Chapter 458: Noble Steeds
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The feral horses galloped by in endless and innumerable waves.
The horse herd stopped when they got to the center of the field. There was a giant hot spring that was emitting a cloud of steam; it was most probably due to this spring that this natural stable was vibrantly fearless of the cold.
Watergrasses grew in lush blankets beside the lake, not at all inferior when compared to their verdancy during spring and fall.
Some steeds had jumped right into the water for a swim while many more fed on the grass quietly, their tails swishing about.
Even Yun Yang was touched by the serenity; he did not want to disturb the peace and quiet that these horses were enjoying for a moment.
Even as this thought flashed through his mind, a long neigh came from the distance. The horses around the lake were on guard the moment they heard the noise, neighing while looking around for any abnormalities.
Far away, where the snow fell heavily, another band of horses galloped over with the hot spring as their obvious target.
The horses that were already there drew back slowly, but a proud, snow-white steed remained in front. This steed was one head taller than the rest of the horses and was about five feet longer than them as well.
It was an extremely well-built white horse. Even while standing still, it exuded a superior vibe that no one could challenge. It was as if it was passing a message – as long as I'm here, forget about invading and occupying this land!
The sounds of galloping horses became louder, the hot spring lying directly in their path.
With a drawn-out neigh, the massive band of horses suddenly stopped their forward motion. It was amazing to see such a large number of galloping horses stop in such an orderly manner.
Yun Yang was so impressed. A feral horse herd that no one controlled had actually moved in such uniformity that if he had not witnessed it himself, he would never have believed that such a thing existed in this world.
It was truly a miracle, made possible by God's grace!
The leader of the band of horses that came later was a steed that had a red coat. This flaming horse was about the same size as the white steed and was growling provokingly; it was clear that it intended to fight to claim the hot spring.
Yun Yang understood the entire situation with a single glance.
It was the dead of winter right now; the sky was filled with snow, the ground was frozen solid. To be able to feed on fresh grass, the feral mounts had to stay close to this hot spring. There was only one lake though, and these two bands of horses were fighting over it.
In Yun Yang's eyes, it was completely unnecessary.
The hot spring lake was excessively large, while tens of thousands of acres around it was filled with exceptionally dense and lush bushes due to the warm land. It was wholly sufficient to feed both horse herds. There was no worry about insufficient resources or starvation. They would be peacefully full without the need to fight.
However, this was Yun Yang's thinking. The two harems of steeds did not think the same, as they most probably only wanted the entire place for themselves! The thought must have rung especially true for these two horse kings.
The saying was that only one tiger could exist in a mountain; similarly, there needed to be a horse king among the horses – more so, there must only be one king among the horses.
If there had been only one horse king to dictate the two horse bands, they would have long united as one herd. Of course, life was full of surprises; this place had given birth to two horse lords that were similarly skilled and on par in each aspect!
Subsequently, there must be a contest between them to identify the true king. The horse herds from both sides drew back, leaving a large, empty space in the center.
The white and red horses did not move, merely standing and staring at each other across the gulf, but their distance from the horse herds grew wider.
Yun Yang lurked at a spot not too far away from the hot spring.
As long as one was a man in the Tianxuan Continent, he would never say no to a noble steed; Yun Yang was no exception. Before he was even familiar with his cloud manifestation, Yun Yang had used horses as his mean of transportation. He had taken a liking to these two horses of crimson and white since he had laid eyes on them.
When he looked up again from a closer distance to hear the low growls and peek at the two contenders, Yun Yang could not help but widen his eyes.
The two horses that were initially thousands of feet away from each other was already engaged in a ferocious brawl. Speeding across the empty land like two streaks of lightning, it was almost as if they had traveled through time and space.
They were kicking, biting and viciously slamming into each other…
Any attacking tactic that could be used by a horse was all shown in this battle; there was no holding back. However, the reason that Yun Yang was taken aback was their speed… they had been so far away – why were they already fighting in the blink of an eye?
Even the speediest horse was not equipped with such godly speed! Unless… these two horses knew how to fly?
Yun Yang thought about his own skills, knowing that it was impossible for him to leap through such a long distance, even when he was at the peak of his cultivation base. Yet, the two horses in front of him had done it so easily, like it was nothing at all.
