"I see?"
Peng Fei's face immediately fell. If he had been single a few years ago, he wouldn't have cared, but now that he has a wife and children, even if he wanted to, his wife wouldn't agree.
"Hehe, Brother Peng Fei, Brother Batel was just joking. It doesn't need to be a month, a week or two will do. But you must insist on feeding the horses yourself every day..."
Timur laughed when he saw Peng Fei's expression. His words brought a smile to Peng Fei's face. It was only a week, so his wife would surely be understanding.
"Brother Zhuang Rui, according to the old folks, those who are blessed by the Eternal Heaven are born with the ability to communicate with animals. It seems you are one of those people..."
After reprimanding Peng Fei, Batel looked at Zhuang Rui with envy on his face. For the grassland herders, Zhuang Rui's innate ability to get close to animals was something they could only dream of.
"Religion isn't all bad, is it? At least my ability was covered up by Batel's words. Well, if anyone has any questions in the future, we can just quote Brother Batel's words..."
Upon hearing Batel's words, Zhuang Rui was secretly delighted. Unlike scientists or urban intellectuals who were skeptical of everything, the lovely grassland people always liked to use their own way to answer questions that defied common sense.
Of course, this was the method that Zhuang Rui was most pleased to see. He no longer needed to waste his breath explaining why Zhui Feng could understand him. As Batel had said, this was a great gift from the Eternal Heaven.
"Brother Ren, why don't you go and choose a horse too..."
Zhuang Rui looked at Dr. Ren beside him. Ever since the white horse showed goodwill to Peng Fei, Dr. Ren had been unable to contain himself and had been looking at Zhuang Rui with pitiful eyes.
Men have an innate fondness for horseback riding and archery, because only these sports can stimulate the primal male hormones in these increasingly androgynous men in the city.
After Dr. Ren had also eagerly chosen a horse that looked very strong, Zhuang Rui looked at Batel and Timur and said, "Brother Batel, and Brother Timur, these horses are all yours now. As for how to tame wild horses, you are the experts, so I won't embarrass myself by showing off..."
"Give...to us?"
Batel and Timur were stunned when they heard this. This was a fortune worth hundreds of thousands. Moreover, they had only admired Zhuang Rui for getting the wild horse herd, but had never thought of taking it for themselves.
Zhuang Rui nodded and said, "That's right, Brother Batel, my family can't raise that many horses. If I don't give them to you, are you going to sell them to horse dealers for slaughter?"
Zhuang Rui didn't want his suburban estate to become a horse farm. After thinking it over, he decided that giving these horses to Batel and his companion was the best way to end up with the wild horses.
"But...but...Zhuang Rui'an replied, these are all yours. Even if you sell them, that's your business..."
To the people of the grasslands, horses are far more precious than gold and silver. The jade worth over a million that Zhuang Rui had given him before did not have the same impact on Timur as the horse he was given now.
“Hey Lao Ba, Timur, stop being so wishy-washy. If Brother Zhuang said it's for you, then it's for you. If you don't want it, I might just take it all and sell it off…”
Of all those present, Peng Fei knew Zhuang Rui's wealth best. Let alone these hundred or so horses, even if there were ten times more, Zhuang Rui wouldn't feel the slightest bit of heartache giving them away.
Chapter 1153 Discovery (Part 2)
“Brother Batel, Timur’s sworn brother, Peng Fei is right. These horses are best suited to you. I believe you can treat them well…”
Zhuang Rui nodded, agreeing with Peng Fei's words. Taking away the leader of the wild horses was tantamount to depriving the horses of their right to live on the grassland, and Zhuang Rui did not want to sell these strong horses to horse dealers.
Moreover, just as Peng Fei said, Zhuang Rui didn't care about these hundreds of thousands of yuan. He had already given away millions of yuan worth of jadeite and patina-colored jade. Why would he care about these dozens of horses?
After hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Timur exchanged a brief conversation with Batel and said, "Alright, Zhuang Rui, then we won't stand on ceremony. We'll take these horses..."
The genetic lineage of Mongolian wild horses is far more precious and pure than that of domesticated horses. Timur believed that after adding these wild horses to his and Batel's horse farm, they would be able to breed even better horse breeds, which is why he accepted Zhuang Rui's gift.
"Haha, that's more like it, Timur's father. Take the horses back and settle them in. Come back to Beijing with me in a few days..."
Zhuang Rui was very happy to see that Timur had agreed. If the two of them had refused to take the wild horses, it would have been a real headache for him, because Zhuang Rui would never have sold them.
“Alright, Zhuang Rui’an replied. I won’t say thank you, but you, Zhui Feng, will have to come back with us, otherwise we won’t be able to take these horses with us…”
If Timur had initially become sworn brothers with Zhuang Rui only because of his bravery, he now genuinely regarded Zhuang Rui as a sworn brother.
It wasn't so much because of Zhuang Rui's act of gifting the horse, but rather because Zhuang Rui's righteousness and disregard for personal gain appealed to these grassland men. Such a generous and forthright man was rare even among the Mongols. Even Batel, who was standing nearby, was considering becoming Zhuang Rui's sworn brother.
