Chapter 77 - 73 Chen Hong

Zhang Xuan hadn’t expected these fools to actually kneel down, involuntarily shrinking his neck: “What are you trying to do…”

In front of so many people like this, there goes keeping a low profile!

Zhou Qun: “We just want to learn the Horse Taming Techniques from you, Master…”

“Stand up before you talk!” Zhang Xuan gestured with his hand.

“Yes!”

Knowing it was somewhat inappropriate, Zhou Qun and the others stood up.

“Actually… horse taming isn’t that complicated, as long as you’re willing to take action to break their spirit, to fracture their pride, to grind down their dignity…” Zhang Xuan casually explained a few points.

What he mentioned were some beast taming techniques from the Master Teacher Continent, and since this world was quite lacking in that area, it seemed like a good idea to spread some knowledge.

“Thank you, Master Zhang, for enlightening us…”

Although the other party had only said a few brief sentences, Zhou Qun and his companions felt as if they’d had an epiphany, as if their comprehension of horse taming had risen by a whole tier.

“We’ll take our leave!”

Knowing that the longer he stayed, the more questions they would ask, and the more he spoke, the harder it would be to keep a low profile, Zhang Xuan no longer spoke and lifted his foot to walk away.

Zhou Qun couldn’t help but sigh with emotion: “Just a few words allowed us to have such insights. This Master Zhang’s understanding of horse taming is just too much stronger than ours! No wonder he can tame so many horses in such a short period of time.”

“Indeed!”

The remaining horse tamers nodded in unison: “It’s just a pity we can’t always listen to his teachings, otherwise, our Horse Taming Skills could surely advance further…”

“I heard he’s a teacher at Baiyan Academy, why don’t we go to the school tomorrow to find him? If we get a chance to attend one of his lectures, we will definitely benefit tremendously!”

A coachman couldn’t help saying.

“Right! Let’s all go together tomorrow morning…” The second coachman likewise nodded, and even Zhou Qun showed an excited face, his eyes shining with excitement as he slapped his thigh: “That’s settled then!”

…

Looking at the somewhat disorderly courtyard in front of him, Zhang Xuan slightly frowned.

The place was full of horse manure, and the smell was slightly irritating. On the ground lay several fine horses, two of which already seemed beyond help, exhaling more than inhaling. Several people dressed as physicians were hastily traversing back and forth, all revealing an anxious demeanor.

“This is the place where horses are treated. If you want to see books about horses, this is the only place that has them!” The servant explained.

“Hmm!”

Zhang Xuan nodded and walked towards the inside. Before he could enter the room, he was bumped by a physician who was rushing out.

It was a man in his sixties who, after looking at Zhang Xuan and the servant beside him, furrowed his brows: “Du Qing, why are you bringing all sorts of riffraff here? Don’t you know we’re very busy?”

Du Qing was the servant’s name.

“Physician Chen, this Young Master Zhang wants to take a look at the books about horses…”

Du Qing hurriedly explained before turning to Zhang Xuan: “Young Master Zhang, Physician Chen is Elder Chen Hong from the Chen Clan, Baiyan City’s most formidable equine specialist. If he says a horse is beyond saving, then it’s basically as good as dead!”

Zhang Xuan nodded, bowing with a fist in palm: “My apologies, my apologies!”

Chen Hong: “No need for apologies, first of all we’re very busy here and do not welcome idlers; secondly, if you want to see books, go find them in the Book Collection Vault, what are you doing here?”

Zhang Xuan offered an awkward smile: “I’ve just bought a thousand-li horse and wanted to gain a deeper understanding of it, so I’m planning to study the horse’s anatomical structure and meridian channels. This information is only available in the horse farm, not recorded in the Book Collection Vault…”

Saying outright that he’d help the horse to “ignite its Furnace” and turn it into a Primordial Beast would surely scare people, so this explanation seemed more plausible.

Chen Hong: “We do have the books you mentioned, but… they’re the result of many years of painstaking research by us physicians. Why should we just show them to you?”

