Chapter 68
Chapter 68: Is It Dead?
The wild horse king neighed loudly and then began bucking frantically.
Its hind legs were very strong. Even with Hairile riding on its back, it reared straight up.
Intent on throwing Hairile off, in this situation, it was already very difficult for Hairile to control his own position and not be thrown off the horse.
He had no way to do anything else, and Qiaoba and the others couldn’t catch up at all.
Because there was a large group of wild horses between them. Without their king’s leadership, the horses were fleeing frantically in all directions, and no one dared to rush in rashly.
Xie Changqing gritted his teeth—there was no choice now, he had to do it himself!
He looked around and his gaze lingered on the mountain wall in the distance.
“Hairile!” Xie Changqing shouted at the top of his lungs: “Hold tight! Don’t let go! Steer it to the left!”
“Okay!” In fact, Hairile could barely see clearly anymore, being shaken back and forth. He bit down hard and gripped the ropes tightly.
At the same time, he lowered his body and leaned to the left. Rather than be knocked over, the wild horse king could only follow the force and run leftward.
Running like this continuously, they moved from the center to a position closer to the mountain wall.
“Good, now run forward!” Xie Changqing crouched low, patting his horse to make Lightning move slightly ahead of the wild horse king.
Because Hairile had been pulling on the ropes, the wild horse king had gradually slowed down.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Xie Changqing swung his lasso pole again.
It should have been a perfect throw, but the wild horse king suddenly reared up again.
Although Hairile wasn’t thrown off—he was holding tight to the mane and gripping the ropes—he couldn’t help much.
And Xie Changqing’s lasso pole didn’t have time to be pulled back before the wild horse king stepped heavily on it.
“Damn.” Xie Changqing frowned and immediately threw away the broken lasso pole.
Now he only had one last lasso pole left…
At this point, Lightning and the wild horse king were basically neck and neck, but Lightning was breathing heavily—it couldn’t hold on much longer.
The wild horse king was still bucking frantically, occasionally kicking its legs up, trying to kick Hairile.
Although Hairile was still safe for now, once he tired out and was thrown off, he’d be dead or half-dead.
Normally, Xie Changqing might have given up.
If they couldn’t catch it this time, there would be a next time.
But Hairile was already in a desperate situation. If Xie Changqing didn’t keep up, Hairile would be done for today!
Thinking of this, Xie Changqing bit down hard and swung his rope.
“Whoosh, whoosh.”
The rope spun in his hand, creating an unprecedented circle.
He controlled this circle, slowly drawing closer.
But the wild horse king also heard this sound. It had heard this kind of noise many times and clearly knew it was a rope.
Its neck was already constrained by ropes—it didn’t want any more ropes controlling it!
Therefore, the wild horse king became even more agitated.
It no longer paid attention to Hairile and tried to charge straight forward.
Xie Changqing’s eyes sharpened: Now!
Just as the wild horse king raised its head to charge forward, Xie Changqing precisely threw the rope and caught it.
After catching it, Xie Changqing immediately began swinging the other end.
Yes, he had tied two ropes together.
One end had now caught the wild horse king, which was charging forward at considerable speed, while the other end was aimed at a tree root protruding from the mountain wall that Xie Changqing had spotted.
This tree root was quite old and very solid.
When the tree was thick, it had been cut down.
But because the position was awkward, the root hadn’t been dug up.
And now, this small protruding section of root was the key to Xie Changqing stopping the wild horse king.
Because he had discovered that the wild horse king was incredibly strong—even Hairile couldn’t control it.
For him to do it alone was even more impossible.
Only by borrowing this external force could he achieve his goal.
In the blink of an eye, the wild horse king had already run quite a distance.
The rope was rapidly consumed. Before Xie Changqing reached the old root, he steeled himself and gambled on this throw.
“Whoosh!” The rope flew up.
Xie Changqing held it loosely, watching it arc over, then catch.
Without hesitation, he immediately pulled tight.
At the same time, Xie Changqing shouted: “Hairile! Hold tight! Be careful!”
Although he didn’t understand why he suddenly shouted like this, Hairile trusted him completely.
Almost instinctively, he hugged the wild horse king tightly, pressing his whole body against it.
The next second, the rope around the wild horse king’s neck was pulled taut.
The entire rope stretched tight and gradually became straight.
With a “snap,” the wild horse king was even pulled back a step, almost falling to the ground.
The wild horse king’s force was so great that it even made the old root tremble, causing dust to fall.
Xie Changqing closed his eyes slightly and had Lightning slow down.
The more the wild horse king tried to run, the tighter the rope became.
In the end, the wild horse king’s front hooves were even slightly off the ground, yet it still stubbornly tried to move forward, continuing forward…
They stayed locked like this while Xie Changqing began counting.
“One, two, three…”
He had Lightning move to one side and stared intently at the wild horse king, counting the time.
Generally speaking, after a horse is choked, it will lose consciousness in a relatively short time due to oxygen deprivation and insufficient blood supply to the brain.
Basically, three to five minutes would be the absolute maximum.
But this wild horse king actually held on for over ten minutes, still stubbornly struggling and fighting.
By this time, Qiaoba and the others had been left far behind, who knows where.
This position was perfectly chosen—right in the corner of a bend.
The wild horse herd, leaderless, continued charging forward on their own.
But whether they went left, right, or straight ahead, they wouldn’t collide with Xie Changqing and the others anymore.
Xie Changqing couldn’t determine exactly how much time had passed, only regretting: “If only I had a watch…”
Without a watch, he couldn’t determine how much time had passed, much less gauge the wild horse king’s limits.
But fortunately, the wild horse king didn’t keep him waiting too long.
With a “thud,” the wild horse king collapsed unconscious.
Hairile immediately jumped down. His hands and feet were weak from exhaustion, and he collapsed on the ground.
“Rest for a bit first.” Xie Changqing dragged him to the side, worried that wild horses might run by and trample him.
Then he went up to examine the wild horse king.
“It… isn’t… dead, is it?” Hairile gasped.
Xie Changqing shook his head and said decisively: “It won’t die, it’s just unconscious at most.”
He immediately took out a saddle from his pack and put it on the wild horse king without hesitation.
Otherwise, once it came to, they’d have a hard time controlling it again without a saddle.
After putting it on, Xie Changqing checked and found the wild horse king’s breathing was somewhat weak.
He quickly loosened the ropes around its neck and examined it: “The rope marks are pretty deep. We’ll need to treat its wounds when we get back.”
Hairile’s hands were still shaking, but he managed to come over and look: “Changqing, it’s getting dark. What do we do? Uncle Qiaoba and the others are nowhere to be seen…”