Chapter 350: A Harmonious Relationship

After the ponies were delivered to the Old City, herdsmen took diligent care of them. The Pasture of Huaxia is far better than those on the Wasteland. Why? Because most of the time, their cattle and sheep are kept in pens, fed with various stalks and cut Grass from Huaxia. For one, they do not need to exercise and can be fattened quickly; for another, it avoids the risk of encountering wild beasts or getting lost during grazing.

Naturally, the newly captured ponies cannot be kept penned up all the time. Not only would this make them more nervous, but over time, they would lose their ability to run. Baifeng wants horses because he needs them to run, not to keep them for display or to raise them for meat.

However, even when grazing in the Pasture, the herdsmen must hold long reins to prevent them from bolting. They do not yet have the ability to catch up to a horse that has started running.

Now is a relatively slack time for various departments, and the Citizens are also free. At this time, any official tasks can be arranged easily. The government issued an order, gathering over a thousand people, and provided them with grain subsidies to have them nail high fences into the Pasture.

What they lack the least is wood. With wood and vines, they enclosed a small piece of the Pasture. Given the jumping height of a horse, it is completely impossible for them to run out, though for sheep, this height is not necessarily certain.

But this enclosed Pasture was originally fenced off for these few horses; the cattle and sheep do not yet have this treatment.

Every day, the herdsmen pull the ponies out of the Horse Pen and lead them to graze in the Pasture. When the time is up, they lead them back into the Horse Pen. This is to cultivate habits for the horses. Once they are completely accustomed to this lush Pasture, and to the Horse Pen that is safe and can shelter them from wind, rain, and wild beasts, the initial taming will be a success. Baifeng thinks that after this Winter ends, this habit should be formed.

As for training these horses into mounts that can be ridden, Baifeng does not yet have such grand ideas. This span is a bit too large; at least a few generations of breeding and cultivation are needed.

These few horses are very lucky, four mares and two stallions, which means they can produce more foals. Baifeng's requirement for these horses is that they must grow healthy and mature quickly, so that next year they can give birth to a group of foals for them.

Over at the Scientific Expedition Team, they are still continuously luring the herd. The Snow across the entire Wasteland is still very thick, and after more than ten days, it has not melted much. Now the river has also frozen over. The horses have no food and no water. In previous years, this time was a very agonizing moment for them, but this year, because of the arrival of the Scientific Expedition Team, this trouble has been solved for them.

Fodder is sent to the Kexiaozhan cart by cart. Fortunately, Huaxia has enough fodder; even without silage, there are countless grain stalks. No herbivore can be picky when food is scarce. Of course, except for those raised by Huaxia—their mouths have been spoiled. There are always a few that won't eat without silage mixed in, or won't eat without feed mixed in. Even when it is mixed, they can always precisely leave behind the kind they don't like in the trough. These are the easiest to die; they will be picked out early, slaughtered, and eaten for meat.

Under continuous feeding, the herd has completely let down its guard against the Scientific Expedition Team. Even when the members of the Scientific Expedition Team walk through the herd, using their sneaky gazes to study which horse has thick or long legs, the herd does not have much of a reaction. Of course, this does not exclude a few with bad tempers who "drop their bowls and curse their mothers"—eating the Grass sent by the Scientific Expedition Team while still attempting to kick people with their hooves. This type is no longer in the considerations of the Scientific Expedition Team members; they have already very confidently concluded that the herd is already in their bag.

Just as the members of the Scientific Expedition Team were happily feeding the herd every day like herdsmen, waiting for Spring, many hungry predators had already set their sights on this group of wild horses. Although this type of large-bodied horse is generally not the target of their not-so-large predatory animals, it is Winter, after all, and they all have experience: the mobility of any herbivore drops significantly in Winter.

Bears are already hibernating. In this Wasteland, there are still many bears. Tigers are nowhere to be seen, but they definitely exist, and it is not as simple as just one or two. Leopards, dholes, wolves, and lynxes are very active.

The people of the Scientific Expedition Team have discovered traces of wild beasts nearby more than once. They should be scouting ahead, but whether the target is the horses or the people is unclear. It is estimated that it is both.

Ever since they realized the danger, they began to carry Weapons when they went out, and there must be a Soldier on guard; otherwise, they might not be able to discover the danger in time.

On this day, they were doing as usual, piling Snow into the dirt pits they had dug, then pouring bucket after bucket of boiling water into them to turn it into warm water, and then sprinkling salt to feed the horses.

But the herd seemed to have discovered something and were all very alert. The lead horse, in particular, kept snorting, pawing the ground with its hooves. The entire herd raised their heads to look around, and they had already formed a circle, surrounding the ponies.

The members of the Scientific Expedition Team knew the situation was not right, so they quickly drew their Weapons and shouted loudly, telling everyone to gather for defense. At the same time, the sound was also to tell the predator: "Don't hide, we have already discovered you, leave quickly."

A horse let out a neigh. They hurriedly turned their heads to look and discovered a very large white tiger moving forward slowly. If not for those fierce eyes, they really would not have been able to discover it, let alone the cover the snowy ground provided it. The members of the Scientific Expedition Team had never seen a white tiger; ordinary tigers usually have black and yellow stripes. If not for these years of learning, they would have probably regarded the white tiger as a Tiger God, a Mountain God, or some such existence.

The white tiger knew that the prey had discovered it, but out of confidence in its own strength, it had no intention of leaving at all. It just walked forward openly. Its broad paws made it difficult for it to sink into the Snow, and its moving speed was very fast.

But the horses were different. Their hooves are suitable for running on flat ground; in the Snow, they became a burden. When the white tiger reached a suitable position, it suddenly started running and launched an attack. At this moment, it had just entered the Bow and Arrow attack range of their Scientific Expedition Team.

The herd was in chaos, completely lacking a defensive formation, and began to run wildly to save their lives. The scene was too chaotic, making it difficult for the Scientific Expedition Team members to aim their Bow and Arrow, and the people mixed in the herd also had to run away quickly to avoid being trampled by the herd.

Fortunately, the white tiger's target was the horses. If it were people, there would probably already be casualties. A tiger is not a wolf; even with Weapons, a few people might not be able to successfully counter-kill it. In the recorded videos of man-eating tigers from later generations, tigers could jump up and severely injure a human under the protection of an elephant, and the strongest Siberian tiger can shatter a car window with one swipe.