After smelling the red liquid on his hand, Zhuang Rui immediately felt relieved.
However, looking at himself dressed in red, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but smile wryly. His appearance was really terrible. No wonder he was stared at by Batel and the others when he was riding on Zhui Feng's back. If this were in the city, he probably would have been questioned by the police after taking only a few steps.
Peng Fei also dipped a little of the red liquid from Zhuang Rui's hand into his mouth and immediately recognized it. He said irritably, "It's not blood, Brother Zhuang. Did you just smear paint all over yourself to scare us?"
"Am I bored out of my mind? Have I lost my mind or something? Why would I dress up in red to scare you?"
Zhuang Rui glared at Peng Fei, annoyed, but then became a little confused. "Where did this red stain come from? I don't think it was there when I woke up this morning. Could it be..."
Zhuang Rui suddenly felt a jolt in his heart and turned to look at Zhui Feng, who was leisurely munching on grass by the roadside. "Could it be...could it be...could my buddy have won the lottery?"
Forcibly suppressing his excitement, Zhuang Rui called out, "Zhuifeng, come here..."
"Pfft..."
Upon hearing this, Zhuifeng raised its horse's head and trotted over to Zhuang Rui's side, its eyes warily fixed on Peng Fei and the others.
Especially when it saw Batel, Zhuifeng snorted and its front hooves were ready to pounce. If Batel made any move, it would probably kick him.
"This...this is the lead horse?"
The group's attention had been focused on Zhuang Rui, who was covered in "blood," and no one had noticed the horse he had just ridden. Now that it had arrived, it stunned Batel and the others.
Zhui Feng's appearance was simply too good. Putting everything else aside, his height of nearly two meters was something that even Batel, who had been riding horses for half his life, had never seen before. Moreover, Zhui Feng's skin, which was red to the point of being dark and had a faint hint of light gold, made him look exceptionally elegant and noble.
When Batel was capturing Zhui Feng before, he was riding a horse and didn't feel anything at the time. But now, standing in front of the tall Zhui Feng, even an experienced rider like Batel feels a bit intimidated.
Zhuang Rui nodded and said, "That's right, Zhuifeng, don't hold a grudge. These are all my good brothers..."
"Brother Zhuang... how... how did you tame it? This... how is this possible?"
Although Zhuifeng was right in front of him, and Batel had seen Zhuang Rui ride on its back just now, he still couldn't quite believe it. How could Zhuang Rui have tamed such a magnificent horse that could be called a "heavenly horse"?
Zhuang Rui waved his hand, not answering Batel's question, but looked at Wuyun Qiqige and said, "We'll talk about that later. Qiqige, let me use your towel..."
The little girl was looking at Zhui Feng with stars in her eyes when she suddenly heard Zhuang Rui's words. She wrinkled her little nose and said, "No way! Brother Zhuang, you stink! I'm not giving you Qiqige's towel..."
"I wasn't wiping it for myself..."
Zhuang Rui rolled his eyes, too lazy to argue with the little girl, and walked straight to the yellow dot on Peng Feiqi's horse, pulling out a white towel from the bundle next to the saddle.
"Brother Zhuang, it's true that we need to find a place to take a shower and change our clothes, but why are you bringing a towel?"
Peng Fei was also a little confused, but Batel, Timur, and the legendary witch doctor looked at Zhuang Rui with tense expressions, as if they had guessed what he was going to do.
"Whoosh..."
"Stop fooling around, turn around..."
Zhuang Rui held a snow-white towel and reached out to put his arm around Zhui Feng's neck. Zhui Feng thought Zhuang Rui wanted to be affectionate with him, so he immediately stuck out his tongue and licked Zhuang Rui's face.
After watching Zhuang Rui wipe the fur on Zhui Feng's neck with a towel, Batel asked in a trembling voice, "Brother Zhuang...is it...is it true?"
"What are you talking about? What is that? Why don't you clean yourselves first, instead of wiping the horse's sweat?"
Peng Fei was somewhat confused by Zhuang Rui's actions and the expressions of Batel and the others.
"Brother Batel, it really is...it really is an Akhal-Teke horse, and it should be a thoroughbred..."
Zhuang Rui ignored Peng Fei and handed the white towel to Batel. The once snow-white towel was now covered in crimson stains.
The "bloodstains" on Zhuang Rui's face and body have finally been identified: they were caused by the sweat from Zhui Feng's sweat while running, although the color of the sweat was rather unusual.
"By the Eternal Heaven above, what... what is this...?"
Before Batel could speak, the old Mongolian man knelt down with a thud and bowed to Zhuifeng with a devout expression.
"Oh, oh, old man, please don't do this, I can't accept it..."
Since Zhui Feng was standing behind Zhuang Rui, the old man's actions seemed more like kneeling before Zhuang Rui. Zhuang Rui didn't react for a moment and reached out to pull the old man up.
"Who's worshipping you, kid? Get out of the way, I'm worshipping gods and stuff..."
The old man was even more frustrated than Zhuang Rui. His youngest son was seven or eight years older than Zhuang Rui, but he never expected that this kid would take advantage of him.
