Chapter 459: Taming the Noble Steed

The red foal was behaving exactly as Yun Yang had expected, so he was not surprised as he continued walking forward, unperturbed by the horses' actions.

Watching the human walk away, the red foal hesitated, but could not fight the temptation of the delicacy; it clip-clopped over once more and repeated what it did, nudging Yun Yang's hand then his back with its head, with the obvious intent to ask for grass.

Yun Yang flung his hand away and avoided the stallion. He walked forward in a huff, hugging the big bundle of grass to his chest. He would no longer let the horse touch it.

The horse stared innocently, following him closely with a lowered head; it went near to touch it again but was denied its wish. It tried once more and again... and succeeded! The red horse shook its head and wagged its tail happily, its tongue coming out to curl in the bundle.

Yun Yang pulled out another two to three strands of grass to pass them over to the eager horse. The red foal munched on them joyfully, but was still not satisfied. Its craving grew more intense; it wanted nothing more than to devour the big bundle of green in Yun Yang's embrace, to satisfy its hunger.

Yun Yang put his hand on the back of the horse once again while it drew back promptly as well, still hesitant.

After the process repeated itself three different times, Yun Yang seemed to be utterly angered. He walked forward at a faster pace, and no matter how the foal pandered to him or acted docile, it was not allowed to touch or eat the grass anymore!

The scene unfolded over a distance of ten thousand feet.

The white horse back at the other end, together with both the horse herds, was dumbfounded and speechless; they could not understand what was happening.

A while later, the red horse could no longer restrain itself and galloped to a halt in front of Yun Yang. Its head bobbed before it went into Yun Yang's embrace, its mouth agape to bite the grass.

"Are you trying to steal it after you can't win it?! Are you a horse bandit? Why don't you be god if you're so capable!" Yun Yang raged; with a flip of his wrist, the large green bundle disappeared at once.

The red foal was dumbstruck.

"Where is my grass?"

"Where is my delicacy?"

"Where has it gone to?"

"Does this person know magic? Why has it vanished into thin air?"

A horse was still a horse after all; it did not know about the essential travel storage item, the Spatium Ring. However, it knew as much that it was Yun Yang's trick, so it anxiously spun on the spot, its eyes nervous and eager to please.

Yun Yang ignored it, still walking forward as if he did not see that there was a horse right in front of him.

The horse snuck over again and he avoided it, moving in a different direction.

You want my grass but you won't let me ride you! I can choose to not want you now, can't I? Yun Yang's determined decision flooded the red horse with panic.

"This human is ignoring me! What should I do?"

"If I get to eat more of this grass, it will greatly benefit me, and I'll be even more outstanding!"

"As long as that bundle is all for me, I feel that even my blood can be refined to heights of purity that have never been seen before!"

Yun Yang continued to walk away. The red foal, obviously in a panic from the sight, hopped to his front and nudged him back with its head; Yun Yang neatly sidestepped the large beast, only for it to stop him again.

Both of them had come to an odd standstill.

After some time, Yun Yang finally came to a halt. The horse stood before him dejectedly, its head lowered and ears flopped down.

"Hmph!"

Yun Yang scoffed coldly, pretending that he was about to walk away to the other side. The horse panicked then; nickering, it fell to the ground and rolled about, showing its white belly.

The stallion's hooves were half curled as it faced the sky; its eyes stared beguilingly at a certain conscienceless human.

Yun Yang was exasperated and scolded the prone creature, "You want to snatch it when you can't steal it, you try to win it over by acting spoilt when you can't manage to snatch it, and when that can't work either, you're behaving like a rogue now? Aren't you a king of horses? Where is your grace? Where is your pride? Isn't there a bottom line to your dignity? I've certainly widened my knowledge horizon today!"

The horse could not understand what he was saying of course, only looking at him with a tilted head.

Yun Yang continued walking forward, passing by it completely.

Seeing that the human still intended to leave, the stallion picked itself up promptly and followed behind him once more; it tangled itself with the human shamelessly, vowing not to give up as long as it was yet to eat the grass.

Yun Yang sighed and retrieved a small bundle of green out of thin air.

The stallion was delighted, trotting forward and eating from Yun Yang's palm. The moist tongue even licked Yun Yang's palm charmingly.

Yun Yang retrieved another bundle - the horse's eyes shone before it came forward once more.

Yun Yang did not give out the grass right away but used his palm to press down on the horse' back again. The creature did not draw back to avoid him this time, standing stoically as if contemplating if it should obey him.

The foal was clearly aware that as long as it allowed this person to ride it, it would never regain its freedom. However, if it did not allow this person to ride it, it would never get to eat the grass - forever.

He had to let this human mount it if it wanted the grass!