"Alright, I'll give some instructions to Zhui Feng..."
Zhuang Rui walked up to Zhui Feng, pointed at Batel and the others, whispered a few words to Zhui Feng, then turned to Timur and said, "But Timur, don't lock him in the stable, that kid has a bad temper..."
Zhuang Rui remembered the incident of Zhui Feng injuring people and specifically instructed Timur a few words, saying that without his presence, Zhui Feng probably wouldn't listen to anyone.
"I understand, Zhuang Rui'an, don't worry. But if it goes into the horse farm on its own, then it's none of my business..."
Timur laughed loudly upon hearing this. He wanted to take Chase Wind back not purely to tame the wild horses, but also to let Chase Wind stay at his horse farm for a few days.
If they're lucky, maybe after Zhui Feng leaves, the mares in their own stable will become pregnant with Zhui Feng's offspring. This kind of bloodline inheritance is even more important than the herd of wild horses in front of them.
"Luffy..."
With a long neigh from Chasing Wind, the wild horses, which had been resting there for a day, started running under Chasing Wind's lead.
Batel and Timur were very experienced in herding horses. Instead of running ahead of Chasing the Wind, they stayed on either side of the herd, occasionally using bamboo poles to stop any stray horses and bring them back to the main group.
"Damn, I don't have a horse to ride anymore?"
After Batel led the herd of horses away, Zhuang Rui was dumbfounded. Ren Chunqiang and Peng Fei each had a horse following behind, leaving him all alone.
Upon hearing this, Peng Fei burst into laughter, swung himself onto his white horse, and said, "Hehe, I'm going to chat with the white rabbit. You stay here by yourself..."
"Get lost! Why give a horse such a terrible name? Could your taste be any more low-class?"
Zhuang Rui was shocked by the name Peng Fei had given the white horse, and his skin crawled. "Damn it, White Rabbit? Why not add 'Big' in front of it? That would sound much better."
Peng Fei raised his head and said smugly, "Jealousy, Brother Zhuang, you're definitely jealous of me. Brother Ren said that this White Rabbit is one of the seven famous horses of Qin Shi Huang. It can't be much worse than your Chasing Wind..."
"Alright, get out of here right now, White Rabbit?"
Zhuang Rui shook his head dismissively and waved Peng Fei away. Of course, he knew where the horse's name, White Rabbit, came from, but the name really made Zhuang Rui feel awkward. He guessed that Qin Shi Huang had never seen a rabbit before, otherwise he would never have given his beloved horse such a name.
After Batel and the others left, Zhuang Rui devoted all his energy to the study of the Alzhai Grottoes. He purchased a large amount of Xuan paper and made rubbings of some precious murals for future research.
Dr. Ren, who has always been obsessed with archaeology, has been acting out of character these past few days. Instead of going to the grottoes with Zhuang Rui, he has been spending all his time with his chestnut horse and, just like Peng Fei, sleeping in the stable at night.
Zhuang Rui inquired and learned that Dr. Ren and Peng Fei had made a bet to see who could win over their horses first. As a result, the two brothers treated their horses like royalty.
This made Zhuang Rui shake his head. It seemed that once this bookworm set his mind on something, he might be even more fanatical than those suffering from paranoia. However, Ren Chunqiang's main academic focus wasn't on Mongol Yuan culture, so Zhuang Rui didn't say anything more. ...
"Zhuang Rui, the day after tomorrow is our return date, so don't forget, your teacher has already sent two telegrams..."
Early that morning, just as Zhuang Rui was about to enter the grotto, Ren Chunqiang, contrary to his usual behavior, stopped him.
"Brother Ren, I know. It's just some Dunhuang documents. Don't you think finding Genghis Khan's tomb would cause a bigger sensation than discovering the Dunhuang documents?"
Zhuang Rui waved his hand dismissively, but he was quite grateful to Professor Meng. In order to ensure that they did not miss this Dunhuang cultural exchange meeting, he didn't know where Professor Meng sent the telegram from, but it actually reached this desolate place that was dozens of kilometers away.
"Hey, hey, we made a deal, you can't go back on your word..."
When Dr. Ren heard Zhuang Rui's words, he thought that Zhuang Rui was going to go back on his word, and he immediately became anxious. This Dunhuang cultural exchange meeting was actually an awards ceremony, and Dr. Ren was not as open-minded about those vested interests as Zhuang Rui was.
"Don't worry, if we find nothing, we'll definitely go back to Beijing together the day after tomorrow..."
Zhuang Rui reassured Dr. Ren, saying with a smile, "Brother Ren, hurry up and go bond with your Red Hare, otherwise it'll be embarrassing if the White Hare beats it..."
To be honest, Dr. Ren's naming skills are really not that great. Peng Fei's horse is called White Rabbit, so he simply named his own horse Red Rabbit. Does he really think he is Lu Bu?
"Yes, yes, I haven't walked the horses this morning yet, I'm off..."
Ren Chunqiang wholeheartedly agreed with Zhuang Rui's words. He simply refused to believe that he, who spent all his time explaining horsemanship to Chitu, could not beat that kid Peng Fei.
