I'm Ornn, and I'm about to be beaten to my knees by the Man-eating Horse Girl!

"Her Beetle may be old, but its trunk is huge! It can definitely fit everything!"

Xiaoyu...

Seeing the forced smile on Tamamo's face, Oguri looked back at her silent trainer.

Does the trainer know about Xiaoyu's family situation? But why didn't he tell us? Did Xiaoyu tell him not to tell us?

Orn gazed at the stubborn, bushy expression on the face of the creature before him and sighed.

"Simply running away won't help; you know that better than anyone, don't you?"

"We'll have to face it eventually. If we hide today and hide tomorrow, will that solve anything?"

The girl before him trembled, her inner struggle immediately becoming apparent on Tamamo Cross's face.

She clenched her teeth, her brows furrowed, and her breathing became heavy.

After a long silence, as if she had finally made up her mind, the girl raised her head, looked directly into Orn's eyes, and said, "You're right... I'll have to ask everyone to help us deliver this lantern!"

Behind Ornn, the newly emerged radiance winked at Little Chestnut, wanting to ask what had happened.

But Little Chestnut Hat's eyes remained innocent, showing no reaction whatsoever!

Shining Radiance silently rubbed her forehead, then turned her questioning gaze to Fujimasa March beside her, hoping that this meticulous strategist of the Dolan Squad could offer some explanation.

To her disappointment, Fujimasa only glanced at her indifferently before going to help Orn move the lanterns.

That look in her eyes had appeared before, and New Radiance remembered it clearly. It was when Ornn helped Oguri Hattori participate in the Japanese Derby; when New Radiance questioned her, she had the same expression.

This is a movement made when the marcher has some guesses in mind, but is not yet certain.

And most importantly, even if March knew, she wouldn't tell him unless Ornn told her to...

Wait a minute! Damn it! Does this mean I'm the lowest-ranking member of Dolan's squad?!

The newly radiant woman was getting a little frantic; she pounded the ground with her fists, making a gesture of utter despair.

Finally, she turned to look at Meguro Ardan, who also looked bewildered, and asked softly, "Ardan, do you know what riddle they're playing?"

Meguro Ardan helplessly spread his hands and said, "Of course I don't know, but when the time is right, I think Mr. Orn will tell us the whole story, right?"

Shining Radiance sighed, got up from the ground, and patted her knees.

"That's all we can do. Our benefactor will probably tell us most of the things."

"Aldan, come on, let's carry the rest of the lanterns over!"

The afternoon passed quickly, and the high-hanging sun gradually sank in the west, turning the sky orange-red.

"Children! Time to eat! Don't run out of the ranch gate! And don't go playing near the ruins!"

"Xiaomei! Don't think I won't punish you just because you're all smiles! Go wash your hands and eat! Don't make me come after you!"

Watching the group of troublesome pony girls run into the dormitory, Nanta Ryuzo, the ranch's vice-manager who also worked as a doorman, couldn't help but laugh.

"Hmph, a bunch of naughty brats! If my rheumatism hadn't flared up, I would have given you all a good spanking!"

Muttering to himself, Nantian Longsan reached out and pulled up the old gate of the ranch, securing the iron lock firmly on it.

Perhaps soon I'll be free from here.

This was a feeling that Nantian Longsan had been having frequently lately; he always felt that, perhaps soon, the ranch matter would come to an end.

I wonder if it's a tragedy or a comedy?

The man sighed, then shook his head and prepared to walk deeper into the ranch.

"Uncle Nantian! Uncle!"

"Don't be in such a hurry to close the door! We're back!"

Nantian Longsan turned around in surprise and saw Tamamo Juji panting heavily, reaching out to pat the old fence gate.

He hurried forward, opened the door, and asked, "Xiaoyu!? You... why are you back so soon? Weren't you supposed to be gone for seven days? Why are you back now..."

Tamamo Cross interrupted, "Don't talk about that now! Uncle, let us in first!"

"us?"

Yes, us.

The short, bushy-haired girl laughed, turned to look at the Dolan team who had just gotten off the bus, and nodded, saying, "Yes, we've brought our classmates."

The girl paused for a moment, then continued, "Yes, they are our best friends!"

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Chapter 221 Returning to the Ranch

"Oh! So this is where Tamamo Cross-senpai was when she was a child!"

As the group entered the ranch, the brand-new Radiant Glow looked around like a curious child.

