chapter 14

“Horse riding, at its simplest form, has three parts . ”

Wang Jian said from atop his maroon horse, showing her the various rein positions and postures .

Although he may seem easily distracted, when it comes to serious matters, that clumsiness is quickly washed away .

“The first is attitude . Being humble with your horse is the path to familiarizing yourself with it . The second is control, such as forward, back, and turn . The third is urging the horse . It involves charging, leaping, and sprinting . If you can master these three techniques, horse riding will become an intuitive matter . Let’s practice the first one . Get on your horse . ”

Gu Nan tightly clenched Blackie’s reins . She nervously eyed the strong hooves that could cripple her in an instant .

I know I should be gentle . But with this temperamental horse, I might very well spend the rest of my life on the hospital bed!

Seeing Gu Nan’s hesitation, Bai Qi smiled slightly . “Nan’er, get on and try it . I, Ghost Valley, and Little Jian are all here . This horse can’t hurt you . ”

Ugh . It seems I really have to get on now .

Gu Nan smiled at her terrible luck . Patting Blackie’s head, she whispered, “Blackie, think about that grass I gave you, I’m begging you to cooperate with me now . ”

“Hahaha . ” With his superb senses, Ghost Valley chuckled and shook his head . This is the first time he’s seen anyone try to bribe a horse .

He patted Bai Qi’s shoulders consolingly . “Bai Qi, you need to work on your disciple’s courage . ”

Bai Qi returned with a glare . “Enough of your nonsense . ”

Gu Nan took Blackie’s reins and stepped onto an elevated box . Biting her teeth, she closed her eyes and jumped on the horse in one motion .

To her amazement, balancing wasn’t as difficult as expected . It felt sturdy and unmoving . Blackie was standing deliberately still, the four legs anchored to the ground, without a slight twitch .

The three onlookers felt somewhat astounded .

…

Although she’s still a bit timid, she’s quickly acclimating herself .

“Hm, next is control . ” Wang Jian sat on his horse and shook the reins, slowly moving a few steps forward .

“Do as I did . ”

With Blackie’s cooperation, it allowed her to finally generate enough courage to press on .

Twisting the reins in her hands, she shook it .

No response .

Unbelievably, Blackie did not budge in the slightest .

Gu Nan’s forehead turned black, and she leaned forward to the horse’s ear . “Blackie, I’ll send over a couple more bundles of the freshest grass . Just leave me a bit of face . ”

Blackie rolled his eyes .

Gu Nan must be the first person to train a horse by talking to it . Even Bai Qi’s stern face unveiled a slight smile .

“It’s because your posture isn’t right and handling isn’t right . From how you’re doing it, the horse wouldn’t feel a thing . ”

Gu Nan adjusted her posture and sat up with a new confidence .

Pulling the reins again, she gave it another shake . “Go . ”

The technique was still wrong, and Bai Qi helplessly sighed .

Wang Jian pulled the reins, ready to demonstrate again .

As she trained the last couple days, he’s been keeping a close watch on her . From this, he witnessed her visible improvements in both warfare and swordsmanship .

He would listen to the lectures between her and Bai Qi . But, even though she’s only recently started on the study of strategy, she’s always able to give a profound, witty remark . It’s ridiculous to think that she learned the Art of War in three months .

He started to think she was talented in every aspect, but now it seems that even she has some weak areas as well .

“Miss Gu, please look, the reins should be like this . ” He calmly prepared to explain again .

But the next moment, he saw that the dark horse under her actually move .

“This—” Wang Jian could hardly believe what he was seeing .

Even Ghost Valley and Bai Qi felt sluggish .

Gu Nan’s technique is obviously very wrong, rather it’s more like flailing the reins . Her technique hasn’t improved, but she got the horse to move?

After some thought, they decided on an explanation for this phenomenon .

Without a doubt, the reason is not that Gu Nan possesses special talents .

It is because the horse is cooperating with her .

Since she’s naturally leaning left or right, her horse can feel which direction to go .

This horse…

Could it really understand human words?

“Bai Qi, did you pick this horse?” Ghost Valley inquired .

Bai Qi mumbled back, “If I really picked it, would I be so surprised?”

Gu Nan sat up and laughed . “Ha, when I brought this horse back, I told you it was special . Since I’ve treated it so well, it naturally knows . ”

Can horses attain human intelligence?

No one knows . All of the people present are all familiar with horses, and each highly values their own . Every so often, they personally scrub and clean them, but they’ve never tried to speak to them .

But they all realized that although they’ve been with their horses for a long time, their relationships are much different from that of Gu Nan and Blackie .

There is a lack of understanding . Thereby, communication is impossible .

Wang Jian frowned . He looked at Gu Nan’s dark horse and then down at his own horse . He stretched out his hand and gently patted his horse’s neck .

The horse let out a column of air, as if responding to him .

Bai Qi stepped forward and pulled down the smug Gu Nan from atop her horse .

Everyone is smart enough to know that it’s all because of her horse that she’s doing so well . If she kept having such an easy time, she’ll probably never truly learn anything .

Bai Qi gave her a chop to the head and said, “Go take my horse and use it from now on . ”

“Fine . ” She rubbed her head and stepped back .

Bai Qi was left glancing back at that black horse and smiling to himself .

This girl has such good luck .