"The control of the strength is not yet precise enough... If I could shock the body so that not even a drop of water remains and the body dries up instantly, then I would be in the realm of 'not even a feather can be added, not even a fly can land'."
Xue Jing thought to himself as he changed his clothes.
The lunch arranged by Zhu Shanying at noon was not some rare delicacies from land and sea, but was similar to the Canglong Dojo, except that it was better medicinal food.
Ordinary food can hardly meet the nutritional needs of warriors.
After dinner, Zhushan Ying took Xue Jing out of the main house and came to the stable on the left side of the manor.
"Miss."
An old man wearing a cowboy hat and looking about fifty years old stood at the entrance of the stable and spoke to Takeyama Ying respectfully.
"Uncle Bao~" Takeyama Ying also greeted him with a smile.
She glanced at the stables, thought for a moment, and said, "Uncle Bao, please put saddles and reins on Sixty-Six and Shifeng and lead them out."
The old man named Uncle Bao nodded and walked into the stable.
After a long while, he came over leading two tall horses.
One was brown-red, with its four hooves stepping on the snow.
One was pure black, with only a tuft of white hair on its forehead.
"Thank you Uncle Bao~"
Zhu Shanying thanked the old man sweetly, then took the reins of the two horses from the old man and led them to Xue Jing.
"Shhhhhhh—"
The pure black horse with white fur came in front of Xue Jing, snorted, and sniffed at him as if it was smelling something.
Then…
[A creature has developed a favorable impression of you, Charm Experience +28]
Um
Xue Jing had a strange expression on his face as he looked at the black horse in front of him that was almost as tall as him, and reached out to touch its mane.
The latter rubbed his head against Xue Jing, as if in response.
"Oh? 'Shi Feng' seems to like you very much, little brother."
Takeyama Ying laughed and touched the brown-red horse's mane.
"It's a retired racehorse, just like Sixty-Six."
As Takeyama Ying spoke, he stepped on the stirrup of Sixty-Six and climbed onto the horse in a very elegant manner.
Then, she moved her buttocks on the saddle, leaned back a little, stretched out her hand towards Xue Jing, raised her eyebrows and said:
"Come on, little brother, come up, I'll teach you how to ride a horse."
Xue Jing glanced at the hand she extended, shook his head, and rejected her invitation to ride together.
"No, although I've never ridden one before..."
Xue Jing patted Shifeng's head, then grabbed its reins, stepped on the stirrup, and climbed onto the horse.
"But it's not difficult to copy the original."
He sat on the horse, holding the reins, and smiled.
Zhu Shanying pouted, dissatisfaction appeared on her pretty face: "Hey, riding a horse requires skills, you will learn faster if I teach you step by step."
Xue Jing ignored her and tentatively threw the reins and gently clamped his legs under the horse's belly.
After receiving the signal, Shifeng snorted and started moving forward.
"Isn't this easy?" Xue Jing said a little happily.
Zhu Shanying rolled his eyes, pulled the reins, kicked the horse's belly, and caught up with Xue Jing.
"This is not the way ordinary people learn to ride a horse. Giving signals without knowing anything is very dangerous."
She pouted.
Xue Jing nodded: "I understand."
The reason why he dared to ride directly on the horse was because with his strength, he was confident that even if any problems arose, he could solve them easily.
Although Zhu Shanying was a little disappointed that he was unable to teach his junior apprentice how to ride a horse, he still taught him:
"Hold the rope with your hands all the time and don't let go..."
"When turning, swing left and right gently, without too much force..."
As they talked, the two men rode out of the back door of the manor and came to the back mountain of the northern city.
There is a fairly large grassland here, which is very suitable for horse racing.
Under the guidance of Zhushan Ying, with Xue Jing's learning ability at that time, and the confidence brought by his strong strength, he dared to try various bold operations. He quickly became familiar with riding a horse, driving the food wind, and galloping on the grass.
Takeyama Eiya followed beside him on his Sixty-Six.
Xue Jing was immersed in the joy of horse riding. He turned his head to look at Senior Sister Zhu and inexplicably felt that the scene was a little familiar.
You are the wind and I am the sand...
Xue Jing shook his head to dispel the BGM that suddenly sounded in his mind.
Half an hour later, as Xue Jing became more and more proficient, a prompt suddenly popped up on the skill panel.
[Conditions have been met, activate skill: Riding]
[Riding Lv1 (0/300)]
Xue Jing pulled the reins back, and Shifeng immediately raised his front legs and stopped with a hissing sound.
"It's activated..."
He touched Shifeng's mane under his crotch and nodded.
As he expected, the act of 'riding' was apparently considered a skill.
