Chapter 30
The white mist in the dry air dispersed, and a blood-red full moon revealed half of its outline on the horizon.
Ravens, like thick black smoke, cawed incessantly, circling above the two figures striding through the black thorns.
“S-slow down, ughhhh~~~~~”
The poor young man, held tightly like a trophy, bounced with every stride, his voice trembling.
His chest ached, and from his upside-down perspective, he could only see the blurry hooves of his captor, shimmering in the moonlight, flashing intermittently as they galloped.
The wind roared in his ears, the thick, sticky earth, emitting a strong, fishy smell, turned into blurry red patches, and Ning Zhixia felt like a noodle, his body going limp from the dizzying bouncing.
He couldn’t even scream anymore, his consciousness fading in and out amidst the excited panting of the bad horse…
“Hee hee~”
“He he…”
After an unknown amount of time, strange, excited chuckles, like someone pulling a rare prize from a blind box, pierced Ning Zhixia’s empty mind. He fluttered his eyelids uneasily, waking from his hazy slumber.
His vision was immediately occupied by two faces, one on each side. Mili blinked excitedly: “You’re awake?”
Just then, a red-haired head suddenly squeezed in from above, and Ning Zhixia was startled, his eyes meeting the young man’s wild gaze.
Ning Zhixia gasped in horror: “Gah—”
“Harpas, you’re too close…” Mili pushed his brother’s head away, subtly asserting dominance.
“Why can you do it but not me?!”
The red-haired centaur immediately protested, headbutting Mili in a fit of pique, wincing in pain but still stubbornly staring at Ning Zhixia. “I’m going to look! I’m going to look!”
Ning Zhixia’s forehead was covered in black lines.
Forget Gold Miner, here he could just swing his pickaxe randomly and strike gold.
He forced a smile and slowly shifted his body, realizing that he was lying on a soft cushion made of several layers of velvet blankets.
It was almost bigger than his room, no wonder it could accommodate several mountain-like creatures lying around.
He sat up and looked at the edge of the cushion, his pupils constricting.
In the faint glow of the fluorite lamps, another tall, muscular figure lay prone in the shadows, a black metal mask covering the upper half of his face, wisps of smoke like will-o’-the-wisps swirling around his still gray hooves.
Ning Zhixia said blankly: “Is this… your home?”
Actually, he wanted to use the word “lair,” which was more fitting for these bandit ponies!
“Yes, that’s right!”
Harpas, before any of his brothers could speak, abruptly stood up and clapped his hands, countless fluorite lamps instantly illuminating the room like daylight, their soft, bright light reflecting off the white-gold walls.
His flame-like tail and mane blazed, and he stamped his blood-red hooves, spreading his arms and cheering, “Welcome to the Barrenlands, human! This is the most magnificent castle in Central City, no monster’s treasures or wealth can compare! Because it is the symbol of power, only the noble Lord of the Barrenlands and his beloved generals are worthy of possessing it!”
The passionate words echoed in his ears, and Ning Zhixia asked, as if understanding, “So… you are the Lord of the Barrenlands?”
“Ha.” A sarcastic snort came from the corner.
Harpas glared at the source of the sound, then crossed his arms coolly, the flames in his mane dimming considerably.
Under the human’s puzzled gaze, the red-haired centaur honestly lowered his head and said, “We are our Lord’s generals…”
Ning Zhixia understood: “Oh.” Working ponies.
“Human, would you like a tour?”
Mili, standing by the side, calculated in his mind. Harpas had already spoken one, two, three… oh my god, three whole sentences to the human!
He quickly flicked his tail and squeezed in, extending his hand towards Ning Zhixia. “Let me show you around. You don’t have to walk, just ride on my back, and let all the servants and familiars admire your face and your skills!”
Saying this, he puffed out his chest, pranced around Ning Zhixia like he was performing a dressage routine, his flowing blond hair shimmering in the fluorite light, looking extremely eager.
“What’s wrong with your hooves?” Harpas finally noticed the beautiful hooves and asked gruffly.
“Ah? What?”
The blond pony raised his voice slightly, lifted a hoof, tilted his head, and asked loudly, “Are you asking why my hooves look so beautiful?”
Ning Zhixia: “…”
“Is there an ear-eating monster living in the magic mirror?” Harpas sneered. “It seems it can stomach any kind of trash.”
