Volume 10 Bugs Chapter 71 I Want to Call You Shanxue
I stretched out my sword, gently pushed aside the dense branches of the bushes in front of me, and walked slowly forward following the sound of hooves. The sunlight shone through the gaps between the branches and leaves, swaying a dazzling halo, as if there was some unknown treasure hidden somewhere in the forest ahead, and it made people want to keep moving forward. As the bushes in front of me continued to decrease, I felt that the light in front of me became brighter and brighter. The mottled light and shadow in the forest seemed like a magical secret path, which seemed to be extending to a distance that I could never reach, and it seemed that I was only one step away from crossing the end.
I stumbled forward for a long time. Just when I was wondering if I could get out of the dense forest, suddenly, my eyes were clear. All the leaves and shadows faded away, and a small lawn appeared in front of me. The bright green grass leaves were gently blown by the breeze in the forest, rolling up waves of different shades. Some pink flowers swayed among the grass leaves, as if they would fly away at any time. A shallow stream flowed through the middle of the lawn, and the gurgling sound of water seemed to be reciting a quiet prose. The stream water splashed from time to time, dispersing into thin mist in the air, reflecting the sunlight, and faintly drawing light rainbows. The sunlight was as warm and bright as it is now, and it fell softly like a veil in every inch of the air, but it was so crystal clear and without any impurities.
It should have been an incredible and bizarre event that such a barren lawn could be hidden in the dense forest, but I didn't think there was anything strange about it at the time - or rather, I didn't have time to think about what was abnormal about it.
That's because, at that time, all my attention was attracted by an animal in the middle of the lawn.
It was a horse, with a slender neck, strong hooves, and flying long mane, all showing the appearance of a horse. It was standing by the stream, sometimes looking around, sometimes lowering its head to drink water. Its satin-like black fur reflected the sharp luster of a spear in the sunlight, which was so bright that it hurt people's eyes. The dazzling color at the bottom of its four hooves was not so much "white" as it was a trace of crushed ice and snow in the cold winter.
But is that really a horse? Looking at its upright and graceful figure, I can't help but hesitate. Have you ever seen a horse like this, so proud, so elegant, its eyes look like a wise man and a warrior. Just looking at it standing there quietly, you will feel that it does not seem to be a real animal, but a majestic temperament, a string of passionate notes, a generous poem, it is not drinking water, but playing, singing, dancing, and chanting. It is like a nightmare that crushes your dreams and walks into reality. It can swallow your soul in just one glance, let your heart dance with it, and let your blood run with it.
Or maybe, it is a horse, the only creature in the world that deserves the name of "horse", and the other things we see that are similar to it are just lower life forms that exist under the name of "horse" but are actually completely unrelated to it. If a horse's mission is to run, then it will run. Even if it stands there motionless, it will make people feel like an irresistible torrent, running wildly and recklessly. Just watching it leisurely nibbling on the grass will make people's blood boil and want to run with it with their own lives; if the spirit of a horse's life lies in roaring, then it will roar, even if it is standing there quietly staring at a piece of wild grass, it seems to be roaring, and it uses every muscle, every blood vessel and even every hair in its body to roar. or a horse's pride comes from its elegance, then it is elegant, every time it raises its head it is as noble as a duke, every time it paces it is as graceful as a prince, it has the bright eyes of a queen, and the elegant body of a princess, and when it finally starts to run, it is as solemn and majestic as a real king, all nature seems to be crawling at its hooves, looking up at its tall figure in awe, paying utmost respect to this wild elf in the mountains.
Its name was "Onzeklar Woodland Mustang King", but the name meant nothing to me. I only knew that this was a horse that would belong to me and only me, and this thought lit up my mind like a flash of lightning. I couldn't remember the last time I believed something so firmly. I couldn't help but feel a strong desire in my heart, and the feeling was so strong that I felt my heartbeat freeze for a moment. This feeling of desire was so strong that for a brief moment I was afraid to approach it and wanted to turn around and run away.
It didn't give me a chance to escape. While I was hesitating, it seemed to have drunk enough water, snorted towards the sky, turned around and ran into the jungle behind it. Its movements looked like it was walking briskly, without any signs of exerting any strength, but it came to the edge of the forest in the blink of an eye, and its figure was about to disappear at the edge of the jungle.
I instinctively shook out a rein and put it on from a distance. The rope blessed by magic accurately caught the horse's neck. Almost in an instant, I felt a wild force coming from the rope in my hand, pulling me forward. At this moment, I seemed to hear the painful groaning of the joints in my arms.
