They've all become top scholars in the imperial examinations, and you're telling me this i

Chapter 177 A Show with a Scent

At the edge of Wanmaping, clouds and mist swirled. Thousands of celestial horses of various colors remained as carefree as ever, some grazing on the weeds on the cloud-covered plain, others flicking their tails to shoo away non-existent mosquitoes and flies, and still others chasing and frolicking with each other in twos and threes.

Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, led several celestial generals onto the viewing platform. His gaze swept across the scene on the platform, a barely perceptible smile playing on his lips, as he spoke slowly to the golden-armored generals beside him…
"Vice Commander Chen said that the military orders have been completed, and everyone will know the outcome shortly."

Several generals who had followed Li Jing stood on either side, their expressions calm. They were all seasoned veterans of the Heavenly Court, and had been closely monitoring Wanma Ping these past few days, so they naturally knew that Chen Guangrui had made almost no moves in the last two days.

To allow so many celestial horses to eat, drink, and relieve themselves at the same time? This was unheard of. They had already made up their minds, and at this moment they simply maintained the composure befitting high-ranking generals, saying nothing more, exchanging only glances, understanding each other without words.

Li Jing seemed to raise his hand casually, indicating that an order had already been given by a general.

In an instant, the clouds and mist outside Wanmaping surged, and many figures gradually gathered.

Besides the celestial soldiers who were originally on duty, there were also many soldiers of various ranks who came after hearing the news. Some stood solemnly at a distance, while others talked in hushed tones, all with their eyes fixed on the scattered horses in the open field, their faces filled with suspicion and curiosity.

"How can you expect animals to obey commands like humans?"

"Even if the Keeper of the Heavenly Horses has great authority, he can't control how the horses poop and pee, can he?"

"Vice Commander Chen is probably going to be in trouble this time."

"What deputy commander? He's just a stable boy. If it weren't for the Tushita Palace..."

The hushed whispers floated like a gentle breeze along the edge of the cloud-covered platform.

Not far from the side of the viewing platform, Nezha leaned against a stone pillar formed of clouds, arms crossed, with his Fire-Tipped Spear stuck upside down beside him.

His face showed undisguised disappointment and boredom. He shifted his gaze from the scattered herd of horses to the figure that had not yet appeared in the center of the field.

"See? I told you it wouldn't work." Nezha curled his lip and sneered at the little bald guy next to him.
“I’ve been watching you closely these past two days, and all your father has done is lie down. He hasn’t even trained a single horse. He thinks he can command so many horses with that worthless seal of office? Dream on.”

His tone was full of dissatisfaction and contempt for Chen Guangrui's inaction.

Tang Sheng was standing next to Nezha. Upon hearing this, she immediately raised her little face to retort.

"No way! My dad is amazing at training horses at the Imperial Stables. All the horses listen to him. He definitely has a way with them. Just you wait and see!"

He puffed out his small chest, appearing confident and harmless, giving the impression that he simply trusted Chen Guangrui.

"Give me a break, you little bald monk!"

Nezha scoffed and habitually reached out to pat Tang Sheng's bald head, but Tang Sheng cleverly dodged it.

"I know that seal a hundred times better than you. At most, it can keep the horses from running wild. As for controlling their poop and farts? Hmph, definitely no chance."

Tang Sheng's eyes darted around, and he said with a grin,
"What if my dad actually does it?"

"Really?" Nezha thought he'd heard the biggest joke in the world; he didn't believe it at all.
"If he can really get these thousands of horses to eat, drink, and relieve themselves at the same time, I, Nezha, will keep my word and immediately tell your father, the Yellow Wind Monster, whereabouts. Isn't that fair?"

"That's between the two of you." Tang Sheng shook her head vigorously, like a rattle-drum.

“You’re talking about something else entirely, we need to recalculate! If you lose, you’ll have to give me something in return.”

Nezha was amused by the brat's petty calculations and glanced at him sideways.
"Hmph, you little brat want something in return? I can't be bothered with you." With that, she turned her face away.

"Hehe, Third Prince, are you scared? Scared of losing to a little monk like me?"

Tang Sheng immediately resorted to reverse psychology, deliberately raising his voice.

Upon hearing the word "fear," especially from a five- or six-year-old child, Nezha instantly bristled.

"Scared? What a joke! Fine, tell me, if I win, how are you going to compensate me?"

Tang Sheng was prepared; she put her hands on her hips and said smugly.

"If you win, I'll go to the Tushita Palace and get you ten inferior elixirs. I'm on very good terms with the two boys, Golden Furnace and Silver Furnace, so I'm sure I can get them."

