Chapter 66
Chapter 66: Look, It’s the Wild Horse King!
The silence was so complete that only the sound of the bitter cold wind sweeping across the wilderness and gently rolling over the hills could be heard.
Even Santu felt something was off. He turned to look at Qiaoba: “So… are we still going in?”
The horses had stopped neighing and were pacing restlessly in place.
Since they’d come all this way…
Qiaoba looked back toward where they’d come from. They were already far from their pasture.
The timing was perfect—after days of snow, the grass underneath had rotted away. The wild horses had nothing to eat and would be hungry right about now, making traps much more effective.
The location was excellent too. These hills were easy to defend but hard to attack. If they could sneak in and secure a good position, they’d be sure to catch one.
If they missed this opportunity, who knew when the next one would come…
After hesitating for a while, Qiaoba finally waved his hand: “Let’s go.”
Before entering, he thought for a moment and pulled out a flashlight for Xie Changqing: “The snow’s shallow here and doesn’t reflect light. You probably won’t be able to see anything at night, so take this just in case.”
If they really ran into trouble, a flashlight could at least scare off some wild animals.
Xie Changqing took it and hesitated for two seconds: “Actually, if there’s a problem, should we just go back?”
“Go back? No way.” Qiaoba shook his head decisively, looking toward the hills: “Since we’re here, we need to bring something back even if we have to go back.”
Otherwise, wouldn’t this trip be for nothing?
“Right, if we can’t get the wild horses, at least we could bag a wolf or something.” Everyone chimed in enthusiastically.
Once they started talking about this, quite a few people got excited.
They charged in, and before long they saw that indeed, a group of people had surrounded a herd of wild horses in a corner.
Clearly, they were using the driving method.
First, they herded all the wild horses into one area, then slowly separated them.
Finally, they would concentrate their efforts to chase and capture the wild horse king.
This method was indeed less labor-intensive, but it was also more…
Dangerous.
Qiaoba and his group didn’t rush over but watched from a distance.
“These people… why do they look familiar?” Qiaoba frowned slightly.
But that group was probably cold, so they’d wrapped their heads and faces, leaving only their eyes exposed.
At first glance, it was impossible to tell who they were.
Santu waved his hand carelessly and shouted: “Hey! Which pasture are you from?”
Some of the group turned to glance back, while others didn’t even turn their heads.
Want to pick up our leftovers? Dream on! Not a chance!
Not only did they not respond, they actually sped up their encirclement.
Before long, they had driven the wild horse herd closer and closer to the stone wall.
Once they had them completely surrounded, wouldn’t they be able to catch whichever horse they wanted?
Santu watched and frowned: “This method won’t work… Didn’t we try this last time…”
“It’s fine.” Qiaoba shook his head, keeping his eyes fixed on the scene: “Let’s move up a bit, no rush.”
How could it be fine? As Santu walked upward, he muttered: “Last time we did exactly this, surrounded them…”
Originally thought it would be a good method, but then the wild horse king, which had been fine, suddenly charged out.
Lucky they reacted quickly, or the wild horse king would have almost trampled their legs.
If it had really stepped on them, it would’ve been no joke.
Broken legs would be certain, and it could even be life-threatening.
Hearing this, Xie Changqing felt nervous: “Then aren’t they in great danger doing this?”
“Yes.” Qiaoba gazed toward them, watching as their circle tightened: “But why don’t I see the wild horse king?”
Before he finished speaking, a clear horse’s neigh suddenly rang out from over there.
“Look, it’s the wild horse king!” Nuomin pointed toward the distance and cried out in surprise.
Qiaoba looked and was immediately shocked: “No way, they’re surrounding the horses and don’t even know the wild horse king isn’t with them? Are they crazy?”
The next second, the wild horse king charged straight toward that group of people.
They’d only seen it from far away before, just sensing that it was very fast and moved very gracefully.
But now, watching from so close, Xie Changqing felt it was like a gust of wind.
Before he could react, the wild horse king had already charged toward the encirclement.
Its speed was simply astounding.
That group was obviously prepared. They immediately waved their lasso poles and swung their lasso ropes.
“Hmm, if they manage to lasso it, that could work.” Santu nodded, watching appreciatively: “First lasso it, then half the people continue surrounding the herd while the others take down the wild horse king.”
Unfortunately, while the plan was beautiful, reality was cruel.
The wild horse king ran here and there, and not a single lasso pole could get close to it.
Lasso poles have limited reach—generally three meters at most, and since they were all on horseback, the ones they’d brought this time were all two meters long.
The wild horse king seemed to sense this and simply wouldn’t get too close to them.
If that was the case, they could only use ropes.
Xie Changqing watched carefully, learning from their mistakes.
“Hey, that’s a good throw!” Santu clapped in appreciation.
But when the rope flew over, the wild horse king suddenly swerved right and actually avoided the rope.
The next second, ropes rained down like scattered flowers.
“Oh! This will definitely catch it!”
Indeed, with so many ropes, no matter how capable the wild horse king was, it couldn’t avoid them all.
When it had no way to dodge, one rope caught it.
But before everyone could celebrate, they saw it actually charge forward instead of fleeing.
“It’s coming!” The group cried out in alarm: “Quick, quick, hold the rope tight, be careful!”
In almost the blink of an eye, the wild horse king had charged right up to them.
All the other horses simply didn’t exist in its eyes.
They’d just switched to ropes and didn’t have time to switch back to lasso poles.
At such close range, ropes couldn’t be swung properly.
Even more desperately, all the wild horses became agitated.
As the wild horse king charged toward them, the other horses also neighed frantically and rushed outward together.
“Ah!”
A despairing scene unfolded.
Line after line of blockade crumbled under the wild horses’ successive charges.
Someone was knocked off his horse by the charging herd. Before he could get up, a horse’s hoof stepped on his arm, and he let out a scream: “…Ah!”
Qiaoba frowned tightly, wanting to speak but holding back: “They’re really… sigh!”
That group reacted quite quickly. Seeing they couldn’t hold the line, they immediately rolled and crawled to one side, clearing the way.
Obviously, they understood that today’s hunt was over.
“Oh, they’re not very good at this either.” Santu was somewhat disappointed.
But Qiaoba seized the opportunity and whistled sharply: “Hairile, go!”
But at this moment, the closest person wasn’t Hairile, but Xie Changqing.
Xie Changqing had already prepared his lasso pole—it was one Suhe had given him.
It was adjustable in length, extending to three sections connected by iron chains, making it quite sturdy.
After extending it fully, it was about three meters long.
Xie Changqing rode on Lightning, watching for the right moment. Seeing the wild horse king with rope still hanging around its neck sweep past them from the side, he suddenly swung his lasso pole!