I tried hard to keep my footing and interfere with the majestic creature on the other end of the rope, but I failed. The king of the forest horses seemed to think that his dignity was insulted. He spread his four hooves steadily, lowered his head and shook it angrily, trying to tear off the rope around his neck that bound his freedom. But just this, he was already pulled so hard that I couldn't stand. I was swayed by the rope in my hand like a branch in the wind. This scene didn't seem like I was trying to tame this wild horse, but more like it was playing tricks on me.
In less than ten seconds, the wild horse easily broke the rope. This most expensive rope I have ever seen was indeed blessed by magic. It disappeared without a trace when it was broken, and not even a blade of grass was left. From this, we can see how crazy the bastards who run this monopoly business are to make money. If those cheating enchanters can use half of the magic power that makes the rope disappear to reinforce the rope, I guarantee that no one will need to buy a second one.
The wild horse king, who had regained his freedom, was unwilling to be insulted like this. He glared with his big eyes, raised his head and neighed. The violent neigh carried the skill effect of "Fearful Roar", as if it would directly impact your spirit without passing through the eardrum. My will was greatly shocked in an instant, and a trace of awe and fear rose in my heart, so that my body could not react immediately. When I came to my senses, it had already rushed in front of me like lightning and knocked me away. I felt like I was hit by a crossbow, and the bones in front of me seemed to be bent into the chest cavity under this blow, and deeply penetrated into my lungs.
In an instant, I saw a cloud shadow in the sky passing by my feet. A moment later, I realized that I was flying backwards with my face up. I clearly saw a line of bright red words "-234" floating above my head.
Fortunately, my years of hard training as a warrior and my rich experience in adventure and combat helped me regain consciousness quickly. As soon as my back touched the ground, I jumped up at the fastest speed and faced my opponent. At the same time, the furious horse was snorting and roaring as it rushed towards me, looking like it wanted to kick me hard while I was lying on the ground.
I didn't let it succeed, but threw out another rein as quickly as possible. When the red rope was put around its neck again, the forest horse really stopped charging immediately and began to shake and struggle again.
My luck was no better this time, and the reins didn't hold on any longer than last time. Soon, the wild horse king broke free from the rope again and rushed towards me, neighing angrily.
Fortunately, I was fully prepared this time. I instantly activated the "Inspiring Heart" effect on the Warrior Badge, cleared the impact of the Wild Horse King's roar, and then raised my shield to block this violent blow with all my strength. Before it could attack again, I started another attempt to tame it.
…
Even now when I recall it, it was one of the most difficult and glorious battles in my life. You know, I have raised my sword to meet the enemy countless times in my life, at the cost of my life and honor, using sharp weapons and solid armor to fight against opponents, and there are also great feats of defeating the strong with the weak and the many with the few. But this kind of rough battle is dangerous, but not difficult - in fact, the battle of exchanging and talking with iron and blood has never been difficult. When you are in it, you will find that it is more dependent on the desire for survival and instinctive killing. You just need to know that you are still alive and want to continue to live, that's enough.
At this moment, it seemed that for the first time in my life, I was fighting not to defeat or destroy my opponent, but to win over him. I was not fighting with my own sharp blade, nor was I fighting to harvest my opponent's life. This was more like a competition than a battle. Two passionate souls competed with each other with the most tenacious and proud things in their lives. It was to win freedom, and I was more like to win its recognition. On this miraculous lawn in the dense forest, beside this clear and bright stream, a man and a horse rushed against each other again and again, shouting loudly, and swaying their sweat and enthusiasm under the blazing sun. It was a life experience that made people's hearts boil, and it was a hearty explosion of life in the name of "youth".
It has been a long time since that happened. When I became stronger and stronger, even to the point of being almost omnipotent, I no longer felt that impulse bursting through my blood, that passion that seemed to be flowing with sparks in my veins, ready to burn at any time.
Looking at the obedient old friend beside me, I really want to ask it if it still remembers the time when we first met. When did it start? We seem to have lost the desire to forget all distractions in an instant and just want to use all the brute force to do a stupid thing. Even if our body functions have never aged, our hearts know that the mark called "youth" has disappeared from our lives without us noticing.
…
I can't remember which reins I used. Twenty? Thirty? Or more? I no longer care whether it's worth it, and I don't calculate whether the price of these magic reins can buy a mount that is no less than the horse in front of me at the auction house. In fact, at this moment, I have almost completely forgotten my original intention and ignored my purpose. I no longer care whether I can successfully tame this wild animal in front of me.