Nezha was first surprised, then burst into laughter, pointing at Tang Sheng.

"You're just spouting nonsense! Even the inferior elixirs from the Tushita Palace are extremely precious. How could a mere novice monk like you possibly get them? You're kidding me!"

Tang Sheng didn't argue, just chuckled, reached into his pocket, and magically produced three items.
A jade bottle, a shimmering red gourd, and a golden rope. He weighed the treasures in his hands, his face saying, "See, I wasn't lying to you."

Nezha's laughter abruptly stopped, his eyes widening as he stared at the treasure in Tang Sheng's hand, then at Tang Sheng's innocent little face. His expression turned extremely strange, and he muttered a curse under his breath.
"Those two boys in the Tushita Palace are really generous, stuffing so many good things into a child's hands. Give them to me quickly, the Heavenly Court is a deep and murky place, you can't hold onto these things. Here, I'll give you a few candies..."

Now he was starting to believe that Tang Sheng and the attendant of the Tushita Palace had a close relationship.

"How about it, is it okay?" Tang Sheng rolled her eyes at him, put away the treasure, and proudly raised her chin.

Nezha was completely outmaneuvered; how could he possibly back down in front of a mere brat?
He snorted, a hint of impatience in his voice. "Fine, tell me, what do you want me to do?"

He wanted to see what kind of conditions this brat could come up with.

A little kid, a little monk, at most he just wants some good food.

Tang Sheng leaned closer, her big, dark eyes sparkling, and said in a very small voice, tinged with mystery and excitement.

"If my dad can train the horse well, you'll take me to the Moon Palace to see the Moon Goddess Chang'e taking a bath!"

"Holy crap!" Nezha was completely dumbfounded. His mouth was agape, wide enough to fit an egg. He stared incredulously at the six-year-old bald boy in front of him, dressed in a monk's robe with an "innocent" look on his face. His mind went blank, as if he had been struck by lightning.

Is this a six-year-old monk? Is he really six? What kind of rubbish has that monkey from Flower Fruit Mountain been teaching him?

Tang Sheng blinked her big eyes and asked innocently,
"Third Prince, why aren't you saying anything? Is it... that you've lost confidence?"

"Bullshit!" Nezha was instantly ignited by the word "lack of confidence," his initial shock immediately overwhelmed by his competitive spirit. Making Ma Tong eat, drink, and relieve himself? Absolutely impossible! That little bald monk is definitely going to lose! He stiffened his neck, almost gritting his teeth as he replied.
"Alright, I'll take your bet! It's a deal. Just wait and see how your father makes a fool of himself!"

Just then, Chen Guangrui appeared in the center of Wanmaping. He walked steadily toward the center of the field.

The horse grooms, who had been waiting, immediately poured the mountain of fragrant, high-quality hay into more than a dozen huge sandalwood troughs, and the golden hay flowed like a waterfall.

Inside and outside the courtyard, all eyes instantly focused on Chen Guangrui.

Li Jing narrowed his eyes slightly, and the curve of his lips deepened.

The generals remained expressionless, but the scrutiny in their eyes was unmistakable.

The heavenly soldiers held their breath and focused intently.

Nezha crossed his arms, chin slightly raised, looking like he was waiting to see a joke.

Tang Sheng clenched his little fists nervously, staring intently at his father.

Chen Guangrui seemed oblivious to the stares around him. He stood still, facing the thousands of celestial horses that were still scattered and disorderly, and slowly raised his right hand, bending his index finger and thumb, and put it into his mouth.

The next moment, a clear and loud whistle suddenly rang out.

"Hail, honk!"

The whistle, like an invisible command, instantly swept across the entire Wanmaping area.

The miracle happened!
The foal, which was playing and chasing each other just a second ago, suddenly stopped in its tracks.

The horse, which had been grazing with its head down, suddenly raised its neck.

The Pegasus, pacing with its tail swishing, seemed to be frozen in place.

All the noise and the laxity froze the moment the whistle blew.

Immediately following was a thunderous roar of hooves, gathering like muffled thunder and dispersing like a sudden downpour.

Thousands of hooves shattered the cloud-covered plain; thousands of celestial horses, as if drawn by an invisible hand or like elite soldiers trained a thousand times, surged forth from all directions! Crimson Flame Steed, Cloud-Stepping Steed, Jade Lion…

Warhorses of different colors and sizes, in a very short time, surged and converged towards the central feeding trough like a torrent of black and various colored gems.

