Chapter 680

Hu Xiaotian also broke out in a cold sweat; Little Gray slowly lowered its front hooves. Ahead, less than a zhang away, the mountain path ended, below was a deep moat, at its deepest a mountain stream rushed past. There used to be a bridge here, but now it's destroyed; the whole moat is about seven zhang wide.

Tang Qingxuan's face turned pale; she had thought they would soon escape, but she never expected this road to be a dead end, with pursuers closing in from behind. Tang Qingxuan trembled, 'What do we do?'

Hu Xiaotian gently patted Little Gray's long neck, tugged the reins, and declared decisively, 'Jump across!'

Tang Qingxuan had grown up on horseback; the moat ahead was over seven zhang wide, and for a mount to leap from this side to the other would require the ability to jump over ten zhang—utterly impossible, for no such divine steed exists in this world.

Hu Xiaotian retreated over twenty zhang again, then urged Little Gray forward. Little Gray summoned its courage and galloped all the way to the moat's edge; Hu Xiaotian and Tang Qingxuan had braced themselves for a leap, but Little Gray stopped again. Fortunately, Hu Xiaotian had prepared himself and wasn't thrown off. Little Gray stared down at the deep stream, its eyes flashing with fear, its long ears drooping—clearly lacking the resolve and courage to cross.

The pursuers down the mountain were drawing ever closer, their shouts audible; Zhatan ordered his men not to fire arrows, wanting both the person and the horse. Tang Qingxuan pressed her lips together, grabbed her saber, and declared, 'Let's fight them!'

Hu Xiaotian shook his head, reached out to touch Little Gray's drooping ears, guessing it lacked the daring to leap the moat, and told Tang Qingxuan, 'Try once more!'

Tang Qingxuan said, 'It's useless; it won't dare jump, and even if it did, it couldn't reach the opposite bank. We'd both fall to our deaths.'

Hu Xiaotian said, 'It won't dare jump, but we will!'

Tang Qingxuan didn't grasp his meaning, so Hu Xiaotian explained, 'We'll use inertia—let Little Gray throw us across.'

Tang Qingxuan asked, 'Throw us across?'

Hu Xiaotian nodded, explaining that by using the sudden halt after Little Gray's high-speed run, they could harness the resulting inertia to leap across the stream and land on the opposite cliff. He glanced back at the pursuers, already upon them—time was running out.

Hu Xiaotian turned the horse's head again and shouted, 'Giddyap!' Little Gray flung its four hooves outward and sprinted toward the stream again, reaching its limit as it approached the moat. Hu Xiaotian roared, 'Relax. Let it fling us across!' He loosened the reins; if Little Gray had the guts, it could carry them over, otherwise a sudden brake could hurl their bodies from its back to fly to the opposite side. Now the plan: all that remains is to take a chance.

Little Gray's forehooves suddenly dug into the ground, its head drooping, horseshoes scraping the rock and throwing up countless sparks; even at the last moment it lacked the courage to spring forward. Hu Xiaotian and Tang Qingxuan were flung from its back by the powerful inertia, one after the other, flying toward the opposite cliff.

Although Tang Qingxuan sat in the rear, because Little Gray raised its hindquarters at the last moment, she was flung even farther, screaming as she traced an arc through the air, clearing the moat and the stream, then crashed onto the pine trees on the opposite slope.

Hu Xiaotian, however, did not trace such a graceful arc as Tang Qingxuan; his flight was much shorter. He flailed his arms toward the opposite side, but when he was still some distance from the cliff wall he could go no further and fell with a cry.

Tang Qingxuan, cushioned by layers of pine branches and leaves, landed on the ground. Without checking whether she was hurt, she immediately lunged toward the cliff edge, crying out, 'Xiaotian…'

Then they saw a disheveled boy scrambling up the cliff face below—who else could it be but Hu Xiaotian? At the critical moment, Hu Xiaotian clung to the rock fissures with his Xuanming Yin Wind Claw, thus narrowly avoiding a fall into the ravine. In life‑or‑death crises, a person's hidden potential is unleashed, and Hu Xiaotian was no exception: his wisdom, his courage, and every martial art he possessed were now brought to their utmost.

Tang Qingxuan reached out to help Hu Xiaotian climb up, then looked toward the opposite cliff: the pursuers had drawn near, and Little Gray had circled around.

Zhatan shouted, 'Don't hurt it at all—I claim this horse!'

Hu Xiaotian inwardly sighed that he could only temporarily abandon Little Gray, wait for reinforcements, then come back to rescue it and Tang Tiehan.

Just then, Little Gray suddenly surged forward toward the moat again. Hu Xiaotian shook his head; Little Gray had failed many times before, always faltering at the crucial moment, and he expected no different this time. He told Tang Qingxuan, 'Let's leave this place first.'