“Well… I can pay!” Hesitating for a moment, Zhang Xuan pulled out some Origin Notes.

“Money? You think I don’t have that?”

Chen Hong scoffed: “Our books aren’t for just anyone to see, unless… you are also a physician, and moreover, capable of treating horses!”

“Treat horses?” Zhang Xuan frowned.

“Indeed! Did you see the one lying outside? If you can make it stand up again and walk, letting you see the books won’t be a big deal.”

Chen Hong casually pointed.

Following his direction, Zhang Xuan looked at one of the two horses that were lying on the ground and appeared near death as he entered; it now lay motionless, its breathing seemingly already stopped.

How can you treat an animal that’s nearly dead?

“Physician Chen, please be accommodating…”

With an anxious look on his face, Du Qing said: “Young Master Zhang just wants to take a look at the books and won’t take them away…”

“I’ve already said that if you can treat the horse, you can look at the books; if not, get lost and stop wasting words here!” Chen Hong waved his hand dismissively.

“Although Young Master Zhang is not a physician, he possesses an extraordinary talent for horse taming…”

As Du Qing attempted to speak further, Zhang Xuan stepped forward: “What you mean is, as long as I can get this horse to stand up and take a few steps, I can look at the books, right?”

“Exactly!”

Chen Hong nodded.

“Young Master Zhang…”

Du Qing lowered his voice: “This horse has an incurable disease, and as far as I know, it has been treated here for half a month without success by all the physicians. He’s deliberately making it difficult for you…”

Zhang Xuan smiled and interrupted him: “Let me give it a try! It’s already like this, it can’t really get any worse.”

While he could tell if the other party was being intentional or not, Physician Chen was also right; these so-called medical books were the cumulative effort of several generations of physicians, who wouldn’t simply let anyone look at them, and this place for treating horses should have closed down long ago.

Du Qing blinked.

Horse taming and treating horses were two distinct professions with two different concepts. If you didn’t understand and tried indiscriminately, you could kill the horse!

However, the horse lying in front of him was barely alive, and as the saying goes, ‘A dead horse could be treated as a living,’ so perhaps a random attempt was worth a try? What if it worked?

Full of doubt, Young Master Zhang had already reached the horse lying on the ground and stretched his hand towards the neck of the horse to feel it.

Upon touching it, Zhang Xuan involuntarily raised an eyebrow.

The creature’s condition was even weaker than it appeared on the outside; it clearly was on its last legs. In such a state, not to mention him, even a god would struggle to save it…

However, bringing it back to life was no easy task, but getting it to stand up and walk a few steps would be really easy.

With that in mind, he approached the horse from behind and kicked its backside.

At the same time, a stream of Origin qi, refined from the Heaven’s Path Divine Art, also known as Heaven’s Path zhenqi, surged from his toes into the horse.

“Aren’t you going to get up, playing dead…” a cold snort sounded.

With these words, the horse that had been waiting to die suddenly opened its eyes, struggled weakly, stood up abruptly, and let out a long neigh: “Heir, heir…”

“????”

Physician Chen was stupefied and rubbed his eyes vigorously, afraid he had seen wrong.

He had diagnosed this horse several times; its condition was beyond the help of medicine and it was on the brink of death. But now, after being kicked by this person, it immediately got up. Was this for real?

Since when did a kick become a treatment method?

It wasn’t just him; Du Qing also froze in place.

To discipline a horse one needed to beat it up, to treat it one needed to kick it… Was getting physically aggressive with a horse this effective? If all else failed, should he give up being a servant and start practicing combat sports instead?

“Physician Chen, it’s up now!”

Zhang Xuan cracked a slight smile. “Does this mean I can go read now?”

“You, you…”

Chen Hong’s face twitched as he looked back at the horse that had certainly stood up, albeit through unknown means. Hesitating for a moment, he scoffed coldly, “Still not good enough!”

“Oh?”

