Xu Ren pinched her lips shut. She was sure that she was being bluffed and there was no such thing as evidence that could be used against her. As long as she refused to admit it, what could they do?
ilin smirked pointed at a stack of hay in the corner of the stable. "I placed a little cara there because I knew soone would try to sabotage ."
It was a simple revelation and yet it felt like the sky had shattered.
Xu Ren’s face twisted in an ugly way. "You...you...you...."
Chen Zhilan laughed. "You...you...you.....Ha! Look at the way you are stamring. You thought you were so smart but you were outsmarted and now you have no words. Right?"
i i played the footage which had been captured on a hologram because she wanted everyone to see what Xu Ren had done.
As she watched herself sneaking into the stable at night, bribing the horse with a an apple that had been drugged and hiding the needle in the saddle, Xu Ren’s face paled.
i i looked at the young girl with sadness and disappointnt. "I was actually looking forward to eting you. They say you will be the next but I never engaged in dirty tricks to ruin the chances of my competitors. I always raced cleanly. I trained day and night to beco the best damn horse rider in this empire and beyond." She raised her voice. "You are an embarrassnt to the sport and to your family."
"And a danger to horses." Jun Yi shouted angrily. "What kind of horse rider does not love and respect horses? Look at that beautiful mare. Look at her soulful large eyes!! Look at her." She bellowed sternly.
Xu Ren flinched.
ihua tightened her hands around Jun Yi’s waist.
Soone had called the police. They took the footage and Xu Ren away, along with her friends who had been reported for trespassing.
Those who had gathered dispersed and i i hugged her sister and her friends. Jun Yi ran to the mare imdiately after her hug.
"What are you guys doing here?" She asked them.
"How could we not co when you were being bullied?" Zhilan asked as she glanced at the horses, searching for the most docile one to ride.
"I was not bullied." i i said defensively. "First it was my parents and now its you guys. Look, when I decided to return to the world of horse racing, I expected the na calling, the heckling...."
"It doesn’t an you have to endure it." ihua told her.
"Or we have to stand by and watch it happen." Taiyuan said.
i i took the reigns of the mare. She looked back at her friends and said, "The best way to shut your haters up is to show them that you are above them. Nothing makes them more furious than the realization that they will never be comparable to you no matter how fast they run."
Zhilan nodded. "That is true. Did you see the look on that little psycho’s face when she realized that you did not see her as an equal?"
They all laughed.
"And that is the point I am making." i i told them. "The mont I saw her trying to sabotage like that, I lost all respect for her as a rider. Since she likes sharing videos so much, I will share this one of her and see how much she likes being famous." She looked at her watch and frowned. "I am way behind schedule. We will have to save the chit chat for later."
She left them picking out horses and took the mare out but before she got to the tracks, she saw her father. He was leading a silver horse towards her. It was one of her four horses!
Her plan was to keep her horses anonymous until testing was done and they were approved for racing.
"Dad...." She whined.
Muyang held up his hand. "I got your horses approved."
His assistant showed her the legal card for the horse which showed that it was up to date on vaccinations, superior breed but fully biological and cleared for racing.
"It is a three hour race i i. You and your horse partner must beco one in the shortest possible ti. You should understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses." He touched the horse’s nose. "Besides, Thunder Muyang here is smart enough not to eat a poisoned apple, unlike Little Feng."
Little Feng was the mare she had been planning to ride. Her na translated to Little wind, a testant of her speed. But, in the upcoming races, it was hard to tell if she could keep up. After all, she had never competed before.
Little Feng snorted, as if to ask how she could have known that the apple had been drugged. All she wanted was a midnight snack!
"I will race Little Feng behind you." He said.
i i mounted the silver horse and steadied herself. "Wait, dad. Did you na my horse Thunder Muyang?"
He held up the card, grinning. "It is already registered, you cannot change it. From now on, when the two of you win, the nas ilin and Muyang will be on every billboard, every hologram, every trophy." He closed his eyes, picturing it. "Think of it as father-daughter legacy."
She laughed. "I have your DNA and seventy percent of your looks!! What other legacy do you need?"
He opened his eyes and whispered, "ilin and Muyang, the two greatest of all ti." "How many hours are you riding today?"
"Three. No rest, No water breaks." She replied.
Muyang looked at the stallion. "Can he take it?"
She tied her hair up, put on her smart goggles which mapped out the track. "I won’t know until I have tried." She gave her father a bag of sugar cubes. "Help feed him three first."
He did as she she asked. After tasting so of those sugar cubes himself, Muyang knew that the stallion would keep up. They filled the body with energy and quenched thirst.
"Thank God for the aliens." he mumbled.
She whistled and Thunder Muyang surged forward, hooves pounding the dirt like war drums.
"Calm down," She pulled the reigns. "Slow buddy, lets begin with a warm up and get into rhythm."
They started with a slow jog, then moved into canter, i i setting the rhythm. Her father was following her on Little Feng’s back, giving advise that was not so necessary but appreciated.
Little Feng was happy to follow, as long as the sugar cubes kept coming.
"Now, run." i i whispered to Thunder.
Thunder Muyang responded instantly, stretching into a full gallop. The stallion’s stride was long and fluid, his hindquarters driving power through each beat. i i leaned low, aerodynamic, whispering furlongs to the air. One..two...three....
Wind bounced off her face and her pony tail flew like it was being blasted by the engine of a jet. "Average speed Thunder, this is not our last race." She raised her voice.
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