"Hehe, old man, it's just a wild horse, not some kind of divine horse. It's all just fleeting clouds..."
Zhuang Rui was secretly pleased with himself, but he couldn't help but say a few humble words. However, the smile on his face made people want to punch him.
"Luffy..."
The swift horse behind Zhuang Rui was displeased. It let out a long hiss, turned its head, bit the saddle on its back, and skillfully threw the saddle to the ground.
"Alright, alright, ancestor, what are you anyway? Why are you doing this again?"
Zhuang Rui was immediately exasperated when he saw Zhui Feng's actions. Had this kid become addicted to threatening him? He turned on him and messed things up at the slightest provocation.
"Oh, I remember now..."
Suddenly, Peng Fei slapped his head and shouted loudly. This unexpected shout startled Zhui Feng so much that he almost kicked him.
"You're crazy, kid. Don't you know horses shouldn't be startled?"
Zhuang Rui kicked Peng Fei in the backside. If it had been Zhui Feng who kicked him, Peng Fei would probably have been bedridden for two or three months.
"Hehe, I remember now, Brother Zhuang, the Akhal-Teke horse you guys are talking about, isn't it the little red horse that Guo Jing rode in 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes'?"
Peng Fei was quite proud of his "extensive" knowledge. He hadn't read those martial arts novels for nothing; at least he now knew what kind of creature this big guy in front of him was.
Zhuang Rui nodded and said, "Yes, it's the Akhal-Teke horse from martial arts novels..."
Timur looked at the tall and mighty Chasing Wind, his face full of envy, and said, "Zhuang Rui'an, you are incredibly lucky. Such a purebred Akhal-Teke horse has not been seen on the grasslands for more than half a century. I never expected that you would tame it..."
Zhuang Rui was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, and asked in surprise, "More than half a century? Wasn't it said that Akhal-Teke horses disappeared from China a thousand or two thousand years ago?"
Zhuang Rui didn't know much about Akhal-Teke horses, only that they were called Ferghana horses, which originated in present-day Turkmenistan.
The Akhal-Teke horse is so famous not only because it was mentioned in Jin Yong's martial arts novels, but also because 2,000 years ago, Emperor Wu of Han fought two bloody wars with the Dayuan Kingdom in the Western Regions over the Akhal-Teke horse.
Batel shook his head and said, "It hasn't been that long. Right after the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were still dozens of Akhal-Teke horses in Xinjiang. And just recently, a Japanese man also discovered a purebred Akhal-Teke horse in Xinjiang..."
In 1951, in order to improve the horses of the cavalry, my country imported breeding horses from the former Soviet Union, including 52 Akhal-Teke horses, also known as Ferghana horses. At that time, these Akhal-Teke horses were raised at a breeding farm in Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia.
Unfortunately, a complete pedigree management system was not established at the time, and the introduced Akhal-Teke horses bred naturally and crossbred with local domestic horses.
Although this improved the quality of domestic horses, it inevitably led to the degeneration of Akhal-Teke horses. In just a few decades, Akhal-Teke horses could no longer be seen in Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia.
The discovery of Akhal-Teke horses in Xinjiang was made possible by a photograph presented by Japanese horse researcher Hayato Shimizu at a horse research conference held at the University of Tokyo. The photograph showed that the horse, known as the "Akhal-Teke horse," was indeed oozing a blood-like liquid from its shoulder.
This incident caused a great sensation a few years ago, and experts from both China and Japan conducted in-depth research on it, hoping to unravel the mystery of the Akhal-Teke horse.
Chapter 1147 Alzhai Caves (Part 1)
In fact, the Akhal-Teke horse breed has never disappeared; it's just that it's rarely seen in China, or rather, it has simply disappeared in China.
In Turkmenistan and Russia, there are relatively large populations of Akhal-Teke horses, totaling more than two thousand. However, locally, the so-called "Akhal-Teke horse" is called the Akhal-Teke horse.
The Akhal-Teke horse that the Turkmen president presented to the Chinese leader, mentioned earlier, is one of Turkmenistan's two national treasures and is often given as a gift to important figures abroad.
Although it has been difficult to see Akhal-Teke horses on Chinese soil for thousands of years, their influence on Chinese horse breeds has continued since the time of Emperor Wu of Han, and its significance is profound.
Yili in Xinjiang is known as the "place to soar over Kunlun and traverse the westernmost point," and it is also the hometown of the heavenly horse.
According to historical records, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, foreign countries presented Wusun horses as tribute. Emperor Wu, seeing that these horses were handsome and upright, named them "Tianma" (Heavenly Horse). Later, someone presented Ferghana horses from the Western Regions, so he renamed the Wusun horses "Xijima" (Western Extreme Horse) and called the Ferghana horses "Tianma" (Heavenly Horse). The "Tianma" and "Xijima" mentioned here are the ancestors of the Ili Kazakh horse. The Ili horse is handsome, robust, and disease-resistant, and is one of the excellent horse breeds cultivated in my country.