The red foal whined, its eyes wet as it watched Yun Yang; it was obvious that it did not want to give up its freedom, but at the same time, it did not want to give up on the delicious grass.

Yun Yang could feel its struggle distinctly; he was not a madman, so he said softheartedly, "Alright, alright. You'll only be helping me for a short while, and I'll let you come back after that. What do you think?"

The red foal's head was tilted as it looked at him innocently.

Yun Yang said earnestly, "I am a gentleman. I would never tell a lie nor will I break my promise!"

The horse looked at him with its head still tilted, its gaze eventually softening. With a whine, it swished its tail and finally lowered itself down slowly.

Thrilled, Yun Yang hopped up right away.

The red foal shook itself. It felt unnatural, as it was the first time that a human rode on its back. It was unaccustomed to the new feeling. It did not feel like the fellow weighed all that much, so there was not much of a difference whether it was carrying him or not.

Galloping around with Yun Yang mounted on him, the stallion began to grow comfortable with the passenger. It rubbed Yun Yang's legs with its head, opening its mouth with open yearning brimming in its eyes.

"Okay, okay. Have it, have it all!"

Yun Yang chortled, grabbing a big bunch of grass and sending it straight into the red foal's mouth.

The red foal was in extreme bliss, munching the grass eagerly while its eyes radiated contented happiness. Under Yun Yang's command, the red foal ran towards the skirt of the mountain, ignoring the calls of the millions of horses behind it.

The sound of galloping hooves resounded from behind them as a flash of white slithered over abruptly. It passed Yun Yang and the red foal and blocked their way.

It was the white horse king.

Only another king of horses, another supreme creature, would be bold enough to stop the red stallion with such speed and right!

The white horse blocked them from leaving, its gaze strained anxiously at the red foal as it blew and snorted continuously. The red foal listening to it intently; when the white horse's neighing stopped, it squealed towards the sky and clip-clopped over slowly to rub noses with the white horse as if bidding farewell.

It then took two steps back.

Silence permeated the atmosphere for a moment. Without a foretelling sign, the newly tamed horse raised its hooves. Like a red cloud, the crimson stallion carried Yun Yang as it galloped away.

This time, the white horse did not give chase. It stood alone on the spot and watched the crimson silhouette disappear. Its eyes spoke of confusion.

Why?

Why had his long-standing opponent given up on its position as king so easily?

How could it just follow someone else away, just like that?

As a king of tens of thousands of horses, as the noblest steed of this world, how did a mere bunch of grass win you over?

Did you still have any dignity left?

How could you let yourself be mounted so willingly?

The millions of steeds behind it neighed together simultaneously as if urging their king to return. However, it also sounded as if they were sending off their king.

Whatever it was, the red foal did not turn back, already running fast and far.

...

Mounted on the horse, Yun Yang and the horse's journey was smooth and swift, reaching a seamless stage easily. The red foal's spirituality was amazing and it was incredibly intelligent.

Yun Yang had only given a few signs before the horse could already be reined in well.

Now, the red stallion was like an arrow that had been released and was catapulting across the sky. The rapid speed did not actually toss Yun Yang, who was seated on the horse' back, about too much; the saddle that the villagers had prepared for him then was not of use anymore.

Of course, Yun Yang had not intended to restrain such a spiritually noble steed with rein and saddle, so he let it be. His horsemanship would rise up to the challenge without the reins anyway.

Yun Yang intended to gallop until noon at a slower speed because his broken leg and bones could barely take the tossing. He realized that the red foal had covered more than five hundred miles of distance when they stopped to rest.

Yun Yang was astounded, knowing that they had only been on their way for about four hours since he had gotten the stallion.

Had it actually traveled such a long distance?

Usually, a charger that could run a thousand miles daily was already a top-notch noble steed; furthermore, running a thousand miles daily was more of a saying for the noble steeds as rarely were there horses that could do so that even when they could achieve it, it was not their common behavior. Yet the red foal he mounted was far exceeding this common notion; if it were allowed to gallop to its heart's content, it might not even be a challenge to cover three thousand miles in a day, if not further.

During the journey, Yun Yang would reveal some grass to feed the horse after some distance had passed, but after seven to eight times of this, the red stallion refused the treat. However, it moved even faster while still remaining energetic.

"It looks like the grass bathed in my blood is very unusual, and this foal can only take so much daily. What it's eaten until now should suffice for it to ingest for some time then..." Yun Yang sighed, "Not only is this horse very comprehending and intelligent, it's sensible too!"

The red stallion snorted.

"It's not that I don't want to eat it, but it's useless to eat more of it. You only have so little and that's my food. I should save up and make it last a long time. Other than me, no other horse would eat it anyway..."

It intended to ration food to be pleasantly surprised, on occasion.

"Horse, let me give you a name," Yun Yang said close to the red foal's ear, after a bout of thinking.