Zhuang Rui secretly stuck out his tongue and obediently rolled off Xiao Bai's back. He completely forgot to let Xiao Bai show any signs of fatigue, and sure enough... Batel noticed it at a glance.
"You arrived at most seven or eight minutes before me, right? How could you recover so quickly?"
Batel frowned, walked to Little White's side, reached out and grabbed the reins, pried open its teeth to take a look, and found that the wrinkles on his face had become even more pronounced.
"It hasn't eaten either. Could it be that the unity of man and horse can reduce the horse's energy consumption?"
Batel is a true horse fanatic. When he first got Crimson Blood two years ago, he slept with it at the horse farm for four or five months. Now that he has seen something he can't understand, he is immediately captivated by it.
"By the way, Zhuang Rui, how did you get Xiaobai to be so obedient?"
After pondering for a while without finding a solution, Batel decided to ask Zhuang Rui.
"I don't know either, Brother Batel. I've always had a special affinity for animals since I was a child. I have an African gorilla, a golden eagle, and several Tibetan mastiffs at home. They all listen to me very well..."
Zhuang Rui wore an innocent expression. He absolutely couldn't reveal the secret of this spiritual energy, so he could only make up some lies to fool this simple-minded Mongolian man.
As if verifying Zhuang Rui's words, Xiao Bai walked to Zhuang Rui's side and affectionately rubbed Zhuang Rui's face with its big head, occasionally sticking out its tongue to wash Zhuang Rui's face.
"No, no, Xiaobai, go play by yourself..."
Zhuang Rui turned the horse's head to the side, both amused and exasperated. This animal always expressed affection with the same gesture; he had been treated so affectionately by the white lion many times before.
"Brother Zhuang, you must be a kind-hearted person to have won the favor of the animals and the blessing of the Eternal Heaven..."
After seeing this scene, Batel racked his brains and finally found an answer that he didn't know if it was reasonable. However, when everything is related to religion, it's always hard to explain.
"You naughty brother Zhuang Rui, why are you running so fast..."
Just as Zhuang Rui and Batel were "exchanging ideas" about equestrianism—of course, only Batel was talking while Zhuang Rui was listening—others arrived one after another, with Wu Yunqiqige being the second to arrive.
"Little White, my Little White..."
With tears in her eyes, Wu Yunqiqi climbed down from her horse and ran towards Xiaobai. In her mind, if the horse ran like this for an hour, wouldn't it be ruined?
"Huh? It's alright, Brother Zhuang Rui. What happened? Big Brother's Chi Xue is exhausted, how come Xiao Bai is fine?"
After hugging Xiaobai's neck, Wuyun Qiqige also noticed the problem.
"Qiqige, it's like this..."
Helpless, Zhuang Rui repeated the words he had just used to fool Batel to the little girl, this time directly quoting things like the Eternal Heaven. The little girl nodded repeatedly, and when she looked at Zhuang Rui again, her eyes were full of respect.
"Uh, buddy, am I being mistaken for a charlatan?"
Zhuang Rui felt a little embarrassed by the little girl's gaze. Just then, Timur arrived and quickly stood up to greet him.
"Peng Fei, how about the mare? She'd be a perfect match for you..."
About five or six minutes later, Peng Fei arrived on his yellow horse. The guy looked weak and listless on the horse, which made Zhuang Rui laugh out loud.
"Brother, please give me some face..."
Peng Fei, looking embarrassed, tumbled off his horse, grabbed Batel, and said, "Old Batel, you lost two of our horses the other day. The best one is for Brother Zhuang, and the other one is for me to choose first..."
Peng Fei was completely exasperated by Huang Dian'er. He was afraid of upsetting the little girl, so he didn't dare to hit her. He shouted himself hoarse, but Huang Dian'er was still moving at the same slow and steady pace, which almost made Peng Fei vomit blood from anger.
Batel had never seen Peng Fei back down before, so he laughed and said, "Alright, after we catch those wild horses, you can pick any one you like..."
Upon hearing Batel's words, Zhuang Rui was taken aback. He pushed Peng Fei aside and asked, "Brother Batel, with only a few of us, how many wild horses can we catch? With the harness you brought, you can only catch one at most."
"One is enough..."
Batel laughed and said, "As long as you catch that one, you won't be able to drive away the other wild horses no matter what you do. You can keep them in a stable for a year or two, breed them with the stable's horses, and then they'll be domesticated horses..."
"Old Ba, the Horse King isn't easy to catch. If we don't catch it this time, I'll go to your ranch and pick one myself..."
