Her horse had run quite far away.
It wasn’t just a matter of distance anymore—the creature seemed intent on returning to the wild.
It took two hours to find it, and Song Wei hadn’t expected it to run so far.
Fortunately, her luck held. The grassland was vast, but she managed to locate the right spot.
If the horse had truly gone missing… well, it wouldn’t have been the end of the world, though she would’ve had to pay some compensation.
What she hadn’t anticipated, however, was that the horse had found a wild herd and was trying to integrate itself into it.
To be precise, it was shamelessly chasing after a young mare in the herd.
The herd’s leader was furious, repeatedly driving away the impudent intruder, but every time it was chased off, it would soon come trotting back, undeterred.
After watching for a while, Song Wei finally understood: …………
Her horse was something else—it had gone and found itself a mate.
The herd, though small, had at least eleven horses, as Song Wei counted.
Among them were three foals, which looked rather adorable. She couldn’t help but feel the urge to keep them.
She stealthily approached the herd.
The herd leader was busy driving away Song Wei’s horse and didn’t notice the scheming human sneaking up.
By the time it realized what was happening, Song Wei had already climbed onto the back of the sleek, jet-black herd leader, using both her hands and feet to hoist herself up.
She reached out her arms and instantly wrapped them around the horse’s neck, clinging to it like an octopus.
“Hey, if you can throw me off, I’ll let you go. If you can’t, you’re my mount now!”
“Neigh!”
The strong, towering black horse was startled and immediately began bucking wildly.
The jolting was more intense than a roller coaster.
But Song Wei held on tightly, showing no signs of being thrown off.
The black horse started galloping frantically, and the herd followed closely behind, their hooves pounding the ground.
Song Wei lifted her head, feeling the wind whip across her face, slapping her like a series of sharp blows.
Ugh… her hair was a mess.
“Faster, go even faster! Hahaha…”
Her laughter carried a hint of madness, and Song Wei found the thrill exhilarating.
The black horse felt provoked. It reared up on its hind legs, lifting its front hooves high into the air, almost standing upright.
Song Wei spread her arms wide, gripping the horse’s back with her legs, and let out a shout.
“Think you can throw me off? Give it your best shot!”
The black horse snorted in frustration.
Once its front hooves landed back on the ground, it resumed its gallop, deliberately making the ride as bumpy as possible.
Song Wei could only see blurred glimpses of the scenery rushing past as the black horse carried her far across the grassland.
Finally, exhausted, the horse came to a stop, panting heavily.
Song Wei patted the wild horse that had just raced across the plains. Its muscles were sleek and firm, and in terms of height and build, it was the most impressive horse she had ever seen.
“You’re really beautiful. Why don’t you stay with me for a while?”
The reason she said “for a while” was that she could only stay here for a month.
If she were to keep the black horse, she wouldn’t hand it over to the Nankang Brigade.
When it was time to leave, she would release it back into the wild.
“I’ll be here on the grassland for this period. You can stay with me, and when I leave, I’ll set you free.”
It was unclear whether the black horse understood her, but it snorted and lowered its head to graze and drink water.
For now, it seemed to have submitted.
Song Wei dismounted and watched as it grazed for a while before kneeling down to rest.
She was hungry.
She patted her stomach and took out a flatbread from her sling bag to eat.
The rest of the herd hadn’t caught up yet. The black horse was too fast and had left the others far behind during the gallop.
But after half an hour, Song Wei sensed something was wrong. No matter how slow they were, they should have arrived by now.
The black horse seemed to notice the issue too. After grazing, it immediately took off, galloping back the way they had come.
“Wait!”
Song Wei ran a few steps and then leaped onto the horse’s back.
This time, the black horse didn’t try to shake her off.
After running for a while, they heard the howling of wolves.
They were grassland wolves.
The black horse picked up its pace.
Within minutes, they saw the herd surrounded by the wolves.
The horses had formed a protective circle around the three foals, trying to fend off the predators.
Song Wei saw one wolf leap up and bite the back of one of the horses, causing it to buck wildly.
It managed to shake the wolf off, but a chunk of flesh had been torn from its back.
The scent of blood drove the other wolves into a frenzy.
In the past, Song Wei would have stayed out of such a situation.
Survival of the fittest—she wouldn’t have intervened and might have even taken advantage of the chaos to benefit herself.
But now, she had unofficially claimed the black horse as her own, and the herd was essentially its followers. Naturally, she would side with the horses.
So, as the black horse charged forward, Song Wei swung her fist and struck a wolf that leaped up to attack.
The wolf let out a pained howl and quickly fell to the ground, motionless.
The black horse kicked out with its hooves, sending another wolf tumbling several meters away, yelping in pain.
With the black horse leading the charge, the herd broke through the encirclement.
Its return also made the wolves wary, and they stopped their relentless assault.
Finally, the black horse led the herd to safety.
Song Wei, gripping the horse’s back with her legs, leaned down and scooped up the corpse of the dead wolf from the ground.
The herd ran far before the wolves gave up the chase.
When they were exhausted, they finally stopped.
Song Wei tossed the wolf carcass aside.
The horses disliked the smell of the wolf and kept their distance.
They were truly tired, lying down to graze on the surrounding grass.
Some of the horses were injured, pacing in pain.
Fortunately, Song Wei had brought some hemostatic powder with her.
She applied the powder to the wounds of the injured horses.
Two of them had particularly large wounds, and the entire bottle of powder was used up in one go.
It pained her to see it go to waste.
The powder had been made from precious medicinal herbs.
After tending to the injured horses, she lay down on the ground beside the black horse.
“What an eventful day I’ve had.”
The grassland was teeming with wildlife.
In just one day, she had encountered a Pallas’s cat, a horse herd, and a wolf pack.
It had been thrilling, though.
But it was getting dark, and if she didn’t return soon, her partner and uncle would start to worry.
“Dahei (Big Black), are you coming with me?”
Dahei snorted, showing no intention of getting up.
Song Wei patted its head. “You have to get up. If you don’t, how am I supposed to get back?”
Her previous mount was out of commission, still lying there unable to move.
After all, a domesticated horse couldn’t match the endurance and stamina of a wild one.
After resting for a while longer, Song Wei dutifully went around cutting plenty of grass to feed Dahei and her previously useless mount.
Once they were well-rested, fed, and watered, under the backdrop of a massive, orange-red setting sun, one person and several horses began their journey back in the direction Song Wei had come from.
They moved at a slower pace on the way back, and Song Wei didn’t rush them.
Halfway there, she heard voices carried by the wind.
“Song Wei.”
“Song Zhiqing…”
Song Wei patted the black horse. “Buddy, pick up the pace. My family is looking for me.”
“Neigh—!”
Dahei flicked its tail and shifted from a walk to a slow trot.
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