Zhang Xuan frowned. “But you just said that as long as it could get up and walk…”

“I know!”

Chen Hong said, “But these medical books are the culmination of countless ancestors’ hard work and effort. You’re not a member of the Chen Clan and have no right to view them. Even if I agreed, the elder and First Elder, as well as the other Elders, would not consent… Patriarch, First Elder, when did you arrive?”

Before he could finish his sentence, Patriarch Chen Xiao and Chen Yun, the First Elder, had already entered the courtyard, looking around, and when they saw Zhang Xuan their eyes lit up, and they hurried over.

“Elder Zhang, this is your Guest Elder Command. We’ve prepared it and brought it especially for you…”

Patriarch Chen Xiao had a smile plastered on his face, as if he would throw his own skin on the ground if he could.

“Oh!” Zhang Xuan casually accepted it.

The token was the size of an infant’s palm, with “Honorary Elder” written on the front and ZHANG XUAN engraved on the back.

“Elder Zhang, this is your salary for the first month. I’ve brought it along, too…” First Elder Chen Yun also presented a stack of Origin Notes with a full-faced grin.

“…”

Chen Hong felt his brain short-circuit.

I had just said to make the horse stand up and this guy made it jump around lively. I had just mentioned he wasn’t part of the Chen Clan and had no right to view the texts, and the Patriarch and First Elder show up with a token and money… and both were fawning over him…

What was going on here?

Unable to hold back any longer, he looked over and asked, “Patriarch, First Elder, what is this…?”

“Oh, little Hong!”

The First Elder smiled faintly and extended his hand in introduction: “This is Elder Zhang Xuan, whom we have just hired as an honorary elder of our clan. He enjoys supreme privileges within the clan, holding a status equal to the Patriarch. You should pay your respects quickly!”

“Pay respects?”

Chen Hong’s eyelids twitched, feeling a burning sensation on his face, wishing he could bury himself in a hole right then and there.

If you were an honorary elder, why didn’t you say so earlier…

Had I known, I would never have said those things…

“What’s wrong?”

Patriarch Chen Xiao sensed the awkward atmosphere: “Is there a conflict? If Elder Zhang, you have caused offense in any way, please forgive our Chen Hong—he is always cautious…”

“It’s fine…” Zhang Xuan shook his head, pocketed the Elder Tokens, and looked over again: “So… can I go read now?”

“Of course, right this way, Elder Zhang!”

Chen Hong hastily waved his hand, pointing in a direction.

Zhang Xuan looked over and saw a small room with only two rows of shelves holding a few hundred books.

“Thank you!”

Zhang Xuan bowed with his hands clasped and then glanced at Patriarch Chen Xiao and First Elder Chen Yun. “Patriarch, First Elder, I will go read now. We’ll chat later when I have time!”

With that, he strode toward the room.

After he entered, Patriarch Chen Xiao finally turned, full of displeasure: “Chen Hong, what happened? Did you upset Elder Zhang?”

“He said he wanted to see the medical books…”

Chen Hong recounted the whole incident with an embarrassed expression, causing Patriarch Chen Xiao and Chen Yun to exchange looks of astonishment.

Patriarch Chen Xiao’s eyes widened: “He can not only tame horses but also treat them? And the treatment was so effective that kicking it worked?”

“How, how was this done?”

Overcome with curiosity, First Elder Chen Yun couldn’t help but look toward the front where, although looking emaciated, the horse indeed stood upright and chest out, indistinguishable from a healthy one. He stretched his hand to touch it, but the moment his palm made contact with the horse’s head…

Thump!

The horse fell to the ground and twitched a few times before breath ceased.

A stream of Heaven’s Path zhenqi, being able to hold up until now was already no small feat…

“????”

It was only then that Chen Hong realized: “Did he use zhenqi to forcibly hold it up?”

Damn, and here I thought the kick had actually healed it… It turns out it was just a show for me!

Why do I feel like this honorary elder is so unreliable?