Chapter 83: Such a Thing Should Only Exist in Heaven

Yellow Coat was fuming as he spoke to Lightning, “Listen, little sister. If you provoke the gods, it’ll be disastrous. How will you ever become an immortal then?”

Lightning replied in a low voice, “Alright then.”

Lu Hu turned and shouted to White Dabai, “Brother Dabai, stay right here and don’t move. Make sure you protect my Red Sister.”

If the enemy suddenly fired arrows, White Dabai would be in danger of being hit.

“Alright!” White Dabai rarely said more than needed.

Yellow Coat reared up and dashed ahead on all four hooves.

Quan Meiyu squeezed her legs against Lightning’s sides, but the horse didn’t budge.

Growing anxious, she slapped Lightning’s rump hard.

Lightning lifted her hooves, dancing in place, but refused to move forward.

Quan Meiyu knew the wild horse only listened to her brother and she couldn’t change his mind. Tears welled in her eyes as she called out loudly to Lu Hu, who had already run far ahead, “Brother, be careful!”

“Don’t worry. Just stay where you are and enjoy the spectacle,” Lu Hu’s voice echoed back to comfort her, as he drew near the group ahead.

The group, weapons in hand, looked tense.

“I am a god. Did the people of the Celestial Shaman send you here?” Lu Hu announced his identity.

The whole group knelt instantly, “Greetings, Lord God! The shaman soldiers told us to join you. We are willing to follow you, and will do whatever you command.”

Their clothing was worn and their horses weak and thin—clearly, these were impoverished folk.

Barely able to feed themselves, these poor herdsmen hoped to follow a god and change their fate.

“Stand up now. Who is your leader?” Lu Hu asked, prepared to keep his promise, for he had told the shaman soldiers that anyone who recruited people would be rewarded with a rank according to their number.

“There’s no leader. We came in small groups and only met on the road,” they answered, standing up in a noisy jumble.

“Yellow Coat, bring Lightning over,” Lu Hu called.

Yellow Coat let out a long neigh, and after twenty breaths, Lightning, carrying Quan Meiyu, broke through the swirling snow like a red streak to reach Lu Hu’s side.

Following close behind was the pure white White Dabai.

The twenty-six herdsmen knelt again, bowing with reverence.

They had never witnessed such wonders before. They believed the goddess in red armor had descended on a red celestial steed, turning the white snow into a tiger that followed her.

This was a true god! If only they followed faithfully, they would surely enjoy prosperity and honor in the future.

Lu Hu reached out his hand. Quan Meiyu, understanding his intention, took a yellow silk ribbon from the saddlebag and handed it to him.

This was Quan Meiyu’s idea: among the treasures of the servant Sun Zi, there was a bolt of yellow silk, which she had cut into strips to carry with her.

Silk was precious in the prosperous Great Sheng capital, and even rarer on the poor grasslands.

To prevent spies from infiltrating under the guise of joining, and to avoid mistakenly killing those who came to pledge allegiance, Lu Hu had agreed with Shi Zhenxiang and Quan Douman before departure: yellow silk would be the token. Those with yellow silk were Lu Hu’s recruits and could be directly enlisted.

“Take this and wait here. If the army comes from behind, show them the ribbon. Someone will take you in,” Lu Hu said, using the tip of his spear to hand the yellow silk to the nearest kneeling herdsman.

The herdsman took the ribbon with trembling hands, tears in his eyes, and kissed it.

The others crawled forward, kneeling, and took turns kissing the ribbon.

In their hearts, they felt: the god’s token is smooth and precious, a thing only found in heaven. Whoever possesses it on earth will be immortal!

Lu Hu gently squeezed Yellow Coat’s sides, and the horse circled around the kneeling crowd, speeding onward.

“Brother Coat, you left without even a word—are you in a hurry to hog all the good grass yourself?” Lightning teased as she chased after him.

White Dabai, unwilling to lag behind, competed with Lightning in speed.

In a blink, the yellow, red, and white figures vanished into the swirling snow.

“Oh~ Mami, Mami, hum, Mami hum…” the herdsmen chanted softly.

Yellow Coat ran like the wind, snorting at Lightning as he went, “You seem to be running lightly, sister. Shall I pick up the pace?”

Lightning, panting, replied, “Your mother’s head, I’m already at my limit. I can’t go any faster.”

Yellow Coat said, “We both have four legs. I can speed up, why can’t you?”

Lightning spat at him, “Shameless! You’re cheating with more legs—get lost! I won’t talk to you anymore.”

“Fine, I’ll go!” Yellow Coat let out a long howl, hooves flying, and sped up again.

Lightning had already reached her limit, unable to keep up, and soon she fell far behind.

The White Eagle King warned from above.

Most likely, more people were coming to join. Lu Hu spurred his horse onward…

By the time Quan Meiyu arrived on Lightning, another crowd knelt on the ground. She handed Lu Hu another yellow silk ribbon…

As they continued, by nightfall, she had given him six ribbons.

Night had fallen, and both people and horses were hungry.

“Yellow Coat, slow down. Wait for your brothers and sisters to catch up, and let’s eat something,” Lu Hu patted Yellow Coat’s head, whispering into his ear.

The special feed for these wild horses was distributed among the saddlebags of the Thirteen Guardians.

Yellow Coat was indeed hungry now and finally slowed down.

Within a few dozen breaths, Lightning caught up.

Lightning seemed utterly exhausted, her mouth opening as if she still wanted to argue with Yellow Coat, but she was too out of breath to snort.

“Meiyu, let’s get off and stretch our legs, and let Yellow Coat and Lightning rest a bit,” Lu Hu said as he dismounted.

“Brother, help me down,” Quan Meiyu, for the first time, acted spoiled toward Lu Hu.

She had never ridden for so long before; her legs were aching, and she couldn’t recover.

Lu Hu reached out, lifting her from the horse.

Quan Meiyu wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing herself tightly against him.

Though thick armor separated them, preventing them from feeling each other’s warmth, their hearts sensed the affection.

Yellow Coat and Lightning nestled together, their heads touching in affection.

They forgot about time and hunger…

After who knows how long, the sound of hooves approached from behind.

The two pairs of lovers snapped out of their reverie and returned to normal.

The Thirteen Guardians caught up.

“Lord God, Lady God!” Even before they reached them, they greeted loudly.

“Dismount and rest for a while, then feed the horses. Let’s eat,” Lu Hu smiled and gave the order.

“Troublemaker!” The Thirteen Guardians dismounted, walked their horses around for a bit, then took out the feed to give to them.

Lu Hu and Quan Meiyu took several ginseng roots from the saddlebag to feed Yellow Coat and Lightning.

They took out large chunks of dried meat for White Dabai.

Finally, they grabbed dried meat and cakes and squatted down to eat with the Thirteen Guardians…

Suddenly, a black shadow swooped down from the sky…