Nantian Longsan, who was leading the way, smiled and pointed to a large banyan tree not far away, saying, "Hehe, I still remember when Xiaoyu was little, she once climbed up that tree and fought with a cat."

"In the end, the cat ran away, but she herself missed a step, fell from the branch, and landed face-first in the mud..."

Tamamo Cross's face flushed slightly. She coughed lightly and retorted, "Don't talk nonsense! When have we ever climbed a tree? Don't spread rumors here!"

Nantian chuckled and shook his head, saying, "Hey, you still won't admit it? You clearly wanted to pet that orange cat, but the cat wouldn't let you, scratched you, and ran up a tree."

"So you weren't satisfied and wanted to catch the cat, so you ran up the tree too. Everyone on the ranch knows this story, how come it's become me spreading rumors? Hehehe..."

As he spoke, the uncle laughed heartily and walked forward.

Tamamo Cross first glanced back at the guy and her trainer, noticing that they were both staring at the ruins not far away, seemingly not listening to what Nanada Ryuzo had said. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.

But the two human trainers might not have heard it; the horse girls, however, heard it very clearly.

With a bright and excited expression, Xin Guanghui asked, "Xiaoyu, have you ever owned a cat before?"

Fujimasa March also asked with great interest, "It's an orange cat? Generally speaking, cats of this breed should be quite broad, right?"

"Those aren't cats from the ranch. If you really want to categorize them, they'd be considered stray cats from the neighborhood, right?"

Tamamo Cross turned to look at the big tree, shrugged, and said, "That was a long time ago. The kittens have already been given away by the headmaster."

"After all, the ranch wasn't doing well, and the cats liked to run around in the ruins, so the uncles discussed it and decided to give the cats to the nearby farmers."

"There shouldn't be any cats left at Wild Brocade Ranch now, right?"

Following behind the group, Oguri Hat looked around the ranch. Just as Tamamo Cross had told her, the ranch did indeed look somewhat dilapidated.

But the little heads peeking out from the second-floor balcony of the nearby teaching building brought a touch of liveliness to the pasture.

Several pony girls hid behind a pillar, secretly observing Dolan's team.

As they entered the teaching building, one of the little pony girls finally mustered up the courage to step forward.

She ran up to Oguri Hat, looked at her with hopeful eyes, and asked, "Sister! Excuse me... are you Oguri Hat, the player from the Japanese Derby?"

Little Chestnut Hat nodded and replied, "Yes, I am Little Chestnut Hat."

"It's really him! Am I dreaming?!"

The little girl was so excited she almost jumped up. She reached out and grabbed Oguri's hand, asking hurriedly, "I'm your fan! Your final breakthrough in the Japanese derby was so cool! I never thought I'd actually meet you in person! I'm so excited I can hardly breathe!! Oh! By the way! Could you please sign my autograph?"

Little Chestnut Hat was a bit bewildered by the barrage of words. Looking at the autograph board and pen in the little girl's hand, she obediently and seriously picked up the pen and wrote her name.

"Yes, yes! Sign it here! Can you sign it again? My friend wants one too!"

Actually, this is the first time Oguri Hattori has been asked for an autograph by fans. Even after winning the competition and participating in the winner's stage, Oguri Hattori was always the one who ran away the fastest among all the horse girls.

This has led many netizens to complain that Dolan's team's female players are like elusive assassins on the field. They usually only see their team's antics and pranks, but during the actual matches, apart from one person who was just messing around, they're all surprisingly fierce.

Some have even gone so far as to suggest that the mastermind behind the Dolan Team account might have had this in mind: deliberately releasing prank videos to deceive fans and mislead everyone, including the opponents, into believing that the Dolan Team were performing acrobatics.

In particular, the previously held lame joke storytelling event has even been turned into a regular activity by the official Twitter account. Even the vice president of the Central Teresa student council, Qi Cao, posted on Twitter that many girls in the school have recently been following the trend of learning lame jokes, which has made her lose her appetite.

What a treacherous and cunning trainer! He actually used such methods to bewitch people!

After getting her idol's autograph, the little girl turned her attention to the Fujimasa March playing nearby.

Under that burning gaze, March couldn't help but sigh, but still reached out and took the board, writing his name in an extremely elegant handwriting.

After signing, she handed the board back to the child in front of her: "Here, take it."

