Chapter 16
Chapter 16: Successful Breakthrough
Some distance from Xie Changqing and the others, a group of people were riding tall, sturdy horses, shouting as they chased and cornered a herd of wild horses.
They wielded lassoing poles, with ropes dancing wildly in the wind.
The wild horses’ thick manes flew wildly in the howling north wind, their hooves pounding the ground with deafening sounds like rolling thunder, converging into a magnificent, unstoppable stampede.
The lead stallion was magnificent and robust, standing out like a brilliant star among the herd.
Its deep eyes were like burning torches, filled with wariness and anger.
As the enemies drew closer, the stallion raised its head and let out a long neigh that cut through the sky like a rousing battle cry.
Then it suddenly exerted force, its powerful hind legs rising high, cutting a sharp arc through the air before beginning to gallop wildly.
Everyone stared intently at it—they had come specifically for it.
But despite using every method, they couldn’t even get close to it.
Just then, when the stallion reached a certain spot, it suddenly struck.
With tremendous force, it kicked heavily toward the nearest rider.
Its speed was too fast—so fast the rider couldn’t react in time.
The rider’s face was full of terror. Unable to dodge, he instinctively tried to throw his lasso at it.
But the distance was too close and the stallion too fast. He had barely thrown it when the stallion accurately kicked his horse’s leg.
With a “crack,” the horse’s leg broke.
The horse let out a pitiful cry and fell directly down.
The rider, like a kite with a broken string, screamed as he was thrown out, landing on the ground and rolling in pain.
But at this moment, the wild herd was still charging toward them.
With no choice, his companions had to rush forward to rescue him.
After great difficulty pulling him onto a horse, they discovered their encirclement had a gap.
The stallion led the herd without hesitation, charging through like a surging black torrent, running desperately, their hooves raising dust that covered the sky.
Because of this one gap, the herd successfully broke through and galloped toward the depths of the grassland.
“Ah, damn it!” The people didn’t dare block them, or they would be trampled directly.
In the end, they could only watch their retreating figures, standing there dumbfounded for a long time.
“Ai, what a pity.” Sangtu shook his head and clicked his tongue: “That person is in trouble…”
Falling from such a high horse, the situation didn’t look good…
Qiaoba frowned, somewhat shaken: “Fortunately, we knew when to quit last time…”
Back then they had been going for the stallion, but when they didn’t catch it and broke several lassoing poles, they felt too sorry about the loss.
They caught a black horse and, thinking they didn’t have many poles left and continuing would be useless, they retreated directly.
Later they felt regretful about it, but thinking about it now, at least they were safe.
Xie Changqing nodded, completely agreeing: “This stallion is really fierce!”
He liked this temperament!
“Don’t even think about it.” Qiaoba, thinking of the scene just now, felt alarmed and quickly advised: “You saw it too—the Fifth Pasture suffered a big loss.”
The Fifth Pasture was far from here. They must have run all the way here specifically for this stallion.
Unexpectedly, they suffered a big loss.
They didn’t catch the horse, and whether that person could even survive was questionable.
The people from the Fifth Pasture obviously saw them too, but didn’t come over to greet them.
They just waved their poles and quickly left—they had to immediately take the injured person back for treatment.
Having watched such excitement, the rest of the journey didn’t feel boring.
Many people kept talking about this incident, and they all shared stories of catching wild horses from the past.
Sangtu also pondered: “They made the mistake of not coming to catch them now—they should have waited longer.”
When the weather got colder and there wasn’t much grass, even if the wild horses could find some food, they wouldn’t be as fierce as usual.
When they were starved and weakened, then they could make their move…
“Right, I think so too.” Xie Changqing smiled and added details: “It would be best to set a trap first, feed them some medicinal herbs to make them dizzy, then catch the isolated ones.”
As soon as Qiaoba heard this, he knew Xie Changqing hadn’t given up the idea of catching that stallion at all, and couldn’t help but worry: “Changqing, if you think Lightning isn’t fast enough, you can pick any horse from our entire pasture! You don’t have to have that stallion!”
That horse was too fierce. Even if they could catch it, they might not be able to tame it.
“Right.” Sangtu also nodded, somewhat worried: “I saw it all—at least five or six groups of people have gone after it.”
But until now, the stallion was still alive and kicking.
You could imagine that no one could do anything about it.
Xie Changqing made an agreeing sound, then added: “Of course I won’t take risks. What I mean is, we could actually defeat them one by one!”
Drive them apart, making them separate.
It would be best to have a narrow lane or canyon where they could trap the isolated ones.
They would position themselves up high, and even if the wild horses wanted to attack them, they couldn’t reach them.
Like those people from the Fifth Pasture, facing the enemy directly was too dangerous.
Before Qiaoba could stop him, Sangtu exclaimed: “A canyon? There really is one! Look, over there!”
Xie Changqing looked in the direction he pointed.
At the end of the blue-yellow grassland, there were vague mountains—not as high as the one they’d climbed, but continuous with interlocking peaks.
“You can’t see it clearly, but between those two mountains there used to be a river, and now that river has dried up.”
Inside was a very deep canyon that people rarely visited.
Hearing this, Xie Changqing raised an eyebrow.
So there really was a naturally perfect hunting ground.
However, that direction wasn’t the same as where they were going, so there was no hope in the near future.
“Changqing…” Qiaoba hesitated.
Xie Changqing cracked his whip and laughed heartily: “Uncle Qiaoba, don’t worry. If I go, I’ll definitely make thorough preparations, and I’ll definitely discuss it with you first!”
Knowing he couldn’t persuade him, Qiaoba could only repeatedly remind him that he must discuss it in advance.
As for those salt blocks and such, Qiaoba secretly made a note: it seemed they needed to get these things as soon as possible.
They had just set up their tents in the evening when Nuomin, Haierte, and the other three caught up.
Looking at Haierte’s expression, Xie Changqing knew this hadn’t worked out.
Sure enough, Nuomin talked eloquently about how she had been welcomed by the Seventh Pasture, not only getting medicine but also successfully trading for some food.
The other person had similar results. Although he didn’t get medicine, grateful for his timely notification, the people from the Eighth Pasture gave him a bag of beef jerky.
Only Haierte looked dejected: “They drove me away.”
Of course, he wasn’t one to take a loss lying down. He rode his horse around their pasture people and cursed: “You won’t listen to me now, but just wait and see if you dare wait five days before leaving. Don’t go sneaking off after listening to Abu then—if you really do that, you’ll have to call me Abu when we meet next time! Or you can regret it now and call me Abu right now. Come on, quickly!”