Chapter 127: The Lost Horse

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“I’m fine, just a bit stiff from kneeling too long,” Master Yu said shakily as he sat down. He had only come back to the academy to visit his teacher, Jing Yuan, but he hadn’t expected the middle-aged man’s authority to be so unyielding.

Hadn’t he been away for over ten years? Was such severity really necessary?

“Uh… kneeling?” Gong Shaoyu looked utterly bewildered.

“That reminds me, Master, is there a particular reason you came back this time?” Gong Shaoyu continued. His teacher had been traveling far and wide; this sudden return surely wasn’t without cause.

“Sigh! I’ve come back for something important,” Master Yu sighed deeply.

“What is it? Is it difficult to handle?”

“Not difficult.”

“Master Yu, you’ve come for the Soul-Calming Umbrella in your hand, haven’t you?” Fubao, chewing on a chicken leg, pointed at the red umbrella beside Master Yu.

“Oh? You know this umbrella?” Master Yu was surprised. How could this young girl know about such a magical artifact?

“The Soul-Calming Umbrella? Isn’t that the treasure of Master Wuneng?” Gu Li also recognized it. Rumor had it that Master Wuneng possessed several magical treasures, though the world knew little of them. The Soul-Calming Umbrella was one of those treasures.

“That’s right. This precious item was obtained by me from Master Wuneng,” Master Yu replied.

“How strange. Why would Master Wuneng give such a treasure to you?” Gong Shaoyu’s question came straight from the soul.

“…That can’t be said, can’t be said,” Master Yu said, refusing to reveal how he had foolishly traded five beauties to Master Wuneng, only to be soundly beaten by the bald monk and bedridden for months. When he was near death, the umbrella was sent to him, with the master saying he was like a steel man and greatly admired him, so he gifted the umbrella.

Aside from being beaten and bedridden for months and not returning those beauties, there wasn’t much loss.

“Ahem—let’s eat. I’m starving,” Master Yu shook off the chaotic thoughts and picked up his chopsticks to eat.

Everyone fell silent.

In the afternoon, Fubao followed the Horse Master to the academy’s back mountain, their natural training ground.

But the red-brown horse in front of her was a bit finicky.

“Oh no, I’m not going! There are so many bugs here, what if tree branches scratch my handsome face? No way, no way!” The once fiery Red Red had grown up and started caring about looks.

“Oh, Red Red, hurry up! Look at how powerful the other horses are,” Fubao tugged hard at the horse’s head.

“Hmph, no! This nibbling and whining isn’t comfortable for me, no deal!” The horse lifted its head in stubborn refusal.

“Come on, come on!”

“No, no, no!”

“Yo, Lin Cenbao can’t control your Red Red again? After all these years, can’t even manage a horse—don’t know if it’s the human or the horse that’s hopeless,” Liu Feier rode in on a pure white horse, flawless and elegant like a scene from a refined painting.

“My Red Red’s just delicate, so what? Unlike you, eating top-quality grass every day—ha! It’s only because you’re fed with special feed,” Fubao retorted.

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“You…”

“So what?”

“…”

“Red Red, let’s go. This is our battlefield,” Fubao pulled the horse’s head and started moving, unwilling to argue. It wasn’t like her father didn’t send her a famous horse, and he even sent her a little black one.

“Hmph, this time I’ll definitely win first place!” Liu Feier clenched her fists, fuming.

...

The academy’s equestrian lessons emphasized practice. The back mountain was their hunting ground. Each class involved hunting practice, combining horsemanship and archery. The mountain was full of traps, and final scores were based on the number of game caught, with prizes for most prey.

“Fubao, why don’t you switch horses? This one…” The Chen family’s young lady watched Fubao circle around on the horse, speechless and worried about how she could win the competition like this.

“It’s fine. You all go ahead, I’ll come soon,” Fubao said, tightly holding the horse’s neck.

“Well… okay, but hurry up so you don’t hold up the competition,” the Chen young lady hesitated.

“Mm-hmm, you go first.”

“Alright.”

With that, the Chen young lady rode her horse into the woods.

“I say, you’re a horse with ambition, but spinning in circles like this is no different from a donkey grinding grain!” Fubao grabbed the horse’s ears and shouted.

Red Red flicked her ears, ignoring her, and kept circling.

“Ugh…” Fubao was helpless, resting her chin on her hands.

Suddenly, a white, fluffy rabbit hopped into sight, utterly adorable.

“Fubao!”

She jumped off the horse and quickly caught the little rabbit in three swift moves.

“Not bad, a catch.”

“Hee hee,” Red Red neighed mischievously.

Fubao turned around and realized—her red-brown horse was gone. Just like that?

“Can Can, hurry! My Red Red is missing!” Fubao yanked the little ginseng figure from her jade pendant, holding the rabbit as she cried.

Of course, three little figures had come out with her as well. How did they all fit inside?

“Don’t panic, let me smell for clues,” the little ginseng said, crouching down.

Fubao “…” That trick hadn’t changed.

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At the same time, Liu Feier found her white horse missing while gathering her game. It seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Liu Feier??? Horse theft?

“Ahhhh! Thief!!” A wail of terror and despair.

Fubao’s Red Red and Liu Feier’s White Lady both gone—two completely unrelated horses disappearing together was a major event. For the Horse Master, it was tantamount to losing a child.

“Is this moral decay or a distortion of human nature, that someone would dare harm such lovely horses?” The Horse Master was unusually sensitive about the incident and delivered a lengthy moral lecture.

They sent people to search the forest, but the competition continued.

Soon, the students noticed more and more horsemen guarding the back mountain, their presence imposing. If Fubao hadn’t accidentally seen Gu Yun mingling among them, she might have believed they were ordinary people. But no, they were all hunters.

...

Fubao and Liu Feier each mounted a small donkey and set off.

“Ah, Red Red, Red Red, why do you run off like that? Losing a horse isn’t the end of the world,” Fubao scolded, tugging the donkey’s ears.

“Fubao, was there anything strange when the horse disappeared? Anything unusual appearing?” Gu Li accompanied Fubao into the forest. Losing a horse was small, but losing a person would be disastrous.

“Hmm… no.”

“Really nothing?”

“A little rabbit appeared. I got off to catch it, and when I looked back, Red Red was gone,” Fubao recalled the rabbit.

“Maybe it fell into a trap,” Gu Li thought of the many traps scattered around.

“Could be.”

“Let’s go check.”

At night, having failed to find Red Red, Fubao roasted a chicken to reward herself for the afternoon’s effort.

Donkey: Haven’t I been the one running all along?

“Your horse is probably in grave danger,” Gu Li added some firewood.

“Really stolen,” the Chen young lady muttered.

“Wuu wuu wuu,” on the other side, Liu Feier cried bitterly.

Seeing Fubao acting as if nothing happened, and Liu Feier sobbing with tears like rain, Gu Li finally understood why the horses were lost—one foolish, one weak.

In fact, Gu Li’s guess was right: Red Red had indeed been lured away by a single banana.