Chapter 222: Horses on the Rampage, an Emergency on the Back Hill
There were open areas on the Back Hill behind the Imperial College, but they had to ride around a hillock, on which there was a small wood. Since the view here was just average, and the ground was rather bumpy, students didn’t typically hang out on this hill.
But this time, maybe because he had specially petitioned the emperor for resumption of the horse race, the principal had become a lot more competitive than before. Students were, in batches, taken to the Back Hill to practice riding.
When Ling Zhang and his classmates arrived, they found that there were some unfamiliar faces present, as well as some familiar ones, such as Jiang Yu and his followers.
Yuwen Jin’s face was the first to fall. Ling Zhang admonished him, “Keep your shirt on. This is not the right time to kick up a stink.”
Jiang Yu and his cronies had also seen Ling Zhang and the others. There was ill-concealed hostility in the eyes of both sides, but none of them made any provocative remarks as they had done previously. They just ignored each other’s existence.
Near the opening space on the Back Hill was a small valley with a brook flowing through it. Beside the brook were water meadows covered with grass which was horses’ favorite. A lot of students would lead their horses there for a stroll in breaks between riding sessions. Ling Zhang patted Snowflake on the hip, sending it to the meadows to have a saunter. Snowflake went there but for some unknown reason soon returned. It seemed to have taken an instant dislike to the valley and wasn’t even willing to approach it.
Ling Zhang didn’t think much about it, believing that Snowflake just didn’t like walking with those “mediocre” horses. After all, Snowflake was of uncommon blood and would be the head horse if placed in a herd, so it was fairly haughty.
Half the afternoon passed, and all students were somewhat sweaty. A lot of them appeared rather tired.
At first there was something wrong with a student’s horse, which suddenly went restless and a trifle out of control. Caught flat-footed, the student on horseback, who had just finished the tenth lap and was sweating buckets, nearly fell off.
Someone on the side reminded him to be more cautious, believing that it was merely a minor accident, but unexpectedly, more horses grew agitated and refused to obey their riders, rearing and jumping uncontrollably. Worse still, some even started rampaging. Students on horseback failed to react in time, screaming in fright.
Ling Zhang, Yuwen Jin and the others, who had just finished a lap and were having a break, were not on their horses. On seeing this, they were all taken aback and hastened to their schoolmates’ help.
Fortunately for them, half of these horses, which had suddenly went fretful, had no students on their backs. Also, the riding instructors all reacted very quick. One after another, they helped those students dismount their horses, but those restless horses were still in fidgets and started running around madly in all directions. Some of them even hurtled into the wood.
“AAARGH!!! HELP!!!”
Cries for help came from the other side of the wood. Faces of students still suffering from the shock changed again. “Damn it. Some are still practicing. They are on the other side of the wood.”
Although a lot of horses had suddenly started fidgeting, there were also many horses unaffected, such as Snowflake.
Ling Zhang took a flying leap, landed onto Snowflake’s back and galloped forth.
The sight of this brought Yuwen Jin and the others back to their senses. They quickly went to their horses, mounted and followed Ling Zhang.
Some relatively bold students also got on their unaffected horses and followed in their wake.
The rest of the students were nearly frightened out of their minds. On top of this, there were horses rampaging all around and anyone run over or stamped by one would no doubt sustain serious injuries, so they hastily rushed towards safer areas. Riding instructors and guards were having a hard time trying to bring those horses back under control, their faces drenched with sweat.
Snowflake, galloping like the wind, soon carried Ling Zhang into the wood heading squarely towards the place where the cries had come from.
Distantly, he saw where the disturbance was happening. As he dashed up, a couple of students in their panic were running madly in his direction. When they saw Ling Zhang on horseback streaking over, their eyes lit up first and then fell fairly disappointed, maybe because they believed that Ling Zhang’s arrival wouldn’t make any difference.
“Those horses ran wild. Some were thrown off their horses and got trampled. Jian–Jiang Yu’s horse has gone mad as well. He’s still on horseback. It’s getting out of control.”
Though disappointed, those students still gave an account of what was going on.
Ling Zhang, with a frown on his face, told them, “You guys go back as quick as possible. Be cautious on you way back. Horses at the opening space have also run wild. Be careful not to be run over.”
After saying this, he yelled “Giddy up!” and tore forward with Snowflake.
On reaching the scene, he found that, unsurprisingly, half a dozen students on horseback were too scared to approach it. A black horse was chasing them like crazy, and they had no choice but to ride around trying to dodge it. A man was being dragged by the black horse, one of his feet stuck in a stirrup, unable to free himself, half-dead due to the mad horse’s dragging him.
Ling Zhang dismounted and walked straight towards the frenzied black horse.
“Stop! Don’t go over there!” yelled someone frantically.
Ling Zhang’s face grew serious as he mobilized all his internal energy and concentrated it in his right palm. While the black horse was charging straight at him, he stood still on the spot.
“Run!” One of his schoolmates shouted.
“Brother Zhang!” Seeing this, Yuwen Jin who had just arrived was thrown into such fear that his heart was in his mouth, veins standing out on his neck from the bellow.
Right at the time when the darting black horse was merely a couple of feet away from Ling Zhang and everybody present thought that he was going to be run over and trampled by it and die where he was, Ling Zhang made his move.
At this instant crucial instant, Ling Zhang threw a palm strike with all his might and hit the black horse on the head.
Bang!
In the moment when the black horse was hit by his palm, its skull shattered with a snap, as if it had just violently bumped against a wall of bronze or iron. Its neck twisted drastically due to its body that had been brought a few inches forward by inertia. After a brief moment the horse, which had breathed its last, sank to the ground with a thud.
