Chapter 576 - Sneaking into the Horse Herd
Yu Xiaocao was frightened into squatting down into the grass with her head in her arms, fearing that the horses’ hooves would come down and trample her small body. Fortunately, the horses around her seem to be worried about the existence of her petite self and avoided her, either unconsciously or consciously, when they were running.
Zhu Junyang looked at the small figure that had rolled itself into a ball in the middle of the horse herd in panic and fear. The wild horses were fierce and difficult to tame. Dozens of wild horses galloped past her. If any of them trampled on her, the consequences could be unimaginable.
How could he still care about taming the wild horse underneath him? He leaped from the horse's back. The harness on the buckskin horse was casually thrown away and then he rapidly leapt off and ran towards the wild horse herd in the distance. He prayed to all the gods he knew to protect the girl that he loved so that she could get away from the wild horse herd without any injuries.
He summoned all of the energy within and lightened his body, using all of his internal energy to go towards the sole figure in his eyes. His speed had already reached the limit. Even Fierce Wind galloping at its top speed couldn't match the prince’s speed at this moment. The wind lifted his long hair and his eyes turned crimson with worry. His entire face seemed to be covered with a layer of ten thousand year old ice.
Faster, faster, he had to be even faster! However, the distance between the two of them was too great. Due to his sudden appearance, the horse herd galloped even faster. The trampled grass flew up high into the air, scattered onto the smooth dark hair of the lass and then slipped down quietly.
The lead white horse galloping in the distance suddenly turned its head and ran back against the horse herd. The cool breeze of the grassland blew through its handsome mane. The tuft of fur on top of its head shook up and down with its movement. Its muscles were tense, making it look strong and powerful.
Just when Zhu Junyang was around thirty to forty meters away from Xiaocao, he saw the white horse slam to a stop in front of Yu Xiaocao, similar to how Little Red invited its master for a ride every time. It knelt in front of Yu Xiaocao and snorted a few times as if inviting her to mount it.
Xiaocao was stupefied for a moment. Before her own brain could react, her body had already moved. In a jump, she had leaped onto the graceful white horse's back.
"Lass!" Zhu Junyang didn't know if he should cry or laugh. This lass, when he was trying to save her using his all, had jumped onto the horse's back without even thinking about it, gradually leaving his sight. Such a heartless little thing! All of his worries for her were for naught!
As if it had perceived the dangerous aura coming from the prince, the moment Xiaocao jumped on its back, the white horse got up quickly, spread its four hooves, and ran like the wind. The ends of its tail had almost swept across Zhu Junyang's charming face.
"Don't worry, the horse doesn't have any ill intent towards me! Wait for me to return!" Yu Xiaocao, who was bent over the horse's back, could only shout at Zhu Junyang as the wind blew into her mouth. Fortunately, her riding skills were quite good. She clung onto the horse's back with her hands and feet wrapped around the horse like an octopus.
Zhu Junyang wanted to continue chasing, but he was afraid he would scare the horse into taking the lass to a farther place. When they went back to the farm, he would have to give this bold lass a good spanking for not letting him worry so much!
While he was having bitter thoughts, he whistled for Fierce Wind and jumped onto the horse's back, heading in the direction that the buckskin horse had escaped in. Not just anyone could escape easily from the palm of the prince’s hand!
Let's not mention Zhu Junyang, who had caught up to the unfortunate buckskin horse and was currently having an endurance contest with it. Currently, Yu Xiaocao, who was carried on the back of the white horse that was running at top speed, had caught up with the wild horse herd. Dozens of horses galloped through the grassland. After a while, when Yu Xiaocao thought she was going to be taken to the distant horizon, the herd of horses slowed down and stopped by a lake.
Yu Xiaocao jumped down from the horse's back and took off the water bag she carried around her waist. She took off the leather cap and gulped down some water. The white horse, who had originally wanted to drink water by the lake, stopped the moment she opened the water bag and looked at it eagerly with a pair of big gentle eyes. The white horse's eyes were very beautiful. Under the sun, they flashed with an amber glow. The eyelashes on its eyes were long, curly and thick. If a girl had such eyelashes, she would definitely be envied by her peers!
Xiaocao had no resistance to that eager gaze. She poured some mystic-stone water into her palm. The white horse immediately came to drink the water in her hand and it even licked all the water droplets from her hand. Yu Xiaocao poured several more times until the water in the bag was all gone. Only then did the white horse reluctantly step back, licking his lips with its long tongue.
Yu Xiaocao washed her hands by the lake and took out a small pastry from the small pouch on her back. She ate it in small bites. When they left in the morning, they didn't know when they would go back. Each of them had brought along enough dried food to last for a day. Besides dried meat and crackers, she also brought some personal snacks in her small pouch.