At this moment, what drove me to keep working hard was just a kind of pure and willful self-esteem, a simple belief that "I don't want to give up earlier than the horse." As soon as I saw it still running freely there, as if it didn't take me seriously at all, I felt unconvinced, that's all.
At the same time, I could feel that my chances of taming it were getting bigger and bigger. From the beginning when it pulled me so hard that I couldn't stand, now I can pull the reins and walk five steps closer to it, and even have the opportunity to touch its mane. I feel that I am getting closer to success little by little - no one will give up when success is approaching.
If - and I mean if - if I had run out of reins at this moment, and there was a man standing by offering to sell me reins, I would really buy one without hesitation for ten times the price - even the lowest grade blue reins.
Thinking of this, I really realized that I sold the reins too cheaply before...
Finally, I managed to hold the rope firmly and stabilize my body, and I approached its side step by step. This time, it behaved more docilely than before. Although it still struggled hard at the beginning, it gradually seemed to get used to the feeling of having a rope around its neck and gradually calmed down. I did not rush to pull the rope closer, but kept the reins in a moderate state of half tightness, which could restrain its actions to a certain extent without further stimulating its nerves.
When I was within a step of it, I took the opportunity when it lowered its head and quietly loosened my right hand that was tightly holding the reins. I slowly reached towards its temples and whispered:
"Don't be afraid, man, don't be afraid, there's nothing to worry about. I don't want to hurt you, I just want to get to know you better..."
When my hand gently fell on its neck, a soft touch pierced my fingertips. It was a feeling that was hard to describe, vivid and clear, yet gentle and comfortable, just like a breeze passing through my fingers, or like I caught a warm lightning.
Warm lightning? This is a strange description. But if not, how can I make you understand the feeling of being so smooth and sharp, yet so warm and vibrating that you can't let go?
But what I didn't expect was that the moment my hand touched its fur, this majestic horse seemed to be extremely frightened, or perhaps it suddenly burst into an unstoppable rage because of being violated. It suddenly lifted its front legs off the ground and stood up with a loud roar. Only then did I really realize how strong this horse was. When it stood up, it was almost twice as tall as me. Its muscles were like carved granite, and every inch seemed to be filled with violent power. When it stood up suddenly, it was like a huge black mountain rising in front of me in an instant, and it was like a dark cloud covering the sky. From my current perspective, this black beast stretched its entire body upwards, as if it only needed to kick hard to break through the air and fly away.
The magic red reins tightened instantly. I don't know if I really heard it or it was just a subconscious illusion, but a groaning sound seemed to come from the end of the rope because it was torn to the limit and couldn't bear the weight. I was very sure that if I let the wild horse struggle like this, the magic reins would be broken and torn again in the blink of an eye, and my efforts this time would be in vain again.
Just when I had almost accepted this failure, suddenly, a crazy idea came into my mind - or rather, it did not pass through my mind, but was directly transmitted to my nerves and muscles, causing me to make a subconscious action in an instant:
The huge force pulling up along the reins made me use all my strength to jump up and jump onto its back. Its back was so soft that I almost slipped off it. Fortunately, I held the reins tightly enough and tried my best to clamp my legs around its waist and hang on it.
This strong horse was obviously unprepared for my sudden attack. It first screamed "slurp", then began to jump up and down. Every time it jumped to the highest point, it would lift its hind legs high in the air, trying to throw me off its back. To be honest, I have never experienced such a bumpy moment in my life. Every time it jumped, I felt like I was being thrown into the air by a strong force, and every time it landed, I felt that my internal organs were hit hard.
And this is far from the worst thing.
You have to understand that I was sitting astride its back, and it obviously had no riding gear on it to give me leverage. Even if I tried my best to hold onto its body, I would still inevitably be thrown a certain height every time it jumped, and when it landed...
You know!
There are always some pampered and whining people who complain about this and that in this world. When they encounter a little setback, they cry and shout that it is really "painful" to encounter these bad luck. To be honest, I despise those empty talkers who talk big and take things for granted. They have never experienced the "painful" taste so personally as I have through field investigation and research. And it is not just once, but again and again and again...
Until today, I have far surpassed the level at that time, and I have enough skills and time to recapture a higher level and more powerful mount, but I always choose my old friend as my only vehicle, accompanying me in adventures. This is certainly because of the deep friendship between us that makes me reluctant to abandon it, but I also cannot deny that whenever I think of this really "painful" taming experience, it is really difficult for me to muster the courage to change a mount.
Oh my, this really hurts...
