Library of Heaven’s Path 2: Eternal Destiny

Chapter 70: Are There Any Other Wild Horses?

No matter what method Zhang Xuan had used, he had genuinely tamed the wild horse that none of the trainers could handle.

"Can taming really be done like this?"

"No, wait!" Zhou Qun suddenly frowned, realizing something. "This kind of taming only makes the horse submit to force, not truly accept its rider. It's a hidden danger. Once sold, the horse could easily turn against its owner!"

"Exactly, this kind of forced submission is a grave mistake in horse taming!" Another trainer nodded in agreement.

Horses were different from other animals. Once tamed, they became close companions to humans. If a horse was tamed out of fear rather than true acceptance, it was like a ticking time bomb, potentially dangerous to its owner at any moment. If such an incident occurred, it would not only tarnish the reputation of White Roc Stables but could also lead to customers avoiding their horses entirely.

Zhang Xuan was puzzled. "Not truly accepting?"

"Indeed, horse taming involves various levels, such as true acceptance, fake acceptance, and forced submission. The latter two are highly dangerous and are methods we trainers avoid," explained the trainer.

Zhang Xuan frowned but didn't respond immediately. Instead, he jumped over the fence and approached Fei Hong. Looking down at it, he asked, "Is what they’re saying true? Are you only pretending to be tamed?"

"Neigh!" Fei Hong, still showing signs of anger, turned to look at Zhang Xuan with resentment. It was clear that Zhou Qun was right; the horse had submitted out of fear rather than genuine acceptance. With its limited intelligence, it couldn’t even hide its true feelings.

"Manager Liu, this guy has broken the rules by using violence to subdue the horse. Not only should he not be rewarded, but he should also be punished as an example to others!"

"Exactly! If we don’t deal with this, people will start beating up wild horses instead of learning proper taming techniques. Our craft would become obsolete, and our horses would become unsafe to sell."

"This is not a tiny issue. We must pay extra attention to it."

The trainers, now feeling vindicated, voiced their anger. They had worked hard to learn the art of horse taming, and they didn’t want brute force to undermine their profession.

"Let’s not rush to judgment. I’ll check the horse myself," Manager Liu said, trying to calm the situation. He crossed the fence and reached out to touch Fei Hong’s mane.

The horse immediately flinched and moved away, clearly uncomfortable with the contact.

Manager Liu’s heart sank.

A well-tamed horse would not only submit but also feel a sense of closeness to humans. This one, however, was afraid and avoided human touch—how could it be ridden or trusted?

It seemed Zhou Qun and the others were right. Manager Liu turned to Zhang Xuan with a cold expression. "Zhang Xuan, you didn’t tame this horse. You simply overpowered it. I must declare that your attempt has failed."

Before he could finish his sentence, Zhang Xuan, visibly displeased, stepped forward and slapped Fei Hong hard across its face.

"Still not fully tamed, huh? What’s wrong, am I being too lenient?" Zhang Xuan scolded.

"Whinny?!" Fei Hong looked at him in disbelief.

"What are you doing…?" Manager Liu was equally shocked. He had known Zhang Xuan's methods were unorthodox, but this was beyond anything he had imagined.

"Take this guy out."

Just as he was about to order Zhang Xuan to be restrained, Fei Hong, after the initial shock of the slap, suddenly lowered its head and started nuzzling Zhang Xuan's leg like a puppy showing affection to its master.

"Has it… truly submitted?"

Manager Liu was speechless, unable to comprehend the sudden change. The horse had gone from defiant to completely obedient in an instant.

Not just Manager Liu, but all the trainers, including Zhou Qun, were at a loss for words. They had never seen anything like this in all their years of training horses. Could it be that this Fei Hong horse had a masochistic streak and would only submit when beaten?

Hesitantly, Manager Liu reached out to touch the horse’s mane again. This time, the horse didn’t flinch or pull away. Instead, it even nuzzled his leg affectionately.

In just a minute, the horse's attitude had completely changed—all because of a single slap.

"Is it fully tamed now?" Zhang Xuan asked, looking around at the stunned faces.

Initially, Zhang Xuan had wanted to avoid getting directly involved. He had hoped that Dao Li could handle the situation, but since the horse’s submission had been more out of fear than genuine acceptance, he had no choice but to step in. Using his unique "Beast-Taming Method"—essentially slapping the horse into submission—he had finally achieved the desired result.

"Yes, it’s completely tamed," Manager Liu admitted, still in shock. He tested the horse a few more times, confirming that it was indeed fully obedient. "But how did you do it?"

Zhang Xuan shrugged. "It’s just my taming technique. I’m not ready to share it yet."

Even if Zhang Xuan wanted to explain, it wasn’t something that could be easily taught. His method was peculiar and highly effective, but it wasn’t the kind of thing you could put into a training manual.

"Alright…" Manager Liu, feeling a bit out of his depth, handed Zhang Xuan several bills. "Here’s the reward for taming the horse, 10,000 Source Coins."

"Thank you!" Zhang Xuan accepted the money, relieved. Earning this much from taming a single horse was far faster than gambling.

