Chapter 181: Gallops Away!
Hao Ren was thankful that he had the foresight to purchase a whole load of edible stuff before coming into The Plane of Dreams. That binge purchase resulted in about a month’s worth of food. Now that he could just retrieve them at will from his Dimensional Pocket, they did not have to deal with Lily’s famished tantrums for the time being.
Aside from the werehusky, whose hunger was still in sync with her biological clock, the others were fine. So, they just had a simple bite to fill their stomachs. As Becky still did not to appear, Hao Ren decided to take time to study the intricacies of the Dimensional Pocket. He was curious and pleasantly surprised that the pocket could be used even in The Plane of Dreams. He kind of expected some spatial distortions to occur when he activated the pocket.
“You can think of The Plane of Dreams as a complete, stand-alone foreign world. While your method of entry is through dreaming, in essence, you have crossed over into this world.” The MDT was also pleasantly patient when it started to explain new essential information such as this. “There will be some sort of spatial distortion for sure because you are exisiting in both worlds at the same time. It’ll take more computational processing to support the pocket but, worry not. The pockets that inspectors use are top-tier goods. They can be used in almost every situation, even in deep space. As long as you are connected to the Imperial Data Network, your Dimensional Pocket will be active.”
“That’s convenient.” Hao Ren nodded. At the same time, he saw a familiar figure exiting the town. Becky was on the same, weird-looking horse, cantering towards them. A herd of horses was behind, and on one of them, a middle aged man sat in horse-riding gear.
Hao Ren and the group waved at her and she arrived before them a few moments later. The mercenary lass seemed to be in a good mood. She was chirpy as always. “Yo! You guys are early. Didn’t wait too long, did you?”
“Nah, we just arrived as well.” Hao Ren waved it off with a white lie. He then saw the middle aged man getting off the back of the horse. “And, this is…?”
“He’s a horse merchant, an old friend.” Becky pointed to the man as she introduced him. “The journey from Lamberg to the Beinz Blood Lake will take a few days even on horseback. Walking is definitely out of the question. It seems like neither of you lot have any means of transportation. And…I don’t trust your teleportation spell. I don’t want to fall out of the sky and damage my brain just to save a few days.”
“Can you stop harping about that?” Hao Ren muttered grudgingly.
Becky simply laughed and waved him off. After that, she said, “Oh, the rent is on you by the way; five horses. The trip’s going to be from Lamberg to Leyton, the closest town to the Blood Lake. A one-way trip will require 10 days, and each horse will cost about 260 Denars. The deposit is 10 Denars. It’ll be refunded once we reach the stable at Leyton. This is already a friend’s price. You won’t find any cheaper rentals anywhere else.
The way Becky spoke made it sound like she was trying to swindle them. The smart lass was probably going to ask for a commission later (she did not do unprofitable deals after all.) However, none present were particularly worried about that. In addition, Hao Ren had not thought about transportation before they arived. He just realised how remiss he was on this thus, he was very grateful for Becky’s arrangements.
Well, money was indeed a problem much earlier until good man Y’zaks solved it with his mercantile skills. It was almost as if the Goddess of Luck was beside him (hell, if Raven 12345 actually knew one). He took the coin pouch from Y’zaks and pretended to count his coins. He then grabbed a bunch of coins and placed it in the man’s hand. The latter quickly waved it off. “Oh, you’re giving me too much…”
As the horse merchant was busy counting the change, Hao Ren took the chance to take note of the the various coins and their equivalent monetary value. This was a skill that an inspector needed. While Hao Ren had yet to receive any formal training on it, he had to improvise and train himself on such necesssary skills.
“Pick one,” Becky said as she pulled a few horses forward. “…All of you know how to ride one don’t you?”
Vivian was obviously a capable equestrian. Wuyue also seemed to have some skill concerning horse-riding. Even if the horses in the plane looked very different from the ones on Earth, it should not have affected the riding part a lot. Hao Ren on the other hand, had never rode on a horse before other than the time he did so with Becky. The best he could do was stay on the horse and not fall off. Conversely, Lily was scrambling up one of the horses clumsily. She then wrapped her hands around the horse’s neck to stabilise herself. The silly husky cheerily declared, “I know how to ride one!”
