Co-translator: Luckykoi

The horse approached without any signs of stopping, and its hooves were like the wind. But when Xiao Liu went up to greet it, it instantly screeched to a halt.

The strong gust of wind stirred up caused the grassland around where its hooves crossed to remain skewed, as if there was an invisible pressure forcing it down, never to stand back upright again.

It was immediately apparent that this divine steed was an outstanding horse of sublime quality, and the number of brain fragments unlocked by the system only served to drive this in. However, even if it was a divine steed, this horse had never appeared in the novel.

“Lil’ snowflake!”

Bai Fanlu almost tumbled headfirst from atop his own horse. What did Xiao Liu call that horse? Lil’ Snowflake??

Even if he wasn’t aware of its real name, ‘Silver Snow’, as denoted by the system, such a beautiful horse really shouldn’t be so flippantly named! It was akin to giving an ethereal beauty the name Jane Doe.

“Why do you give it that name?” Bai Fanlu asked as he got off his horse, and walked up to Xiao Liu.

“Because its hooves are white.” Afraid that Bai Fanlu had missed this detail, Xiao Liu even pointed it out to him.

Bai Fanlu restrained his laughter, coughing. “But its body is black.”

“Erm…because Lil’ Snowflake is easy to remember!”

Xiao Liu stroked Silver Snow’s head. This horse was extremely intelligent. It voluntarily rubbed its luxurious mane against his palm, not paying the slightest mind to this disgraceful name.

“Lil’ Snowflake, this is my Immortal brother, Lufan!”

Candid by nature, Xiao Liu even formally introduced them in this solemn manner.

Bai Fanlu, who was using a pseudonym, felt a little amused and awkward to hear him earnestly call ‘Lufan’. However, it wasn’t necessary to take things too seriously with a horse—it couldn’t understand him anyway.

However, whether or not it was an average horse, and regardless of whether it could really understand them, the horse cast an exceptionally profound gaze at Bai Fanlu.

Man to horse and horse to man. They exchanged their first look.

Bai Fanlu was slightly taken aback. He got a faint impression that the horse’s big and black eyes under its outrageously dense eyelashes seemed to express a human’s emotion.

Bai Fanlu’s expression unwittingly turned grim as he carefully inspected the divine steed.

It had unique and handsome charisma, a gorgeous coat, and a subtle pattern on its forehead. It was woven discreetly like a mystical dragon hiding its scales, extending down all the way to its right eye.

And that right eye was a quiet abyss solemnly studying Bai Fanlu.

How strange. It looked a little familiar.

Bai Fanlu asked Xiao Liu, “This is a fine horse. Where did you get it from?”

“Where?” Xiao Liu scratched his head. “I don’t know where it’s from either. I was lost in the mountains one day and it appeared right there, even guiding me back.”

“Just like that? Then, you…”

Xiao Liu lowered his head and saw that Bai Fanlu’s line of sight was fixed on the jade leaf hanging in front of his chest. He held it up and explained, “Lil’ Snowflake was carrying this in its mouth. I didn’t know what it was for at first, but when I casually blew it for fun later on, it unexpectedly appeared.”

This sounded like it acknowledged its master.

Could it be that Xiao Liu wasn’t an ordinary person? Bai Fanlu was doubtful; but he had sensed from close proximity numerous times before that the youth really didn’t possess any spiritual energy.

Or was it because he was Xiao Liu? Perhaps it had something to do with his own transmigration?

At this time, Xiao Liu spoke again, “Didn’t you say that you’re heading somewhere far away? Let Lil’ Snowflake take you, you’d reach there in no time.”

Bai Fanlu was mildly startled. He didn’t expect Xiao Liu’s solution was this. If he could use a divine steed as transportation, it would naturally be much faster than a regular horse.

Xiao Liu led Silver Snow in front of Bai Fanlu. “Come on. Hop on and give it a go.”

Bai Fanlu looked at the majestic and commanding divine steed before him, and when he got close enough to draw a comparison, he could intuitively feel that aside from the bold and wild aura emanating from head to toe, it had a build taller than his red bay horse.

Furthermore, there wasn’t any stirrup, saddle, or reins on it. It would be difficult to get on it.

“Immortal brother, what’s wrong?”

Silver Snow also tilted its head, casting a sidelong glance at Bai Fanlu.

Bai Fanlu refused to admit that he was cowering in the face of a horse. “Alright. I’ll give it a go.”