But then Tang Qingxuan let out an excited cry; Hu Xiaotian turned to see Little Gray actually spring into the air, leaping upward. This jump carried it over ten zhang, clearing the entire moat and landing steadily beside Hu Xiaotian.

Zhatan and his Black Barbarian warriors exclaimed in unison. These men made their living raising horses, had seen countless fine steeds in their lives, yet never before had they witnessed a horse as divine as Little Gray. Zhatan wrung his hands in regret, lamenting that such a rare treasure of a horse had vanished from his sight.

Hu Xiaotian, however, could hardly contain his joy—he never expected Little Gray to overcome its psychological barrier at the last moment and successfully cross the stream. He didn't pause to think further, leading Little Gray and pulling Tang Qingxuan into the woods at once. Just as they hid, the Black Barbarian warriors on the opposite side began firing arrows; seeing Hu Xiaotian and Tang Qingxuan about to escape, the warriors held back nothing, loosing a steady stream of feathered arrows. However, because they were far away and the far slope was thick with trees, hitting the mark was difficult.

Zhatan ordered his men to cease firing; he and Lahan stood shoulder to shoulder on the broken cliff, and Lahan exclaimed in disbelief, 'How can such a wide ravine be jumped across?'

Zhatan sighed, 'What a pity—the fat lamb in our grasp has flown away.' What he truly regretted was the fine horse; Little Gray's such divine performance was unprecedented for him, and it sparked his desire to possess it for himself.

Zhatan shouted, 'Hey! You couple in the woods, listen up—you'd better surrender quietly, or I'll kill Tang Tiehan.'

Tang Qingxuan heard this clearly in the forest, bit her lip, and shouted loudly, 'If you dare harm my elder brother, you'll never get your hands on the Record of the Divine Horse!'

Hearing her say that, Zhatan felt much more reassured, for with Tang Tiehan in his grasp, Tang Qingxuan would not stand idly by; using Tang Tiehan as a hostage, he might yet be able to exchange him for the Record of the Divine Horse.

Hu Xiaotian hid in the woods, peering through gaps in the trees toward the opposite side, and recognized the man standing with Zhatan as the Black Barbarian warrior Lahan. He frowned, wondering whether this Black Barbarian merchant had any ties to the Black Barbarian Fourth Prince, Wanyan Chixiong. Whatever the case, he first needed to leave this forest and return to the city.

Hu Xiaotian and Tang Qingxuan led Little Gray through the woods for a stretch, confident they were out of range, then re‑emerged onto the winding mountain path to head downhill—but after only a short distance the trail vanished, completely lost among rocks and weeds.

Goutou Mountain was a jumble of strange rocks and thick woods; neither of them knew the terrain. At first they could tell direction from the sun, but as it set they lost their way in the wilderness. Seeing night fall, Hu Xiaotian turned to Tang Qingxuan, whose face was flushed, lips tightly bitten, and asked, 'What's wrong? Are you sick?'

Tang Qingxuan shook her head; she felt burning hot all over, as if countless ants were crawling inside her, her skin itchy and uncomfortable, her legs weak and about to give out, her mouth dry, and she whispered, 'I… I'm terribly thirsty; I want water.'

Hu Xiaotian sighed, looked up at the sky, and reflected that they had been walking opposite the setting sun, yet somehow had wandered deeper into the deep woods. With night approaching, he said, 'Let's find a safe spot to rest for the night and look for a way down tomorrow at dawn.'

Tang Qingxuan trembled, 'All right…'

Hu Xiaotian noticed her odd demeanor, assuming she was exhausted from their frantic flight. They found a nearby pond; night had fully fallen, a crescent moon rose from the mountaintop, its silvery light pouring down like water and bathing the wilderness.

Seeing the pond's calm, still surface, Tang Qingxuan stumbled over, heedless of decorum, bent down, scooped up the water, and drank.

Hu Xiaotian smiled and shook his head, gripping his dagger to use this moment to scan the surroundings for any possible danger.

Climbing onto the large rock to the pond's right, Hu Xiaotian stood atop it and gazed in all directions; the surrounding mountains and forests were utterly silent, save for an occasional birdcall that echoed long in the open valley. In the distance he saw lights, like fireflies scattered across the horizon, and judged that they must be Yongdu, filling him with sudden delight—at last he had found the correct direction. Knowing Yongdu's bearing meant they could rush back there through the night.

Hu Xiaotian was about to tell Tang Qingxuan this news when he heard a splash; looking down, he saw that Tang Qingxuan, who had been drinking at the pond's edge, had vanished. Moonlight rippled the water's surface, circles of waves still unsettled, and Hu Xiaotian's heart leapt—had Tang Qingxuan fallen in? He knew she could not swim. He did not dare delay, hastily shedding his outer garments and, wearing only his underpants, plunged into the pond. (To be continued~^~)