All people who saw this scene were still holding their breath, dumbstruck, their eyes widened with shock.
What had just happened? They had thought that Ling Zhang would undoubtedly meet his end, but he had killed the black horse with a palm strike?
Right at the moment when everybody else was unable to believe his eyes, Ling Zhang had stepped up, freed the foot of that unlucky student from the stirrup and laid him flat on the ground. He was covered in bruises and bloody marks, cutting a sorry figure, which was indicating that he’d been severely wounded.
That person’s breathing was feeble but he still had a small part of his consciousness. He opened his eyes, uttered “Thanks” to Ling Zhang and then passed out.
Yuwen Jin had hurried over. “Brother Zhang!”
“Get him out of here right away. I’m afraid he won’t be able to survive without immediate medical treatment,” said Ling Zhang.
After saying this, Ling Zhang rose to his feet and resumed walking forward. Yuwen Jin wanted to block his path but knew better than to leave the injured on the ground, so he bawled, “Don’t go, Brother Zhang! It’s too dangerous!”
“I’ll be careful,” Ling Zhang replied, went through the wood and came to know what that student he’d just encountered halfway had meant by saying Jiang Yu’s horse had gone mad as well.
At this time, there were also a couple of students standing on the side, who were shouting in anxiety and fear but didn’t dare step forward, and Jiang Yu’s horse was in utter frenzy. Jiang Yu, face pale and drenched with sweat, was trying to regain control of his horse but couldn’t. After nearly being thrown off by the horse, he quickly clasped its neck in his arms, which brought the horse rampaging madly.
But what made this situation dangerous was that the area the horse had just torn into was a very dense wood. Though Jiang Yu was clinging on to the neck of the horse, his back was still badly scratched.
Ling Zhang arrived just in time to see the frenzied horse carrying Jiang Yu streak into thick woods. Quite unfortunately for Jiang Yu, his clothes were entangled in low-hanging branches, but his horse was still running, and for the moment he was unable to free his foot from the stirrup, which put him in dire danger. If nobody went to his help immediately, he would definitely end up being injured even more seriously than that unlucky student Ling Zhang had just saved.
After merely a brief moment’s hesitation, Ling Zhang dashed up.
Yuwen Tong had already helped him get his revenge for Jiang Yu’s previous attempt to frame him. Besides, this was a moment when someone’s life was hanging by a thread, and there was no time for him to give it any more thought. He swished forward and did the same thing he had done a while ago.
Blocking the path of the frenzied horse, he mobilized all his internal energy and threw a palm strike at it.
Bang!
With the sound of bones breaking, the neck of the horse unnaturally twisted to one side.
Jiang Yu had been stunned by Ling Zhang’s abrupt appearance, and with that he’d seen his horse, which was about to send him to meet his Maker, die at Ling Zhang’s hand after he gave a palm strike.
Unduly shocked, having trouble digesting what had just happened, Jiang Yu fixed his eyes on Ling Zhang.
The horse slumped to the ground. Ling Zhang, quick of eye and deft of hand, promptly freed Jiang Yu from the stirrup and then looked at Jiang Yu who was clearly in a trance. He furrowed his brow and thought, ‘Whatever. Let me just go the whole hog.’ He untangled Jiang Yu’s clothes from the branches and helped him to his feet.
Jiang Yu, drained of his energy, staggered, buckled at the knees and directly fell into Ling Zhang’s arms.
Ling Zhang, “…”
Jiang Yu, who was also terribly embarrassed, made an attempt to rise to his feet from Ling Zhang’s chest, but since his hands were badly bruised and riddled with cuts from his desperate grip on the reins, and his arms were stiff and limp as well, he was utterly unable to get himself to his feet. After merely a brief struggle, he bumped back into Ling Zhang’s chest once again and hit his nose, seeing stars.
Ling Zhang helped Jiang Yu to his feet. On feeling Jiang Yu trembling all over, he came to know that it was impossible for Jiang Yu to stay on his feet unaided, so he said, “Sit. I’ll go and get help.”
Jiang Yu didn’t utter a word. With a complicated expression on his face and Ling Zhang’s assistance, he sat down on the ground. And then, when Ling Zhang turned and was about to leave, he said, “Thanks,” in a low and deep voice.
Ling Zhang, without a pause, went to inform other students.
Jiang Yu watching Ling Zhang’s receding back recalled the close shave he’d just been through, his heart still hammering violently. Unable to regain his composure anytime soon, he simply leaned against the trunk behind him, not giving a glance at the dead horse on the side.
All the students brought back by Ling Zhang were among those who typically stayed with Jiang Yu almost all the time, but on this occasion many of his cronies were nowhere to be seen. Only a couple of them were present.
All of them were somewhat astounded at the sight of the dead horse and Jiang Yu covered in bruises and lacerations. The horse had died?
“Are you okay, Jiang Yu?” One of the students hastened up to Jiang Yu intending to help him to his feet.
“You can’t do this on your own. Someone needs to carry him on his back,” said Ling Zhang, looking at them.
Those students glanced at Ling Zhang, a somewhat complex expression on their faces. Though unaware of any details, they all knew that it was Ling Zhang who had saved Jiang Yu’s life. At this moment, after hearing Ling Zhang’s words, all of them were fairly at a loss how they should respond.
Eventually, one of the students carried Jiang Yu on his back and walked out of the wood.
Ling Zhang was walking in front, and all those behind him were as quiet as him, but for some inexplicable reason, they all followed closely in his wake until Jiang Yu was transferred out of the wood.