"It's so beautiful! Thank you, Fujimasa Marching-sama!"

The little girl excitedly reached for the board, then turned to leave.

But suddenly a figure appeared in front of her, blocking her way.

Shining brightly, she leaned against a stone pillar in the corridor, reached up and tossed her hair aside, then blew out a breath, looking at the child in front of her with a very greasy expression.

Little Deer Hair displayed his personal charm (questionable), whistling somewhat flippantly, "Hey, lady, give me the autograph board. As the true ace of Dolan's team, I don't have an autograph yet, you know?"

Seeing the flippant expression on Shining Radiance's face, the little girl fearfully hid behind Fujimasa's march.

She poked her head out and asked, "Who...who are you?"

"Huh!? Who am I? I'm the core ace of Dolan's team!"

Shining with brilliance, she glared angrily and boasted, "Hmph, you should know about Dolan's official account, right? I'm the one running that account now, you know?"

"Not only that, in the previous few matches! I was also one of the top favorites!"

"You're incredibly lucky to have gotten my autograph today! How can you say you don't recognize me!"

The little girl stared at the fawn in front of her. She thought for a long time before nodding and saying, "Oh! I remember now! You're the new Radiance who's known as the 'Shame of the Dolan Squad,' the 'Weakest Horse Girl,' the 'Second Generation of the Unbeatable Legend,' and the 'Self-Proclaimed Chosen One'!"

What?! What kind of weird titles are these?!

Her newly glowing face flushed slightly, and she retorted, "Hmph! How dare you talk like that! If it weren't for my support of Dolan's team behind the scenes, this family would have fallen apart sooner or later without me!"

"Little friend, you can't believe the rumors on the internet. I'm very powerful!"

The little horse timidly replied, "But...but you really haven't won. Your best result is only fourth place...and that's not a high level..."

Hearing the child in front of him utter such chilling words in such an innocent tone, Xin Guanghui almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

She wiped her mouth, her eyes darting around, and changed her tune, saying, "Hmph...that was just my disguise, a disguise!"

"How about this, if you let me sign this, I'll give you a signed photo of Team Dolan! How about that?"

Fujimasa March, standing nearby, twitched her eyelids and complained, "Hey! You're abusing your power for personal gain! And why would someone beg others to sign for them?"

With her newfound radiance completely dropping the pretense, she declared in a defiant tone, "I'll just take advantage of the situation. After all, my benefactor entrusted me with the right to distribute fan perks."

Then she turned to look at the little girl, raised an eyebrow and said, "Well, now you admit I'm pretty amazing, right?"

The little girl nodded vigorously, praising sincerely, "Yes, I thought Radiant New Age was the most powerful horse girl in Dolan's squad eighteen years ago! Now it seems that my feeling back then was correct!"

"Brand New Radiance Sister! Please forgive my rudeness and sign this for me!"

As she spoke, she bowed deeply towards the newly gleaming light, respectfully handing over the autograph board and pen to the other person.

"Hmph, you're teachable, so I'll reluctantly accept your autograph!"

Shining Brightly chuckled, revealing a smug expression, and scribbled his name confidently into the notebook.

At the same time, she took out several autographed photos of Dolan's team training from her bag and gave them to the little girl.

Fujimasa nudged Oguri with her elbow and asked, "Hey, Oguri, look, all the photos she gave me are of you!"

"Using her teammates' photos to curry favor with a little girl, only she would do something like that. Aren't you going to stop her?"

Little Chestnut Hat gently shook his head and said, "If even Tuorna didn't stop it, then naturally I won't stop Radiance."

"makes sense......"

Fujimasa, resting her chin on her hand, turned her head to look around and suddenly asked, "Hmm? Where did Orn go? Why is he nowhere to be seen?"

Meguro Aldan replied, "Um... Just now, Mr. Orn said he seemed to have gone to the restroom, and told us to go in and rest first, and come back later."

"Did you go to the bathroom again?"

March sighed and said, "I just hope he won't be gone for two hours like last time."

Led by another middle-aged woman, the group entered the teaching building.

At the back of the line, Little Chestnut Hat turned around and looked at the ruins not far away. In the shadow of the house, she seemed to see a small white figure disappear into it.

Orn and Nantian Longsan walked through the abandoned houses towards the house where the headmaster was located.

"Actually... the director and I discussed whether you would still come next time after learning about the things circulating online about the ranch,"