Xue Jing carefully felt the bonus brought to him by the newly activated skill.
"Hmm... balance?"
Xue Jing said a little uncertainly.
He sat on the horse's back, and compared to before, he felt more comfortable, as if he was sitting on flat ground.
"And... a sense of direction."
He looked to the left, and without a single doubt in his mind, he instantly concluded that this was the 'northwest direction'.
"It's interesting. This may not be the whole story... It's just a temporary and noticeable change."
Xue Jing pinched his chin with one hand and was about to throw the reins to make Shi Feng change direction.
But before he could make any move, Shi Feng turned his head automatically and headed in the direction he was thinking of.
Xue Jing was stunned.
"Shhhhhhh—"
The food wind made a slight sound.
Xue Jing inexplicably sensed some of its emotions.
I seem a little tired and a little thirsty...
"Hmm? What is this? Human-horse fusion? Telepathy?"
Xue Jing blinked.
"Junior Brother—"
In the distance, Zhushan Ying was riding Sixty-Six towards him. When he got close, he pulled the reins to stop the horse.
"Why did you stop?"
She inquired.
Xue Jing thought for a moment and said with a smile: "Senior Sister, I think Shi Feng and Liu Liu should be tired, let's go back."
"Ah? You're not riding anymore?" Takeyama Ying was a little disappointed.
There were very few people who could go horseback riding with her, and now she was having a great time and didn’t want to go back.
"Let's ride tomorrow. I think riding a horse is quite interesting. If you are willing, I will accompany you often."
Seeing her look, Xue Jing tried to comfort her.
"Really? That's what you said." Takeyama Ying said happily.
…
At around five o'clock in the afternoon, Xue Jing returned to his home in Zhushan Ying's car.
As soon as I opened the door, I saw Maomao sitting on the sofa in the living room watching TV.
"Teacher Wan, why didn't you cook today?"
Xue Jing walked into the house, closed the door, and smiled while changing his shoes.
Maomao glanced at him with her emerald pupils and said with a curled lip:
"You still need me to cook? I see you're quite happy eating your free lunch."
"How can that be possible? Soft rice is not as delicious as the food you cook."
Xue Jing hung Futu on the wall, walked to the sofa, sat down, and rubbed the cat's head.
"Besides, what is a gigolo? It's just a visit to a fellow senior sister's house... and you're jealous of her?"
Xue Jing smiled.
Maomao rolled his eyes: "Who is jealous of you? Stop talking nonsense."
The cat's tail with the tail ring swayed gently. The cat stretched out its paw and licked it, then raised its head and hummed softly:
"Even though we... lived like that, you're still just my owner, not anyone else... I don't mind if you want to be with anyone."
"But that little girl..." Maomao's eyes showed a thoughtful look.
"Her identity is very mysterious. Even Old Man Li doesn't know much about her family's situation. He only knows that she is from the first metropolitan area."
Xue Jing was a little surprised: "The first metropolitan area?"
After the Eternal Night War, the administrative divisions of the Xia Dynasty were greatly changed and divided into nine metropolitan areas.
The urban agglomerations are far apart from each other, and the area in between is a "buffered zone" formed by a series of intersections. Transportation is very inconvenient, and even airplanes find it difficult to pass through.
Therefore, there is very little communication between urban areas, and they basically maintain a considerable degree of autonomy, and are only governed by the "Cang Ting" located in the central government.
The vast majority of ordinary people will never be able to leave the urban circle to which they belong in their entire life.
The First Metropolitan Circle and the Fifth Metropolitan Circle where Xue Jing is located are located in the north and south respectively, and are very far apart.
To get here from the first metropolitan area, one has to cross countless borders, which is an extremely dangerous thing...
"I specifically asked Old Man Li about this. Every year, the girl's family comes here from the First Metropolitan Area to live for a while. Do you know what this means?"
Maomao said meaningfully.
"Either her family has an absolute security force that can travel through many border areas without any hindrance, or her family controls a 'special route' that can safely come here from the First Metropolitan Area..."
"Whichever possibility it is, it means that her family possesses extraordinary energy."
"There are many rules in a family like this. If you want to be their son-in-law, you must be prepared."
At the end, Ning Fengwan's tone couldn't help but become a little sour.
Xue Jing heard it, but just shook his head and smiled:
"What are you talking about? Senior Sister Zhu and I are just ordinary senior sister and junior brother."
Maomao hummed, "But that little girl probably doesn't think so."
"She is no longer a child. She would invite a man to her home alone. Her purpose cannot be simple."
A complex expression appeared on the cat's face in a very anthropomorphic way.
"Actually... if you could really have something with her and get the protection of her family, I wouldn't have to worry about you."