Chapter 89

Lu Zheng was riding on the back of Little White when he noticed that Little White had suddenly stopped moving. He didn’t know what trick Little White was about to play to throw him off, so he still clung tightly to Little White’s mane, hugging the horse’s back tightly, not daring to move an inch.

"Foolish boy, this White Dragon Colt has already recognized you as its master. Why are you still lying on it?"

Lu Zheng lifted his head and saw his teacher, Mr. Le, and Xin'er standing in a line. The setting sun cast a golden glow on their figures. Mr. Le was smiling, and it was he who had just spoken. Lu Zheng didn’t know when they had arrived.

Seeing the sunset, Lu Zheng realized it was almost dark. From noon until now, he hadn’t realized he had been struggling with Little White for the entire afternoon.

Hearing Mr. Le say that Little White had recognized him as its master, Lu Zheng finally breathed a sigh of relief. He tried to dismount, but as he leaned to one side, he slid off Little White. After a long day of struggling with Little White, he was completely exhausted and had no strength left.

Seeing this, Le Zhongping knew that Lu Zheng was too weak to dismount, so he immediately went over and caught him. Lu Zheng was so exhausted that he had already fallen into a deep sleep when Le Zhongping carried him. Le Zhongping smiled and said, "Finally, he just fell asleep!" Then, in a flash, he carried Lu Zheng back to the Spring Planting Cottage.

After settling Lu Zheng, Le Zhongping returned to the Heaven and Earth Pavilion. Li Yi had already prepared the tea and was waiting for him. As Le Zhongping appeared, Li Yi gently pushed the cup of tea toward him, and a refreshing fragrance of orchids filled the air, elegant and soothing.

Le Zhongping took a sip and said, "Is this a rare orchid? What a wonderful tea! I didn’t expect Lu Zheng to tame this White Dragon Colt so quickly. His progress is faster than I imagined. In fact, his progress has always been beyond our expectations. He truly has a remarkable background, to be able to learn the method of discerning truth from form from this White Dragon Colt!"

Li Yi also poured himself a cup, holding it in his hands and savoring the aroma. "The way of heaven and earth is reflected in all things. Otherwise, those two sentences wouldn’t be written at the entrance of the Sun and Moon Cottage."

Le Zhongping said, "Yes, looking at his movements just now, if it weren’t for the suppression of his six senses, he might have already entered the realm of self-awareness! But let’s not talk about Lu Zheng for now. Did you see her on your trip to the Wushan Spirit Land today? Has she really entered the realm of ineffability?"

Le Zhongping hesitated when he mentioned the word "her," his face showing great concern.

Li Yi didn’t even lift his eyelids, simply saying, "No."

"No? You saw her?" Le Zhongping was surprised, sounding a bit anxious. "Is she well? Uh, if there’s anything wrong with her, don’t mention it... Since it wasn’t her, then who broke the illusion array and entered the thatched cottage? Did you see her in person? Did you talk to her about it?"

Li Yi, annoyed, said, "What do you mean 'since it wasn’t her'? Your words are all over the place. Which one do you really want to ask?"

Le Zhongping’s face turned red, and he coughed deliberately. "Alright, alright, I won’t interrupt. You tell me."

Li Yi, seeing this, knew what Le Zhongping was thinking. He took a sip of tea and said slowly, "She’s fine, so you can rest assured! Why don’t you have the courage to go yourself?"

Le Zhongping paced around for a bit, muttering, "She’s fine, that’s good." He was usually straightforward, but today he was unusually hesitant. He repeated it twice, then suddenly saw Li Yi looking at him and quickly coughed a few times. "Cough, cough... Well, let’s put this aside for now. Zhongping, if that’s the case, doesn’t it mean that a master of the realm of ineffability has appeared in the cultivation world, and is targeting Lu Zheng? What are we going to do?"

Li Yi said calmly, "Since the other party is already in the realm of ineffability, there’s nothing we can do to stop them. The only thing we can do is... nothing! If it’s beyond our capabilities, no amount of planning will help. Even the Sun and Moon Cottage can’t stop them. We can’t keep the great array of heaven and earth open all the time, can we?"

Le Zhongping almost fell over, saying, "Zhongping, it’s hard to believe you can say that with such a calm expression!"

Li Yi raised an eyebrow. "What calm expression? What expression?"

Le Zhongping pretended not to hear, quickly adopting a thoughtful look. "It seems this tribulation is far more complicated than we imagined. This kind of mental and emotional strain makes me want to change my clothes!"

Li Yi, seeing his lack of seriousness, huffed coldly.

Le Zhongping forced a smile. "Just a joke, I’m thinking about Lu Zheng! The rumors about the Three Teachings Child are already widespread in the cultivation world. Although the old Taoist and the old monk are here, there won’t be any major trouble for now. But I suspect the person spreading the rumors has a different purpose. He wants everyone to know about the existence of the Three Teachings Child, planting this variable in people’s minds. When the time is right, just the appearance of a Three Teachings Child will attract countless hearts!"

Li Yi, hearing this, frowned and pondered. "What you say is the most likely scenario. As for the rumors... I heard he has a new disciple? It seems he’s not idle."

Le Zhongping, understanding that Li Yi was referring to the person in Danci Mountain, his face changed. "You suspect he’s the one spreading the rumors? But given his character, he wouldn’t do something like that, would he?"

But after saying this, both fell silent for a while. Li Yi took a sip of tea and sighed. "The tea today is really bitter!"

