"Neigh! Neigh!"
In early summer, at the start of June, the Alaskan coast was filled with brilliant life. Pale-red low trees and yellow-white wildflowers bloomed together along the azure shore. Bright-feathered birds hopped among the sparse trees too, spreading their wings and taking flight now and then.
A magnificent Jurchen Stallion was grazing on tender grass by the sea with two gentle Yakut mares and two lively little white foals, resting in leisurely ease. Especially that handsome stallion—its clever eyes widened as it raised its head to gaze at the gold-red evening glow, as though it were about to fly into the heavens and become a celestial horse that trod the sea and soared through the air.
"Main God, what a spirited horse! That pose, raising its head to look at the sea with the sunset reflected behind it—it's truly shining, so beautiful!..."
High Priest Chimer cried out in delighted surprise, like a child of one or two hundred jin. He held a charcoal pencil in his hand, looking at the island, the setting sun, and the horse while swiftly drawing on a broad wooden board. Of course, what he drew was not a sketch, but an outline traced in charcoal. Afterward, he would carve the pattern into the wooden board according to that outline, then finally color it carefully with all sorts of pigments. This was the most traditional painting art of the Highland Tribes: carved wooden paintings and murals, abstract and ancient, yet carrying a unique highland charm...
"Mm... Priest master's painting..."
Two steps away, horse keeper Sukeichiro wore his Gold Talisman and secretly glanced at the wooden board, his expression somewhat complicated. He had gone to worship in temples before and had seen those lifelike Buddhist statues and murals, especially the terrifying eighteen levels of hell, which