Hao Ren really did not know where her positivity and confidence came from.
Y’zaks was last and he purposedly picked a stallion that looked strong to him. As he neared the stallion, it started to neigh. The moment Y’zaks got on the saddle however, Hao Ren heard a loud crack…
The merchant’s face was about as green as the steppe they were on.
Even on horseback, Y’zaks legs almost touched the ground. He sighed with resignation. “Forget it, I’ll just walk.”
Hao Ren was uneasy about letting the great demon walk. “Uh, no way.”
“Oh, come on, don’t worry about it.” Y’zaks brushed him off with a hearty laugh. As soon as he got off the the horse, another loud crack was heard. Hao Ren could only nod in acquiscience. He knew that with Y’zaks’ ability, he would not have any problems running all the way from Lamberg to the Beinz Blood Lake, and back. He was also not the type to dwell on details. At any rate, his group was a bunch of unusual creatures, and he was thankful he did not need to deal with the intracies of human interaction with them. Truth be told, if Y’zaks had tried on a few more horses, Hao Ren reckoned he could kiss the deposit good bye. He deduced this by reading the mood on the horse merchant’s face.
Becky’s eyes almost popped out of her sockets when she heard that the big guy would run all the way to Beinz. She wanted to dissuade him from such foolish endeavours but, her tongue was tied at his confident insistence. She finally relented but still eyed him suspiciously as the great demon started warming up. Becky then turned to the horse merchant, signalling that he could return to town.
After all of them were ready, the party started with a canter towards the wide open plain. With Becky leading the way, the party took a turn towards the west. The next stop was a village belonging to the mountain folk.
The wide, veridian steppe was perfect for the horses to go on full gallop, and Lamberg quickly faded out of sight. A sea of verdant green surrounded them, and it was a truly refreshing sight. For Hao Ren at least, while he clumsily tried to maintain his balance on the horse. The cool wind and scenery was enough to take his mind off it.
This scene reminded him of something out of the movies; a group of riders under the azure sky, riding along an endless plain. Whether it was due to Becky’s valiant bravado or Vivian’s graceful equestrian skills, it was a sight to behold. Behind the troupe, the two-metre tall demon was running at full speed. His already vicious looking face was even more menacing at the pace he was moving. Normal people would have wet their pants and fallen off their horses right there and then…
Well, screw it…
“Can he really keep up?” Becky yelled.
She was at the front of the group. As she turned back to take a glance, she caught sight of Y’zaks, easily keeping up with the group. At the same time, her neck shrunk as she saw the look on his face. (The image of a vicious demon charging towards you can be rather scary).
“Of course! He’s mountain folk after all!” Wuyue yelled back. This “mountain folk” moniker was something she picked up from the town, and was a rather useful excuse. “That big guy over there can run a circle around the world if he wants to!”
“Hah! Then, he’ll need to figure out how to cross the Endless Sea!” Becky had all but given up wondering why the “wizard” and his companions were such a bunch of oddballs. As she chattered, she remembered something. “I never thought Old George’s horses were such second rates. The big guy may look tougher than your usual man but, those horses should not have buckled under his weight.
Old George was the horse merchant’s name. Becky was almost embarrassed that the horses he brought could not even carry Y’zaks. However, this line of thought was normal. The horses in this world were much stronger and resilient than Earth breeds. They technically could have carried Y’zaks’ weight.
The problem lay with Y’zaks’ demonic aura.
As much as the great demon had kept his dark energies under wraps, the horses in this world were particularly sensitive. Their instincts told them that Y’zaks was dangerous, and the moment he got close, they started to feel uneasy.
Nonetheless, such minute details were only noticed by the demon himself.
After an hour or so in the plains, Hao Ren started looking for tracks and signs of his “old friends”.
He was looking for that silly bunch of wolves (for their dental treatment) but, they seemed to be a little hard to find.
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