“Don’t be so jealous!”
Mili’s runes glowed angrily, and he kicked at Harpas with his raised hoof. “Get lost, ugly thing!”
“How dare you! You called me ugly!” Harpas’ tail and mane burst into flames as he swung them wildly.
“Ah! Damn it!” Mili stomped his hooves, the pearls on his hoof wall instantly turning black. He roared furiously, “Look what you’ve done! You dared to ruin the design the human painted for me!”
“Ha ha, idiot, you should have thought about the consequences before showing off!”
Harpas paced back and forth with his long, strong hooves, a smug, excited smile on his face, looking for an opening to kick his brother.
Even from behind Mili, Ning Zhixia could feel the dangerous heat in the air.
He looked around helplessly, searching for a place to hide and avoid becoming collateral damage.
However, the masked centaur was still lying quietly in the corner. Sensing the human’s unease, he raised his black, thread-like tail and flicked his broad belly, then turned his head away with a cold snort when the human looked over.
Ning Zhixia, of course, wouldn’t seek refuge with a strange centaur. Just as the fight was about to break out, he was suddenly scooped up by the silent, dark-skinned centaur.
Hecate, who had been quiet for a long time, finally seized the opportunity, bounced the lightweight human in his arms, and galloped away, leaving the noisy bickering behind.
A bunch of fools.
Opportunity and action were inseparable. Hecate, well-versed in this principle, narrowed his eyes with amusement, shook his clever head, and carried Ning Zhixia to a new room.
“Alright, human, you don’t have to be afraid.”
Hecate placed him on a soft feather cushion, knelt down, and said gently, “You’re safe here.”
“Thank you.” Ning Zhixia patted his chest, still slightly shaken. He looked around the luxuriously decorated room and asked, leaning forward, “What’s the magic mirror you mentioned?”
“Yes.”
Hecate said, like he was telling a story, “There’s a diamond-shaped magic mirror hanging at the end of the corridor on the top floor of the castle. Our Lord told us it’s a portal to other planes.”
So every plane’s entrance was unique. Ning Zhixia said with interest, “So tonight was your first time using the magic mirror?”
“Yes, the magic in the mirror suddenly became very strong, and it even emitted a strange fragrance. Mili couldn’t resist his curiosity…”
Hecate tilted his head towards the human and sniffed lightly, then added, “I chased after him to stop him, yes, that’s right, I’m usually very well-behaved, because our Lord doesn’t allow us to touch it.”
Ning Zhixia couldn’t help but mutter softly, “But you still used it…”
Hecate blinked: “Because our Lord isn’t in the castle recently.”
Ning Zhixia suddenly realized, oh, so it was the ponies’ turn to be in charge!
He wasn’t sure how long he had been unconscious, but after asking Hecate, he found out it was still night.
Ning Zhixia looked at the giant blood-red moon outside the window and thought that the passage to his plane was long closed. It seemed he could only go back tomorrow.
Hecate, of course, knew what the silent human was thinking. He waved his hand, and the silver light covering his hooves and knees dissipated, revealing his jet-black hooves.
“Can you paint mine too?” Hecate asked, lowering his silver eyelashes. “Anything is fine, I’m not picky.”
Since he had just woken up and wasn’t sleepy yet, Ning Zhixia was about to agree when he hesitated, “My gel polishes and tools aren’t here.”
“They are, they are.”
Hecate immediately stood up, as if prepared, and rang a silver bell on the table. The door opened automatically, and monster servants with thorn-like horns filed in.
Sweet juice, delicate snacks, and his toolbox, complete with gel polishes, an electric file, and various bottles and jars.
“Your UV lamp is interesting, but not very suitable for hooves, so while you were asleep, I had them make this.”
Hecate took out an arched device inlaid with many square fluorite stones. It was much larger than a UV lamp, but he wasn’t sure how effective it was.
Seeing that everything was so well-prepared, Ning Zhixia agreed: “Okay, let’s try.”
“Yes!”
Hecate flicked his tail and tapped his hooves, as if deciding which one to start with.
“Let’s do the front hooves first.” Ning Zhixia had the servants bring over a comfortable chair and placed it behind him, then stepped back.
Hecate placed his hoof on a high stool, slightly below his eye level, and watched him expectantly.
