Chapter 578: An Equine Serendipity

Yun Yang was quite astonished upon meeting Dugu Chou's gaze.

There was a flash of agitation and longing in Dugu Chou's eyes.

'Why is he agitated upon seeing me?'

"This old man's surname is Dugu."

Dugu Chou said slowly, "You said that you came here for Ling Xiaozui, but I do not believe that you were unaware of who I am before you came here."

Initially, his gaze was still and lifeless, but when he uttered the last few words, a flame flickered in his eyes. Dugu Chou's stare was like two thunderbolts that carried the weight of a collision between two mountains within Yun Yang, eliciting a loud crash and dire rumblings.

For a brief instant, his divine consciousness wandered.

Yun Yang regained his bearings, recovered his manner of a frivolous popinjay and said seriously, "Of course. With Senior Dugu here, this junior would have paid a visit even if there was no reason to."

"A wise one should be honest. That, my young friend, is wisdom," Dugu Chou said indifferently.

Dugu Chou's message was undeniably sharp and incise. His words carried the weight of a mountain which crumbled down upon Yun Yang. Dugu Chou had it all planned out; if this young fellow in front of him were continue putting up a frivolous front and attempt to slither away, he would teach him a lesson.

Youths who had been successful since young and gained fame early in life usually achieved that due to their occasional flashes of insight, and most of the time, their wits. Perhaps a lot of problems could be solved using one's wits, but when a truly tricky issue arrived, they would usually be the one bringing doom upon themselves and would even lose control of the situation, ultimately falling into the worst case scenario.

Dugu Chou had made a similar judgment upon seeing Yun Yang's performance and felt the need to punish him lightly. He had not expected the young man to immediately change his attitude the moment Dugu Chou made a slight adjustment to his tone. Like a face-changing opera, he had torn the frivolous front apart and put up a respectful, humble, and gentle image!

Dugu Chou felt everything he intended to do fall apart; the strike that had been reeled in with power seemed to have landed on a ball of clouds. Like soil that was thrown into the sea, it could not be used at all!

"Young Master Yun, you are indeed patterned after your namesake, the cloud," Dugu Chou said faintly after recovering his bearings.

"Senior's words are absolutely true," Yun Yang said even more respectfully, managing to look honored and terribly pleased with himself.

The four experts looked at each other speechlessly.

For a moment, all of them were tempted to burst out laughing.

Young Master Yun was indeed named Yun (cloud)... The four words they uttered were just 'magnificent', but they understood Dugu Chou's futile strike as well, thus the appropriateness of such words.

"Senior Dugu has eyeing my horse for quite a while... May I know the reason?" Yun Yang asked respectfully.

Dugu Chou sighed softly and said, "This horse of yours... what is its name?"

"Reddie." Yun Yang answered proudly, "I gave it the name myself. Don't you think that the horse lives up to its name, senior?"

The other three people looked at each other speechlessly again. An exquisite steed that was extremely handsome had been given such a ridiculous name and it still managed to live up to it? How?

"Not bad! This name is very good!"

Beyond everyone's expectation, Dugu Chou gave high praise and stole a few loving glances at Reddie, saying, "It should be named Reddie. No other name would have fit as well."

Yun Yang was stunned; so were Ling Xiaozui and the other two men.

I beg your pardon?

Dugu Chou sighed and said, "However, it's such a pity for this marvelous steed to remain in your hands."

"That's right. It's indeed quite a pity," Yun Yang agreed.

Dugu Chou was surprised to hear Yun Yang admit the fact so easily; he looked at him again and said, "Why do you think it's a pity?"

Yun Yang was dumbstruck.

'Didn't you say that it was a pity? I'm only agreeing with you...'

'People nowadays are hard to communicate with. Everybody is so odd. Is there even a way to talk properly these days?'

He took a slight pause before answering carefully, "The best choice for such a remarkable charger is to return to the forest and live its life in a carefree and triumphant manner. It would also be great if it can charge on the battlefield, help its rider gain victory after victory... at the very worst, it should keep a masterly swordsman company or a pinnacle expert in roaming the martial world..."

"As for me, I don't belong to any one of the three you mentioned earlier. It's indeed a pity for it to stay with me," Yun Yang said.

Dugu Chou's gaze gleamed as he said, "If you realized this as well, why don't you let it go?"

Yun Yang chuckled dryly and said, "Reddie and I have never had a superior to a subordinate relationship. Since I've gotten it, I've never added a harness, a saddle or even a horseshoe... If it wanted to leave, it can do so anytime."