The thunderous hoofbeats and the neighing of horses created an indescribable, orderly rhythm. The sounds of armor clashing, heavy footsteps, and rapid breathing intertwined, only to dissipate into a chilling silence a few breaths later.

In the center of Wanmaping, a huge, orderly, and perfectly still square formation suddenly appeared!

All the horses were arranged in a strict order of coat color and height, their heads level as if measured by a ruler, their forelegs slightly bent, their posture docile, and all eyes were focused uniformly on the feeding trough that emitted an enticing aroma of grass, without a single unnecessary snort.

Outside the ceremonial platform, all was deathly silent. On the reviewing stand, a general instinctively pressed the hilt of his sword, which had slipped half an inch from his waist due to the slight tremor of his body; his knuckles turned slightly white.

The other general's pupils suddenly contracted, and he instinctively held his breath.

Li Jing's hand, which was resting on the jade railing, tightened suddenly, his knuckles instantly becoming blue, and the hem of his golden cloak billowed slightly even in the absence of wind.

The soldiers watching were dumbfounded, their mouths slightly agape, their faces filled with extreme shock and disbelief, as if they were witnessing the most impossible spectacle in the world.

"Look, it's time to eat!"

Tang Sheng was the first to react. He grabbed the stone railing beside him, stood on tiptoe, and pointed at the neat formation of horses in the courtyard. His clear voice broke the silence, and his little face was full of excitement and pride.

Chen Guangrui stood at the front of the horse formation, his face calm as still as water, facing countless shocked gazes. He slowly raised his arm and gently waved his sleeve towards the feeding trough.

As if receiving a final command, thousands of celestial horses lowered their heads at the same instant and buried their mouths in the feeding trough.

"Swish, swish, swish..."

The loud, rhythmic chewing sounds blended into a continuous drizzle, and golden grass clippings floated like scattered gold in the sunlight. Even more astonishing was that all the horse tails were held high, like soldiers standing in formation, perfectly aligned.

As the whistle fell, thousands of celestial horses stopped eating in unison, their heads instantly raised in clean, swift movements, as if guided by invisible threads. The deafening chewing sounds ceased abruptly, and Wanma Ping fell into an eerie silence, with only the golden bits of grass remaining in the troughs slowly drifting down in the dim light.

On the platform, the veins on the back of Li Jing's hand, which was resting on the jade railing, stood out even more. Although the generals beside him still maintained their solemn postures, the scrutiny in their eyes had been replaced by surprise and uncertainty.

Their eyes met briefly, silently confirming that Chen Guangrui had indeed not approached the horses for any so-called "taming" in the past two days.

So how did these horses...?

"Hmph," Li Jing's voice was low, with a hint of tension that was barely perceptible, as if he were speaking to himself and the generals around him.
"The authority and seal of the弼马温 (Bima Wen) to command the horses to eat is not surprising. Horses are inherently greedy, and with a little guidance, gathering them is not difficult..."

Before he could finish speaking, his gaze was fixed on Chen Guangrui in the room.

The other generals understood as well.

"Yeah, it can control everything, but can it control people's poop and farts? It can't even control people, let alone this horse."

"Who knows if all these pegasus horses can poop at the same time? If one of them doesn't poop, they'll have to hold it in for a while, won't they?"

“This task is too difficult; even a stable boy might not be able to train a horse to this level.”

Chen Guangrui's expression remained calm, almost indifferent. Facing thousands of pairs of eyes and the gazes of many more soldiers—some surprised, some mocking, some expectant—he raised his hand again and placed the whistle between his lips.

A second, clear whistle pierced through the clouds.

"Lulu!"

As soon as the whistle blew, like elite infantrymen who had practiced a thousand times, thousands of celestial horses moved at the same instant.

Instead of rushing towards the feeding trough, they firmly planted their four hooves on the cloud platform, then uniformly bent their front knees. With a dull thud, their hooves pounded down, and their sharp horns began to dig vigorously into the tough cloud platform.

Dust mingled with churned clouds as thousands of horses pawed the ground simultaneously, their movements, amplitude, and frequency astonishingly synchronized. Hoofprints flew, mud splattered, and a deafening roar rolled across the clouds like continuous rumbles of thunder.

The scene was horrifying enough, but what followed was even more unbelievable.

In just a few dozen breaths, in front of each of the bowed celestial horses, a pit of almost the same size and depth was neatly dug out. The position where the hooves landed and the shape of the pits were as if measured with a ruler, so precise that it was chilling.

It's already rare to see a horse-dug hole, but to dig one so neatly?