Peng Fei gave Batel a rude rebuke.
Batel wasn't angry. He nodded and said, "It really is not easy to catch. That horse king doesn't seem to be a Mongolian horse. It's even taller than Chi Xue. It looks more like a genuine Ferghana horse. I haven't seen it up close, so I really can't say for sure..."
Last time, when Batel rode Crimson Blood to chase that lead horse, he was left far behind and eventually couldn't even see the horse anymore. Moreover, he was alone that time and didn't have much food with him, so he had no choice but to return to the settlement first.
Even if Batel doesn't return to track the wild horses this time, he still has a good chance of taming the lead horse.
It's important to know that while horses can sleep standing up or lying down, they usually sleep the most soundly in the two hours before dawn each day. Batel planned to launch a surprise attack on the wild horse herd during this time.
"Alright, everyone, let's rest for two hours and grab something to eat. We're not far from the ravine now. The wild horses escaped from there last time, so there must still be traces left..."
Batel didn't know how far the wild horse would run in the next few days, so conserving his team's energy was crucial. They might have to chase it across the grasslands for several days; they didn't want to be exhausted by the time they caught up with the herd.
That evening, Zhuang Rui and his group arrived at the ravine, and just as Batel had said, there were traces of a herd of horses there. Batel circled the ravine for several hundred meters like a hunting dog, and led Zhuang Rui and his group in pursuit.
Fortunately, it hadn't rained on the grassland for the past few days. The grass that the wild horses had grazed and the hoofprints left behind many clues. By the afternoon of the next day, Batel had discovered the tracks of the wild horse herd.
Batel picked up a puddle of horse manure from the ground, rubbed it between his fingers a few times, and said, "The manure is still warm; it just passed by recently..."
"Okay, just tell me what to do..."
Zhuang Rui got goosebumps from Batel's actions. Although he knew that grassland people often used cow dung and horse dung as firewood, those were dry. This wet puddle almost made Zhuang Rui vomit.
"Set up camp and rest. We can't chase them anymore, or we'll alert them. We'll wait until they're asleep tonight, then sneak over..."
Batel knew that horses have a very developed sense of hearing and smell, especially wild horses. Once they sense something is wrong, they will move to another place, and then it will be difficult to catch them.
Zhuang Rui glanced at the sky; the sun was already setting. He nodded and said, "Alright, but you must take me with you when you go at night..."
Fearing that the smoke would disturb the wild horses ahead, the group didn't light a fire. They ate some dried beef and mutton and drank some water, which made do with their meal.
After dinner, as Batel suggested, everyone needed to rest, so they set up their tents and went to sleep.
The vast grassland was silent, and the moonlight shone on the grass that swayed in the breeze, as if covering the grassland with a layer of rosy light, which was very beautiful.
"Woo... Awooo..."
A series of mournful wolf howls suddenly shattered the silence of the grassland.
Chapter 1138 A Battle of Wildness
"What's going on? Why are there wolves howling?"
Zhuang Rui was awakened from his sleep by the mournful howl of wolves and quickly got out of the tent.
"This is bad news. There's a pack of wolves nearby. It's likely to disturb the wild horses..."
Batel and the others got up one after another. Hearing the howling of wolves, the faces of the grassland people were filled with worry.
"Brother Batel, won't these horses be surrounded and eaten by wolves?"
Zhuang Rui had witnessed the ferocity of the grassland wolves. Although it had happened many years ago, he still felt lingering fear when he thought about it. If Zhou Rui hadn't been well prepared, he and his group would probably have perished in the wolf's bite.
"Surrounded?"
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Batel revealed a strange smile and then said, "Brother Zhuang, things are not like before liberation. Wolves on the grasslands are almost extinct. It's only in summer that they have some space to survive, but even then, there are only three to five wolves at most. How could they possibly surround a herd of wild horses?"
Due to modernization, the living space of grassland animals has been further compressed, and the number of wolf packs is almost smaller than that of wild horse herds. This is also due to changes in the underlying food chain.
In fact, the decline in wolf populations is not a good thing for the grasslands. For example, Australian ranches carried out a wolf extermination campaign in the 1940s and 50s, which almost wiped out the wolf population. However, they later introduced a type of wild rabbit, and then disaster struck.
Lacking natural predators, rabbits reproduce extremely quickly in Australia, while the grass in the pastures is decreasing at a visible rate, turning the area into a barren wasteland.
The Australian government had no choice but to import wolves, snakes, eagles, and other natural predators of rabbits from within the country, which gradually reduced the harm rabbits caused to the grasslands.
