One day later, at the crack of dawn.
The sky was just beginning to lighten, and dew dripped from the mulberry trees of the Lin Residence.
Yao Shi yawned, shivering uncontrollably as he cleared out yesterday's horse manure. With a miserable look on his face, he prepared to deliver it to the fields of the vegetable growers and tenant farmers.
Usually, the groom, Old Yao, would have other servants do this chore.
He'd had bad luck yesterday. He had tried to curry favor by offering a hand-rolled cigarette, only to walk right into the line of fire.
Thinking about it now, he wanted to cry but had no tears.
'Still, it's not all bad,' he thought. 'The old man said this Ji Xiu fellow only got this far by riding the Second Miss's coattails. He looks about my age, so he's probably clueless about the Horse Riding Skill.'
'I just have to wait a day or two. He'll definitely crack under the pressure of stable work. Then the old man will have his chance to sort him out.'
Feeding, raising, and exercising horses wasn't as simple as just talking about it.
After Ji Xiu had worked through the night, his master would be watching his methods today. The slightest mistake, and the master would jump at the chance to find fault and report everything to the masters of the inner courtyard.
Even the Second Miss was nothing in the eyes of the true master of the Lin Residence, Master Lin.
Besides, a servant who was clueless about the Horse Riding Skill wasn't even worth a second glance!
Holding onto this thought, Yao Shi reluctantly went to deal with the manure. But when he reached the East Stable, with its roof of tiles and thatch, he discovered...
The twenty-some fine steeds that should have been tied quietly before their troughs were all gone!
CLATTER!
The filthy wooden bucket in his hand fell to the ground, and he was scared out of his wits.
'Where did that guy take the horses?!'
The thought had barely formed when...
CLOP, CLOP, CLOP...
The rhythmic, orderly sound of hooves echoed from the specially designated horse-walking grounds to the side.
Yao Shi's face stiffened. He forced himself to turn and look.
And he discovered...
The magnificent steeds, handpicked by Master Lin, were as docile as sheep before a young man clad in a single, thin brown robe in the freezing cold!
They circled round and round in the small, gravel-paved yard, not making a fuss or a sound!
And yet, he was only casually holding a single rein.
But in Yao Shi's eyes,
it was as if a shepherd was grasping his staff.
It was as if he held the reins of every single spirited horse tightly in his palm!
Not one of the dozens of horses ran wild. It was a perfect display of...
...perfect control, as if they were his own limbs!
'Am I... seeing things?!'
Yao Shi rubbed his eyes, thinking he was still half-asleep. But when he opened them again, he saw... Ji Xiu, in the distance, actually gave him a friendly nod and a greeting.
"Master, Master, come out quick!"
The gesture scared him so badly that he scrambled back. A moment later, he was pushing and shoving a swearing Old Yao, his goatee in disarray, out of his quarters.
"What nonsense are you spouting, you little brat? The horses are as docile as sheep? Herded in perfect order with a single rein, and not one of them strayed?"
"I've been taming horses for over forty years, and to this day, I still have to lead them one by one, walking them in circles one at a time."
"And even then, the horses still act up from time to time."
"If someone could tame dozens or hundreds of horses in one go, I'd get on my knees right now, serve them tea, and beg them to teach me the true meaning of the Horse Riding Skill! Are you pulling my leg? Or did your master not smack you hard enough yesterday?"
Old Yao wasn't wearing the thin jacket from yesterday. He stumbled in the cold, his nose running, his eyes watering, and his calves trembling—a clear sign his old rheumatism was acting up.
The moment he stepped out of his wooden hut by the stable, he saw Ji Xiu crack his whip, and the entire herd from the East Stable obediently returned to their troughs.
The proud, high-spirited stallion leading the pack was none other than Second Miss Lin Ruyue's Thousand-Mile Snow!
"No way,"
'It's so cold, this old man must be hallucinating...?'
Old Yao was dumbfounded.
Then,
he watched as Ji Xiu took out hay, fine rice, and refined flour from the feed bin. He mixed them methodically—not too much, not too little—and poured the feed into each trough in sequence.
The twenty-some steeds ate with gusto. They seemed not only more energetic than yesterday but also stronger!
[Led horses and untied reins, releasing their nature. Exercised horses for a quarter of an hour. Horse Taming Success!]
[Horse Riding Skill: 51/1000!]
[Fed with hay, rice flour, and eggs, the fine steed snorts with delight!]
[Horse Riding Skill: 52/1000!]
Watching his Horse Riding Skill improve bit by bit... The feeling of making solid, tangible progress even while "paying back the debt" on his advanced skill...
...made Ji Xiu, who had dragged himself out of bed before the sun was up, feel invigorated.
Even though his stomach was empty and his clothes were thin.
This feeling of seeing hope... filled his heart with an incomparable sense of security!
"You, you..."
As Ji Xiu returned to the stable, Old Yao was so flustered he couldn't form a complete sentence.
"Don't be anxious, old man. If you want to learn, I can teach you."
"But all that talk about kneeling and serving tea... that won't be necessary."
Ji Xiu said this with a gentle smile, but his words made Old Yao's face turn beet red, leaving him utterly speechless.
At that moment,
only one thought remained in his mind—
'How does this kid have such an expert foundation in the Horse Riding Skill?!'
...
"Old man, you've been mixing in too much hay and beans with every feeding. The horses will get bloated if they eat too much. You're getting old and only exercise them once a day. This can't go on in the long run."