Lu Zheng woke up the next day at noon, the sun already high in the sky. Realizing he had overslept, he quickly got up and washed up. When he rushed to the Quzhit Pavilion, his teacher and the others had already started their lunch.

Lu Zheng hurriedly bowed. "I overslept, please punish me, teacher." But Li Yi didn’t punish him; he just had him sit down and eat.

As he sat down, Xin'er looked at Lu Zheng with admiration. Lu Zheng was a bit puzzled, then remembered that he had tamed Little White the day before. He felt excited, thinking about finishing his meal quickly to go see Little White. He even thought to himself, "Now I can really tease Little White a bit!"

Finally, after the teacher finished eating, Lu Zheng helped Xin'er water the flowers in the garden, then rushed to the training ground with her.

When they entered the training ground, they saw Little White eating grass from a distance. Hearing their footsteps, Little White lifted its head and, seeing Lu Zheng, ran over quickly.

Seeing Little White run over, Lu Zheng was delighted. He ran up to Little White, hugged its neck, and stroked it, saying, "Little White, Little White, where will you run now? Xin'er, come over, Little White is so smooth!"

As he spoke, Little White suddenly let out a loud neigh and a big, smelly fart. The smell was so pungent that Lu Zheng almost vomited his lunch. He quickly covered his nose and ran back. Turning around, he saw Xin'er approaching and shouted, "Don’t come over, it’s dangerous!" He then covered his mouth and nose. Xin'er, not understanding, was pulled back by Lu Zheng as he ran away.

Little White, being hugged by Lu Zheng, didn’t understand why he suddenly let go and ran. Since it had recognized Lu Zheng as its master, it naturally followed him. But as it ran, it let out another series of loud farts.

Lu Zheng and Xin'er had already stopped a short distance away, waiting for the smell to dissipate. Suddenly, they saw Little White running toward them, still farting. Lu Zheng was so scared that he ran even further away.

Lu Zheng didn’t dare run into the training ground, as Little White would catch up quickly. Instead, he ran toward the exit. Little White, thinking Lu Zheng was playing a chasing game, followed happily, farting all the way.

Fortunately, they had only just entered the training ground, and Little White didn’t chase them with full force. They managed to run out and hide in the Heaven and Earth Pavilion. Le Zhongping was drinking tea when he saw the two of them run in, Xin'er fanning her nose, and Lu Zheng patting his chest, saying, "Phew! Phew! We finally escaped!"

Le Zhongping, puzzled, asked, "What happened to you two?"

Lu Zheng, with a pained expression, said, "Mr. Le, I finally understand your expression when we fed Little White beans! Little White’s farts are so smelly, they drove us back here!"

Le Zhongping finally understood why they were so disheveled and couldn’t help but laugh loudly. Xin'er, frowning, said indignantly, "Uncle Le, you’re still laughing? This is all your fault. You knew and didn’t warn us. That naughty Little White, how could it... how could it... " She was too shy to say the word "fart."

Lu Zheng complained, "Mr. Le, how long will Little White keep farting?"

Le Zhongping, holding his stomach, still laughing, said, "I don’t know, but I advise you not to go to the training ground for the next few days. You don’t want to be killed by the smell, hahaha."

Little White’s farts lasted for four whole days. As the king of horses, its farts were indeed extraordinary. For these four days, Lu Zheng and Xin'er would stand at the entrance of the training ground, and as soon as a breeze blew, they would run away, covering their noses and laughing.

On the fifth day, Little White finally stopped farting. Lu Zheng and Xin'er cautiously entered the training ground and found Little White. Lu Zheng stroked Little White’s neck and said to Xin'er, "Now I know, horse farts are not a good thing!" This made Xin'er laugh even more.

In the following days, Lu Zheng continued to practice archery and play with Little White. He had tamed Little White as his teacher had instructed, but he felt a bit guilty. Reflecting on it, he had used many tricks to tame the horse, and although he now genuinely considered Little White a friend, he had almost thought of himself as a horse. In the end, he had used the methods he learned from Little White to tame it, which made him feel a bit ashamed.

Therefore, Lu Zheng treated Little White very well, taking great care of it. He often fetched water to wash Little White, brushed it clean with a large brush, and took it for walks around the Sun and Moon Cottage with Xin'er.

Occasionally, Xin'er would pick half-wilted flowers and place them on Little White’s head. Little White, being the king of horses, was naturally unwilling and would often neigh in protest, shaking its head to shake off the flowers. But it would always be scolded by Lu Zheng and eventually had to comply.

After taming Little White, Lu Zheng remembered Mr. Le’s criticism and practiced the zither whenever he had free time. His finger techniques were now proficient, and his heart was in tune with the music, making his playing very good.

One day, while playing the zither, Lu Zheng suddenly thought of Little White’s rhythmic hoofbeats and incorporated them into his music. He didn’t simply mimic the sound of hooves but integrated the rhythm and the unique, lively sound of Little White’s gallop into the music.

After practicing a few times, he managed to create a piece of music that he found satisfactory. He then played it for Xin'er. After listening to the piece and hearing its origin, Xin'er’s eyes widened in admiration. She said, "Big brother, the music is so beautiful! How did you think of creating a piece from Little White’s hoofbeats? You’re so clever!"

She was also very happy for Lu Zheng, thinking to herself, "Big brother isn’t that stupid after all!" Xin'er had started learning the zither earlier than Lu Zheng, but her progress was much slower.

Lu Zheng scratched his head, about to answer, when someone suddenly said, "Was that piece you just played? I never taught you such a piece!"

It was Mr. Le, who had just walked in, wearing a black robe and looking very spirited, but his face was full of surprise.