Chapter 116: Leaving Home

The next day, just as the night curtain faded, at the county government office.

Seeing Pei Ye stood beside the stone table, watching Lord Chang and Master Huang rummage through his clear-at-a-glance luggage.

"How can you only bring these two sets of clothes? What if it rains?" Master Huang frowned, "You must also bring a pair of straw sandals."

Chang Zhiyuan nodded and said: "And you must at least bring a bamboo hat—I'll go get one for you."

"What about copper coins! Why only bring silver? Do you have to give someone a piece of silver just to drink a cup of tea on the road?"

"Dagger, flint... these are must-haves—you didn't bring them either?"

Master Huang rolled his eyes at him, took off the dagger from his own waist and slapped it on the table, then turned and headed toward the woodshed.

Seeing Pei Ye rubbed his head, looking at the bundle that had already doubled in size in less than a quarter-hour. Looking up, he saw Master Huang returning with a cold glint in his hand, and said in surprise: "A... an axe isn't necessary, right?"

"There are many times when you need to chop in the mountains and forests." Master Huang placed the small axe next to the dagger.

At this time, Chang Zhiyuan returned with the bamboo hat, patted Seeing Pei Ye, and said: "Alright, we've prepared everything here for you; go to the back and pick a horse."

Seeing Pei Ye's eyes lit up; this was the part he was looking forward to today.

"Okay!"

Ever since he learned to ride a horse, Seeing Pei Ye had always wanted a horse of his own. But firstly, horses were too expensive; buying one in a small city would cost nearly twenty taels, not to mention the cost of keeping it; secondly, he didn't leave the small city, so keeping a horse was useless.

Now, the horses Chang Zhiyuan let him pick were all public property, and he couldn't just take them away at will. It was Chang Zhiyuan who exchanged a house that had been given as a reward for one, and he made up the difference of three or four taels himself, which was how the horse-picking session came to be.

Seeing Pei Ye walked lightly to the backyard, where the groom had long been waiting by the stable.

Four large horses were lined up, brown, dark brown, red, and yellow.

"There were originally two in the government office, and five on the military equipment side; I picked two good ones for you to pull over," the groom said, "Take a look."

"..."

Seeing Pei Ye felt there was no need to look at all.

As soon as he entered the backyard, his gaze had already been attracted by the large jujube-red horse on the left that was half a head taller than the other three.

Seeing Pei Ye walked up to this horse and patted it gently.

The groom laughed: "Hey, I knew it."

Seeing Pei Ye also laughed and turned his head: "Uncle, is this one okay?"

"Okay, why wouldn't it be? It was pulled over for you to pick," the groom said, "But I must make it clear to you, I know you fancy it because it looks majestic, but to run to the prefecture city, it's better to choose this other one."

He patted the horse's rump next to him.

Seeing Pei Ye took a look; this horse was yellow and white, the shortest of the four, and its temperament was a bit dull, not as proud as the jujube horse, and at this moment it was still lowering its head and chewing grass without stopping.

Seeing Pei Ye was not very willing and pouted: "I still want that one."

"That's fine too," the groom laughed, "That one does look good."

He led the jujube-red horse to Seeing Pei Ye. Seeing Pei Ye looked it up and down; the horse's coat was brown-red, like a cluster of autumn leaves, and its mane and long tail were even more intensely red, like flames ignited on leaves.

Its pair of black eyes didn't lower to look at its new master at all, but were either looking up or looking around, its hooves tapping the ground restlessly, quite eager to try.

The more Seeing Pei Ye looked, the more satisfied he was, and nodded: "Just this one!"

"Fine." For some reason, the groom was also quite satisfied, "Then I'll return two taels of silver to Lord Chang in a while."

"Ah?" Seeing Pei Ye looked at the groom blankly, and the groom smiled kindly, took the horse, and turned to leave.

Seeing Pei Ye circled the large horse several times, unable to put it down, before returning to the front courtyard. At this time, the bundle had been reorganized by the two elders and packed neatly.

In total, there were: a large bundle that had doubled in size, a roll of rainproof oilcloth that could be loaded on the horse; a saddlebag containing small things like flint and daggers, and one most important thing—the qualification document for the Golden Autumn Martial Competition issued by Fenghuai. Chang Zhiyuan was afraid he would lose it, so he issued two identical ones, and the other one was placed in the dragon's belly; a water bottle filled to the brim; a bag of dried meat and steamed buns; a sword and a sword case, both tied with straps, which could be carried properly on his back.

Amidst the exhortations of the two elders, Seeing Pei Ye had a full meal at the county government office, and then Master Huang led the horse, and together with Chang Zhiyuan, sent him to the city gate.

The daylight was already bright, the autumn air was refreshing, Seeing Pei Ye had slept a beautiful sleep last night and had a full meal this morning, his spirit was at its best. At this moment, he looked south, watching the avenue disappear at the top of the slope.

"Safety first in everything," Chang Zhiyuan held his wrist lightly, "If there's anything, you can go find Officer Bai; he and I have been good friends for many years."

"Mm!" Seeing Pei Ye nodded.

Master Huang also patted him: "Go, a good man's ambitions lie in the four directions; you should have seen the world long ago. In ten-plus days, I will take the children to find you."

Chang Zhiyuan nodded: "If I have leisure then, I will also follow to take a look."

Seeing Pei Ye was surprised: "Ah? The journey is exhausting, you should rest your body in peace; I will bring back good news for you."

Chang Zhiyuan shook his head with a smile: "I'm just tired these few days; if it were ordinary times, among all the old people over sixty in the county, who has a body as sturdy as mine—alright."

The old man let go of the young man's wrist: "Set off early."

"Mm." Seeing Pei Ye took a step back and bowed to bid farewell to the two elders.

He flipped onto the horse's back, turned his head to raise a hand to the two elders, and shook the reins lightly: "Then—ah—"

Seeing Pei Ye let out a cry of surprise; it was as if a red dragon had darted out from under him, pulling his upper body into a stagger, and this dragon body was still violently undulating up and down. The jolting made Seeing Pei Ye feel that he wasn't riding a horse, but a leopard.

He tried hard to adjust his posture, looked back, and the two elders were already seven or eight zhang away, looking at him with worried expressions.

"—I'm off!" Seeing Pei Ye shouted the second half of the sentence, turned to hold the reins, bent his knees to step on the stirrups, and within two undulations, his body merged into the rhythm of the horse.

It's really fast.

Seeing Pei Ye had never ridden such a fast horse, nor had he ever ridden such a "sensitive" horse.

Riding other horses was like pulling a bow; it would run as fast as the force applied. Riding this horse was like releasing the string; it was a fully charged bow itself. As long as your fingers loosened slightly, it would "bang" and shoot out.

"Good horse!" Seeing Pei Ye shouted excitedly, clamping his legs on the horse's belly, and the horse's speed went up another level.

It's really fast!

A flashing red falcon, a cluster of burning flames.

Such a good horse, why return two taels of silver!

I'm afraid it's because it eats too much and has a fierce temperament.

But a thousand-mile horse eats a lot and is proud; that's how it should be. A fierce temperament is not the horse's problem; it's clearly the rider's problem.

Seeing Pei Ye thought with satisfaction, his bangs flying, as if riding on a bolt of lightning, and the wind was crashed open by them head-on.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 117 =====