“Huh? It’s fixed?” He felt his neck, then looked at Yun Huizhou with excitement. “It’s much better, but there’s still a bit of a kink. Can you do it one more time?”
This time, however, Yun Huizhou did not agree.
He got out of bed, threw on his outer robe, and said, “Go wash up. We’ll get ready to set off after breakfast.”
Lian Li hurriedly chased him off the bed, pestering Yun Huizhou. “Just one more time, it still hurts a little.”
Yun Huizhou couldn’t take the pestering anymore. He pinched the back of Lian Li’s neck and hoisted him a short distance away. “How can this be something you just do again and again? If I do it again, do you still want your neck? Just bear with it. Don’t toss and turn tonight, and it’ll be fine tomorrow.”
Lian Li rubbed his neck and followed Yun Huizhou downstairs.
After being hoisted into the carriage by Yun Huizhou, Lian Li found a comfortable spot to lie down.
But no matter how he lay, it didn’t feel right; there was always a faint ache in his neck.
So, after the carriage left the town, he came out of the carriage again and sat down beside Yun Huizhou.
Yun Huizhou glanced at him and asked, “Why aren’t you resting inside?”
Lian Li shifted, leaning halfway against Yun Huizhou. He felt that a human pillow was much more comfortable, so he just sprawled against Yun Huizhou.
Yun Huizhou’s hand holding the whip tightened slightly. He didn’t push him away, just asked again nonchalantly, “Why aren’t you resting?”
Lian Li said, “No matter what position I take, it feels uncomfortable.”
“And you think squeezing out here to the front will be comfortable?” Yun Huizhou said.
Lian Li moved his head, finding a more relaxed position. “Don’t say that, this really is much more comfortable.”
His hair was a bit messy from rolling around in the carriage earlier to find a comfortable position. His hair-tying skills were mediocre at best, and it was impossible for Yun Huizhou to help him tie it—besides, in his view, Yun Huizhou’s hair-tying skills weren’t much better.
This resulted in his hair being essentially loose.
When the wind blew, the strands of hair tickled Yun Huizhou’s neck.
“Once your neck stops hurting, I’ll teach you how to ride a horse,” Yun Huizhou suddenly spoke after they had traveled in silence for a while.
“Hmm?” Speaking of horse riding, Lian Li perked up.
He immediately sat up straight and asked Yun Huizhou excitedly, “Tomorrow works! Didn’t you say my neck would be better by tomorrow?”
Feeling his shoulder lighten, Yun Huizhou instinctively glanced over, then continued, “We’ll see tomorrow. What if you get another stiff neck tonight?”
Lian Li: “It won’t happen! Tonight we’ll get two rooms and sleep separately, then I won’t get a stiff neck.”
Yun Huizhou: “…”
“Not thinking about saving money now?” Yun Huizhou said this out of habit.
Lian Li immediately replied, “We have money now!”
Yun Huizhou chuckled softly and didn’t dwell on the matter.
They had two horses in total: one for the carriage and the other was Yun Huizhou’s mount, Ice Treader.
So, if Lian Li wanted to learn to ride, he could only share a horse with Yun Huizhou for the time being, which wasn’t very convenient.
After correcting Lian Li’s posture and teaching him the points of exertion, Yun Huizhou let him sit on the horse alone while he led it by the reins.
Seeing Lian Li adapting well, he let go and let the horse carry him at a trot.
In less than half a day, Lian Li started letting Ice Treader carry him at a trot.
However, before long, he began to shout, “Stop, stop, stop! I’m running out of strength!”
He shouted while pulling the reins, trying to get Ice Treader to stop.
Although Yun Huizhou had taught him the techniques and basic commands, actual operation was different.
After all, a horse is a living creature, not a machine where you just input a command.
With a horse, the strength you use on the reins—whether too much or too little—will elicit different reactions. Although the final result is roughly the same, there are always subtle differences in the process.
Fortunately, the horse was quite smart. As long as it wasn’t startled, it generally wouldn’t make any large movements to throw someone off and would avoid many obstacles on its own.
The person on the horse’s back only needed to sit firmly and ensure they didn’t fall.
Though the process of stopping was a bit clumsy, Ice Treader was clever enough to understand Lian Li’s meaning and slowly came to a halt.
Then it heard Yun Huizhou’s whistle and carried Lian Li back to the carriage.
Yun Huizhou looked at Lian Li and asked, “Why did I hear you shouting ‘stop’ in a panic from so far away?”
Lian Li was a bit embarrassed. Yun Huizhou had already taught him how to make Ice Treader stop.
It was just that he had panicked a moment ago and temporarily forgotten. He could only instinctively tighten the reins and cling to Ice Treader’s back while shouting for it to stop. It was lucky that Ice Treader was smart.
“I’m out of strength, I can’t grip with my legs anymore,” Lian Li said honestly.
When a horse runs, if he sat solidly on its back, he would likely be jolted to pieces.
So his legs and waist had to exert some force so he wouldn’t sit so heavily. Having eaten well with Yun Huizhou lately, his body had recovered somewhat, and his strength wasn’t much different from other youths his age.
But his endurance was indeed too poor. After only ten minutes or so, he felt his waist and legs give out.
This situation was within Yun Huizhou’s expectations. Lian Li’s weakness was innate from the womb; he needed long-term care. Once he started practicing martial arts and gained Internal Energy, he would improve slightly.
Specifically, the Internal Cultivation Method chosen for him needed to be carefully selected; one that included body-nourishing properties would be best.
However, the lethality of such a method was slightly inferior to others. But the benefit was that it could continuously nourish the body, and even if he were injured, he would recover faster than ordinary people.
After these thoughts circled in his mind, Yun Huizhou said, “If you’re tired, go lie down in the carriage. Anyway, it’s only two or three days’ journey to Jianggao City.”
“Okay.” Lian Li got off the horse and crawled into the carriage.
A moment later, he pulled back the curtain again and leaned out beside Yun Huizhou.
Just as Yun Huizhou was about to speak, he smelled the fragrance of meat pies.
He turned his head to see Lian Li had heated up the meat pies inside the carriage and was sitting beside him, munching away.
While eating, Lian Li handed another meat pie to him and asked indistinctly, “This meat pie is still delicious when reheated. Try one.”
Yun Huizhou put down the bamboo switch used for driving the carriage and took the meat pie, stuffing it into his mouth.
Actually, he wasn’t hungry. He wasn’t like Lian Li, who couldn’t eat much in one sitting and would get hungry again shortly after, forced to eat small, frequent meals.
Once he ate a normal portion, he generally wouldn’t feel hungry until the next mealtime.
However, seeing Lian Li eating the meat pie with such gusto, he suddenly felt an appetite too.