In any case, he was now an immortal and wasn’t afraid of falling. Wasn’t it just taming a horse? As if this could stump him. He could just thicken his skin and overcome this. After all this was a divine opportunity.

Bai Fanlu tiptoed and trod on air with his spiritual energy. Then, he landed, featherlight, on Silver Snow’s back.

Just when it appeared as if he steadied himself, never did he expect that that quiet and docile horse would abruptly rear without warning, stamp its front feet, neigh, and sprint off madly.

Shocked, Bai Fanlu hastily relinquished his position, using his spiritual energy to soar into the sky and land gracefully on the ground.

Silver Snow didn’t run far. It stopped after a few steps forward, turning its head back to stare at Bai Fanlu with its glistening dark eyes. It bore an expression almost akin to a provocation.

When being stared at contemptuously like that, Bai Fanlu’s fighting spirit was drummed up as well. As he tried to approach once more Silver Snow began to gallop away.

Bai Fanlu pursued closely behind, maintaining a ten feet distance from it. That beast even despicably galloped in a convoluted pattern, kicking up crushed rocks in its wake as it sped onwards.

Bai Fanlu could only depend on Cloud Treading Technique to catch up to it with difficulty. The short-distance flight was taxing, not to mention that every time he was about to catch up, Silver Snow would wickedly kick its hind legs to force him to retreat.

The divine steed, who stood mild-mannered in front of Xiao Liu earlier, had now completely transformed into a wily, headstrong horse. It was deliberately stringing Bai Fanlu along, not letting him capture it.

Eventually, the man and horse went all out. Bai Fanlu only intended to do it for the experience at first, but with his temper later getting the better of him and for the purpose of advancing his transportation tool—he must ride Silver Snow no matter what.

It was important to first obtain and sharpen the right tools for the job. He still had thousands of miles on the road to go so this bout of hard work now would be worth it.

As for this wild pursuit, Xiao Liu took all of it in from afar.

The youth smiled and laughed soundlessly. Then, he walked towards the red bay horse temporarily forgotten by Bai Fanlu. All of a sudden, that horse whinnied, dashing off to its freedom and quickly vanishing into the distance.

With the surging air currents, an occasional breeze would brush across the plains. Tattered leaves and scattered flowers were tossed in the air by the drumming of horse hooves on this spring day. Xiao Liu’s gaze shifted back again, chasing after that white silhouette. When directed at Bai Fanlu, a profound depth that was never seen before was revealed in his eyes.

When Xiao Liu noticed that the man and horse were getting further, he promptly blew the jade leaf whistle.

Hearing the whistle, Silver Snow immediately turned back, not forgetting to make a wide swerve, avoiding Bai Fanlu.

But this abrupt change in path gave Bai Fanlu an opportunity. He steeled his heart, and burst forth powerfully, using most of his spiritual energy to leap high in the air, approaching the horse’s back.

Silver Snow was very intelligent. It perceived the situation and madly accelerated. At this moment, its hooves were practically lifted above the ground.

Bai Fanlu didn’t miss a beat. With a flip of his body, he used the back thrust of his arms to pounce towards the black silhouette that had sped into a blur.

“Immortal brother, watch out!” Xiao Liu suddenly shouted.

Bai Fanlu could only hear the howling wind in his ears as he leapt onto the back of the horse in the blink of an eye. Then, he firmly clamped his legs around the horse’s belly.

As soon as Bai Fanlu got on, bridle, reins, saddle, stirrups automatically appeared on Silver Snow’s body. Bai Fanlu sat in the saddle and tightened the reins.

Dense clouds of dust and swirling leaves swirled up around them, obscuring all sight. Silver Snow was forced to a stop.

Xiao Liu ran towards Bai Fanlu. He couldn’t clearly make out what was happening over there and could only sprint over as fast as he could.

But the next second, amidst the billowing sand and dust, a black and white silhouette suddenly leapt out.

Verdant grass stretched out endlessly; heaven and earth was radiant and vast. The smoke and dust scattered into the distance with the whistling wind like a cinematic scene.

A man whose robes were whiter than snow, sat handsomely atop the horse, his long hair dancing gently in the wind. Under him, the gallant black stallion, whose hooves trod on the wind, tossed its head, neighing. Its glossy black mane was brimming with brashness and untamed wildness, like strong grass after weathering a storm.

At the moment that their eyes met, Bai Fanlu gave a triumphant grin that stunned Xiao Liu.

