightened its grip. He beat his fists against the impenetrable green scales, but it was useless.

[Ding!]

[(⁠⊙⁠_⁠⊙⁠) Host’s Snake has gone fully feral! Jealousy levels have exceeded maximum capacity!]

[Current Objective: Prevent an international diplomatic incident before the Lion Chief wakes up!]

Xin Yi grabbed her frying pan, sprinting out of the cave.

"BAD SNAKE!" Xin Yi yelled, running up and smacking the python’s thick tail with the pan. PANG! "Let him go! Drop the lion right now!"

The giant python just hissed stubbornly, its massive green eyes glaring at the choking lion, tightening its coils just a fraction more.

Nobody poked his mate’s squishy cheeks but him!