The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 5 presents you with a fortuitous opportunity!
Zhao Laosan and the others wondered why the horse demon looked familiar.

The horse demon, which had stood upright, knelt on the ground like a human, raised its hooves, and repeatedly bowed to Du Yuan, saying:
"Master, please have mercy and let the little horse go this time! The little horse really didn't harm anyone!"

These words were unacceptable to one of the young men from the caravan, who shouted:

"Master, stop talking nonsense! If this thing really didn't intend to kill us, why did it chase after us?"

Upon hearing this, the horse demon lowered its head even more aggrievedly and said:

"It's because I was afraid that if you came back to find the master, he would really banish me. At first, I really just wanted to quietly let my people go and then leave on my own."

Du Yuan pointed out the problem in the crowd. It naturally knew this and was also afraid of encountering someone who was truly capable.

"But I'm also hesitant about whether to chase after them. Firstly, I want to end this here, and secondly..."

As he spoke, the horse demon glanced at Du Yuan with the same caution as a human.

This made Du Yuan laugh.

Clearly, I'm afraid of it, but it's even more afraid of me.

Du Yuan sighed inwardly, while one of the young people behind her said indignantly:

"Isn't this still your way of wanting to catch up and kill us?"

The horse demon hurriedly waved its hooves and said:
"No, no, if I really wanted to kill you, I could just grab a handful of pebbles and throw them at you, and you'd be lucky to escape with your lives."

"Then why did you chase after me?"

The horse demon's voice immediately subsided, and it muttered to itself with its head down:

"Well, that's right, I wanted to scare you away, to make you scatter in the woods and not dare to come here, so as to avoid causing trouble. But I didn't expect that I hesitated for too long and you ran too fast, so you all ended up here."

At this point, Du Yuan understood that this horse demon was really not very intelligent. It didn't want to really harm people, it couldn't really let go, and it didn't have the confidence to really go all out. It hesitated and was timid, which resulted in the current situation.

This is really
Du Yuan was at a loss for words.

But then I thought, if it weren't for this experience, who knows when I would have realized that I might be extraordinary.

So, all things considered, this is actually a good thing?

Du Yuan was speechless for a moment.

The horse demon then tentatively said:

"Master, I truly have no intention of harming anyone, so please let me go?"

Upon hearing this, the caravan members immediately became anxious.

Because their packhorses haven't returned yet!

They can accept losing goods, and they can tighten their belts and hold on for a while.

If they lose their packhorses, they really don't know how they'll survive.

So Zhao Laosan and the man from before hurriedly said:

“Master, no,”

Before they could finish speaking, they couldn't help but glance at the still kneeling horse demon.

This is a monster; without the master, they can't afford to mess with it.

Moreover, the master didn't seem to want to kill this monster who had no intention of killing anyone.

Therefore, they quickly changed their tune:
"Master, we have no problem letting it go, but please, please don't let this monster take our packhorses!"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately realized what was happening and hurriedly knelt down, saying:

"Yes, Master, those packhorses cost my whole family the life savings of most of our lives!"

"Master, if we lose our packhorses, we'll be practically dead, if not dead!"

"Master, Master, I kowtow to you! Please, you must make it return our packhorses, even if there are only six left!"

Let alone a caravan like theirs that relied on villagers and neighbors to pool their money, even a legitimate caravan would be in grave danger if it suddenly lost all its packhorses.

Even setting aside the packhorses, the goods themselves were of paramount importance to them.

You should know that the delivery contract is still kept in Zhao Laosan's oilcloth bag. If the goods are not delivered before the beginning of autumn, the deposit will be refunded five times.

Moreover, without packhorses, they would not only be ashamed to go back to their families and relatives, but they would also be completely destitute, and they would have no way to cope with the corvée labor, military service, and taxes that followed.

This isn't about being greedy; this is about risking your life!

By talking to passersby, Du Yuan also learned what packhorses meant to them.

Seeing these people kowtowing and kneeling, still complaining.

The horse demon knew it couldn't take its kin with it.

So it could only lower its head and sigh softly, comforting itself that it had done its best and that it was good enough to have saved its own life.

It really couldn't do anything about the other horses.

Unexpectedly, Du Yuan said something like:
"Not six, all the horses will come back!"

Upon hearing this, the caravan members were overjoyed, while the horse demon's expression changed drastically.

"Master, you, you, you can't do this!"

The caravan might not understand yet, but having been beaten and exposed, how could it not understand what Du Yuan was saying?
This is to let it go back too!

But the caravan members didn't like hearing that.

They immediately rebuked:
"You monster! The master has already shown mercy by sparing your life. How could you not even let our horses return? Those are our lifelines, bought with our hard-earned money. We didn't steal or rob them, we swear to God!"

But as they talked, it was Zhao Laosan, who had been the first to realize something, who suddenly came to his senses and said:

"Wait, you, you're not Red Stone, are you?!"

They had eight packhorses, each one a precious treasure, and naturally each one had its own name.

Red Stone is the name of the horse that Zhao Laosan often took care of.

