Chapter 331 - The Grassland Hunter, Anar (1/2)

The night sky over the gra.s.sland is s.p.a.cious and lofty. It is distinct from the cloudy and misty sky over the center of Chuan province. Because of industrial pollution, it’s more and more difficult to see stars there.

Dun Zhu has no broken bones so she can be out of the hospital the next day. She comes back home with lots of medicine prescribed by her doctor.

Dun Zhu is wounded in the leg so the job of livestock grazing falls to Ze Yitong and Anar. Luckily, they can look after cattle and sheep under the collaborative work.

Ze Yitong can take part in the Naqu Horse Race meeting, so she cannot figure out how to pay for her nana’s surgery soon. As a result, she is a little unhappy when whipping up the horse. Anar finishes grazing and goes home. She collects some leftover leather materials and makes them into a rope. Ze Yitong sees Anar, but she doesn’t pay much attention because she is in a bad mood.

“Ze Yitong, do you still want to partic.i.p.ate in the Naqu Horse Race?” Anar pulls the rope in her hands to make sure it is strong enough.

Ze Yitong’s mouth twitches. She really wants to race. However, her nana is old and infirm, and her mom injures her leg. She is not sure if she can attend the trade fair, let alone the horse racing.

Anar looks down at her dress. She got her leather boots from the bottom of the lake. The rope is strong enough and the leather bag is full of some pieces of rare roast lamb. When Anar was grazing these days, she intentionally rode away to check out places around Silver Lake. With all these good preparations, maybe she can give it a shot?

Ze Yitong looks at smiling Anar, feeling very puzzled. “Ajia, what are you smiling about?”

Anar lifts the rope, giving Ze Yitong a sign to stay low.

At first, Ze Yitong does not know what she means. Then in whispers, Anar asks her where the finest gra.s.s is on the gra.s.sland. Ze Yitong finally figures it out.

Her eyes are wide open with a look of excitement and surprise, “Ajia, you are too bold… It won’t work!”

Anar shushes her, “If we don’t try, we’ll never know if it can work, right? Come on, I will tell you the plan while walking.”

Dun Zhu’s voice drifts out from the yurt. Anar speaks louder and tells Dun Zhu and nana that she and Ze Yitong are about to leave immediately.

Flas.h.i.+ng out the whip, Anar and Ze Yitong, who have a lot in her mind, lead cattle and sheep to graze as usual. Beside the yurt, Nana looks at their backs disappearing in the distance.

…

“Ajia, can it work?”

Ze Yitong is destroying the wildflowers in her hands. Her nails are grimed with the juice of flowers. The gra.s.s under her feet has also been flattened.

Anar nods, “When you get back, just persuade your mom Dun Zhu and nana to take other herders’ carts. And you are responsible for driving cattle and sheep to the Naqu Town… If things go well, I will be there before horse racing.”

Ze Yitong mutters, “What if things don’t go well?”

Anar bursts into laughter, “Even if I can’t succeed, I will still go to the trade fair to barter for us. When you go back, don’t mention anything about horse racing. You just tell them that I have found some clues about my ident.i.ty so I won’t be back in a few days.”

Ze Yitong is in a bit of a dilemma. She grew up on the gra.s.sland so she definitely knows how difficult it is to catch wild horses. She also heard about people catching wild horses, but it can only be done with full preparation. Firstly, a group of men of the gra.s.s scatters wild horses. And then they besiege and catch horses together… So, she knows how hard it will be for Anar to do that all by herself. However, deep in the little girl’s mind, she has an idea that Anar is so smart and knowledgeable that she won’t do things that she is not so sure about. Can she really make it?

Anar sees the little girl’s look, knowing that she has almost convinced her.

So she tries harder, a.n.a.lyzing the pros and cons and promising to protect herself. Ze Yitong finally agrees to the plan.

It has proven to be that the finest gra.s.s on the gra.s.sland is right opposite to the Silver Lake. But something happened in Silver Lake in the past, so usually, herders are not willing to come here.

Anar pats Ze Yitong and asks her to graze cattle and sheep somewhere else. Too much sound will stop wild horses from coming here to drink or graze.

For defense, Ze Yitong gives Anar a small dagger that never left her since childhood. She drives flocks and herds, reluctant to leave. In the end, she slowly disappears on the gra.s.sland.

Anar pats the pony that she brings along. Her face can feel the warm breath of the pony. It is a little sad to leave her.

Anar makes a tough decision, driving it away. The pony runs in the direction of where Ze Yitong grazes to catch her up.

Only Anar stays. She braids her hair and walks across the Silver Lake. With the dagger, Anar carefully chooses a piece of fine gra.s.s and slowly pulls it out, together with the ground.

Her movements are gentle, and every step is done very carefully. It takes her a long time to completely peel off a piece of pasture larger than a person. Then Anar starts digging on the ground where the pasture was removed.

She throws the soil dug out into the lake little by little.

Finally, there is a large pit on the ground, enough to fit a grown man. Anar lies down to have a try and puts on a satisfied smile.

At this moment, the sky is aglow with sunset colors. Anar has worked for a long time, and now she feels hungry.