At Little Gray's howl, the entire herd of Black Forest Horses stopped and turned to look at him.
"Awoo..."
Little Gray growled softly, challenging the Black Forest Horse King.
Faced with Little Gray's challenge, the Black Forest Horse King gracefully rose from beneath its nest and fixed its gaze on him. It let out a long whinny, and just as Zhao Fu thought the plan was about to succeed...
The Black Forest Horse King didn't move. Instead, the more than three hundred Black Forest Horses charged at Little Gray as if they'd received a command. The ground seemed to tremble beneath their hooves, and their momentum was astonishing.
Little Gray bolted in fright. Fortunately, he'd been prepared and was fast; otherwise, he would certainly have been trampled into a pulp.
When Little Gray returned to Zhao Fu's side, he let out several aggrieved growls. Zhao Fu smiled awkwardly, poured out another Small Spirit Pill to comfort him, and admitted that this plan had failed too.
Now they could only think of another approach. Zhao Fu fell into deep thought. After a while, he looked at Little Gray again. Having been tricked once already, Little Gray grew wary at once and tried to run away.
Zhao Fu couldn't help laughing. He grabbed Little Gray by the tail and said, "Little Gray! What are you running for? Don't worry, you won't have to do anything this time. You just need to be the commander."
Then Zhao Fu told Little Gray the plan. After hearing him out, Little Gray gave several relieved barks to show that he agreed.
The plan was this: besides Little Gray, Zhao Fu had brought six ordinary Gray Wolves along. This time, he'd have Little Gray direct them to pretend to attack the Black Forest Horses, then gradually lure the herd out.
The others also made their preparations and formed a surrounding ring. Once everything was ready, they began.
"Awooo! Awooo! Awooo!"
Six Gray Wolves charged out of the forest, looking as if they were about to attack. The Black Forest Horses saw the wolves coming but didn't take them seriously. Naturally, all three hundred of them weren't going to attack six wolves at once; only a little over twenty Black Forest Horses broke away and charged at them.
The Gray Wolves sensibly turned and ran. The twenty-odd Black Forest Horses chased them for a bit. When they saw the wolves fleeing in fear, they were about to give up and return to the herd.
"Awooo! Awooo! Awooo!"
The Gray Wolves stopped and howled. Then they put on a fierce look, turned around, and charged at the twenty-odd Black Forest Horses as if they meant to bite them to death. Provoked by the wolves, the horses charged at them again, determined to trample them flat.
When the Black Forest Horses charged, the wolves turned and ran once more, looking absolutely sly.
A little while later!
The horses were extremely fast, and now they were running at full speed in a fury. They gradually caught up with the wolves that had fled first.
Just then, several lariats flew out of the grass on one side and looped around the necks of the Black Forest Horses. Caught by the ropes, the horses immediately panicked and tried to run off to the side to break free.
But the soldiers who'd thrown the lariats quickly tied the ropes to trees.
Suddenly!
Three Black Forest Horses that hadn't been caught charged out, trying to escape. The next second, countless lariats flew toward them and tightly snared the two horses.
Having captured more than twenty Black Forest Horses, Zhao Fu was pleased. Once the horses were exhausted, they could begin taming them.
They continued using the same method!
The Gray Wolves howled again and charged out of the forest. The Black Forest Horses weren't smart enough to wonder where the horses that had gone before were. They simply sent another twenty-odd to charge at the wolves.
Another twenty-odd Black Forest Horses were captured. After this method had been used several times, it lost its effectiveness. The more than one hundred remaining horses grew wary. They weren't stupid; after so many of their kind had suddenly disappeared, even they could tell something was wrong.
"Awooo!"
A tremendous wolf howl rang out, and Little Gray emerged from the forest once again. This time, he wasn't running away in a panic like before. Instead, he wore a somewhat humanlike grin and looked rather pleased with himself.
The Black Forest Horse King glared angrily at Little Gray, realizing that he'd been behind what happened earlier.
"Neigh!"
The Black Forest Horse King let out a long whinny and led the charge at Little Gray. It was determined to trample this despicable wolf to death.
Little Gray watched the Black Forest Horse King and the more than one hundred Black Forest Horses charge toward him, then turned tail and ran without a shred of courage. The Black Forest Horse King led the chase.
But the next second!
Lariats flew out and looped around the necks of the Black Forest Horses. A rope also caught around the Black Forest Horse King's neck, sending the whole herd into chaos.
"Neigh!"
The Black Forest Horse King let out a long whinny and leaped high into the air, dragging the five soldiers gripping its rope along with it.
Another lariat landed around the Black Forest Horse King's neck, and Bai Qi joined in. Yet even the five soldiers and Bai Qi were dragged along by the Black Forest Horse King.
"This Black Forest Horse King is incredibly strong!"
More ropes flew out and caught around the Black Forest Horse King's neck. Thirty soldiers, together with Bai Qi and Zhang Dahu, finally managed to stop it.
The Black Forest Horse King was still struggling fiercely against the ropes. Everyone pulled with all their strength, and the two sides were locked in a stalemate.
Zhao Fu left them to it for the moment and dealt with the ordinary Black Forest Horses first. Only after that did he turn his attention to the Black Forest Horse King.
At that moment, the Black Forest Horse King was still struggling with all its might. Zhao Fu didn't rush things. After waiting for several hours, the Black Forest Horse King finally collapsed to the ground, exhausted and panting heavily.
Only then did Zhao Fu walk over and use Taming on it. But the result was the same as when he'd tried to tame Little Gray: the Black Forest Horse King refused to submit.
Just then, Little Gray ran over and rubbed against Zhao Fu, as if he had an idea. Zhao Fu was a little puzzled, but let him give it a try.
Little Gray ran over and growled softly at the Black Forest Horse King. Whatever he said, the Black Forest Horse King simply turned its head aside and acted as if Little Gray weren't there.
Little Gray ran over and struck the Black Forest Horse King on the head several times with his paw. The Black Forest Horse King immediately grew angry and tried to stand up to teach Little Gray a lesson.
Unfortunately, it was already exhausted, and its neck and body were bound by numerous ropes. It was no match for Little Gray. Little Gray left several scratches on its horse face and bit it a few times.
Watching them, Zhao Fu could tell that Little Gray was taking revenge on the Black Forest Horse King for chasing them all the way earlier. Zhao Fu laughed and called Little Gray back, then approached the Black Forest Horse King again. He looked it in the eye, held out his hand, and said, "This is your last chance. If you won't submit to me, I'll have no choice but to kill you!"
Then Zhao Fu used Taming. A beam of light spread from his palm and enveloped the Black Forest Horse King. The Black Forest Horse King stared at Zhao Fu with its green eyes, as if pondering something.