Wang Cai had become increasingly clingy. Now at night, he no longer went to the stables but lay beside Yun Ye’s bed. When getting up at night, one could always see Wang Cai’s large eyes shining brightly.

Na Rimu sat on the bedside, stepping her feet up and down on Wang Cai’s belly. Wang Cai snorted happily. Yun Ye’s hand had just touched Na Rimu’s chest when she pushed him away. Too old to do much extra, this was merely a habit formed over decades.

“Wang Cai is watching!” Na Rimu muttered and shrank her body into the corner.

Looking at Wang Cai who gazed at him innocently, Yun Ye scratched Wang Cai’s ear, sighed, and closed his eyes. Wang Cai’s final days were approaching—everyone in the Yun family knew this clearly. Unable to drink rice wine or thick wine anymore, Wang Cai didn’t have much time left. Often Wang Cai liked to call out a few times toward Longxi, sometimes even walking a few steps in that direction. Others didn’t understand, but Yun Ye knew—Wang Cai wanted to return to that valley… He just couldn’t bear to leave his master, so after walking a few steps, he’d walk back…

Since Wang Cai wanted to die there, Yun Ye felt accompanying his brother on one trip to Longxi was truly a very necessary thing, and this timing couldn’t be delayed too late.

At sunrise, Yun Ye decided to go to Longxi, bringing only a few dozen attendants, and riding horses, following Wang Cai’s pace—he’d walk when Wang Cai wanted to walk, stop when Wang Cai wanted to stop. This was the last thing Yun Ye could do for his brother.

Setting out on the road to Longxi, Wang Cai clearly became spirited, running back and forth very happily, even having extra energy to sniff the blooming dandelions by the roadside.

They didn’t travel fast, but the route was very accurate. Wang Cai had never forgotten the road home. Jiming Mountain receded—they saw no colorful pheasants. Qinzhou receded—Wang Cai deliberately rolled around happily several times at the foot of Maiji Mountain, though when getting up, he needed others’ help.

Yun Ye’s expression had never been good. The grooms spent these days in sorrow. Having served Wang Cai for decades, only now did they truly experience the pain of life and death separation.

Without entering Lanzhou City, Wang Cai walked for a full month, appearing very exhausted. Often Yun Ye also dismounted to walk. Wang Cai would rest his large head on Yun Ye’s shoulder. Hearing the grass-scented hot breath Wang Cai exhaled, Yun Ye only knew to walk forward with head bowed. Wang Cai, who couldn’t even eat eggs now, probably only persisted through instinct at this point.

He most loved eating dandelions Yun Ye fried in mutton fat, but when Yun Ye saw the green horse dung pellets Wang Cai passed, he could only pinch his thigh hard to keep tears from flowing.

The Yellow River water was somewhat turbid, the flowing water sounding like endless sighs. The mountain pass lay before them.

This was Yun Ye’s fief. When Xinyue calculated family gains and losses, she marked other places as exchangeable bargaining chips, but the Lantian ancestral shrine and this place had never been touched.

The Yun family permanently stationed a team of household guards here. This mountain pass never allowed others to enter. Here lived a pack of wolves enjoying themselves, and a horse herd reproducing and thriving.

Autumn grass grew very lush. Standing in the grass, Yun Ye was almost submerged by tall artemisia. Personally taking a knife to clear the way for Wang Cai—Wang Cai had already fallen three times.

There was a small stream here. Yun Ye had once caught a sheep here and made underwear from the sheepskin. Strenuously cutting the grass, just like when he first came to this world…

There was no more grass ahead. A large lake appeared—not big, but very deep. According to Lanzhou people’s legend, every year on full moon nights, a bright water column would appear here, a full seven or eight zhang high!

The household guards stationed here confirmed this legend.

Yun Ye and Wang Cai stayed sorrowfully by the great lake. No matter how hard Yun Ye tried to communicate with the lead stallion, the herd still wouldn’t accept Wang Cai. The fierce lead stallion, even after eating all the fresh fruit carried on Wang Cai’s back, still ignored him and even roared twice, threatening Wang Cai to leave.

Beans were eaten—ignored. Yun Ye even loaded rice wine in bags, but the lead stallion still didn’t want Wang Cai. Having no choice, Yun Ye loaded a large block of salt onto Wang Cai’s back. The herd only mechanically came to lick the salt block. Once there was no more salt, they immediately drove Wang Cai out of the herd.

Yun Ye understood—they disliked Wang Cai for being too old, so old he would only drag down other horses. This was a truth Yun Ye understood after hearing wolf howls.

Yun Ye pounded his own head hard. Ultimately, it was all because he was too selfish. He should have sent Wang Cai back when he could still run—this was his world.

Wang Cai whinnied softly, like an abandoned foal, constantly nudging Yun Ye with his head, hoping he could help, just like helping before, even like wrapping cloth strips on his legs at the very beginning…

Yun Ye stood up. His clothes were mostly wet—autumn dew soaked his garments, cold penetrating to the bone…

When the sun came out in the morning, the dew should dissipate, but the dew here didn’t. It only rolled off yellowing grass leaves, dropped to grass roots, waiting for night to emerge again.