"I don't know if senior believes me, but Reddie and I are friends. We are each other's confidants."

Yun Yang's gaze on Reddie was warm as he continued, "It can't bear to leave me. Maybe one day... when I leave this world, when this body no longer exists, when it has no more longing, it will leave on its own..."

Reddie stood outside the inn quietly. Its eyes were watching Yun Yang with a passive gentleness as it lowered its head to snort. Tilting its head, it looked at Dugu Chou before shifting back to Yun Yang; then, its gaze went back to Dugu Chou and a flash of a threat glimmered in its eyes before it growled at Dugu Chou.

It was as if its eyes were saying, "Don't even think about touching my master!".

It was what Dugu Chou thought anyway.

Consequently, admiration poured from his eyes as he spoke, as if very comforted, "That's right, absolutely correct. A spiritual creature of heaven and earth should have someone who can care for it and think of it as a friend. You can be considered as the next best route other than the three mentioned ends for an excellent horse, one that is hard to come by again. Such scenario is a boon, be it to you or it."

In spite of this, despite his extensive experience and knowledge, Dugu Chou could not have known that the true intention behind Reddie's growl was that the steed was trying to warn him, "Don't even think about taking away my rice bowl! This fellow is too great a benefit to me... I won't leave, even if you chase me away!"

Yun Yang was incredibly surprised to see Dugu Chou being such a chatterbox. It was pure serendipity, that he and Dugu Chou could break the ice because of a horse!

"I can't help thinking of my own horse in the past, seeing this handsome steed by chance today."

Dugu Chou was sorrowful.

"I called it Crimson... I used to ride it across the martial world, carefree in traveling wherever we wanted... But the day finally came when my cultivation base reached new heights... Riding Crimson caused me to be much, much slower than when I used my skill..."

"After long years of hard work, when it couldn't keep up with my legs, Crimson was disappointed... It was probably about then that it began to think that it could no longer help me... For a few years, Crimson tried its mightiest to gallop, to increase its speed, to prove itself useful to me again..."

"Finally, there was a day when it watched me rise into the air and ride the wind... it stood at the peak of a mountain and watched me drift into the sky, stood there for three full days..."

"For the next half year, Crimson stayed very close to me. Wherever I went, it followed... Even if it could not keep up, it had to follow... Back then, I actually began to feel tired of Crimson trailing behind me; I thought of it as unwanted baggage. However, one day after that half year, one morning when I woke up, I couldn't find Crimson anymore..."

"Since then, it has never come back to me... I thought about it for the longest time, and one day, I gained a sudden insight. Crimson couldn't bear to part with me, thus it gave itself the half year to accompany me... Then, it left quietly."

"After that, I traveled everywhere to look for Crimson but... I didn't manage to."

"Humans, we are such despicable beings. We don't know how to appreciate something when we have it, but we regret it so much when we lose it..."

"This is one of my greatest regrets in life..."

Dugu Chou said sadly, "This horse of yours, from its color, image or its beauty... they're comparable to Crimson. They are so similar that I almost thought that this could be Crimson's descendant..."

Yun Yang was suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of heaviness, sighing instinctively. It was because he was aware then that Dugu Chou was destined to be disappointed.

When Yun Yang found Reddie, it was a stallion that was still growing into adulthood, while Dugu Chou's horse had lived at least five hundred years ago! According to the time frame, it was impossible for Reddie to be Crimson's descendant. Even if Reddie were to be of Crimson's bloodline, the two would be many generations apart...

"Yun Yang, Young Master Yun, I hope you can promise this old man, that no matter what happens, you must treat it kindly." Dugu Chou's gaze was trained at Reddie, tenderness running deep in his orbs, as he said slowly, "Even when one day, your cultivation base has increased to the point where speed is no longer a restraint, don't hurt it..."

Yun Yang kept quiet for a moment upon hearing his request, then answered seriously, "I promise! If that day were to come, I will ask for its opinion. Even if it doesn't carry me anymore, it can stay in my home forever. My home is its home, eternally. I will reiterate that we're friends and that this has never been a relationship of superiority."

"Even when it can't keep up with my speed anymore, there's still my family, my wife, my children, who can keep it company." Yun Yang said earnestly, "That is if I can live to that day, of course."

Dugu Chou smiled contentedly.

"Very well. Your level is even higher than my own. I will remember this. Yun Yang, you can address me now; just call me Old Dugu."

Before Yun Yang arrived, he had never expected his acquaintance with Dugu Chou to be smooth, but when he heard Dugu Chou's last sentence, Yun Yang was shaken to the core.