The Mongolian steppe is showing signs of developing in this direction. However, in recent years, the people of the steppe have been paying attention to the protection of carnivorous animals. Unless there is an incident of wolf packs attacking pastures, hunters rarely hunt wild wolves or similar animals anymore.
"It looks like the plan needs to be changed. The horses will definitely be alerted by the wolf howls. Let's all get ready and get our things ready. We might have to move with the horses again..."
Batel looked very annoyed. As he turned to pack up the tent, he kept muttering, "There's no reason for a few wolves to go and die with the horses."
After packing up the tents, the group led their horses and walked towards the herd. The howling of wolves grew clearer and clearer, seemingly coming from just ahead.
"Stop, I know how to turn around..."
After walking for about half an hour, Batel, who was in front, suddenly raised his right hand, which was clenched into a fist, signaling the people behind him to stop.
Timur was very familiar with the terrain. He looked around and a knowing expression appeared on his face. He said, "Brother Batel, this is Wolf Valley, right? It seems the horse herd has taken over the wolves' den, which is why the conflict broke out..."
Batel picked up his binoculars and observed for a while, then nodded and said, "That's right, but the wild horse herd didn't take over the wolf den; instead, they blocked the wolves' way in and out of Wolf Valley..."
"It's true, why did these horses have to choose this place of all places?"
Zhuang Rui took the binoculars from Batel, looked straight ahead by the moonlight, and couldn't help but laugh.
About 400 meters ahead of him, he could clearly see the shadows of many horses, some lying down and some standing. Behind these horses was a valley, about 30 or 40 meters high. This kind of terrain is very rare on the grassland.
As for the prairie wolves that were howling pitifully, Zhuang Rui did not spot them. However, judging from the direction some of the horses on the periphery of the herd were facing outwards, they should be hiding in the dense grass directly in front of the herd.
"That's strange. Why would these wolves fight the wild horse herd to the death? Wouldn't it be better to wait until they leave before going in?"
As the howls of the wolves grew increasingly pitiful, Zhuang Rui was puzzled. Just as Batel had said, there were definitely no more than five wolves, so there was no need for them to attack the herd of wild horses.
It's important to understand that wild horses are not domesticated cattle or sheep, and they are completely defenseless against attacks from wolves. On the contrary, the attack power of wild horses is probably no weaker than that of wolves. If their hooves were to kick a wolf, it would definitely render it unable to fight.
Moreover, if these hundred-plus wild horses charged together, even if there were several times more wolves, let alone three or five, they would only be trampled into mincemeat.
"There are probably wolf cubs in Wild Wolf Valley, that's why these wolves are so anxious..."
After observing for a while, Batel, who had extensive experience on the grasslands, answered Zhuang Rui's question. Only this answer was reasonable; otherwise, given the cunning nature of grassland wolves, they would never provoke an enemy stronger than themselves.
"So what do we do? Wait here?"
It's only a little past 2 a.m. Although stargazing on the grassland is something many couples dream of, being here makes it clear that this isn't a place that can make you feel happy.
Putting everything else aside, the mosquitoes that habitually swarm in the middle of the night were unbearable for Zhuang Rui. Even though he was wearing long sleeves and pants, he couldn't stand the fact that his neck and face were exposed. In just a short while, he slapped himself several times.
"Wait a little longer. If there really are wolf cubs in the valley, these wolves won't be able to resist. When they charge, and the horses are thrown into disarray, our chance will come..."
Batel paid no attention to the buzzing mosquitoes in his ears, his eyes fixed on the herd of wild horses confronting the wolves ahead—a sight even a grassland dweller like him rarely witnessed.
After hearing Batel's words, Zhuang Rui could only shut his mouth. Even that little girl Wu Yunqiqige didn't say anything, so what did he, a grown man, have to complain about?
"The wolf pack couldn't hold back any longer..."
Suddenly, Batel's face lit up with excitement.
Sure enough, just as Batel finished speaking, a howl came from the wolf pack, and a low-lying figure darted out of the grass and ran towards the wild horse herd.
Zhuang Rui immediately pointed his binoculars at the wolf, but upon seeing it, he couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed.
This wolf was really not very big; it wasn't even as big as some of the country dogs. It was covered in gray fur, and only its two eyes, which glowed with a faint green light, gave people a sense of chill.
A wolf leaped out of the grass, causing a stir among the wild horses. The outermost few horses nervously pawed at the grass with their front hooves. After all, there is a fundamental difference between herbivores and carnivores, and such fear is innate.
"The law is in effect..."