After a while, the battle between the steeds escalated; both creatures had turned into two illusory silhouettes that fought from the south to the north, then from the east to the west; sometimes they collided, like a flame of red and white that was dazzlingly radiant.
Even when Yun Yang concentrated his vision, he still could not identify anything, unable to differentiate which side had gotten the upper hand.
Hundreds of horses stamped their hooves on both sides while neighing into the sky; the spectacle was intense and the sound deafening. Obviously, both bands were cheering for their king.
Having heard their harems' cheers and experiencing a boost of morale, the horse kings seemed more fervent as they quickened their attacks amidst their constant neighing. Their strikes and dodges were really like lightning, with their hooves kicking at out each other; the litheness in their actions dumbfounded Yun Yang.
Were these two horses?
Were these still horses?
This was a battle of two martial world experts!
Each action of theirs, whether to attack, counter or avoid, was very methodical; it was not at all a wild beast's attack.
Yun Yang had slipped into the battleground carefully at first, only to realize later that it was not that all the steeds did not see or hear him; they had completely ignored the stranger, not bothering with him at all.
Even when he was passing through the ranks of the horses, none of them reacted. Only a mare seemed to think that Yun Yang was annoying for pushing his way through, and had shoved him aside with her strong buttocks. Her meaning was clear – Off you go, don't annoy me! Did you not see I'm watching my idol?
Yun Yang was speechless. He was tongue-tied at these horses' ignorance.
Subsequently, he stood there righteously as if he naturally belonged in the throng, crossing his arms as he watched the fight of the century between these two horse kings.
Judging by the current situation, these two mighty warriors seemed to be very energetic. The result might not be concluded even if they fought for one whole day. Would Yun Yang have to wait here for an entire day? Besides, if he were to actually wait for their brawl to end, it would be a near-impossible task for him to catch them, seeing as to how fast they could move.
The cogs in Yun Yang's head turned. Inwardly he lamented to himself. If he still had the air of vitality that he could use at any time, it would have saved him so much trouble; the life force that possessed limitless temptation to all lives in this world would allow Yun Yang to tame them without any effort, but he did not have it now.
Speaking of which, the return of the air of vitality would mean that Emmie was here too, and his manifestation powers would have probably recovered as well. It seemed then that he need not search for a means of transportation. What a roundabout dilemma he faced!
Yun Yang, who was still inadequately equipped, rummaged through his spatial ring in hopes of finding something that could attract the attention of these two horses. Other than some healing medicine, there were only some treasured herbs that lay in his grasp.
He doubted that horses would be interested in those.
Just as Yun Yang grew increasingly perturbed and almost thought of giving up, intending to simply pick a decent horse to become his ride, he suddenly remembered something. When he was saved by the old physician and rested under the watchful eyes of the Huang Col Village's people, he had heard them mentioning something strange – that a great amount of fish lingered under the shore he had lied on, despite the intense currents… They did not even want to leave when faced with the possibility of capture as if they were intent on snatching some sort of valuable gem…
Yun Yang connected the dots at once, thinking about the treasured resources that he had ingested. His flesh and blood must have posed a unique temptation towards animals. However, horses were not a carnivorous species; could the draw of his flesh and blood be of interest to them?
Pondering for another moment, Yun Yang retrieved a saber from his ring and began cutting grass. A few horses walked over unhappily as they snorted, shoving Yun Yang aside with their buttocks.
"Why is this person so annoying? We don't mind if he just stands here, but he's actually cutting our grass."
"Do you think that we don't know that human can't eat grass? What a waste of food!"
Yun Yang scratched his head, ignoring them, and changed his spot to continue harvesting grass. The horse herd ignored him this time as if they did not see him.
"How thick-skinned this person is, it's useless to chase him away… Whatever."
"We have so much grass anyway. Even if you gamble your life by cutting them, how much can you cut, all by yourself?"
Yun Yang cut a big bundle of grass and walked forward carrying them all the way to the center of the battleground. Then, beyond the horses' expectation, he sat down.
Both horse kings glanced at him in disdain.
"Hmm, only human vermin… Let's not bother with him!"
"Do what we should!"
"This is more important!"
Neighing ferociously, they waded into intense battle again.
Seeing that the horse kings had ignored him, despised him even, Yun Yang steeled his heart and stabbed his arm while gritting his teeth. Blood trickled out at once, as he slowly but surely let them drip on the bundle of grass.