With 10,000 Source Coins, he could cover Dao Li's feed for a month and still have some left over. However, once he paid for the feed, there wouldn’t be much left. He couldn’t keep relying on horse taming as a source of income.

"Manager Liu, are there any other wild horses that need taming? I’d like to see if I can tame a few more," Zhang Xuan asked.

...

At the Chen family estate in White Roc City, the patriarch, Chen Xiao, lounged barefoot on a reclining chair beside a pond, fishing rod in hand. The estate was vast, with sprawling courtyards and opulent buildings.

As he fished, a servant hurried over, his footsteps urgent.

"Patriarch…"

Startled by the noise, the fish Chen Xiao had been about to catch darted away. His face darkened with anger. "Didn’t I say not to disturb me while I’m fishing? Punish yourself with twenty slaps!"

The servant’s face went pale. "Yes, Patriarch!"

Smack! Smack! Smack! He slapped himself until his face was red and stinging, then stopped.

"What is it?" Chen Xiao asked, his tone softer as he re-baited his hook.

"Patriarch, there’s trouble at the stables!"

"Have Elder Chen Yun handle it. Why come to me?" Chen Xiao replied, uninterested. Elder Chen Yun was in charge of all matters related to the stables.

"It’s… someone has tamed the wild horse, Fei Hong," the servant explained.

Chen Xiao’s anger subsided slightly. "Now that’s worth reporting. Fei Hong has Source Beast blood and has been impossible to tame for years. Who managed it? Zhou Qun? Wang Yuanzhao? Shen Siping?"

The names he mentioned were the top horse trainers in White Roc City, all with extensive experience in taming wild horses.

"None of them… It was a young man, no older than twenty-four or twenty-five," the servant replied.

"Remarkable! Youthful energy and stamina are certainly advantages when taming a horse like Fei Hong. I imagine it must have taken him at least three hours, though, right?" Chen Xiao guessed.

Horses like Fei Hong couldn’t be tamed unless their energy was completely drained—a process that took hours.

The servant scratched his head. "It took less than five minutes…"

"???" Chen Xiao was stunned.

Five minutes to tame such a wild horse? That sounded impossible!

"It’s true!" the servant insisted. "He had another horse beat up Fei Hong, then slapped Fei Hong across the face. That’s how the horse was tamed."

"His horse beat up Fei Hong? Then he slapped it?" Chen Xiao was speechless. The words made sense individually, but together, they were baffling.

"Not only that, after taming Fei Hong, the young man decided to tame all the other wild horses. Within half an hour, he had tamed all 27 of the remaining wild horses at the stables," the servant added.

Chen Xiao’s eyes twitched.

Even though the other wild horses weren’t as difficult to tame as Fei Hong, taming all 27 in such a short time was unbelievable.

"But wait," Chen Xiao frowned. "If he’s so skilled, why didn’t Elder Chen Yun just pay him the bounty? Why bother me?"

"The Elder did pay him, but… no one expected that the horses weren’t just tamed—they were completely tamed! Now, all 28 of them, including Fei Hong, refuse to stay at the stables. They’re determined to follow the young man home," the servant explained, his voice shaking with disbelief.

"???" Chen Xiao’s jaw dropped, the precious fishing rod slipping from his hand.

Just when he thought things couldn’t get any more bizarre, they did. The horses had all become so attached to the young man that they wanted to leave with him? It was not taming them! It was causing troubles.

Leaping to his feet, Chen Xiao’s eyes narrowed with determination. "How is Elder Chen Yun handling this?"

The stables’ prized horses represented nearly half of the family’s annual profits—losing them would be disastrous.

"The Elder tried to lock the horses in the stables, but…"

The servant was truly surprised and couldn’t believe what he had heard before. So he stammered for a while.

"But what? Say it." Chen Xiao frowned his eyebrows and urged.

The servant was about to cry, "But they broke out and started beating up the other horses. Now, all 3,000 horses in the stables are trying to follow the young man home. It’s like they’re staging a rebellion," the servant explained, his face pale.

"???" The world seemed to go dark, and Chen Xiao almost fainted. After all this commotion, he realized that he had underestimated the situation. He had thought it was just a minor issue, but in reality, it was a complete disaster!

He owned a horse stable, yet now all his horses had been completely tamed. Whose stable was it now, his or someone else’s? How could he continue running his business?

The Chen family relied heavily on their horse stable and the horses within it. If the horses ran off with someone else, what would be left? He might as well declare bankruptcy!

"Why didn’t anyone tell me about this earlier?" Chen Xiao couldn’t contain his anxiety any longer and was on the verge of exploding. He had wasted so much time, and who knew what further problems might have arisen at the stable by now...

The servant in brown hesitated and said, "But... the Patriarch wanted to go fishing..."

"Compared to this, it doesn’t matter if the fish die, rot, or stink!" Chen Xiao coldly snorted, then stomped his foot and dashed out of the courtyard. "Steward, prepare my horse—I’m heading to the stables!"

His commanding voice echoed throughout the entire Chen residence.

Only then did the servant realize something, glancing down before hurriedly calling out, "Patriarch, your shoes..."

In his haste to leave, Chen Xiao had forgotten to put on his shoes, having taken them off earlier while fishing.

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