Chapter 00008: Galloping Through the Market
# Galloping Through the Market
Chapter 8
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 8: Galloping Through the Market
Eating, drinking, causing trouble, flaunting wealth, and showing no respect for elders—it seemed like nothing had changed.
"Is that so?" He Chunhua glanced at her, his tone meaningful.
"I haven't been home much lately. You haven't been having meals with him often, have you?"
Ying Hongchan's expression changed.
"Master, it's not that I don't want to! Lingchuan just doesn't want to come home. In the past ten days, he's only come back for dinner twice at most."
He Chunhua sighed.
"You need to be more understanding. After all, he's almost sixteen now."
"Of course," Ying Hongchan agreed readily, just like before.
"No matter what, Lingchuan is still the eldest son of the He family."
After Ying Hongchan returned to her room, He Chunhua watched her retreating figure and let out a long breath.
Old Mo, the steward, appeared out of nowhere and stood beside him.
He Chunhua, with his hands behind his back, said, "The people sent by the Donglai Prefecture to track the leopard demon disappeared when they reached Blackwater City. If this matter is serious, they won't let it go. I'm afraid there's more to come."
He sighed again.
"But what worries me the most isn't this. It's the situation in the east. Our communication with the royal court has been cut off for too long. I can't shake the feeling that a great chaos is approaching."
"Even if it's a calamity, Master, you will surely pass through it safely," Steward Wu said firmly.
"It has always been so."
￥￥￥￥￥
Ten days passed, and everything remained calm.
As the day for the closure of Red Cliff Road drew nearer, more and more merchants entered and left Blackwater City.
Prefect He became increasingly busy, and the communication breakdown between Qiansong Prefecture and the eastern part of the Yuan Kingdom showed no signs of improvement.
Meanwhile, the young master of the He family continued to flaunt his power and authority.
Life was so uneventful that he didn't even know how to enjoy the peace anymore.
He Chunhua had been as busy as a spinning windmill lately, with no time to return home for dinner.
Ying Hongchan didn't summon the two children either, so they each ate on their own.
He Lingchuan was quite pleased with this arrangement.
Compared to Ying Hongchan, He Chunhua was a much more lenient father.
Contrary to what most people might think, young masters like He Lingchuan didn't usually spend their own money when they went out to eat and have fun.
For instance, today Liu Baobao had invited him to the Hongyan Restaurant for a meal, as a token of gratitude for the travel permit He Lingchuan had secured for the Liu family's merchant caravan, which had returned safely.
Liu Baobao had called it a "simple meal," but the table was laden with rare delicacies and wild game, paired with a fine wine that the Liu family had been storing for twenty years.
Not to mention, the woman serving the wine was Liu Baobao's favorite concubine, her peach-blossom eyes sparkling as she kept glancing at He Lingchuan, pouring his wine with extra enthusiasm.
Liu Baobao noticed this and cursed her silently, but he put on a regretful expression.
"Young Master, do you really have to wait until you're eighteen to... you know, indulge?"
"Mhm," He Lingchuan replied, putting down the braised venison and asking for a plate of pickled peanuts.
He popped two peanuts into his mouth and took a sip of wine.
After nearly two months of feasting on lavish dishes and exotic delicacies, he suddenly found himself missing the simple flavors of pickled vegetables, fried dough twists, and noodle soup with scallion pancakes and wontons.
Back when he had to repay loans at the beginning of the month, he'd often end up eating these humble foods by the end of it.
Now, even when he saw a pancake stall on the street, he felt the urge to go down and buy one.
It had been so long since he'd eaten such things.
His soul yearned for them.
It was like a middle-aged man who had married a beautiful, wealthy woman and reached the pinnacle of his life, yet occasionally dreamed of his plain, simple first love.
Just then, a commotion broke out outside.
Liu Baobao had invited him to dine in a private room on the second floor of the Hongyan Restaurant, which overlooked the bustling street below.
He Lingchuan leaned out the window and saw the crowded street suddenly part as two large horses galloped into view.
He let out a soft "huh" as he immediately recognized that these weren't purebred horses but rather hybrids with the blood of fierce beasts.
Their distinguishing features were their large heads, sharp teeth, bluish-red bodies, and bulging red eyes.
These mounts were known as "feral horses," inheriting the swiftness and endurance of their beast ancestors.
They were also known for their aggressive nature and appetite for flesh, making them formidable in battle.
Even twenty top-tier warhorses might not be enough to trade for one feral horse.
Of course, feral horses also had their own rankings.
He Lingchuan's beloved steed was a feral horse, a gift from a small western country to the governor of Qiansong Prefecture.
It was a carefully selected, high-quality specimen, but it was only on par with the two horses below.
If the horses were this impressive, who were their riders?
The two riders were positioned one behind the other.
The one in front was a young man in white robes, around seventeen or eighteen years old, with delicate eyebrows and bright eyes that gleamed with sharpness.
The one behind was a figure in gray, wearing a bamboo hat, his face hidden from He Lingchuan's view.
In front of the white-robed youth floated a spirit pearl the size of a goose egg, spinning rapidly.
An invisible force pushed the crowd aside, clearing a path for the horses.
The force wasn't gentle, and pedestrians were knocked off their feet.
One fat man fell onto a nearby stall, flattening the vendor's steaming rice cakes into pancakes.
The vendor, of course, wasn't having it, and the two began to argue.
This was a world of strange powers and supernatural phenomena, so He Lingchuan wasn't particularly surprised.
He chuckled and said, "Galloping through the market—what a show of power."
In the major cities of the Yuan Kingdom, there were rules requiring riders to dismount and lead their horses.
Although Blackwater City allowed riding, the speed had to be slow, and galloping was strictly prohibited.
Violators would be dragged down, whipped twenty times, fined five taels of silver, and punished further if they injured anyone.
The local customs were fierce, and so were the penalties.
Liu Baobao glanced at He Lingchuan, thinking to himself, *Isn't this how you usually behave?*
The two riders were about to pass beneath the restaurant.
This was a T-shaped intersection, and once they turned onto the side road, the number of pedestrians would at least halve.
The white-robed youth then retracted the spirit pearl, as maintaining it required energy.
Just then, a boy ran past, and his toy drum was knocked out of his hand by a passerby, landing right in the middle of the street!
The child immediately dashed out to retrieve his toy.
He was now directly in the path of the feral horses.
His parents screamed in panic, rushing forward, but they were blocked by the crowd and couldn't reach him in time.
The riders showed no intention of slowing down.
In just two seconds, the massive hooves would trample the child.
*Again with this!* He Lingchuan sighed inwardly. *Why is it that in every world, there's always a kid running under a horse?*
But times had changed, and he no longer needed to intervene personally.
"Uncle Hao!" He Lingchuan rested his chin on one hand and pointed downward with the other.
Uncle Hao, who had been standing silently by his side like an invisible man, took out two copper coins and flicked them downward.
The two coins landed in front of the feral horses, about three feet apart.
If the riders continued at full speed, the horses' legs or bellies would likely be struck by the coins.
The reason for throwing two was to prevent the riders from deflecting one and continuing at full speed.
Uncle Hao's copper coins weren't easy to handle.
He Lingchuan had once seen him use a coin to pierce through a bear's skull.
The hardness of a bear's skull didn't need to be explained—it was at least as tough as the feral horses below.
The white-robed youth below assessed the situation and immediately yanked the reins hard.
The feral horse reared up with a loud whinny, coming to an abrupt halt.
Its hooves were less than seven feet away from the child on the ground.
(End of Chapter)