Chapter 578 - Abduction (1/2)
The herd of horses, which had been chased by Little Black until they almost wanted to vomit blood, very quickly regained their senses after eating the sugar cubes. A few of the horses were able to keep up with the white horse’s pace. Although they weren’t as smart as the white horse, they were still considered top quality specimens. Furthermore, they at least knew that Yu Xiaocao had something they wanted to have and yearned for. Every single one of them that originally had arrogant expressions now all revealed gentled looks.
“Think about it. If you go back with me, I’ll have the humans take good care of you all. For example, you’ll all be able to eat one piece of this sugar candy every day.” Yu Xiaocao hugged every single horse’s neck and then rubbed them. She was setting the stage for the future.
The white horse had a face full of disdain. Those horses who had been tamed had all forgotten what it was like to gallop free without any restraints. Submitting to humans was losing their face. It had no desire to become one of those horses! It had no desire to submit and wasn’t someone who would be moved by wealth or honor. However...once its thoughts had been translated over to Xiaocao through the little divine stone, she could tell that its eyes had never left the embroidered pouch by her waist. Its words would have been more persuasive if it wasn’t staring at her goodies.
Xiaocao hugged the white horse’s neck and continued her persuasions, “If you come with me to the stud farm, I promise that no one will try to tame you, unless you want it. I can also promise that you will all at least be able to eat one meal with the fodder that I have just given you. You will all have a lot of freedom and can come and go as you please on the prairie. Furthermore, you won’t have to worry about humans coming after you, trying to catch you anymore. The people at the farm will also keep you safe. At night, there’s even a warm stable to s.h.i.+eld you all from rain and wind. That way, you don’t need to be exposed to the elements like you are in the fields and forage for food in bad weather!”
There were some terms that the horses didn’t understand. However, Xiaocao had the little divine stone translate everything for her, so her ideas and explanations were fully transmitted to the horses. The little divine stone, who had been suddenly pulled into working for her, had once again morphed into a pocket-sized horse. It jumped and ran around the wild horses. In this form, it didn’t even reach the height of the horses’ knees but still frolicked around as if it wasn’t afraid of being stepped on.
It was quite obvious that the other five to six horses were starting to be tempted by her offer. Only the head stallion, the white horse, was still a bit hesitant. On one hand was the dignity of the horse race, but, on the other hand, there was the temptation of delicious foods to eat. The horse battled between these two factors and couldn’t come to a decision.
Yu Xiaocao patted its neck in a comforting manner and smiled as she looked into the distance at that figure that was speeding over. She lightly sighed and said, “There’s no need for you to make a decision today. You can go back and think about it. I’ll be at the farm in the future. If you want to eat sugar cubes or fodder, you can go and find me. My companion is here and it’s getting dark, so I need to go!”
As she spoke, she took out the last piece of rock candy from her pouch and stuffed it into the white horse’s mouth. The white horse could sense that there was another human approaching and became a bit uneasy. The other horses, on the other hand, seemed to be quite calm. Perhaps it was because they had only interacted with Xiaocao and had a decent impression of humans in their hearts now, so they weren’t as skittish anymore.
However, after a few seconds, the smell of a wolf came by again. Although the white horse knew that this little human girl had raised that black wolf as a pet, it wasn’t willing to gamble with its or the other horses’ lives. It used its neck to rub against Xiaocao and then began to run farther away.
Before Fierce Wind could stop completely, Zhu Junyang leapt off of his horse and bolted towards that slender figure. In the next moment, Xiaocao had been tightly embraced into his warm and st.u.r.dy chest. She grinned and was about to return the hug when she discovered that her b.u.t.t had been hit a few times.
“Ahhh——” Xiaocao screeched in alarm. It wasn’t because her b.u.t.t hurt a lot nor was she trying to gain sympathy from him. It was because the attack had come too suddenly and she was feeling embarra.s.sed by the process.
Zhu Junyang had been startled by her scream and thought that he had hit her too hard by accident. He hurriedly bent over to take a look at her bottom. However, could a virtuous maiden’s b.u.t.t be checked by just anyone? Yu Xiaocao quickly used her hands to hide her b.u.t.t and retreated a few steps. She looked at him warily and shouted, “Stop! What are you trying to do? Are you going to do something perverted?”
Zhu Junyang noticed that she was quite nimble in her retreat, so it looked like there was nothing wrong with her b.u.t.t. He immediately became angry and huffed a few times before he began scolding her again, “You’re still okay scolding this prince, ah? Do you know just how worried I was when I saw you in the middle of that wild horse herd? Do you know just how close you were to being trampled into a meat paste by those stampeding horses? Do you know just how this prince has felt for this past half day while looking for you? Hitting you on the b.u.t.t a few times is just a light punishment! Tell me! Are you wrong or not? Will you do this again in the future?”
“Alright ah! I admit that I was too impetuous this time. Next time, I won't dare!” Yu Xiaocao was very apologetic. After all, when the wild herd had run off at that moment, there was a split second when she thought that she was going to lose her life under their hooves! Fortunately, it wasn’t the time for her to die yet. After traveling around a bit with the wild horse herd, she managed to make it out alive and well.
Zhu Junyang saw that the little la.s.s’s shoulders were slumped and her head down, as if she was truly regretful of her previous actions. His heart immediately softened but he didn’t let his words show that he had already excused her, “Hmph! If you’re ever this impetuous again, then it won’t just be a matter of getting hit on the b.u.t.t a few times! Do you know how we punish the servants who make a mistake in the residence ah?”
“I don’t know!” Yu Xiaocao was like a student who had made a mistake and was being scolded by her teacher. She stood there obediently and listened.
“Their pants get pulled down and they get hit with a plank in front of everyone!!” Zhu Junyang was trying to scare her. However, the image of the little la.s.s with her bottom bare suddenly came to his mind. His nose heated up and he almost had a nose bleed right then and there.