I've lived this long and never seen one before.

Silence reigned outside the platform. The heavenly soldiers, who had been chattering just moments before, fell completely silent, their mouths agape and their eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.

The composure that the generals in the stands had been feigning finally crumbled. Some of them subconsciously held their breath, and their fingers on their swords tightened unconsciously.

Nezha lowered his arms, leaned forward slightly, the habitual sneer on his lips froze, and for the first time, something called astonishment flashed in his eyes.

Tang Sheng excitedly clung to the stone railing, her little face flushed and her big, dark eyes wide open.

Just as everyone was stunned by the sight of the neatly dug pits, Chen Guangrui blew the third whistle!

"Shut up!"

The whistle carried a strange, final meaning.

Thousands of celestial horses simultaneously spread their hind hooves slightly apart, straightened their backs, and raised their tails high.

The next moment, time seemed to be slowed down, or it seemed to speed up instantly.

"Pfft! Sizzle sizzle sizzle!!!"

The dull yet powerful sounds converged into an overwhelming wave of sound, violently assaulting everyone's eardrums.

Even before the sound, and more domineeringly occupying everyone's senses, was an indescribable, intense, and tangible stench, a mixture of the stench of hay and the distinctive smell of animal excrement.

Mara shits!

Nearly 10,000 horses pooped!
Stinking shit!

The smell exploded like an invisible giant wave, instantly sweeping across the entire Wanmaping and spreading towards the surrounding viewing platforms and the heavenly soldiers.

The clouds and mist were stirred and distorted, as if they too had become murky and turbid from the stench.

Thousands of streams of excrement, like golden mudslides, sprayed into the pits they had just dug, almost simultaneously in the same millisecond.

The scene was so spectacular it was breathtaking, and so absurd it was astonishing.

Golden liquid and solids shot and flowed, filling thousands of pits and rising a pale golden mist, which spread the stench even more recklessly.

"Ugh..." In the stands, a heavenly soldier with slightly weaker willpower couldn't help but gag, and then covered his mouth and nose tightly.

The other soldiers, including the generals, instinctively took a half step back, covered their faces with their sleeves, and frowned.

Li Jing's face turned ashen in an instant. The knuckles of his hands, which were resting on the jade railing, turned white from the force. The hem of his golden cloak trembled slightly, whether from anger or from the stench, it was hard to tell.

"Damn! That's amazing!" Nezha clapped his hands loudly, his voice booming with pure excitement at the sight, instantly breaking the deathly silence that had been frozen by the stench.

"Damn, that's incredibly neat! Chen Guangrui, your horse training skills are amazing!"

He completely ignored the ugly expressions on the faces of the generals in the stands, and even glanced provocatively in Li Jing's direction.

The uglier your face looks, the happier I am!

"it is good!!"

"That's amazing!!"

"Goodness gracious, this is the first time I've ever seen a horse poop like this!"

As if in response to Nezha's cheers, or as if a fuse had been lit, the stunned onlookers of heavenly soldiers suddenly erupted into thunderous cheers and incredulous exclamations.

The voice was filled with surprise, admiration, and even a hint of triumphant excitement, which contrasted sharply with the gloomy faces of the generals in the stands.

The official in charge of Wanmaping affairs was so excited that his face turned red, and he danced with joy.
"Yes, yes, Vice Commander Chen. That's amazing! It saved so much effort! Cleaning it up is just a matter of filling in the pits, so convenient!"

In the center of Wanmaping, Chen Guangrui seemed oblivious to the surrounding noise and stench. His expression was calm as he whistled again. This time, it was a brief, abrupt whistle to signal the end.

"law!"

As the whistle sounded, the crater was filled, and thousands of celestial horses, like the most precise machines, simultaneously ceased their movements. They flicked their tails, their expressions relaxed, as if the earth-shattering act of defecation had nothing to do with them. The horse formation remained as orderly and solemn as if cast in steel.

Tang Sheng had already jumped off the stone railing and ran all the way to the sidelines. He waved excitedly at Chen Guangrui from a distance, his little face full of pride: "Dad! You're amazing! You're amazing!" As he shouted, he also winked at Nezha, whose expression was constantly changing, his little eyes full of the implication that "you're going to lose."

In the stands, a general finally regained some of his senses from the extreme shock. He leaned close to Li Jing, whose face was ashen, and said in a hoarse voice with a hint of barely perceptible panic, "Your Majesty, it seems that things aren't over yet with Vice Commander Chen?"

Li Jing suddenly turned his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the calm figure in the arena.

(End of this chapter)