The Horse

The soldiers now numbered 600, not including those who had fallen killing skeletons at the Great Rift or those assigned to defensive duties; if all were counted, there were 720 soldiers in total. Their strength had increased significantly, but it was still not enough to face the 5,000-strong Orc Tribe.

Zhao Fu had Bai Qi drill the 300 newly joined soldiers thoroughly at Great Qin Village for a few days, while he himself continued to lead men to explore the Terror Forest.

Over these past few days, Zhao Fu had finished exploring a twenty-mile radius around Great Qin Village without discovering a single village, though he did find a small iron mine. No other resources were found, which left Zhao Fu feeling a little disappointed. After resting at Great Qin Village, he took 600 soldiers and began exploring the area beyond the twenty-mile mark.

Little Gray continued to sniff the ground. Having found nothing for several days, Little Gray was under a lot of pressure, while Zhao Fu followed closely by its side.

"Whimper..."

Little Gray suddenly caught a scent, let out a few low growls at Zhao Fu, and waited for his command. Once Zhao Fu gave the order, it immediately bolted forward.

Zhao Fu led his men in pursuit.

After running for a while, Zhao Fu felt a surge of joy, for he had discovered hoofprints on the ground. He had been searching for signs of horses from the very beginning, and after such a long time, he had finally found a trace.

Zhao Fu followed Little Gray with excitement, eventually discovering a dozen horses in a flat meadow. These horses were tall and powerful, their bodies pitch-black, even their manes and tails were pure black, but their eyes had a slight greenish tint, giving them an eerie appearance.

After a brief inspection, Zhao Fu obtained information about this breed of horse.

[Black Forest Horse] Introduction: A type of horse that lives in the forest, possessing great stamina and excellent at crossing obstacles.

After reading the information, Zhao Fu felt these horses were well-suited to be warhorses. Now, the challenge was taming them. Zhao Fu considered using the method he had used to capture the Green Ox, but realized it was unsuitable.

First, these dozen horses were treasures; second, horse legs were not as sturdy as those of an ox, and horses ran very fast when startled. Using the method for the Green Ox would easily result in crippling them.

After much thought, he decided to use the traditional old method: using lassos to catch them by the neck. This was the most common method in the real world and the one that best protected the horses.

However, this required some skill. Seeing that the dozen Black Forest Horses had not yet noticed his group, Zhao Fu selected a dozen soldiers with better agility to practice first.

He had to rely on these few men; if he sent too many, they would likely be discovered. One should never underestimate any creature.

After ten minutes of training!

The dozen soldiers held their ropes, lowered their bodies, and crept forward. The plan went smoothly, but when it came time to throw the lassos, things did not go well. The Black Forest Horses were too alert; they only managed to snare eight, while seven remained free.

Once startled, the horses bolted to the side at high speed. The eight snared horses also tried to flee, their strength so immense they nearly dragged the soldiers along. Fortunately, there were other soldiers nearby who hadn't thrown their ropes; working in pairs, they pulled hard on the ropes, barely managing to slow the Black Forest Horses down, though they were still being dragged along.

The strength of these Black Forest Horses was truly immense. Zhao Fu immediately ordered the others to step in and help, while he mounted Little Gray. Little Gray's physique was now like that of a tiger, possessing enough strength to carry Zhao Fu as he ran.

Having finally encountered horses, Zhao Fu certainly did not want to let the others escape.

Zhao Fu rode on Little Gray's back, clutching its body. Little Gray was fast and possessed a keen nose, allowing them to chase wildly along the scent left by the Black Forest Horses.

After a while!

Zhao Fu signaled for Little Gray to stop, as he heard the sound of many horses neighing ahead. This delighted Zhao Fu, and he crept forward to take a look.

Before him lay a meadow nearly 6,000 meters wide, where over 300 Black Forest Horses were frolicking and chasing one another. What pleased Zhao Fu most was that in the center of the meadow stood a platform built of stone bricks, with a horse-shaped stone carving atop it—this was a nest.

Immediately!

Zhao Fu rode Little Gray back to bring all his soldiers to the location. When Bai Qi saw so many Black Forest Horses, he couldn't help but say happily, "The time has come for Great Qin to form a cavalry!"

Zhang Dahu laughed heartily and said, "I want to find a warhorse of my own."

However, Zhang Dahu's voice was a bit too loud, nearly startling the herd. Everyone's gaze focused on him, and Zhang Dahu scratched his head in embarrassment, signaling that he would be more careful next time.

Liu Mei also leaned in excitedly and said, "I want to find a horse for myself too!"

With so many Black Forest Horses discovered at once, everyone was quite excited. The next step was how to capture this herd. Although Zhao Fu had many men, they couldn't just charge out directly.

If they charged out like that, the Black Forest Horse herd would certainly attack. Zhao Fu's side would be forced to fight back and kill the herd, which was not the outcome he wanted. Furthermore, these 300-plus Black Forest Horses were not 300 Gray Wolves.

If such a large herd charged, it would be dangerous, and Zhao Fu's side would certainly suffer many casualties.

His gaze shifted to the area beneath the nest, where a horse twice the size of the others stood—pitch-black, strong, and powerful, with a small, several-inch-long horn on its head. This was the Black Forest Horse King.

For most gregarious creatures, controlling the leader meant controlling the entire herd, but the Black Forest Horse King was currently staying within the herd and would not come out. There was nothing he could do about it.

Perhaps!

He could find a way to lure it out. As Zhao Fu pondered, he set his sights on Little Gray. He reached out and rubbed its head. Little Gray, innocent and unaware that Zhao Fu was plotting against it, just rubbed against him comfortably.

Zhao Fu said with a faint smile, "Little Gray! Why don't you go over and provoke the Black Forest Horse King? Make it have a duel between kings with you, and lure it out."

Hearing Zhao Fu's words, Little Gray immediately backed away a few steps, looking unwilling. Although Little Gray was quite formidable as a Gray Wolf King, facing 300-plus Black Forest Horses alone was clearly a losing battle—a suicidal act. It wasn't that foolish.

Seeing this, Zhao Fu chuckled, took out a small medicine bottle, poured out two Small Spirit Pills, walked over, fed them to Little Gray, and rubbed its head to persuade it. "Don't worry! If there is any danger, just retreat. I won't let you get hurt."

Little Gray swallowed the two Small Spirit Pills, thought for a moment after hearing Zhao Fu's words, and then reluctantly agreed. It leaped up and ran toward the Black Forest Horse herd from the other side.

"Awoooo!"

Little Gray's high-pitched howl echoed for thousands of meters. Then, it assumed the domineering posture of a wolf king and walked toward the Black Forest Horse herd.