The jet-black hoof, having galloped through the thorn and bone-strewn Barrenlands, was inevitably covered in small, needle-like debris.
Ning Zhixia didn’t mind, taking out an oversized brush, originally meant for cleaning nail dust, and swept the hoof wall, then used a stylus to pick out bits of dirt from the sole.
“Sorry…” Hecate’s handsome face flushed, but his dark skin hid it well, only his fan-like silver eyelashes trembling slightly.
Damn it, he should have stepped in some lava to clean his hooves before coming!
Although they were in the centaurs’ home plane, Ning Zhixia found that his electric file still worked. He ran it along the edge of the hoof, and black, dust-like shavings covered his hand.
Ning Zhixia turned his head and took a deep breath, covering his nose and mouth with a silk handkerchief before continuing, smoothing the rough edges of the hoof.
“Okay, turn around, let’s do the hind hooves…” As soon as Ning Zhixia spoke, Hecate obediently presented his next hoof.
Unlike that idiot with a pretty face who only knew how to exclaim “wow,” he had carefully observed the entire process of the human doing Mili’s manicure, memorizing every step.
Oh, wait. He seemed to have missed the part about covering his nose and mouth!
Hecate pursed his lips, mentally reviewing the missed step.
“Let me think, what kind of design would suit you…” Ning Zhixia propped his chin on his hand, feeling a little lost. These beautiful hoof walls were like polished black jade, and if he didn’t paint them well, it would be better to leave them as they were.
Hecate said softly, his voice gentle like a textbook answer: “Don’t worry, I’ll like anything you do.”
Ning Zhixia blushed slightly and said resolutely, “Okay, I’ll try! But you have to tell me if you don’t like it!”
“Okay.” Hecate quickly ruffled the human’s fluffy hair.
Ning Zhixia chose a clear base coat and applied it, using up two large bottles. When it was time to cure it, he tried the fluorite lamp Hecate had mentioned, and the effect was surprisingly good. In just ten seconds, the base coat was completely dry.
“So powerful…” Ning Zhixia muttered, examining the device, but he couldn’t figure out how it worked, so he continued with the other hooves.
With the enhanced UV lamp, the process sped up significantly.
It was time to paint the hoof walls. Ning Zhixia, being frugal, only applied a matte top coat to the center of the hoof wall, the part he would be painting. Then, he used white watercolor, blending it diagonally from the top right to the bottom left, creating a cascading mountain effect. After the edges were blended smoothly, he layered the paint, darker in the center and lighter on the sides, like an ink wash painting, full of atmosphere.
This effect could also be achieved with single-ply tissue paper, but it was more troublesome, and there probably wasn’t any tissue paper available here.
After the watercolor dried, he applied another layer of top coat, then used black 3D gel to paint a crescent moon.
But Ning Zhixia didn’t want it to look too plain, so he varied the pressure of his brushstrokes, creating short lines at the edges of the crescent moon, as if it were entangled in thorns, then layered the gel to add depth and texture, making it look more intricate and three-dimensional.
However, although there was a white watercolor background, the black 3D gel wasn’t very visible on the black hoof.
Fortunately, he had mirror powder. It was cheap and came in large quantities. Since the shop had many alternative materials, he hadn’t used much of it.
Now it came in handy. Ning Zhixia happily rubbed it onto the crescent moon, like finding a home for an almost-expired product, completely oblivious to the heavy hoofbeats that had appeared in the room.
The two centaurs, who had just finished fighting, were still fuming. If Mohui hadn’t casually mentioned that Hecate had taken the human away, they would still be fighting.
Now Mili and Harpas were flanking Mohui, each fixing their messy hair, exchanging glances, then quickly turning their heads away disdainfully, as if they had seen something dirty.
As Ning Zhixia moved the fluorite lamp after curing the top coat, all the centaurs’ attention shifted to Hecate’s hooves. Harpas eagerly wanted to approach the human for a closer look, but he was tripped by someone’s hoof and almost fell flat on his face.
Like a thorny crescent moon breaking through the clouds, it shimmered with a metallic silver glow on the hoof wall, the mysterious and enchanting pattern exuding a strange charm, drawing praises from the servants.
Hecate flexed his front hooves with satisfaction, tapping them rhythmically. He was used to his dark skin, different from his brother’s, even with the silver runes, it was never as dazzling as Mili’s.