The white horse stood silently beside her, watching her eat the pastry with its head tilted, as if it was curious about the taste of the pastry. Yu Xiaocao broke off a corner and held it by its mouth. The white horse tasted it and reluctantly ate it. It was obvious that the pastries eaten by humans weren't as attractive as her special horse bait. Yu Xiaocao took out a sugar cube that had been made from mystic-stone water from her small pouch and the white horse ate it with relish.
The other wild horses seemed to be very interested in what Xiaocao had taken out, but with the white horse present, they seemed more restrained. From time to time, they would look over and then return to drinking water or eating grass.
Yu Xiaocao looked at the sky. It was already past noon. She had been caught off guard and brought here by the wild horse herd. Zhu Junyang watched her as she was taken away and she didn’t know if he would come find her after hearing her previous words. However, if they didn’t go back soon, she didn't know how worried he and her servant girls would get if they didn't see her when it got dark.
However, the horse herd had been running with her for so long. She didn't even know where she was and how to go back?
Looking at the pouch beside her, the white horse was like a child begging for candy. Her eyes swiveled and an idea came to her mind. As the head of the herd, the white horse was the best in both intelligence and physical strength. She hoped that it could be one-tenth as smart as Little Red and could understand what she was saying.
She got out another piece of rock candy and also took out a porcelain bottle from her chest pocket and dropped a drop of mystic-stone water onto the sugar. By doing this, the plentiful and dense spiritual energy on the food was very attractive to the white horse. Even the other wild horses nearby risked being kicked and bitten by their leader to come this way. The white horse gave a long threatening hiss at its subordinates, staring menacingly at those who tried to snatch food from its mouth.
Just as it stretched out his mouth to pick up the sugar cube which was overflowing with spiritual energy, it discovered that the sugar cube that was right in front of it went missing. Following the spiritual energy, it found that it was hidden behind the little human girl in front of him. The white horse circled halfway around Xiaocao, coming to her back. When it stretched out its mouth, the sugar cube changed places and was in the front again.
As a proud leader horse, being 'teased' again and again made the white horse a little unhappy, so it bared its teeth menacingly at Xiaocao, 'Hand over the sugar cube or I'll... bite you!'
Yu Xiaocao was afraid of provoking this guy. After all, she was counting on it to send her back! She needed to give this guy something sweet to eat first, and she didn't believe that he wouldn't take the bait.
"I'm playing with you! Here!" The sugar cube that was soaked in a high concentration of mystic-stone water was put into the mouth of the white horse. The horse's humanized expression instantly cooled. Its soft and beautiful big eyes narrowed into slits and the horse grinned, like the expression of an addict who was addicted to opium.
After the sugar cube entered its mouth, the white horse felt a burst of vitality in its body and a very comfortable feeling all over. It felt even more wonderful than finally being exposed to the sun after climbing up from an ice cave it had fallen into! It felt that its physical strength was improved in an instant. Furthermore, its mind, which had previously been shrouded in a confusion mist, was now clear and seemed to be quicker than it had ever been.
When the second piece of sugar cube appeared in front of it, the white horse’s self control had collapsed into broken bits. It could only think, 'Eat, eat! Eat it and you can become stronger and command even more wild horses!'
"I don't know if you can understand what I'm saying! You must know that I am not the same species as you. Just as the wild horse herd is your home, I also have my home and my family! Earlier when you took me, the person that showed up was... was my family member. Think about it, if you were to leave the wild horse herd, would you be willing?" The white horse neighed as if responding to her words.
"You see, you don't want to leave your family. I'm the same. Right now, I want to return to my family member's side. Can you take me back? Of course, as a thank you, I will give you two more of these. If you agree, nod your head and cry out twice!"
Yu Xiaocao was like the wolf grandma tempting Little Red Riding Hood, luring the white horse with sugar cubes. The divine stone had said the mystic-stone water produced by its power had the ability to enlighten slow-witted animals. She didn't know if that sugar cube would work.
The white horse looked at her silently without any movement. Yu Xiaocao couldn't help laughing at herself, 'Little Red could understand some of her simple words because she had grown up drinking mystic-stone water and eating grass that had spiritual energy. Animals with intelligence, how could that happen overnight?’
Suddenly, the white horse came to her, grabbed the sugar cube from her hand, and quickly chewed and swallowed it. Then it seriously looked at her and nodded its head a few times and let out a long neigh, stamping its hooves rhythmically on the grass three times.
Seeing her sluggish expression, anxiety flashed through the white horse's eyes and it called out again. Its hooves trampled on the grass heavily three times. Yu Xiaocao tentatively asked, "Do you mean...you want three more cubes?"