After seeing Ren Chunqiang off, Zhuang Rui climbed the Alzhai Grottoes alone. This time, he didn't go inside the grottoes, but went straight to the top of the mountain because... the spiritual energy in Zhuang Rui's eyes had finally returned.
After reaching the top of the mountain, Zhuang Rui squinted at the somewhat dazzling sunrise, then found a rock with its back to the sun and sat cross-legged on the ground.
"Let's see what the ancients' purpose was in digging caves under those collapsed grottoes."
For the past few days, the natural karst cave beneath the grotto had been haunting Zhuang Rui, filling him with trepidation. He had refrained from using his spiritual energy to explore it, all for this very moment.
Taking a deep breath, Zhuang Rui slowly closed his eyes. Invisible and colorless spiritual energy surged from his eyes, instantly filling the cavern beneath his feet, which spanned several thousand meters in diameter.
This time, Zhuang Rui's eyes were filled with abundant spiritual energy. After a careful examination, he immediately discovered some clues.
Starting from that collapsed grotto, every few tens of meters, when the path inside the cave narrowed, Zhuang Rui could always find traces of artificial excavation on the walls beside him, which widened the maze-like path inside the cave considerably.
Aside from these traces, Zhuang Rui didn't find any tools used by humans in the cave, which puzzled him. But after careful consideration, Zhuang Rui suddenly became excited.
The discovery of traces of artificial excavation suggests that something fishy must be hidden inside the cave. The absence of tools indicates that the workers did not want to be discovered by later generations. Combining these two factors, the answer is almost obvious.
"Holy crap, it's huge?"
Suppressing his excitement, Zhuang Rui focused his mind and continued to explore along the man-made carving marks. What he discovered next left him speechless.
The caves beneath the Alzhai Grottoes were far larger than Zhuang Rui had imagined. These caves were not confined to the area beneath the red sandstone hill, but radiated outwards in a net-like pattern, forming an underground labyrinth like a spider web.
Although traces of human activity could be found at regular intervals inside the cave, Zhuang Rui became completely disoriented after wandering through this maze of interconnected paths. He spent the entire morning searching for a way out.
Zhuang Rui was absolutely certain that even with his powerful spiritual energy, he would get lost underground, which was even more dizzying than Zhuge Liang's Bagua formation.
"Damn, what an idiot! Why did I bother with all this? I could have just spread out my spiritual energy and looked for objects that carried it!"
When his stomach started growling, Zhuang Rui suddenly realized what was happening.
It seems I don't need to follow the traces left by the ancients to search. As long as I release my spiritual energy, everything within a radius of more than ten miles will be exposed.
Chapter 1154 The Mighty Tunnel
After giving himself a hard knock on the head, Zhuang Rui didn't rush to release his spiritual energy. Instead, he stood up and walked around the small mountaintop of the grotto.
He had spent the entire morning wandering around the caves in the mountains, and Zhuang Rui's head was spinning. The area of the underground caves far exceeded his expectations.
The maze-like caves, densely packed like a spider web, were so vast that even if Zhuang Rui possessed spiritual energy, it would likely take him three to five days to find his way out if he entered rashly.
However, the morning's investigation was not entirely fruitless. At the very least, Zhuang Rui could deduce from some man-made excavations that a large number of people had entered the underground at a certain period of time and carried out a sizable project.
This also suggests that a great secret, unknown to the world, must be hidden beneath the Alzhai Grottoes. Zhuang Rui doesn't believe that the ancients would have nothing better to do than dig holes underground for fun.
After strolling around the mountaintop for more than ten minutes, Zhuang Rui sat down again, took a deep breath to calm himself down, closed his eyes slightly, and the spiritual energy in his eyes surged out and rushed wildly in all directions.
The blooming flowers at the foot of the mountain, the lamas chanting sutras in the temple, the Buddha statues that receive incense offerings year-round, and the thriving wild grass on the grassland—all these elements came into Zhuang Rui's view at this moment, weaving together a vivid picture.
"Damn, it's this big? It's several times bigger than the cave on Pirate Island..."
After a brief pause on the ground, Zhuang Rui released all the spiritual energy that flowed into the underground. However, the vastness of the underground cavern still took Zhuang Rui, who was prepared, quite by surprise.
The caves, intertwined like a maze, cover an area of five or six kilometers, while the Alzhai Grottoes cover an area of two or three kilometers. This means that beneath this lush grassland, there is another unknown space.
Before Zhuang Rui could fully unleash his spiritual energy, he couldn't take in the entire cavern. Learning from his previous experience, this time Zhuang Rui didn't try to discern the paths within the cavern, but instead released all the spiritual energy he had in his eyes.
"No? Still no? How is that possible?"
Seven kilometers, eight kilometers, until Zhuang Rui's vision of the distance where spiritual energy could be released was about to reach its limit, he still hadn't found the treasure he had imagined or any object with spiritual energy. This made Zhuang Rui, who was originally very confident, somewhat anxious.
Ten kilometers away, after the spiritual energy in Zhuang Rui's eyes had enveloped the entire area within a ten-kilometer radius, he suddenly discovered that there seemed to be a faint spiritual energy in a corner due north.