Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 586 - 287 Sandstorm_2

Chapter 586: Chapter 287 Sandstorm_2

The three people lay on the edge of the cliff, looking down, and Hong Yi asked, "Maya, do you see any you like?"

Lin Wu, seeing Maya say nothing, suggested, "The white one is nice, shimmering with silver light, quite beautiful."

Maya pointed a finger, "The brown one there."

Lin Wu: "It’s nothing special." Not tall, not short, not fat, not thin.

Maya said, "It doesn’t socialize." It would rather eat grass at the edges than crowd with the other horses.

Lin Wu said, "Isn’t it better to socialize?"

Maya replied, "Those who socialize are all mediocre."

Lin Wu: "Those who don’t socialize might be dumb."

Maya answered, "Socializing horses raises the lowest abilities among horses but also limits their potential. The herd won’t tolerate any horse that is significantly better or outstanding, similarly, they also won’t associate on an equal footing with a horse that is much worse than themselves."

Lin Wu: "Go then."

Maya asked, "How did you do it?"

Lin Wu paused, "I just felt my way down there, and then nothing." Strictly speaking, his horse training was not a success, if Phantom hadn’t taken the initiative to come forward... come forward? I knew it, the whole affair was a grand conspiracy.

Hong Yi, more experienced than Lin Wu, suggested, "You can approach them slowly. They’re not very afraid of humans, nor are they alert. When you’re close enough, when you’re sure of it, take advantage of the fact that it takes them a while to start in fright, and seize the moment to get on the horse. What comes next is a test of endurance between you and the horse, of course, luck plays a part too. The standard action is to lie on the horse’s back and hold tightly to its neck. However, throughout its struggles, your body will absorb various impacts, so be mentally prepared."

Lin Wu strongly agreed, nodding repeatedly, "Besides mental preparation, you also need to be physically prepared. I recommend at least two painkillers."

Maya nodded, "I’m going."

"You can do it." Lin Wu and Hong Yi cheered Maya on.

...

Maya approached the herd of horses slowly, very slowly. The herd was somewhat restless, but they only shifted their bodies a bit. Maya moved even more slowly towards her target horse.

How slowly? So slowly that even Hong Yi grew anxious, worried that soon the wild horses would be full and leave.

Eventually, Maya got close to her target brown horse. Indeed, the brown horse was unique, stopping eating as she approached and lifting its head, watching Maya with great alertness.

Hong Yi whispered, "This horse is very alert."

Lin Wu asked, "Timid?"

Hong Yi smiled in response, "You could say that."

Then Hong Yi added with some concern, "Our neighbor once caught a very vigilant horse with a fishing net. The very next day, they took it to an NPC for evaluation, and the NPC pointed out a significant flaw: it’s easily startled and could bolt at any moment. Once it bolts, the horse will be out of the owner’s control and run wild."

After finishing, Hong Yi added, "I can’t tell if it is a bolting horse."

As they spoke, Maya had already arrived beside the brown horse. She slowly lifted her hand, and the brown horse didn’t run away but kept looking at Maya. However, by its mannerisms, it looked ready to suddenly take off any second.

Maya’s hand touched the side of the horse’s back, and the brown horse’s body seemed to spasm and shudder but didn’t run away.

"Stupid horse," Lin Wu mused. "Why are the horses here dumber than one another?"

Hong Yi replied, "It wasn’t like this before. It’s possible they caught it from you."

"Haha!" Let’s have a fight!

Seeing that the brown horse didn’t resist, Maya grew bolder, petting the horse’s back near its head. The brown horse cooperated by turning its head to bite Maya’s arm, but luckily, Maya was vigilant and retracted her hand quickly, avoiding the bite. Frustrated from not achieving its intent, the brown horse neighed and ran off. Hearing the neigh, the rest of the herd followed the brown horse up the slope, leaving the hollow.

Hong Yi said, "That’s what I thought, there’s no record of petting to tame a horse in the books."

Lin Wu stuck his head out and called, "Maya, what are you doing?" His tone was very dissatisfied.

Maya turned around, looked up, and shouted loudly, "I thought it was special, I couldn’t help but touch it."

Hong Yi yelled, "The book says there’s only one way to tame a horse."

"Got it," Maya replied helplessly and made her way back.

Hong Yi consoled, "It’s okay, that wasn’t a good horse anyway. Wild horses have appeared here twice; it’s obviously not a coincidence. Let’s just wait here for a bit."

