Chapter 76

The small stone fell onto the calm water surface, and ripples spread out in circles. The girl’s fair reflection suddenly shattered, gathering and dispersing in the pond. Amidst the interplay of light and shadow, a red goldfish flicked its tail and swam past, then swiftly disappeared into the distance.

“It’s much happier in Chen’s mansion.”

Chen Lubai’s tone was casual, and it was easy to tell that she was a naive and willful young lady. “Although my father always wants to hurry me into marriage, he never refuses any of my requests. He even said that on my next birthday, he will give me an absolutely unexpected big gift.”

“My elder brother and sister-in-law are always glued together, which is really cheesy, but they are both exceptionally good to me. My sister-in-law recently gave me a small portrait. I also plan to learn painting from her in the future. If I still can’t get married when I’m old, I’ll sell some paintings to make money.”

She paused for a moment, then continued earnestly, “Yueming may look like a tomboy, but she actually listens to me very well; after all, she grew up under my care. And our maids, Chunmei, Xiaqing, Qiu Xiang, and Dong Rui, they’re all doing well! I can’t bear to leave any one of them.”

Ning Ning just smiled and said, “That indeed makes it hard to leave.”

“Right! I—”

Chen Lubai finally found someone who agreed with her, and her eyes suddenly lit up. However, before she could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by a cry not far away.

The servant calling for help, Ning Ning had never seen before, and the voice was extremely unfamiliar, filled with a crying tone, shouting loudly, “Help! The horses in the stable are all going crazy!”

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All things have spirits, just as many animals can sense earthquakes in advance. If the demonic aura becomes too strong, it can also cause poultry to panic.

The tower was quite adept at trapping people. The higher the level of the tower, the more difficult it was to detect the demonic aura. They called it “With the increasing number of evil cultivators proficient in concealing their tracks and hiding their aura, disciples should keep up with the times, feel with their hearts, and discover with love.”

In short, humans are inferior to horses.

When Ning Ning and Chen Lubai arrived at the stable, there were already many people gathered around, including her senior brother and sister, He Zhizhou and Zheng Weiqi.

The horses were behaving like mad, constantly emitting ear-piercing neighs, like spinning tops crashing around without direction, creating chaos.

Zheng Weiqi drew her sword and walked forward aggressively. Wherever the sword light reached, the horses fell down with injuries all over.

Just as she was about to handle the last horse, she was desperately stopped by a group of servants, shouting with torn hearts and lungs, “Miss can’t use it; that’s a priceless steed!”

“Ning Ning!”

When He Zhizhou saw her amidst the crowd, he smiled openly, then restrained his expression and said in a deep voice, “These horses must have been infected by demonic energy, losing their senses. But you see, to drive them to madness like this, it must be a terrifying demonic energy—hasn’t the demonic gate not opened yet?”

As his words fell, Zheng Weiqi’s voice rang in their ears: “Who can ride a horse?”

Looking up again, they saw their senior sister cursing as she reluctantly sheathed her sword, then leaping onto the horse’s back, struggling to tighten the reins.

Having practiced cultivation since childhood, she always traveled by sword flight and hadn’t touched a horse in many years, completely forgetting how to ride or handle one.

Surrounded by servants and maids, no one dared to step forward to help. Miss Chen Lubai witnessed the scene of the horse’s blood flowing and almost fainted, rolling her eyes in distress.

Amidst this deadlock, a familiar middle-aged male voice suddenly sounded in the ears of the three.

[He Zhizhou and Ning Ning, witnessing the scene before them, involuntarily recalled their past experiences of riding horses freely.]

The narrator was quite intelligent, able to grasp the psychological activities of the parties involved and provide real-time commentary. Both named individuals were momentarily stunned, as the narrator’s words were true; they were indeed reminiscing about their experiences of riding horses. However —

“I’ve only ridden once, and…”

“I’ve only ridden once, but…”

As they awkwardly glanced at each other, they were interrupted by Zheng Weiqi’s interjection, “He Zhizhou, if you’re a man, get on the horse for me!”

He Zhizhou was speechless.

Back when he played the “If You’re a Man, Go Down 100 Floors” game, he lost his life on the fifth level. He hadn’t been a man for a long time.

(T/N: This is a mini game where the player has to overcome various obstacles on each floor.)

But now the situation was dire; the horse, more valuable than him, was going mad, repeatedly trying to throw Zheng Weiqi off. If he didn’t step forward to help, his senior sister might not survive until midnight, let alone complete her venture.

As for riding a horse, he hadn’t seen a pig run, but he’d eaten pork. After watching so many period dramas, couldn’t he learn how to ride a horse?

(T/N: This proverb is often used to describe people who have not personally experienced things but have heard about them, seen them, and have some understanding of them.)

What is a mission from heaven? What is the final savior?

He Zhizhou exerted force in his dantian and shouted, “Sister, don’t worry, I’m coming!”

With that, he leaped up, using the posture he had when riding a small electric donkey: he placed his left foot on the saddle, lifted his right leg into the air, made a big circle, and swung it forward.