This means that among the finest horse breeds in China, there are bloodlines of the Akhal-Teke horse, or directly, they are descendants of the Akhal-Teke horse.
Therefore, since the 1970s and 1980s, Chinese animal research experts have been conducting research on Akhal-Teke horses. The discovery of Akhal-Teke horses in Xinjiang caused a great sensation in China.
However, because Japanese scholar Hayato Shimizu only produced photographs and failed to capture the Akhal-Teke horse, although relevant research institutions subsequently organized teams to travel to Xinjiang and other areas, they found no trace of the horse, and the matter was ultimately dropped.
Batel looked enviously at the Wind Chaser grazing leisurely in the distance and said to Zhuang Rui, "Brother Zhuang, I reckon your horse is a descendant of the Akhal-Teke horses that the cavalry regiment introduced in the 1950s. Back then, people didn't know the harm crossbreeding could do to Akhal-Teke horses, so they lent the horses to many herders for breeding, which led to the Akhal-Teke horses eventually disappearing from the country..."
"Hmm? Brother Batel, crossbreeding only dilutes the bloodline of the Akhal-Teke horse, so why do you still say that this horse is a descendant of that horse from back then?"
Batel's words puzzled Zhuang Rui. If crossbreeding would make Akhal-Teke horses impure, how could he claim that his horse was a descendant of those horses?
Batel scratched his head and said, "Brother Zhuang, back then the cavalry regiment was in Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia. There were still many wild horses on the Mongolian grasslands. I estimate that Chasing Wind is a descendant of Akhal-Teke and Mongolian wild horses, but I don't know why it completely retained the bloodline of Akhal-Teke..."
Although Batel knows a lot about horses, he doesn't know much about complex things like genetics and lineage, and can only give a rough guess.
Batel, a straightforward man, even felt a little envious of Zhuang Rui's good fortune. As a grassland man who loves horses, who could remain unmoved by such a magnificent horse?
"Hehe, Chasing the Wind is a gift from heaven, who cares where it came from..."
Zhuang Rui smiled and shook his head. These eggs are delicious, so there's no need to get to know the hen that laid them, is there? It's good that Zhui Feng is an Akhal-Teke horse, but even if it isn't, Zhuang Rui believes it must be the fastest horse in the world.
Regardless of what Zhuang Rui didn't know at the moment, Zhuifeng was not only the fastest horse in the world, but its value also far exceeded his imagination.
In modern society, the horses that were originally used for conquering battlefields have long been retired and put to rest. However, horseback riding has developed into a sport and is loved by nobles from various countries.
Many wealthy people abroad have dedicated horse farms in their homes, employ professional horse trainers, and spend hundreds of millions or even tens of millions of dollars to purchase purebred horses. This is a more expensive and high-end activity than owning yachts and luxury cars, and it is truly a sport for the rich.
Many newly emerging aristocrats in China are now involved in horse racing. However, due to limited resources, they purchase horses and board them at professional horse farms. They only ride horses to relax and unwind on weekends or during their free time.
In fact, not many people understand horses. Even wealthy people only have a superficial understanding of them. These days, those who know how to raise horses can't afford to play with them, while those who can spend a lot of money to play with horses don't understand them. As a result, horse farms and clubs have emerged to cater specifically to these bosses.
Because of the pursuit of these wealthy people, the price of famous horses is getting more and more expensive. Ancient and excellent horse breeds like Akhal-Teke are also sought after by the rich. Ordinary Akhal-Teke horses cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and if the breed is pure, it is not uncommon for them to sell for tens of millions of dollars.
A horse like Zhui Feng, with its physique and flawless coat, would fetch an incredibly high price if it were to enter the horse market.
Of course, Zhuang Rui would never sell Zhui Feng. He had a deep and inseparable bond with every animal he kept at home.
Animals possess the purest and most sensitive minds; they can sense if you harbor ill intentions.
"Brother Batel is the best horse trainer on our grasslands, yet he didn't even touch a hair on this horse. Zhuang Rui'an, how did you manage to tame this horse?"
The straightforward Timur finally asked the question that he had been holding back for a long time.
In Timur's mind, Batel was the best rider and horse trainer, but Zhuang Rui had done what Batel had not. Timur had been wondering how Zhuang Rui had tamed Zhui Feng.
"By the way, where's my little white car..."
Just now, everyone was surprised by Zhuang Rui's face covered in "blood" and the wind chasing behind him. No one had forgotten the white horse that Zhuang Rui had ridden first. At this moment, Wu Yun Qiqi suddenly remembered that the little girl had a deep affection for the white horse, and her voice was already trembling with tears.
"Cough cough..."
Zhuang Rui was immediately embarrassed upon hearing this. He had only been focused on his own enjoyment of running and had forgotten about Xiao Bai. At the speed of Chasing the Wind, he would have left Xiao Bai at least tens of kilometers behind.
"Um... Xiaobai is behind us, she should be here soon..."
Zhuang Rui's words lacked confidence, and he continued, "Among those wild horses, there are many white horses, Qiqige, how about your brother Zhuang Rui picks out a nice one for you?"
"No, I want Little White..."