Lin Wu pointed ahead, "Look, a white horse."

A white horse with a touch of romance came galloping from the direction of the forest. It frolicked cheerfully on the grass, sometimes leaping to touch butterflies, other times spinning to bite its own tail. After having its fun, it trod with elegant steps toward the dell.

Hong Yi said excitedly, "This horse is called White King. Many people have seen this horse, it always wanders alone. Because of its beautiful physique and graceful movements, other horses pale in comparison, so everyone calls it White King."

Lin Wu suddenly realized, "No wonder nobody eats with it." With such a flashy entrance, it’s the protagonist wherever it goes; anyone beside you is just out of luck.

Maya stood around waiting for the prey to come by herself, and White King elegantly approached the slope that led to the dell. How elegantly? The creature cocked its head to one side and started walking an ant walk on the spot. The so-called ant walk is a series of small, quick steps that overall look extremely flamboyant. Its goosebump factor could compete with the recent trend of navigation voices that alternated between male love and female anger.

With a leap akin to a ballet dancer, White King came down the slope and gently stopped on the aquatic grass. Maya, lying in ambush, sprang up and jumped onto its back. Startled, White King began to twist its body and jumped around trying to throw off the unknown creature.

Phantom walked slowly to its master’s side, stood at the edge of the cliff, glanced down, and snorted in disdain. Hearing the sound, White King looked up and saw Phantom. At that moment, it immediately became graceful again, like a deer hopping along with the forest music; a pop on the left, a hop on the right.

Such a flamboyant horse, how could it not be tamed? In less than half a minute, Maya succeeded in bringing down White King and named it Sandstorm.

One was the immensely proud Phantom, the other was the overly flamboyant Sandstorm. When the two met, Sandstorm approached like a playboy with overenthusiastic courting, only to be butted away by Phantom with a headbutt. When Sandstorm tried to approach again, Phantom became furious, growling and baring its teeth, forcing Sandstorm to sheepishly stay by Maya’s side.

That’s right, Phantom was a mare and Sandstorm a stallion.

Seeing that Lin Ma had achieved their goal, with everyone getting a mount, Hong Yi suggested, "Let’s go find the NPC appraiser in North Town."

Lin Wu asked, "Do we have enough food?"

Hong Yi replied promptly, "Of course, we have plenty."

Lin Wu said gratefully, "Hong Yi, you really are a good person."

Hong Yi laughed heartily, "You’ve said that many times, please stop giving me your ’nice guy’ card. Let’s go. We can get there in less than an hour."

An hour? That was just theoretical. In reality, Lin Wu called a halt after just three minutes. Hong Yi reined in her horse, looking back in puzzlement to see Lin Wu fallen from Phantom, lying on the ground with eyes closed and legs twitching. Maya also seemed uncomfortable, but not as disheveled as Lin Wu.

Hong Yi immediately understood the problem. They lacked saddles and horse-riding skills, causing the horses to often break into a trot or a gallop. Such speeds were very uncomfortable for the riders.

To give an example, a fat man walking in the summer would sweat and then might experience a feeling on both sides of his thighs as if being cut with a knife. Each step would feel like a cut, not terribly painful, but quite sore nonetheless.

Holding back laughter, Hong Yi taught them how to ride the horses sidesaddle. This move was more dangerous for beginners but in the absence of saddles, there was no better option.

...

After several mishaps and a rest, two hours later, the trio finally reached the NPC.

The NPC looked haggard, clearly malnourished. After receiving several kilograms of food, his spirits immediately improved, and his previously staggering steps became surprisingly agile.

He walked over to Phantom and circled it, had Lin Wu pry open Phantom’s lips to check its teeth and was about to observe its hooves when Lin Wu couldn’t help but say, "Cut the act, just give us the stats." You’re just ones and zeroes, what’s with the pretense of an appraiser? Hurry up and reveal the hidden attributes, or else I would resort to violence and burn your tent to the ground.

The NPC remained unfazed as if he hadn’t heard Lin Wu’s words. He leisurely checked all four hooves, glanced at the tail, and finally said, "A Five-Star Divine Steed, almost possessing all the advantages of horses, good stamina, fast speed, strong explosive power, and great adaptability to terrain."

Almost? Lin Wu asked, "What’s the drawback?"

The NPC said, "It’s prone to dying."

"Prone to dying?" I was right; there’s something wrong with this horse’s brain.

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