Since the horses were not following, he would go to them instead; since they did not feed on meat, he would add blood to their food. He would see if they would be moved and if it would be a success!
If his plan failed, Yun Yang did not plan to waste any more time; he would leave, and pick another horse. His current cultivation base could not tame a king of the horses, but it was still sufficiently adequate to tame an ordinary, decent steed.
It was only left to confirm if this method worked; Yun Yang had just recently recuperated, of course, he would not waste his blood away. He had only drained half a bowl of blood, dripping them onto the bundle of grass, before he quickly bandaged his wound. He was really weak now, already dizzy even though he had given so little blood; if he were to drain more blood, he might just knock himself out.
The Horse Majesties were still fighting fervently, not even bothering to glance over. They went from the east to the west, from the south to the north; they ran across each other, coming back and forth like lightning strikes.
The red horse king could finally be seen to have the upper hand, while the white horse king seemed to have expended its strength, and was gradually at the losing end.
Then, a flash of red sped past Yun Yang, charging forward like a strike of lightning; it seemed to be following up on his victory, wanting to take down its opponent with a single strike.
The white horse king neighed with indignation, the cry brimming with grief. It seemed to have predicted that he would surely be defeated if the battle went on, losing his position as the horse king.
In spite of this, it refused to show signs of defeat. Seeing the red horse charging over, it got into position and braced itself for a massive collision.
In Yun Yang's view, if the collision were to happen head on, the result might be a loss for both sides. A bigger possibility would be the white horse dying while the red horse would be severely injured; anyway, neither one would escape unscathed.
Just as the massive collision was about to take place, the white horse king looked up in dumbstruck wonder.
The red horse king had suddenly turned while galloping, charging back in a graceful curve.
What was it going to do? Was there some conspiracy afoot?
The white horse king watched on, but all he saw was the red horse king sprinting towards the squatting human, kicking a few times lightly with its front hooves and lowering its head to let out a neigh.
The white horse king's eyes grew even wider.
What?
"We horses will only make such a noise when we're very comfortable or yearning for something. You're young and naïve, but you shouldn't be acting this way towards a human!"
"What are you yearning for? What are you so comfortable with?
"Where is your elegance as a king of horses?"
When Yun Yang lifted his head, he saw a large horse head before his eyes with sniffing nose; yearning was written all over its eyes which were dead set on the big bundle of grass beside his hands. More precisely, they were trained on the grass bathed in his blood.
Interesting.
Yun Yang put on a friendly front immediately and said gently, "Do you want to eat it?"
The red horse looked at him warily, hopping two steps back with wide eyes, clearly on its guard.
Yun Yang pushed the fresh grass in his hand forward and said, "Eat? Are you eating them or not?"
The red horse clip-clopped on the spot anxiously and shook its head; it looked over farther before turning back and focused all of its attention on the grass in front of it. Its throat was nickering while saliva trickled from the corners of its mouth.
"I don't think you want to eat!" Yun Yang sighed, picking a rope he braided from grass to pass his time earlier and tied the big bundle of green up, before he carried them on his back and left, turning around.
Clip-clop, clip-clop…
The crimson steed followed behind, its eyes still staring at the grass on his back longingly; it neighed impatiently but nickered again… It was obvious that it wanted to eat, extending its mouth over, but instinctually felt a danger that was present; in spite of this, it did not want to give up. This was an unprecedented rush of temptation.
Based on such circumstances, the red horse could only follow the human, step by step.
Yun Yang, feeling slightly uncomfortable carrying the grass on his back, hugged them in front of him instead, and continued walking, picking up speed.
The red horse was impatient at once.
"I don't dare to eat. Still, it's good to take a whiff of it."
"How can you keep it in front of you? Why are you being so stingy?"
It hurried two steps forward, its head pushing into Yun Yang's back.
Yun Yang turned around but saw the red horse retreating thirty feet away, as if it was frightened, watching him intently.
Yun Yang waved his hands and said, "No need to send me off. I'm leaving now, I don't think we'll meet again."
Before his words could echo, he turned and left once more.
The red horse gave chase again.
He turned again.
It retreated once more.
He turned to leave once again; the red horse caught up yet again.
Rinse and repeat. This was how a battle of minds began!
