Chapter 575. The Best Trap (1/2)
“Since the well water can be used, then we will water the horses in the future from it ah!” Commander Liu also tasted the water in the well and nodded his head in agreement.
By the time the group of them were back at the stable, the red horse, who was previously the most ill out of all of them, was already able to stand up again. Its appetite was quite good and it had finished all of the special fodder had been sent over. Furthermore, it looked as if it wanted to eat more. The other few sick horses had also started to eat after drinking the water in the manger. However, they seemed to be only interested in the special fodder and disdained the rest of the food as beneath them.
“So picky!” Doctor Wang patted each horse and there was finally the sign of a smile on his thin and dried up old face. To him, there was nothing better than a horse getting well to make a person happy.
“Master, Commander!” Zhang Qun, who had been sent off to experiment with the new bait, ran back excitedly, “This bait is quite effective at luring horses over. I tried a few times and found out that it has a range of around five hundred meters. Any further and its effects decrease by about half! Furthermore, the horses really seem to like eating this bait. When this subordinate tried to snatch a piece away from a horse, I was almost bitten by that animal!”
“As long as it’s effective! Lass, when you go back, go make a few more pieces of this bait. Tomorrow, this prince will take you out to lure some wild horses! Didn’t you have your eye on that head stallion earlier, eh? This prince will tame it for you to become a riding steed!”
Xiaocao had done quite a lot today for the stud farm. She not only fixed the problem of catching the wily wild horses but she also helped heal the sick ones at the farm. He obviously knew it all had something to do with her. After all, he was pretty sure the little lass had done something with the fodder that was given to that very ill red horse.
Zhu Junyang could long tell that the little lass was very interested in catching wild horses. As a reward, he was going to fulfill her wishes and take her out to play!
The next day, at the crack of dawn, Zhu Junyang and Commander Liu split into two groups as they headed into the deep grasslands. Zhu Junyang’s goal was to meet up with that herd of wild horses. When they headed out, he only brought along a few trusted aides with him, among them included Hou Xiaoliang and Head Steward Liu.
The last time they were out, although they had startled that herd of horses, the horses didn’t feel threatened as they didn’t show their faces to the animals. Thus, they headed towards that particular valley again. Zhu Junyang decided to set the trap not far from the opening of the valley. There were a few wizened old trees in the area with lush verdant branches that criss-crossed and acted as a perfect screen. It was the perfect hiding place for the humans. Not far from the trees, they set up the traps to capture the horses and they baited the traps with the special bait that no horse could resist.
They had prepared several traps like this throughout the valley. Each one had a trusted aide guarding it. Zhu Junyang and Yu Xiaocao were sitting in ambush at the trap that was the deepest within the valley. Before long, the herd of horses began to move. The smell of the bait was really too attractive to them. Even with the warning of the head stallion, there were still some wild horses who ignored him to head to the trap in the outermost part of the valley.
A few of the wild horses had already been lured over by the smell. The aides, who were next to the traps, hurriedly placed out some more bait as quietly as they could into the traps. If any horse got close, the person near the trap would add an additional piece of bait. Before long, even Zhu Junyang, who was the one closest to the innermost part of the valley, had started putting out bait. As for the aide stationed in the outer part of the valley, there was already a horse who had been lured in!
“One’s here!” Yu Xiaocao mouthed a signal at Zhu Junyang. The young maiden was currently lying on the grass and she had a woven grass hat on her head. On top of the hat was a bunch of colorful flowers. She was a beautifully delicate young maiden to begin with and now with that childish looking hat on top, she looked even more lively and vivacious.
As for the man next to her, Royal Prince Yang, who gave off an air of coldness and killing intent, he was also wearing the exact same flower grass hat on his head as well. If his subordinates could see him now, they would all exclaim that ‘an illustrious man was ruined just like that’!
Zhu Junyang’s phoenix eyes held a hint of helplessness in them. He really wanted to take off the silly looking woven grass hat but the little maiden next to him claimed that he looked very handsome with it on. She even stated that the hat suited him more than anyone else she had seen. He couldn’t bear to not follow her ideas, so he rejoiced that it was only the two of them in the area. There was no third party to see just how foolish he looked right now.
He looked in the direction that Xiaocao had pointed out and saw a plump and sturdy light buckskin horse slowly heading towards their trap. This buckskin colored horse was probably second only to the head stallion in the herd of wild horses. If they were able to tame and train it well, it wouldn’t be any worse than his Fierce Wind! Zhu Junyang immediately became enthused at the prospect and focused all of his attention at luring this horse over.
It was getting closer and closer! The light buckskin horse was already within the vicinity of the trap and its mouth was already going into the carefully crafted noose. Suddenly, it raised its head as if it had sensed some danger nearby and retreated a couple of steps. However, the smell of the bait was truly too alluring. It was akin to the delicious scent of red braised pork to a person who had been starving for a long time. No matter how strong that person’s will power was, he or she would definitely be unable to resist eating that food in the end, so how could a mere horse resist this?