Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 582 - 286: Taming the Horse

Chapter 582: Chapter 286: Taming the Horse

Hong Yi had made such appropriate arrangements that Lin Ma felt quite guilty. Seeing that Maya remained silent, Lin Wu could only say, "I’ll go, my nickname is ’Firewood Picking Expert’."

Hong Yi didn’t refuse, "That’s good, I’ll go find some small stones to build the campfire. You can also familiarize yourself with the terrain, and if you’re lucky enough, you might even encounter a herd of wild horses."

As Maya watched Lin Wu leave, she asked, "Is there anything I can do?" It was rare for the king of slacking off to take the initiative to work.

Hong Yi asked, "Don’t you need to rest for a while?"

Maya answered, "No need."

Hong Yi said, "Maybe you can see if there’s any game around."

Maya nodded, "Okay."

As Maya left, Lin Wu was already walking towards the mountain range along the gentle slope. The trees here were sparse, allowing for a clear view of the surroundings. Lin Wu pondered that if he couldn’t find any fuel, he would have to dig up thorny bushes. As long as the fire was big enough, even wet wood could be burned into charcoal.

The slope became steeper, and after walking for a long time, Lin Wu had collected only a small bundle of twigs. Looking up, he saw the towering mountain range ahead. There was a circle of woods at the edge of the mountain range and the gentle slope. Looking back at the temporary campsite, Lin Wu calculated the distance and his laziness kicked in, leading him to think he shouldn’t venture too far.

Not keen on climbing the mountain but still needing to find fuel, Lin Wu had to account for his search to Hong Yi. He stood on his toes to look around and saw a tree to the side. The tree must have been in a hollow, as only part of its crown was visible. Regardless, he decided he would chop it down if he couldn’t collect enough wood—although there weren’t many trees, there were also not many people.

Chop? Damn, forgot to take the watermelon knife from Maya. Lin Wu, holding a steak knife in his hand, wondered how many stabs it would take before the big tree would deign to offer him a few branches.

Sigh!

As he walked, Lin Wu missed the good old days with Shadow. Back then, no matter how big the tree, there wasn’t one that an incendiary grenade couldn’t handle. Why bother with friction fire-starting when he could use an Incendiary Grenade? Walk? That was even more out of the question. The most painful thing in the world isn’t being broke, but having been rich before. Even with the best mindset, it’s hard to quell the occasional feeling of disparity.

This was a poplar tree, growing in a hollow. Lin Wu lay on high ground, stretching his head out over a ten-meter-high cliff to look down. Lush grasses surrounded the poplar, with around fifteen wild horses loosely gathered and leisurely grazing. Lin Wu reached for his earpiece to call for backup, but all he got was silence.

Damn it! Three horses seemed to have eaten their fill and began climbing the slope from the other side onto the gentle slope, chasing each other at a leisurely pace towards the forest. It seemed like they were reminding their brethren that it was getting dark, time to go home and sleep.

Lin Wu looked at Wai: what to do? Other things aside, what if he got hurt? What if he injured his legs? This place was no Shadow, where he could just call for remote medical treatment, and the doctors were tens of kilometers away.

Stay put? From what Hong Yi said, it was known that there were wild horses here, but they were quite rare. Finding a herd required perseverance, time, and luck. If he let this chance slip by and came up empty in the following days, he’d be kicking himself.

With this in mind, Lin Wu instructed Wai to stand by and went into Stealth mode, sliding down the opposite slope. This was Lin Wu’s first time attempting a Stealth slide, and he had no idea how effective it would be. At this moment, he was getting anxious, as some horses had already left the hollow and climbed back onto the slope. Only five gluttons remained in the hollow.

Remembering this, Lin Wu felt cold: what kind of good horse could a horse be that cared only for eating, ate more than the others? However, having a horse was better than none; if worst came to worst, he could kill one for meat. Which one should he choose?

Lin Wu leaned against the poplar tree, with the five horses all less than fifteen meters away from him. Being horse-blind, Lin Wu couldn’t tell the quality of the horses. The most annoying part was that the several horses were around the same distance from him, leaving the decisive Lin Wu, who was usually Full Power Value, unable to make a decision for the moment.

A white horse? Exclude it— he wasn’t a prince and had no right to ride a white horse. Riding a white horse would be tantamount to claiming his father was the King, right? He’d never met the man, so inheritance was unlikely, and there was no way to let the Old Man benefit.

A black horse? Exclude that as well, for how could an idol like him be a dark horse?

The real reason he couldn’t decide wasn’t a lack of decisiveness, but fear. The idea of riding a horse was daunting for someone who had never ridden one before. What if it kicked him the moment he got close?

Hmm? If he moved fast enough and the horse’s moves were fast enough—if it tried to kick with all four hooves at once and had no feet on the ground—it would land squarely on its belly. Then, he might just get himself a horse. However, he wasn’t too sure about a horse with that level of intelligence.

Finally, Lin Wu made a decision: he would catch whichever horse ran first.

So Lin Wu stood up and casually whistled as he emerged from behind the tree, glancing at the horses through the corner of his eye. The five horses were startled and backed away several meters, but none of them ran. They stopped grazing and simply stood there, as though they were seeing a person for the first time.

Overjoyed, Lin Wu slowly approached the bay horse, which immediately retreated. Lin Wu tried advancing two more steps, and the bay horse turned tail and bolted, leading the pack in climbing the slope. Lin Wu panicked and ran after them using Wind Stinger. The bay horse that led the climb stopped to check on the others, inadvertently blocking the path for the rest. This gave Lin Wu an opportunity.

Just as traffic order was about to be restored and the herd was getting ready to take off, Lin Wu put all his strength into a leap and grabbed onto the tail of a white horse. Startled, the white horse neighed and bolted, with Lin Wu clutching its tail—and then, there was no after.