Because of its crimson mane and the fact that the villagers were illiterate, it was called Red Stone. The reason they didn't recognize it was because they were genuinely terrified of the monster, and the horse demon was standing upright. So, it wasn't until now that Zhao Laosan recognized it as their horse by its striking red mane!
And then, who would have thought their horse would be a monster?
The horse demon didn't refute, but just kept repeating:

"Yes, I am the Red Stone you're calling me."

Upon hearing this, the members of the caravan immediately erupted in anger:
"You're our horse, and you still want to harm us?!"

These words also infuriated Ma Yao:

"What do you mean 'your horse'? Humans are born of human mothers, but horses aren't born of horse mothers? I have parents, when did I ever belong to you?!"

To be honest, it made a lot of sense, which left the few caravan men at a loss for what to do.

However, Zhao Laosan quickly cursed:
"What about all the food we gave you? My wife scrimped and saved, even weaving cloth for half a year, to get me half a bag of white flour cakes and forty or fifty eggs. I ate them all!"

These words made Ma Yao retort.

It could only bow its head and say:
"That's why I didn't intend to kill you, otherwise I would have kicked you to death long ago."

It was clear that it didn't have much confidence in its statement, so it spoke softly.

"I'll kick your grandpa in the head!"

Those who had carefully nurtured their horses were outraged by their betrayal of the caravan and began to hurl insults at each other, while the horse demon naturally returned the insults.

It has to be said, as expected of someone who travels through mountains and rivers, they swear a lot.

Many birds were amazed by the sight.

After listening for a moment, Du Yuan, knowing it was time to stop it, interjected:
"Don't be in a hurry, everyone."

Because Du Yuan is a master, both the horse demon and the horse caravan are willing to listen to Du Yuan.

The two sides, who had just been exchanging insults, immediately stopped and looked at Du Yuan, hoping he could uphold justice.

Du Yuan first pointed at the demon horse:

“Red Stone, I’ll call you that for now. I’m asking you, have the caravan members mistreated or beaten you to the point that you couldn’t take it anymore?”

After muttering for a few moments, Red Stone said:

"No."

Then he added:
"And they really treated me well. The food they gave me was noticeably better than what the horses of other caravans provided. The loads they carried weren't too heavy either, and when we encountered difficult roads, they would even unload the cargo and carry it themselves."

If things were really bad, when it gained sentience, it wouldn't think of secretly letting its own kind escape, but would immediately kill those guys.

Du Yuan nodded and continued to ask:
"Have you ever seen how other wild horses survive?"

The red stone remained silent.

Finally, turning his head, he said:
"Anything is better than being used as a tool?"

Du Yuan shook her head and said:
"Wild horses have no shelter from wind, rain, sun, and snow. They also have no hay to gather and no fine grain mixed in with it. And when they get sick, they don't have a doctor to treat them."

"When wild horses are attacked by wild animals, no one will come to drive them away. Therefore, wild horses generally do not live more than twenty years. Domestic horses, on the other hand, can live to be around thirty years old."

Seeing that the horse demon was about to speak, Du Yuan interrupted it again:

"I know what you're going to say. Wild horses at least live freely, right? That's natural. Domestic horses certainly can't see the scenery that wild horses have seen. But have you ever thought that only a wise and intelligent horse like you would think that way?"

Spirit, spirit horse?

Both the horse demon and the horse caravan members were somewhat bewildered by this term.

Isn't it a monster?
Seeing their expressions, Du Yuan, knowing she had achieved her goal, continued:
"In everything, there is always a gain and a loss; how can there be anything perfect?"

"So, I'll tell you a way out. Listen to it first. If you're willing, that's fine. If not, you can all go your separate ways. I won't stop you."

Having roughly realized what was going on, the caravan members naturally cupped their hands and said:
"Please enlighten me, Master."

The horse demon wanted to speak, but for some reason, it remained silent in the end.

Du Yuan nodded and said:

"That is, you, Redstone, you've returned to their side! However, I'm not really letting you go back to being an ordinary packhorse."

"You are a spirit horse that has awakened wisdom and possesses magical powers!"

"What I want you to do is to support each other with them."

"In this way, you can receive their support, and they can receive your protection."

"You can safely traverse countless mountains and rivers with them, witnessing all things and perhaps even glimpsing the Great Dao. At the very least, you can live a peaceful life here without worrying about being suddenly killed by an unreasonable master one day."

Upon hearing that it might grant glimpses of the Great Dao, the horse demon was genuinely tempted.

And Du Yuan continued speaking:

"Besides, aren't you worried about your own people? By following them, you can keep an eye on whether they are persecuting your people."

After careful consideration, the horse demon continued to imitate humans by arching its hooves and saying:
"In that case, I'm willing!"

Du Yuan nodded again, then turned to the caravan members and said:

"What about you?"

How could the caravan members say no?

Anyone with eyes can see that this opportunity was brought about by the master himself lowering his status to connect them!

"Yes, yes!"

Seeing that things had come to a satisfactory conclusion, Du Yuan, who had always maintained a superior demeanor, let out a long sigh of relief.

We finally got through it!

At this moment, the caravan and the horse demon also bowed to Du Yuan in unison:

"Thank you for your help, Master!"

(End of this chapter)