76 I Chopped a Mass of Peach Blossom that Spring IV (2/2)
The way that the horse showed off, whether chewing on peach buds or wagging his tail, made many students want to curse.
The captain who oversaw the test horses wiped the sweat off of his brow, and as he saw Ning Que walking his way, he said with deep sorrow in his voice, ”I don't know what happened to him today. He seems to be very astir, and a bit flower-addicted. Be careful!”
The captain then withdrew outside of the fences. Ning Que strode toward the black horse, stretched out a hand, and patted his strong crest. The horse glanced sideways at Ning Que impatiently, full of discontent and disdain.
Regarding how to tame a horse, Ning Que knew hundreds of skills, yet it was the limited time that he was concerned with and competed against. He pretended not to notice the challenging look in the horse's eye as he smiled and said, ”Serve me well, Big Blackie!”
”Or you'll be a dead horse,” continued Ning Que, beaming innocently with dimples on his cheek.
Suddenly, the horse seemed disturbed with fear. The menacing words which came from the young lad somehow did work on the horse, turning him to almost a cockhorse. Shaking his mane uneasily, the horse became stiff, and those peach buds in his muzzle fell onto the meadow. Obviously, he felt unmistakably threatened by Ning Que's killing intention.
Though not being able to understand human language, military horses often could perceive men's feelings very well—experienced ones in particular. They knew it when an imminent peril or a real intent of killing came.
Starting when he was a 4-year-old boy up until he was a 16-year-old young man, Ning Que had been used to killing—from Chang'an, Min Mountain, to the City of Wei, the grassland, Shubi Lake, and back to Chang'an again. Heads had been chopped off and blood had been shed. The grassland had been conquered by the notorious wood-chopper of Shubi Lake, and the toughest horse-gang leader had to succumb to him.
Ning Que's danger might have been imperceptible to men, but not for a horse, especially when he emphasized that he might kill it.
A burst of surprised cries was exclaimed from outside of the fences. Both the cautious students and the captain looked at the corner of the meadow, astoundingly and admiringly.
At the corner, Ning Que was walking the black horse to the starting line, who at first appeared to be fierce and unruly, not as docile and quiet as a trained maidservant.
Farther away on a slope, Sangsang was sitting, who put away the black umbrella under her bottom, and yawned lazily with her small hand over her mouth. It was probably only she, now looking bored, that did not worry about her young master's life.
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