"I'll help you walk them a couple more laps. Next time, remember to add more fine rice and refined flour, and less of the beans."
Next to Ji Xiu—who was still thin in his brown robe but now had a bit of color in his face—trotted an old man with a goatee. He wore a thin black jacket, rubbing his hands together and chuckling.
"Heh, this old man's getting on in years. I can't run laps anymore. But isn't Little Brother Ji here? With someone as diligent as you, waking up before dawn every day, it doesn't matter what these horses eat."
Over the past few days, Old Yao had completely come to terms with the situation.
In terms of the Horse Riding Skill, he was no match for Ji Xiu.
In terms of physical health, he had one foot in the grave and wouldn't last many more years.
In terms of connections, no matter how you sliced it, he was just a servant who barely saw the Master a few times a year.
'But this kid... he might have the Second Miss looking out for him!'
If this had been twenty years ago,
Old Yao would have done everything in his power to crush the boy and protect his own position.
But now...
he was practically knocking on death's door. He'd already saved up his coffin money. All that was left was to maybe miss out on a few benefits, but he'd made his peace with that.
Besides, with this kid around, the last few days had been a real breeze!
Up before dawn, working until curfew—the boy was a true beast of burden, working like an ox and a horse!
He worked like this even when Master Lin wasn't around.
If he was...
'Wouldn't my old bones be compared into the dust?'
Old Yao sighed with emotion, stealing a few glances at Ji Xiu.
He looked at the boy's frail frame, which seemed like it could be scattered by a strong gust of wind.
He was genuinely afraid that Ji the kid would work himself to death by tomorrow.
'If that happens, where would I find such an easy life?'
He was afraid to teach Yao Shi and the other apprentices his real skills, fearing they would abandon him in his twilight years with no one to care for him.
In any case, he wasn't expecting this kid to care for him in his old age, nor did the boy need his Horse Riding Skill to make a living.
So, after glancing around and seeing that Yao Shi and the other apprentices were gone, Old Yao furtively slipped a few eggs to him.
"Kid, seeing how hard you've been working these past few days, this old man will teach you a thing or two."
"These horses... why do they eat so well?"
"Fine rice and refined flour at every meal, and even rich food like eggs. The livestock eat better than people!"
"Since you've sold yourself into the Slave Registry, you'll be here for the rest of your life anyway. You might as well treat yourself better, build up your strength. Maybe then the Second Miss will..."
Old Yao waggled his eyebrows suggestively as he spoke, forcing the eggs into Ji Xiu's pocket.
A moment later,
he couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity and sighed to himself.
'This kid is a real hard worker. If he could become an Entry Grade Martial Artist, maybe...'
'But then again, he's a servant. This is all his life will ever be.'
"Heh."
'What's the point of working so hard and tiring yourself out...'
But,
in a corner that Old Yao's peripheral vision missed,
[Horse Taming Success, attempts +1!]
[Horse Riding Skill: 754/1000!]
...
[Horse Riding Skill: Great Success!]
[Current Trait Mastered: Waist and Horse Unity!]
[When you ride a horse, the mount beneath you feels like an extension of your own legs, moving as if it were your own limbs!]
[During the practice of Horse Stance and Pile Standing Skill, you can unite your strength to surpass... human limits!]
Horse Riding Skill!
Great Success!
All these days of hard work had not been in vain.
Looking at the advanced skill on the Primordial Daoist Talisman...
Ji Xiu wiped away his sweat, a brilliant smile finally breaking across his face.
He stared intently at Old Yao for a long moment.
He stared long enough to make the old man's hair stand on end, making him think, 'This kid isn't some inflexible, by-the-book type, is he? He's not going to report me, is he?'
Only then did Ji Xiu quietly avert his gaze.
Then, he felt the bulge against his chest, inside his clothes.
There, he had 'several taels of silver'.
It was the reward money he had received a few days ago for saving the Second Miss, Lin Ruyue, when he first entered the residence.
Because an important person had personally overseen it, no one dared to skim any off the top.
A full five taels!
He'd heard that Master Lin had originally planned to just toss him eighty or a hundred large coins and be done with it.
The rest was added by Miss Lin herself, who felt the original amount was too little.
'She's a kind-hearted mistress,' he thought.
Although she had lost control of her horse, he had figured out the cause and effect a few days ago. It was a setup by someone else, so he didn't blame Lin Ruyue.
Ji Xiu mentally noted this and clenched his fists.
He would never forget a kindness, no matter how small.
But for now...
there were more important things to do.
Just yesterday,
he had arranged to meet with the Lin Residence Nursing Home guard, Qin Biao.
He intended to ask him, after taming the horses today, how one could find an 'opportunity to practice martial arts'!
Whether it was a Martial Arts Hall, a gang, or private instruction...
as long as there was a way in,
even with the most bottom-tier, common techniques, he was confident he could rise above the rest!
Since transmigrating to this world,
Ji Xiu had never felt as excited as he did today.
He had money now, and the debt on his Daoist Talisman was almost paid off...
The first signs of a turnaround were already beginning to show!
And so, without any further delay,
Ji Xiu walked with a spring in his step, swallowed the eggs whole, and impatiently...
strode away!
The golden light of early morning spilled onto his departing figure.
It illuminated Ji Xiu, making him seem like the rising sun, brimming with a vigorous life force that was just beginning!