However, before Bai Fanlu could say anything to him, Xiao Liu perceived that something was wrong—It was Silver Snow! Just then, whilst galloping swiftly over, it abruptly raised its front legs!

Bai Fanlu didn’t even have the time to call out in shock and immediately felt his vision spin. His entire body started to lean backward involuntarily, and the wild horse under him actually stood completely upright. Bai Fanlu held onto the reins, firmly staying on Silver Snow’s back.

Easy-peasy, Bai Fanlu gritted his teeth, scoffing softly.

However, he grew panicked in the next second, not for himself but because he noticed Xiao Liu was dashing right over and almost arrived right before them!

If he were to force Silver Snow to back down now, its hooves were sure to injure Xiao Liu. The gears of Bai Fanlu’s mind spun quickly in urgency; he sharply yanked the reins to one side, bringing the horse’s head askew. Due to the sudden loss of balance, he was violently flung from the back of the horse.

“Immortal brother—”

The sky and the earth spun as Bai Fanlu heard a hasty shout. Then, his vision went black—the black horse, looming like a dark cloud above his head, stomped down towards him.

Bai Fanlu was completely stunned. In actuality, the crisis he faced wasn’t critical—even if his whole body was aching terribly from the fall and his bones were about to leave their sockets, but owing to the body he was in now, the damage didn’t strike into his marrows.

However, Xiao Liu had abruptly pounced over and hugged him now and Bai Fanlu was genuinely struck dumb. The situation changed faster than lightning. Next, Bai Fanlu rapidly gathered a windshield in his palm.

But before the spell could be cast, his wrist was suddenly grabbed. The youth forcibly embraced his waist tightly, rolling them both over, then pressing Bai Fanlu under him.

Not far away, hooves trampled onto the ground.

While they had averted Silver Snow’s hooves, Bai Fanlu was giddy from the rolling movements. There was also a stone on the ground which jabbed into his back, scraping his initially taut muscles. Coincidentally, it stopped at an acupuncture point, causing a sharp numbness to shoot through his arms as they fell limp onto the ground.

By the time Bai Fanlu recovered his strength and thought of moving. Yet, he found that the force with which Xiao Liu had pressed his wrist down with, was astonishingly large.

Against the light, the shadowed countenance of the youth staring down from above him was indistinct. Bai Fanlu intuitively felt that he was already staring at him for a while, only choosing now to speak, “Are you all right?”

His voice was low and deep, unlike how it usually was.

Bai Fanlu’s brain was muddled. Frowning, he twisted the wrist that was being clamped. “If you didn’t suddenly appear, I would have been fine…”

Before he could finish his words, Xiao Liu held him tighter instead.

“Why did you suddenly change direction earlier? Don’t you know how dangerous that is?”

In his rage, Xiao Liu’s tone was uncharacteristically harsh, the ferocity in it startled Bai Fanlu.

“You…” Xiao Liu breathed deeply, unable to go on, the hand that was holding Bai Fanlu’s wrist was trembling faintly.

Bai Fanlu finally realised why the other was acting this way. He could feel a heartbeat pounding intensely in the chest that was pressed against his. It was more hurried than his breathing.

Though he did intend to rebuke Xiao Liu for his rash behaviour, when Bai Fanlu saw how agitated he was now, a phrase inexplicably streaked through his mind—crazed from concern.

So it was out of concern for him? Moved and hesitant, the words of chastisement never left his tongue. He only smiled, placating, “Aren’t you the same? You know how dangerous the horse hooves are, yet you still came running over…”

Xiao Liu didn’t speak, he only stared at him.

It felt odd locking eyes in their current positions, with Bai Fanlu at a disadvantage. He then nudged Xiao Liu. “Get up first.”

Xiao Liu didn’t look happy, yet he still sat up as instructed. Bai Fanlu was no longer looking at him in the backlight, and the heavy oppressive feeling also turned into a disconcerting illusion.

Before him, was the same bright and brash youth. He reached out a hand to pull him up, then grudgingly let go. It was as if he was secretly throwing a temper at him.

Xiao Liu was still a child.

Bai Fanlu was willing to grant this child the greatest kindness and understanding, putting the incident just now behind him.

Silver Snow stood a short distance away from them. Its serene gaze was reminiscent of an ancient well without the faintest billow. It was inconceivable that this horse was the nasty abomination from before, as if all that was a mere figment of his imagination.

An extremely absurd idea suddenly emerged in Bai Fanlu’s mind.

This beast seemed to have done it on purpose.