In the vast Gobi Desert, led by Old Ma, a dozen horses galloped towards Song Liyun and her group, their hooves pounding the sand and snow.
Through the binoculars, Song Liyun could clearly see the thin mane on the old horse's neck flying as it ran, and the exposed muscles and bones with each leg lift, all showing that it had given its all.
Even with the best feed and medicine, it's getting old, so only by running at full speed can it maintain its position as the lead horse.
Behind the old horse were the robust Chrysanthemum Green Horse and the gentle Chestnut Horse. Balin and Lin Qingyuan's horses followed closely behind these three horses.
What an adorable bunch!
Song Liyun was overjoyed beyond words, and could only excitedly pat Song Dekui on the shoulder: "Uncle Kui, they're back!"
She was too excited and didn't know her own strength, patting Song Dekui so hard that he frowned and cried out, "Easy, easy! Don't break your uncle's bones!"
On the other side, upon hearing Song Liyun's shout, Lin Qingyuan's face paled slightly: "What's coming? Is the wolf pack coming again? Oh dear, I've really stirred up a wolf's den."
Balin, Lao Qian, and the others also looked tense, drawing their knives and looking for a suitable spot to prepare for the wolf pack's attack.
The horses were still far away, and no one could see them with the naked eye. In addition, Song Liyun did not explain what was coming, which caused everyone to panic.
Song Liyun quickly said, "Don't panic, everyone! Our horses have returned!"
"What? The horse is back? The horse can come back by itself?"
Lin Qingyuan's horse was obtained from tribes along the way, so he didn't have much affection for it. In his opinion, once it ran away, it would definitely not come back.
The Bahrainers, however, were overjoyed.
Their horses are all raised from foals to adulthood, and they have a deep bond with them. When they are grazing around the tribe, they know to go home.
But the situation last night was hard to say.
Even if a frightened horse wants to go home, it will take several days to recover. Moreover, there are wolves active in the vicinity, and the animals' survival instincts will make them seek refuge now.
Everyone waited with skepticism.
When the horses came into view, and everyone saw a whole group of horses approaching, they cheered and smiled. Now they wouldn't have to suffer the pain of walking anymore.
Two impatient Di people rushed to their horses, and Song Dekui also rushed to Juqing's side, hugging and kissing the horse's head: "Juqing, are you hurt anywhere..."
Before he could finish speaking, he was kicked in the rump by an old horse passing by, and rolled under its belly with a cry of "Ouch!"
Song Dekui was furious. He sat up and cursed, "You old scoundrel! Just because I didn't hug you, you kicked me! I'll take away your fodder!"
Old Ma raised his head and neighed, swishing his tail as he slowly walked up to Song Liyun.
At this moment, Song Liyun had already prepared hay for the horses and given the old horse an extra bucket of water with added medicine.
The old horse didn't eat grass like a horse; it just looked at Song Liyun with its big, dark eyes.
That night it only ate a few mouthfuls of snow, and didn't eat a single blade of grass that was frozen stiff.
Its body's instincts told it: its teeth were getting worse and worse, and its time was coming to an end.
If I leave this person, I will starve to death immediately!
Song Liyun touched its nose: "Old Salt, you're really great. I thank you. I'll find you a good home in the future and treat you well!"
To be honest, having spent ten years in the apocalypse living off mutated beasts and ultimately dying in a swarm of mutated rats, Song Liyun had no love for animals.
Black Gold at home was brutally beaten into submission. Primates are intelligent and human-like, and it was Black Gold's own friendly attitude towards Xiao An that earned Song Liyun's tolerance and acceptance.
But Lao Ma is different. Song Liyun has only been in contact with Lao Yan for a few days, and she has already truly felt how wise this old man who has become a master of his craft is.
It's often said that a horse's intelligence is about that of a seven-year-old child, but nowadays, an old horse can lead the way, avoid danger, and even lead a herd of horses to escape wolf packs and find its owner. Its intelligence can no longer be measured by its age.
Its long life experience multiplied its intelligence.
Upon receiving a comment from Song Liyun, Old Ma snorted and then turned to drink some water.
At this time, Song Dekui and Balin and others had already distributed the fodder evenly to each horse.
Having spent the entire night outside and been harassed by wolves, the horses were starving. Upon seeing the carefully prepared fodder, they quickly began to eat.
With horses for transportation, the group was no longer in a hurry to continue their journey. Taking advantage of the horses grazing, Song Liyun took out some dry rations for everyone to eat.
Song Dekui and Balin didn't eat the biscuits, and instead, they reluctantly stuffed their own dry rations into the horse's mouth.
Everyone carefully checked their horses again, and only felt relieved after confirming that they had not been injured by wolves.
Without the cumbersome carriage, the journey became much faster than expected.
With ample food and clothing, and abundant provisions, everyone, both men and horses, was in high spirits.
Riding horses across the grasslands in this way shortens a three-day journey to one day.
Even with a full stomach and plenty of water, Old Ma can keep up with the main group for a long time.
Its feed is specially cared for by Song Liyun, with precise control over the amount, so as to ensure its health and not shorten its lifespan while stimulating its potential.
Old Ma seemed to have returned to his heyday, even when he was out of breath, he held his head high and kept up.
Under its guidance, the herd maintained a remarkably good running speed and miraculously avoided various small pits and ditches hidden under the snow.
After resting for another night on the road, on the afternoon of the fifth day after receiving the news, Song Liyun saw the distant, rolling mountains.
Unlike the gentle hills along the way, this mountain range is tall and majestic, stretching across the horizon.
At this time, heavy snow was falling from the sky, and the grassland was already covered with a thick layer of snow.
Through Song Liyun's binoculars, the mountain appeared as dull as a frozen stone.
Lin Qingyuan rode up to Song Liyun's side, pointed to the snow-capped mountain with his tightly wrapped hand, and shouted into the wind, "Steward Song, this is the Kala Snow Mountain. As for which peak the Wuda tribe is located at, I don't know!"
Song Liyun frowned. She had observed with her binoculars, but because the snow was falling heavily, there was no trace of human settlements in the snowstorm.
Lin Qingyuan's basic hand-drawn map only showed the general direction of the Great Snow Mountain, without any specific terrain features. The rest was up to everyone to find out.
However, finding a hidden tribe in the mountains within a radius of a hundred miles is difficult!
As night fell, Song Liyun and her group arrived at the foot of Daxue Mountain and set up their prefabricated house in a grove of trees.
Song Liyun discovered that Kara Mountain was truly a treasure trove.
The surrounding area is not only filled with large pine forests, but also teems with wild animals.
Besides the lively pheasants and rabbits, there were also foxes with snow-white fur.
While everyone was building the house, there was even a roe deer that had never seen the world before, which foolishly ran to the side to watch the fun. It was knocked down with a stick and finally experienced the wickedness of human nature before it died.
It is estimated that the snow will be heavier tonight, so the temporary houses have been built more sturdily and solidly this time.
Trees were cut down to serve as wall pillars, and the prefabricated house was sandwiched in between. Dozens of wolf pelts were stretched on the outer walls of the prefabricated house, which could both block the wind and snow and dry and fix it in place.
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