As the drama was being acted out here, the white horse king in the battleground was stumped, as its opponent had actually abandoned it here and was pandering to the human wholeheartedly. He had no clue what his enemy was up to.
It felt speechless.
What did it want to do?
What was it doing now?
Why was it behaving so oddly?
Humans might not understand the red horse's actions, but the white horse understood them perfectly. It was obviously pandering and even bootlicking!
"What's going on?"
"Why has he gone to lick a human's boots when he' was fighting with me?"
"Do you still have the etiquette of a horse king?"
"Do you still have the slightest bit of dignity and pride of a king?"
"How humiliating to stand side by side with this horse!"
"I have f*cking bruises on me which are painful... but why don't I have a f*cking opponent anymore?"
"Gone he has, to pander, gone he has, to bootlick. Why the f*ck are you so embarrassing? Why don't you offer yourself and let that person ride you?"
"Your father will be utterly defeated if you let him ride you!"
"You'll be God then!"
The white horse that was venting its frustrations could not help neighing into the sky to express its discontentment as it saw its opponent thousands of feet away, following closely behind the strange human.
"It's true that the person has grass in his hands… but isn't grass what we eat every day?"
"Is this person's grass any more special?"
"You haven't f*cking eaten grass for a while, have you?"
"Do you lack grass so much? Can't you live without grass? Can't go beyond a single moment without grass?!"
"You just followed him and left! You've humiliated us horses! Lowered our pride!"
The red horse was stunned when he heard its opponent, turning its head to neigh back but it was filled with disdain.
"What the f*ck do you know?"
"Is this ordinary grass?"
"This is no ordinary grass!"
"Do you think I'm a dumb horse who hasn't seen the world like you?"
"This big brother is a king of horses!"
"This big brother does not lack grass, but I've never tasted grass of such high quality like this in front of me!"
"Do you think that high-quality grass is so easy to be seen, sniffed, and found?"
"I really want to f*cking eat it!"
Yun Yang's repeated efforts to lure his target had eventually made the red horse impatient. It began to stick forward on its own accord and stuck close to Yun Yang's buttocks; its mouth bit Yun Yang's clothes while its tail wagged.
It was just like a little girl who was walking while holding onto an adult's sleeves. It was like she wanted something, but was too abashed to ask for it, so she could only follow anxiously and pout, hoping that the adult could give her whatever it was, with quick discernment.
However, why was this person before it not aware at all? Would you die if you gave me a just a little from such a big bundle of grass?
After Yun Yang's multiple attempts to stroke it when he turned around, the red horse no longer rejected him and grew used to it; stroke if the human wanted, it would not lose a piece of its meat.
"Still, you have to give me grass after you touch me!"
From a light and gentle touch in the beginning to the current caress everywhere, Yun Yang got bolder with every stroke and grew more content; his eyes had turned into crescents.
The red horse was a pony that had just matured; the foal was at most four or five years old. If it were to be human, it would be a young teenager of approximately eighteen years. While the foal was at the peak of a horse's lifetime, this red foal's characteristics were stunning.
Yun Yang felt an inexplicable energy that was surging within the foal, an energy that a horse should not possess.
Yun Yang guessed that this foal and the white horse must have consumed something peculiar to have caused a certain degree of change to their bodies. Otherwise, they would never be so mighty, based on just the innate abilities of a horse!
With his plan coming to fruition, Yun Yang finally picked a few strands of grass from the huge bundle and put it forward to the horse's mouth, as if doing charity work.
Yun Yang was sure that the red foal would not be able to resist the temptation to follow him after actually eating the grass stained with his blood!
The red foal's eyes shone right away when it saw his action; it opened its mouth and rolled its tongue without a care to chew on the grass before its eyes. Just as the grass entered its mouth, its eyes gleamed with ecstasy, looking at Yun Yang in adoration while it ate – actually, it was staring in gluttony at the big bundle of grass…
Yun Yang's hand extended to the back of the foal and tapped it lightly; his intention was apparent – "You can have more grass but you have to exchange for it with yourself. Let your father ride you, then you can have the grass!"
The red stallion seemed to have understood his thoughts at once, taking a few steps back urgently while it watched Yun Yang with alertness and dissatisfaction.
"I think of you as a friend and just want your grass, but you actually want to ride me?"
"How can there be such a thing in this world?"