The movement was smooth and swift, like flowing clouds and running water, making anyone who saw it want to respectfully call him “Prince of Electric Donkeys.”

But for some reason, he heard a muffled groan behind him, followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the ground.

And when he swung his right leg backward, it seemed to hit something.

He Zhizhou’s smile froze on his face.

He heard Ning Ning panickedly call out, “Senior sister —!”

Being single for so long, he had never thought carefully that when doing this set of movements, there shouldn’t be anyone behind him.

Because when he lifted his right leg, the first thing it would hit was not the saddle.

But the person behind him, as if executing a sweeping leg,.

— Help! My senior sister wasn’t thrown off the horse, but I just kicked her off with one foot!

The narrator must be stifling laughter, reciting with a solemn tone:

[She jumped, she jumped! Zheng Weiqi from the Xuanxu sword sect, with the assistance of her junior brother, somersaulted directly off the horse!

After a brief displacement, she executed a high-difficulty mid-air somersault, followed by a split-legged side somersault.

Beautiful! Landing perfectly, like spreading a big pancake! This is simply an operation that humans cannot accomplish. Let us congratulate Zheng Weiqi and her junior brother, He Zhizhou! They have truly done it! The camaraderie among peers is deeply moving!

She descended gracefully, like falling petals, like falling butterflies. Zheng Weiqi’s departure—is it either the pursuit of the land or He Zhizhou’s reluctance to stay? Love has ended and affection has been forgotten; in this forbidden game, they are both losers.]

He Zhizhou: Go away! Are you crazy!!!

He really wanted to turn back to look at Zheng Weiqi and also curse the unscrupulous narrator. Unfortunately, the expensive horse beneath him didn’t give him a chance. It was already wild and crazy, and now, disturbed by Zheng Weiqi falling off the horse, it resembled a wild dog without reins, howling and jumping around.

He never imagined that this horse could even transform into a frog. In the world of the wealthy, he really couldn’t imagine.

Although He Zhizhou was a bit poor before, at least he lived happily.

Now, not only poor but also unhappy.

The bouncing appearance of the horse could even be used in the “Little Jumping Frog” music video. Unable to bear it, one of the servants shouted in distress, “Young master, please rein in the horse!”

He Zhizhou was thrown off for a moment, turning into a pile of rubbery mud, leaning against the horse’s back, constantly squirming. His voice trembled like a pile driver, and every word trembled like a funeral. It was too miserable. He said, “I… um um um… I… am not—happy—goose, goose.”

The narrator completely lost control,looping the song “Snowflakes Drifting, North Wind Blowing” that He Zhizhou sang in the alley before. It was melodious, and it was perfect for the occasion.

[Young hero, in white clothes on a spirited horse, truly handsome and elegant, making countless young ladies in the boudoirs bend in admiration.]

Zheng Weiqi cried out loudly, “Hahaha, Junior Brother, you’re so pitiful, hahaha!”

In the end, it was still Chen Lubai who couldn’t bear it anymore, crying out while sobbing, “Kill that horse, quickly kill it! Master He is almost unrecognizable!”

This was truly a compassionate Bodhisattva, giving up one piece of meat worth less than a thousand spirit stones for another worth a thousand gold.

The valuable horse was finally slain by Ning Ning’s sword. Zheng Weiqi, at least, was a Nascent Soul cultivator, though she only suffered minor injuries from being kicked off the horse by her fellow disciple.

After the sinful horse was executed, she and Ning Ning walked up together, coldly watching his dazed expression.

“Ning Ning.”

He lay on the horse’s corpse, as if entering a sage-like state of desirelessness, dryly curling his lips. “Riding a horse is really interesting; the time you rode, it must have left a deep impression, right?”

“On the day when my friend and I were riding horses and she was chasing us, after we got off the horses, she said to me.”

Ning Ning sighed heavily to conceal her tears, sorrowing for He Zhizhou’s hardship. “She said, ‘The merry-go-round is really fun.'”

She couldn’t bear to look at his weathered face directly, lowering her gaze. “You must have felt the same way, right?”

“No, no, no, not the merry-go-round. You can’t imagine; I’ve also had times of unrestrained galloping.”

He Zhizhou’s expression became more and more confused; his throat seemed to be choked by someone, shaking uncontrollably. “It was in my junior year, and as soon as I got on the horse, it started neighing non-stop. It said to me—”

Zheng Weiqi beside him frowned, quite puzzled.

How could a horse talk?

Had Junior Brother He Zhizhou fallen and hit his head?

Ning Ning breathed lightly, watching his eyes widen, as if they could burst out of their sockets at any moment.

He Zhizhou seemed on the brink of death, trembling as he uttered his last words, his breath like a thread of silk. “It said, ‘Daddy’s daddy is called Grandpa, Daddy’s mommy is called Grandma…”

(T/N: This is actually the song or music coming from the electric toy horse.)

Ning Ning: …

Oh, so it’s the electric toy horse placed at the supermarket entrance.

—And you, as an adult man, were really galloping freely on it!!!