Just when I thought I was going to be thrown off and die in agony, thank God, thank all the gods, it finally gave up this hopeless bumpy ride and instead plunged headfirst into the dense forest and ran wildly.
My old friend, if you knew that if you had jumped two more times I would definitely fall off the horse and run away with my head in my hands - or to be more precise, I would run away with my crotch in my hands - would you be very depressed?
I have never seen any creature running so fast in such a dense jungle. At this moment, the slanting branches were as dangerous to me as swords and spears. At this moment, I could only do two things to prevent myself from being stabbed off the horse by a branch: one is to lower my body as much as possible and curl my upper body on the back of the horse under my crotch; the other is to pray for the protection of the supreme god Darmos in my heart again and again.
Since I couldn't look up, I could only see a small area under my feet. It seemed to me that the horse was not running, but flying close to the ground. The dots of light in the woods were like meteors that quickly swept backwards, gradually converging into a bright stream of light, flowing quickly in front of my eyes. Some profound alchemy academic masterpieces once mentioned that if the speed of an object can exceed the speed of light, it can transcend time, travel through history, and become the master of time. Riding on the horse's back, for a moment I did have some kind of illusion, as if we had surpassed the limitations of light and time, and had long left the jungle, traveling through a tunnel of time and space formed by the convergence of light.
I don't know whether it was because of fear, despair, or because the wild galloping aroused some wild part in my blood, I lay on the horse's back and began to shout loudly. When my hoarse voice penetrated the depths of the dense forest, a sense of catharsis rushed out from the bottom of my heart.
"That's not enough!" I yelled while lying on the horse's back, "Can you go any faster?"
Its ears flicked to the sides and it snorted loudly, as if in response to my provocation.
"You can't get rid of me! Hahaha! You'll never get rid of me in your life!" I howled like crazy, "You are mine! You can only be mine!"
The horse roared proudly, its mane fluttering in the wind .
At this time, a fork in the road to the right appeared in front of us, which seemed to lead to higher ground. It turned sharply and turned into the fork in the road.
This road is much smoother than the previous one, and the trees around it are not so dense. Without so many dangerous branches, I can raise my head and look forward.
When I looked up, I found that there was a broken valley in front of me. The distance from one end to the other was about two or three meters. There was an underground river flowing in the valley, making a rumbling sound. If you fell in, you might not even find a complete body.
I should have been afraid at that time. I think, looking back, I seemed to have felt some kind of fear. But for some reason, a strong desire drove me to shout beside the horse's ear:
"Fly over! Baby! Let's fly over!" I even loosened my right hand that was tightly holding the reins and pointed forward vigorously. The feeling of galloping against the wind was intoxicating. I didn't tame this horse, but at this moment, I seemed to be able to feel it, feel its blood rushing, feel its heart beating, it was like a part of my body. I was sure that it could take me across the broken valley, just as I was sure that my right hand could draw a sword.
In the blink of an eye, we have arrived at the edge of the broken valley. The four hooves of the horse staggered, and the hind hooves seemed to have stepped in front of the front hooves at this moment, and then leaped up...
The wind rushed past my ears. Although it was fast, it was quiet. The whole world became lighter at this moment, just like my body, flying.
I was not worried at all that the horse would not be able to cross the valley. I was just a little regretful that this unrestrained and carefree feeling was too short and ended before I had time to savor it.
With a light "click" sound, the horse's front hooves hit the rocks on the other side of the broken valley - oh, now it should be said on this side - and then the whole body rushed over. After completing this beautiful leap, it did not raise its hooves and galloped wildly, but slowed down its pace, gently glided twice, and then stopped.
At this moment, a deep green halo enveloped us and our horses together - oh, this time the taming was finally successful.
A message came from the Adventure Notes: The Wild Horse King of Onzeklar Forest has been tamed by you. Please choose a name for your mount.
Yes, I should give this horse another name. With my understanding of this world, I know that perhaps in a moment, on the forest lawn where I met it, there will be another Onzeklar Forest Wild Horse King that is exactly the same as it in terms of fur color and physique. Maybe it won't be long before another adventurer who is brave and tenacious enough will tame it as his own mount. I believe that there will be many Onzeklar Forest Wild Horse Kings, but the one that belongs to me and is standing upright under my crotch is the only one.
It needs a name, a symbol, a mark to distinguish it from everything else in the world.
I thought about it, and a strange yet familiar name inexplicably appeared in my mind:
"Shanxue..." I stroked its ears and whispered to it, "...I'm going to call you Shanxue!"
