Chapter 8: Riding Horses in the Bustling Market

Carousing and causing trouble, flaunting his status in public, showing no respect for his elders—it seems none of that has changed.

"Is that so?" He Chunhua glanced at her meaningfully. "I haven't been home much lately, so you rarely dine with him, do you?"

Ying Hongchan's expression changed. "My lord, Lingchuan simply doesn't want to come home! In the past ten days, it's been good if he came home for dinner on two of them."

He Chunhua sighed. "You should be more understanding of him. After all, he'll be sixteen soon."

"Of course," Madam Ying readily agreed, just as before. "No matter what, Lingchuan is still the eldest son of the He family."

Madam Ying returned to her room. He Chunhua watched her retreating back and exhaled slowly.

Old Mo, the butler, appeared seemingly out of nowhere and stood beside him.

He Chunhua said, with his hands clasped behind his back, "The people sent by Donglai Prefecture to track the leopard demon disappeared as soon as they reached Blackwater City. If it's a serious matter, they won't let it go easily. I'm afraid there will be further developments."

He sighed. "What I'm most worried about isn't this matter, but the situation to the east. Our communication with the royal court has been cut off for too long. I have a feeling that great chaos is imminent."

"Even if it's a calamity, my lord, you will get through it safely," Butler Wu said with a firm tone. "It has always been so."

Ten days later, all was quiet.

The day the Red Cliff Road was to close was drawing nearer, and more and more merchants were entering and leaving Blackwater City. Prefect He grew increasingly busy, while the communication disruption between Thousand Pines Prefecture and the eastern part of the Kite Kingdom had not improved.

Young Master He continued to flaunt his power.

Life was so uneventfully smooth and prosperous that he didn't even know how to simply enjoy a peaceful existence.

He Chunhua had been as busy as a whirlwind lately, with no time to come home for dinner. Madam Ying also didn't gather the two children, so they all ate separately, which He Lingchuan was quite pleased with.

Compared to Madam Ying, He Chunhua was truly a doting father.

However, contrary to common belief, second-generation officials like He Lingchuan usually didn't have to pay when they went out to eat, drink, and have fun. For example, today Liu Baobao invited him to dine at Hongyan Tower again, to thank He Lingchuan for the transit permit he secured for the Liu family, as their caravan had returned safely.

Liu Baobao claimed it was "just a simple meal," but what was served were rare delicacies and wild game. And the wine was a treasured twenty-year-old vintage from the Liu family.

Not to mention, the beauty serving the wine was Liu Baobao's favorite concubine. Her beautiful, watery eyes kept glancing at He Lingchuan, and she was the most diligent in pouring him wine.

Liu Baobao saw this and secretly cursed her as a little slut. Yet he put on a regretful expression. "Young Master, do you really have to wait until you're eighteen to indulge in pleasures?"

"Indeed," He Lingchuan mumbled. He put down the braised venison and asked for a plate of pickled plums and peanuts, eating two peanuts with each sip of wine.

After nearly two months of rich meals, including big fish, big meat, and exotic delicacies, he suddenly found himself missing pickled vegetables with fried dough twists and sour noodle soup, or scallion-sugar flatbread with large wontons.

In the past, he'd pay off debts at the beginning of the month and then have to eat these simple meals by the end.

But now, when he saw a flatbread stall on the street, he actually had the urge to go downstairs and buy another serving.

He hadn't eaten them for so long that his soul missed them.

It was like a middle-aged man who had married a rich, beautiful woman and reached the peak of his life, yet occasionally, in the middle of the night, he might recall a first love as plain as clear noodle soup.

Just then, a commotion drifted in from outside.

Liu Baobao had invited him to a private room on the second floor of Hongyan Tower. They were already seated by the railing, with the street below visible from the window.

He Lingchuan leaned out the window and saw the originally crowded street suddenly part to both sides. Immediately after, two tall horses galloped into view.

He let out a soft "Oh?" and immediately recognized that the beasts galloping down the street were not purebred steeds, but rather hybrids with the blood of Bo beasts. Their distinguishing features included large heads, sharp teeth, bodies that were reddish-green, and bulging crimson eyes.

These riding beasts were named 'Li horses'. They inherited the Bo beasts' speed and exceptional stamina, and were also known for their violent temperament and their carnivorous diet. On the battlefield, they could even act as combat units. Twenty top-tier horses, chosen from a thousand, might not even be worth a single Li horse.

Of course, Li horses also had grades: superior, medium, and inferior. He Lingchuan's own beloved mount was a Li horse, a gift from a small western kingdom to the Prefect of Thousand Pines Prefecture, carefully selected and of superior quality. However, it was only comparable to the two horses below in terms of quality.

If the horses were so impressive, who were their riders?

The two riders were one in front, one behind. The one in front was a white-robed youth, seventeen or eighteen years old, with slender brows, bright eyes, and a sharp gaze. The one behind was a figure in gray, wearing a bamboo hat, so He Lingchuan couldn't see his face from his vantage point.

Suspended in mid-air directly in front of the white-robed youth was an egg-sized spiritual orb, spinning constantly. The crowd in front of the horses was being pushed aside by an invisible force, clearing a path in the middle of the street.

That force was far from gentle. Pedestrians were knocked every which way, and one fat man stumbled backward onto a stall, flattening someone's hot rice cakes into pancakes.

The vendor, of course, wouldn't stand for it, and the two began to argue.

This was a world of strange forces and deities, so He Lingchuan wasn't surprised. He merely chuckled, "Riding at full gallop through a busy market, what a show of power."

All major cities in the Kite Kingdom had rules about dismounting and leading horses. While Blackwater City allowed riding, the speed had to be slow; galloping was strictly forbidden. Otherwise, one would be pulled off their horse, given twenty lashes, and fined five taels of silver. Injuring someone would result in additional, undeterred punishment.

The local populace was fierce, so the rules and punishments had to be equally fierce.

Hearing this, Liu Baobao secretly glanced at He Lingchuan, thinking, *Aren't you usually like this yourself?*

The two riders were about to pass beneath the tavern. This was a T-junction, and after turning into the side street, the number of pedestrians would at least halve. The white-robed youth immediately put away the orb, as releasing such an item consumed energy.

Just then, a boy ran past on the side of the road. His rattle drum was knocked out of his hand by a pedestrian and, by an unfortunate coincidence, it landed right in the middle of the street!

The child immediately dashed out to pick up his toy.

He was directly in front of the Li horses.

His parents cried out in alarm. They rushed from behind but were blocked by the crowd ahead, unable to reach him in time.

The riders on the horses showed no intention of slowing down. In two seconds at most, the massive hooves would run over the child.

"Not again!" He Lingchuan sighed inwardly. *Why do kids always run into the path of vehicles in every world?*

Fortunately, things were different now. He no longer needed to act personally.

"Uncle Hao!" He Lingchuan propped his chin with one hand and pointed downwards with the other.

Uncle Hao, who had been standing by his side like an invisible man, now pulled out two copper coins and flicked them downwards.

Both copper coins landed directly in front of the Li horses, more than three feet apart. If the riders continued galloping, the horses' legs or bellies would likely be hit by the coins. Two coins were fired to prevent the riders from simply batting one away without reducing speed.

Uncle Hao's two copper coins were not easy to deal with. He Lingchuan had once seen him use copper coins to pierce the head of a black bear. The hardness of a large bear's skull goes without saying; it certainly wouldn't be weaker than the two Li horses below.

The white-robed youth below assessed the situation. As expected, he yanked hard on the reins. The Li horses neighed, reared up on their hind legs, and came to an abrupt stop. Their hooves were less than seven feet from the child on the ground.