Chapter 355: Operation Horse Capture

The horses outside the Horse Pen were already moving about, the dew leaving them damp; the group exchanged glances, then each set a target, and holding long Taomaguan in their hands, they walked toward their respective targets.

At first, the horses did not feel anything was amiss, thinking only that humans were walking toward them, but gradually, vigilance arose in their hearts; every human held a long object and was walking straight toward them, so they felt somewhat uneasy.

Seeing that these human faces were completely unfamiliar, they also lost their tempers, beginning to paw the ground with their front hooves and snorting to express their dissatisfaction, telling them not to approach, but this human seemed completely unaware of this, still walking toward it.

It turned around in great annoyance; if this human continued to approach it despite knowing no better, it would definitely give him a kick, otherwise, it would lose its sense of hierarchy.

But its expectation did not come to pass; it only heard a rush of wind by its ear, and then something was looped around its neck. It panicked and began to run, but as soon as it ran, the loop around its neck began to tighten. As it tightened, it became even more panicked, ignoring the discomfort to keep running.

The Catchers' loops had all been cast, and the horses had begun to struggle as they normally would, but their manpower was somewhat insufficient, and there were still dozens of horses they could not go to rope, so they could only let them run away.

The horses were struggling, and they pulled hard on the Taomaguan; others wanted to come and help, but were shouted away by them. Coming to help now would just be causing trouble; they just needed to do their own jobs well, and once they had brought the horse down or held it steady, they could just tie the halter and reins.

The scene gradually shifted from the humans being dragged along to the horses braking against the ground; the Catchers were almost pressed against the ground, using their feet as brakes, frantically limiting the horses' movements. Finally, one horse was pulled to the ground by a Catcher using technique, and the person assisting him immediately rushed up, some pinning the horse down, while the one tying the halter and reins worked quickly.

By the time they let the horse go and allowed it to stand, it had already lost its freedom. Just like this, horse after horse was dragged and tied to wooden posts. The horses were very restless, but the Scientific Expedition Team members were all confident; a horse that had been tied up had absolutely no hope of breaking free. Even oxen, which were stronger than them, had to resign themselves to their fate once tied; horses only ran fast, but they did not have as much strength as oxen.

But there were also accidents; one Catcher made a mistake, and the Taomaguan slipped directly from his hand, then the horse ran off, and the Taomaguan was carried away too. Such a mistake was within reason, and one could not blame the person, but the horse had already escaped far away, and the Bow and Arrow range was not enough, so they had to give up.

That Catcher hurriedly swapped for a spare Taomaguan; he felt he had lost face and had to catch another one to regain his dignity.

The horses outside the pen that had not been targeted by them had already run very far away, remaining in the distance and watching, not knowing what to do, because the lead horse had already been caught by them; the herd had lost its Leader and was in complete disarray.

The horses inside the Horse Pen heard the commotion and also saw the panicked, fleeing horses, as well as the shouting of the humans. They had thought that beasts were attacking again, so they nervously circled in the pen, wanting to go out and look, but they discovered that the usual exit was gone; their heads simply could not understand what was going on.

The horses outside had been completely tied up; now the Catchers hurriedly took a breath, and then prepared to catch the horses in the pen. Their plan was to release one at a time, then have several people rope one horse and resolve it quickly.

After repeating the precautions once more, everyone swarmed to the side of the Horse Pen. At this moment, the horses in the pen seemed to understand that the danger came from these humans, not wild beasts. They did not know what to do now either; the only thing they could think of was to find a place to escape, but this wooden fence was truly too high, and they could not jump over it.

Three strong men walked to the wooden gate, then untied the rope binding the wooden gate, carefully opening a gap, just enough for one horse to squeeze out. A sharp-eyed horse saw it and rushed out like the wind, also bumping the gate in passing, opening the gap even wider.

One horse ran, and the others naturally followed. The three people closing the gate did not have time to react; two horses had already squeezed out, and a third was squeezing through. They had had a chance to close the gate, but they were afraid of pinching the horses, so they hesitated, and as a result, three horses were released at once, after which they firmly blocked the gate and retied the rope.

The three horses that came out charged around, but the Catchers did not give them a chance; several poles went up together, immediately bringing them down, and then the whole process was done in one go, dragging them away directly.

The horses in the pen became even more restless, starting to squeeze toward the gate. They did not want to sit and wait for death here either. The three strong men were not enough, so they increased it to five people. The Catchers swapped in a new batch, got ready, and then the gate opened, and four more squeezed out. One of the horses, after coming out, did not forget to kick out a hoof, hitting one person squarely in the thigh; it did not land solidly, but the person was still in such pain that they fell to the ground on the spot.

The people behind quickly pulled him away and swapped in others; the few blocking the gate finally understood how high the danger level of the horses was.

The injured person was pulled away for an examination; the doctor made a simple diagnosis: the bone was not broken, but the muscle had been kicked and injured, and now a large lump had swollen up; they could only apply some medicine and let it heal slowly.

This battle seemed like a one-sided encirclement and suppression, but in reality, the dangers were also numerous. By the time only a dozen or so horses were left in the pen, they would not come out, just hiding inside. However, if a person wanted to go in, they would charge over like a cavalry charge; the people dared not face them head-on and could only escape with their tails between their legs.

In the end, they simply dismantled the gate, leaving a large opening. The horses were eager to move, but having had the previous lesson, they dared not go out, only pawing the ground in agitation.

The Scientific Expedition Team felt they could not remain in this stalemate any longer, so they simply began to dismantle the Horse Pen. The wood was pushed over and pulled out one by one, and the opening of the Horse Pen grew larger and larger.

Until these horses could no longer hold back, they charged outward as a group.

Because they charged too fast, the Scientific Expedition Team was caught off guard; facing the charge of a dozen or so horses, they hurriedly ran away to avoid them.

The horses even kicked out with their hind legs while running whenever they saw a suitable target, scaring everyone into a panic.

Once the herd ran to an open area, the Catchers began to chase them frantically, then used the poles.

But these horses ran too fast; even if they were roped, it would only drag the Catcher directly onto the ground.

Only two horses were held, the rest all ran away, and in just this short while, four more injured people were added.

One was kicked in the arm by a hoof; there was no need for a doctor to look, everyone knew it was broken. One was quick enough to turn sideways, but was kicked in the hand; the thumbnail was gone, and blood kept flowing.

Two Catchers were dragged and suffered abrasions, but the problem was not too serious.