Yun Ye prepared to communicate with the lead stallion again. These horses had been protected by the Yun family for so many years—they couldn’t be so heartless and ungrateful. The large basket was filled with the fullest soybeans, each grain carefully selected—not one was bad or shriveled.

The lead stallion had grown accustomed to occasionally being fed delicious beans by Yun family guards. Seeing Yun Ye approach, he didn’t resist, but no matter how much Yun Ye pleaded, the lead stallion only focused on eating beans. Whenever Wang Cai approached, he immediately used his robust body to push Wang Cai away.

Yun Ye was very angry. With a shake of his hand, he scattered soybeans everywhere. He discovered only he and Wang Cai stood in the center—other horses surrounded them, heads lowered searching for beans to eat, too busy to drive Wang Cai away.

Yun Ye’s eyes lit up. He waved toward the distance. Immediately household guards brought over more soybeans. The grooms even brought a basket of carefully prepared horse feed containing added salt and fried egg flowers.

When delicious food was scattered all around, those horses began searching for food around Wang Cai. Even when Wang Cai sniffed the mares’ rear ends, the mares wouldn’t kick him with their hooves.

Yun Ye slowly walked out of the herd. Only Wang Cai should be here—there should be no place for his own existence…

Wang Cai paced happily through the herd. Amid a large group of horses with lowered heads eating, only he held his head high, like a proud lead stallion inspecting his subjects.

The groom said with tears, “Master, our Wang Cai should rightfully be the lead stallion!”

Yun Ye smiled and patted the groom’s shoulder, greatly agreeing with this statement. If Wang Cai wasn’t the lead stallion, which horse was qualified to be? If willing, Yun Ye could even cover the entire valley with soybeans.

The herd remained motionless in one place for a long time. Several sinister faces gradually emerged from the grass—these were grassland wolves, appearing and disappearing, forming a pocket-shaped encirclement around the herd.

Through his telescope, Yun Ye saw clearly. These grassland wolves were very organized and disciplined. From a military expert’s perspective, Yun Ye discovered this wolf hunt had an eighty percent success possibility—a perfect pocket tactic had formed.

Grooms and household guards drew their sabres to charge forward, but Yun Ye held them down. This was Wang Cai’s life. Whether he could completely integrate into the herd depended on luck.

Wang Cai’s ears, originally drooping humbly while courteously sniffing other horses’ rear ends, suddenly perked up. Raising his neck, he neighed loudly and charged bravely toward the first grassland wolf launching an attack. At this moment, not a trace of aged appearance showed on Wang Cai’s body.

This work could only be undertaken by the herd’s most valiant stallions. The mares couldn’t be bothered eating—they immediately began calling to summon their children to hurry over.

That gluttonous lead stallion also neighed loudly, front hooves raised, stomping viciously at a charging wolf. He was very angry, but unfortunately that wolf was very cunning—body twisting, it drilled under his crotch and continued attacking the herd’s young horses.

Wang Cai wore iron shoes—forged by Yun Ye from hundred-refined steel, with two sharp steel spikes on the hoof bottoms to grip the ground. Seeing the first wolf, he didn’t rear up like the lead stallion but viciously charged over. Battlefield cavalry did exactly this—Wang Cai had somehow learned it too.

The spiked shoes kicked the wolf’s belly, instantly ripping it open. Wang Cai’s rear hooves stepped on that wolf’s intestines, trampling them to pulp in just a few moves.

Wang Cai jumped proudly twice, then heard wailing from the mare group and hurriedly galloped toward the mares.

“Crossbows ready! If Wang Cai encounters danger, shoot and kill those wolves on the spot!” Yun Ye lowered his telescope and coldly ordered the household guards. Seeing all crossbows in position, he raised the telescope again to continue observing Wang Cai’s battle.

A young horse had its hind leg bitten by a wolf, continuously wailing and struggling. The mother mare was repeatedly driven away by other wolves and couldn’t reach her foal’s side.

Wang Cai’s nostrils flared wide. After kicking another wolf away, his front hooves firmly stomped on the wolf biting the young horse’s hind leg. This wolf was considerably larger than other wolves, but under Wang Cai’s iron shoes gained no advantage. The fur atop its skull was torn open by Wang Cai’s steel spikes, exposing the white skull bone. Howling once, it struggled free from Wang Cai’s hooves and desperately fled toward the grassland’s depths.

The lead wolf fled—the remaining wolves immediately scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing in all directions…

Wang Cai had won this battle. He paraded through the herd with head held high. Even the lead stallion came over affectionately to sniff his mouth. The lead stallion neighed once and led the herd slowly away toward another place. Wang Cai looked back once at Yun Ye standing in the grass with tears streaming down his face, snorted loudly, and followed the herd away…