For the first time, he felt that black and silver, besides being dull and quiet, could also be so radiant, and this different feeling was given to him by the human before him.
“Ugh…” Mili looked down at his dirty hooves and pawed the ground. He wasn’t the prettiest pony anymore!
“Tsk, tsk, it seems the fragile creature you brought back is somewhat useful.” Mohui snorted, then, seeing Mili still sulking, frowned and said disdainfully, “Stop acting like a scorned lover, it’s disgusting.”
Mili was even angrier and bumped him hard with his hip, then trotted towards the young man like a puppy.
“Look, my hooves are no longer beautiful!” Mili imitated Hecate’s tone, his voice rising and falling like he was reciting a text. “Kind human, can you help me?”
Harpas burst into exaggerated laughter, turning his head as if about to vomit.
Ning Zhixia sighed. He wasn’t made of iron, even a champion of staying up late couldn’t handle this kind of torture.
He rubbed his sleepy eyes and said, “Let me sleep for a while, don’t worry, I’ll redo yours before I leave.”
Harpas was dumbfounded, a clear, dazed expression appearing on his usually arrogant face for the first time: “Leave?”
“Yes.” Ning Zhixia couldn’t hold back anymore, turned his head, and yawned behind his hand, then turned back to them and said, “When the magic mirror opens the passage next time, I have to go back.”
“That’s too soon, you haven’t even seen the Barrenlands properly!” Mili suggested, “Why not stay for a few more days?”
Harpas’ thoughts were voiced by his brother, and he couldn’t think of anything else to add, so he just nodded repeatedly: “Yes, yes, yes!”
At this moment, all the centaurs, including Hecate, seemed to reach a consensus, and said to the young man in a tempting voice, “Since you’re already here.”
Ning Zhixia froze, hearing a snap in his mind.
Ah, not good, it seemed he was about to become a permanent resident.
Meanwhile—
The shimmering wall of light shattered into irregular fragments, bursting into golden sparks, signaling another failed attempt to open the passage to the Barrenlands.
“Lu Huai, damn it, can you do it or not?!”
Qu Banqing paced back and forth in the director’s office, anxious like a farmer facing a natural disaster.
Lu Huai immediately raised his voice: “I can! It’s the Barrenlands that can’t!”
Qu Banqing pointed at the passage that wouldn’t open and said angrily, “You can my ass!”
Lu Huai moved his lips, turned around, opened the door, and chased away the gossiping bystanders.
After the crowd dispersed, he closed the door and explained, “The Barrenlands is a special plane. Besides that magic mirror, there’s no direct passage to the centaurs’ castle. It’s not easy to bypass the Lord of the Barrenlands’ power and create a passage.”
Qu Banqing was puzzled: “Why?”
“Similar to your Shadow Isle, its rule is power above all.” Lu Huai said. “This rule applies even to the Bureau.”
“Oh…”
Qu Banqing understood and declared, “So it’s you who can’t do it?”
Lu Huai: “…” Annoying.
Qu Banqing offered an alternative: “No direct flight, can I just randomly jump in?”
Lu Huai spread his hands: “You’ll be chewed up like beef jerky by the monsters before you even reach Central City.”
Qu Banqing stared at him for a long time, then leaned against the wall.
“I’m so stupid, really.”
Qu Banqing’s eyes lost focus. “I knew the centaurs were a bunch of barbaric jerks, but I didn’t know they would be so shameless as to kidnap my Meow Meow. He’s so weak, he can’t even survive in a four-man squad game, how is he going to survive in that wilderness…”
Lu Huai was at a loss: “Hey, don’t, don’t…”
Qu Banqing sighed heavily, and suddenly, a white light flashed behind him, a cold, damp air filling the room.
The fine scales on his muscular hips disappeared. Audrow, with a puzzled look in his light-colored eyes, looked back and forth between the two of them, then raised an eyebrow in surprise and said, “Excuse me.”
He opened the door and was about to leave, completely forgetting that this was his own office.
Qu Banqing said urgently, “Come back, come back!”
Audrow turned around, leaning against the doorframe, and asked calmly, “What’s wrong?”
“Sir, we’re trying to tell you that your precious jewel…”
Lu Huai clapped his hands and spread them out, saying concisely, “Is gone.”
