Chapter 42: Malevolent Qi
It was indeed the neigh of a horse, but it was unusually human-like, even carrying notes of weeping and pain.
Just by listening to the sound, it felt as though one could feel the pain in its body.
"He must have gained sentience; he's not a wild beast anymore, just hasn't fully transformed yet," Shen Shuibi said. At the same time, her pronoun for it shifted from "it" to "he."
In this world's language, "it" and "he" had different pronunciations, so the distinction was very clear.
"Then we should be able to communicate. I'll speed up!" Li Qi said, then took a deep breath, gathered his strength, and continued to sprint through the mountains.
Leaping over obstacles, crossing ravines, even swimming across streams, climbing down cliffs, and pushing through thickets and many barriers, Li Qi probably ran for about half an hour, feeling like he had covered at least ten li.
Could Shen Shuibi hear that far?
She could hear a horse's neigh from over ten li away?
This... she truly was a rabbit spirit.
However, soon, Li Qi saw it. In a nearby ravine, there indeed was a horse.
"Wow... he looks so miserable," Li Qi frowned, somewhat astonished.
From where he stood, the horse looked incredibly agile, leaping through the mountains. One jump could cover twenty to thirty meters, able to clear a ten-zhang-wide gully.
However, this horse seemed to be in very poor condition.
It had no saddle but had horseshoes, so it shouldn't be a wild horse; wild spiritual horses were unlikely to be shod.
Its skin had many wounds, some even with white worms wriggling, possibly maggots.
The horse looked emaciated and bony. Its frame showed it was very tall, at least eight chi (about 2.6 meters) or more.
"How about we help him?" Shen Shuibi poked Li Qi's shoulder and said to him.
"Mutual aid, mutual aid. We help him, and he gives us a ride," Li Qi nodded. Since they were lucky enough to encounter such a horse, there was no problem with mutual aid.
So, Li Qi heard Shen Shuibi climb off his back, changing from being carried to a riding posture, and raising her hand high: "Hey! Over here!"
"Will he understand you speaking like that?" Li Qi asked curiously.
"Look how tall he is; he'll definitely understand," Shen Shuibi said with certainty.
"Why do you say that?" Li Qi asked.
"In ancient times, there was the Book of Rites, which stated: 'A horse over eight chi is a dragon.' This horse is so tall, it can already be considered a dragon steed. It must have already gained sentience, just hasn't transformed into human form like me yet."
"Besides, look, not only is he tall, but when he gallops, there's even faint mist under his hooves. The ancient text Records of Anomalies states: 'There were once groups of dragons appearing on the water, entering the Han River. The large ones were several zhang long, the small ones over ten chi, resembling the colors of the five directions, and having the forms of cattle, horses, donkeys, or sheep.' These all speak of the similarity between horses and dragons."
"It's said that dragons have many offspring, and one of them is the horse! Moreover, among the many characteristics of a dragon, there is the image of a horse. Look, the term 'dragon-horse spirit' is enough to illustrate the connection."
"The 'Dragon Emptiness' chapter in Lunheng discusses this, saying: 'The common depiction of a dragon has a horse's head and a snake's tail,' and that dragons are 'a type of horse or snake.' The 'Explanation of Dragons' chapter in Erya states that a dragon's head is similar to a horse's head. Look at that horse, tall and elegant, even though injured, he is still agile. A horse's form resembles a dragon's, so he must be a dragon steed!"
Shen Shuibi spoke eloquently, citing various ancient texts and chapters offhand, leaving Li Qi dumbfounded.
This girl, she might be a bit silly, but her knowledge reserve was truly vast.
She was so good at reciting texts, so why did her intelligence seem to fall short?
Shen Shuibi, unaware of Li Qi's thoughts, watched the horse run towards them and continued to explain: "Besides, even if he's not a dragon steed, a horse still possesses dragon nature."
"The Classic of Mountains and Seas records: 'Horses are truly the essence of dragons, born from the watery kind.' In the Tang Dynasty, there's a memorial to the emperor called Memorial on the Dragon Horse, which states: 'There was a horse that gave birth to a dragon steed... with scales on its body and no hair.'
Furthermore, even I have heard that in Lingchang Commandery, an unusual horse was once obtained from west of the river. Its form had dragon scales and a hui (hornless dragon) tail. It entered the Wei River west of Xianyang, transformed into a dragon and swam away, its whereabouts unknown. This shows that even ordinary horses actually possess some degree of dragon nature."
As she spoke, she sat on Li Qi's shoulders, excitedly gripping his hair, and happily said, "Perhaps he came here because he sensed the Azure Dragon divine qi on you!"
"Look how seriously he's injured. The Azure Dragon divine qi on you is the strongest Great Forest Wood Qi of springtime, possessing excellent vitality, which is why he's rushing towards us!"
"Be gentle! Gentle!" Li Qi yelled, jumping from the pain of having his hair pulled.
Would he go bald?
He heard that if hair follicles were pulled out, they wouldn't regenerate...
Li Qi shivered.
Forget it, now wasn't the time to worry about going bald. He should first look at that horse.
After Li Qi's comment, Shen Shuibi sheepishly lowered her hand, but her eyes clearly sparkled with excitement, waiting for the horse to run towards them.
Li Qi also looked at the approaching horse but the more he looked, the more shocked he became.
Not only was it injured, but this horse also looked very old.
Its hide was already loose, its hooves were full of wounds, and its mane was dirty, clotted into chunks with congealed blood and grime.
Yes, chunks, not even strands. All its mane was stuck together, and its color was not healthy; instead, it was a mix of brown and grey, looking like the graying hair of an old person.
In addition, it had a limp leg, with a knife wound about a foot long on its thigh. It should have been an old wound, but because it had long since festered, it couldn't heal for a long time, and maggots squirmed in the wound, with pus continuously oozing out.
Besides that, there were various small cuts all over its body. Its horseshoes were almost worn flat, and even the hooves themselves were severely damaged. It was truly hard to imagine how it had survived until now.
No wonder it came looking for Li Qi; it had apparently reached the end of its rope.
"He's very badly hurt. Not just severely injured, but there's also a type of Qi inside him, preventing him from recovering naturally," Shen Shuibi said with a worried tone.
Li Qi also channeled his divine qi into his eyes.
He could see that this old horse was emitting some mixed Qi.
There was a faint trace of Dragon Qi, just like what he had seen on the Eastern Azure Dragon, though its concentration was probably like the difference between pure ink and a drop of ink diluted in the ocean. One could only say it was barely there, too far from the Azure Dragon's to be described by numbers.
In addition, Li Qi could see a reddish hue on the knife scar on its thigh.
This reddish hue had a sharp, chilling feeling.
It felt like the red on the Ba Kui's Blade.
Was it malevolent Qi?
(Chapter End)