Chapter 115: Urinating Anywhere = Claiming Territory

"Scum!"
"Animal!"
"Refined degenerate!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Hearing the barrage of insults from Vivian and the others, Zhou Tian glared at them irritably and shouted, "If you must scold me, could you at least move a bit further away to do it? To curse me right to my face—aren't you being a bit too presumptuous? And I will repeat myself: she is not some woman I abducted from somewhere, but the Beast King of the Magical Beast Forest. She is simply here in the capital as a guest."

"Liar!" Without a moment's hesitation, Vivian and the others rejected the truth of Zhou Tian's words. Pointing at the Snake King, they retorted, "Where have you ever seen a Beast King as beautiful as her? It's bad enough you go out and find women, but to make up such an outrageous excuse—Captain, you've gone too far! How can you justify this to Afra? How can you justify—"

After Vivian's lecture, Zhou Tian felt his head ache. What was even more infuriating was that the Snake King, seeing Zhou Tian surrounded and under fire, made no move to help him. Instead, she watched with great interest as he suffered, treating the whole scene like a clown performance.

Zhou Tian silently threatened the Snake King with his eyes, as if saying, "If you don't help me, I won't take you out to shop anymore."

Unexpectedly, under this threat, the Snake King didn't hesitate at all. She pointed at Zhou Tian and reported him to the others: "Big sisters, he's threatening me!"

"Zhou Tian!" The Snake King's pitiful expression instantly won over the women's sympathy. With a unified roar, they bared their fangs and claws and lunged at him.

"Oh... for heaven's sake!" It seemed Zhou Tian was destined for a bloody disaster today.

***

Ever since the Snake King arrived in the capital, Zhou Tian felt his life becoming increasingly difficult. He had no idea what kind of charm the Snake King had cast on Vivian and the others. She was clearly an "old monster" of unknown age, yet the women treated her like a precious little sister.

They believed everything the Snake King said. Not only did they ditch their work every day to accompany her on wild outings, but they also "framed" Zhou Tian time and again. In the end, Zhou Tian was "punished" by them repeatedly, while the Snake King would watch from the sidelines with a smile. Every time he saw her like that, Zhou Tian couldn't help but grit his teeth in hatred.

In this manner, Zhou Tian was toyed with by the Snake King for an entire month. Once she had had her fill of fun, she steered clear of the others to bid him farewell: "I've had a wonderful time during this stay. Thank you so much for your hospitality. However, there are many things in the forest that require my attention, so I won't be staying here any longer. So... goodbye for now!" With that, she mimicked the human gesture and cupped her hands in a salute.

"Then I won't see you out!" Without the slightest intention of asking her to stay, Zhou Tian immediately replied.

As if sensing the joy in his tone, the Snake King didn't leave without giving him a little trouble to deal with.

"I'm leaving now, but there's something I need to tell you before I go."

"What is it?"

"As a Lord, it's not like you have nothing to do. You must mark the area around your city. Whenever a magical beast challenges you, you must accept. Otherwise, according to the rules of the forest, your status as Lord will be usurped by another beast. And I don't need to tell you the consequences of losing your position as Lord, right?"

His expression turning serious, Zhou Tian hurriedly asked, "Then how do I mark it?"

After staring at him for a long time with an expression that suggested she was looking at an idiot, and just as Zhou Tian was about to lose his temper, the Snake King finally replied: "You're so ignorant that you don't even know this?" Ignoring his darkened face, she continued, "Pee! We magical beasts determine our territories by the scent of our urine. If you urinate around the outskirts of the capital, others will know this area is your territory. But remember, it's best not to occupy another Lord's territory at will, or you'll easily trigger a war between your two lands."

"Is... is that so?" Zhou Tian's expression became one of helplessness. While the task itself was easy, the thought of having to urinate in public like that made him feel quite embarrassed.

"I don't understand why you're reacting this way!" The Snake King gave him a strange look, shook her head in bewilderment, and then walked away quietly.

Not to mention the further misunderstandings Zhou Tian suffered at the hands of Vivian and the others following the Snake King's departure, her words ultimately forced him to start urinating everywhere.

***

Everything the Snake King told Zhou Tian was true, but she seemed to have forgotten one very important detail before sending him off to do those things.

Magical beasts possess the instinct to distinguish whether a territory has an owner just by the scent of urine without any training; the more powerful ones can even recognize exactly which Lord's territory they are currently in.

Zhou Tian, however, lacked this ability. Not only did all urine smell the same to his nose, but given his personality, the idea of him sniffing urine was simply unrealistic.

Consequently, Zhou Tian made no attempt to distinguish whether there were already other Lords around the capital, who they were, or how strong they might be. Once he knew about the habit of magical beasts, he simply snuck around the outskirts of the capital and urinated everywhere, effectively marking several miles around the city as his own.

Although this was an unintentional act, it still brought him no small amount of trouble.

Others wouldn't care if Zhou Tian's actions were intentional or not. To magical beasts, territorial sovereignty is inviolable. While much of the land around the capital was indeed unclaimed, several beast Lords did have territories nearby. By indiscriminately marking his territory, Zhou Tian had accidentally encroached upon the lands of a few other Lords. In this situation, he had carelessly attracted a new batch of enemies.