novelraw Chapter 136: The Next Trial: Walking on Fire!
Chapter 136: The Next Trial: Walking on Fire!
The next day.
At the outdoor training ground rented by the film crew, yellow sand filled the sky.
The twelve specially transferred top horse stunt riders had already arrived in full force.
They sat astride magnificent warhorses, silently lined up in a row on the open field.
There was not a single unnecessary word of conversation; the murderous aura emanating from their very bones made the air heavy.
When Jiang Ci appeared riding his jet-black warhorse,
twelve pairs of eyes, steeped in scrutiny, simultaneously fell upon him.
In their view, actors were flowers in a greenhouse.
While they were people who made their living on horseback, trading scars and sweat for their meals.
There was a fundamental difference between the two.Yuan Kui was still wearing his practice uniform. He stood at the front of the line, holding only a small red flag in his hand.
"Today, the first exercise."
"Wedge charge."
His voice held no emotion and required no explanation.
"Jiang Ci, you are the Formation's Eye, the Arrowhead."
"The rest of you, line up behind him."
"Target, the earthen slope three hundred meters ahead."
"One stick of incense's time, repeated charges. The formation must not break."
The twelve stunt riders immediately adjusted their horses' heads. Muscle memory allowed them to instantly form two compact wedge-shaped columns behind Jiang Ci.
Jiang Ci was pushed to the very forefront of the entire formation.
He could clearly feel the oppressive pressure coming from behind—the heavy snorts of twelve warhorses and the silent judgment of twelve men.
Yuan Kui raised the red flag.
And swung it down sharply!
Jiang Ci clamped his legs against his horse's belly. The warhorse neighed and instantly launched forward, charging toward the distant earthen slope!
However.
The very next second he surged forward, the expected thunderous roar of hooves did not arrive as anticipated.
The rhythm from behind was chaotic!
One horse's head almost crashed into the hindquarters of his mount.
Jiang Ci had to violently yank the reins, making an awkward evasive maneuver.
This action instantly disrupted the rhythm on the other side.
The entire charge formation visibly deformed the moment it started moving.
This was not a cavalry unit at all; it was more like a group of panicked, fleeing herdsmen.
Before they had charged a hundred meters, one stunt rider's horse, startled by the sudden deceleration ahead, reared up angrily with a furious, long neigh.
The chaos almost overturned the entire queue.
"Halt!"
Yuan Kui's icy voice exploded through the loudspeaker.
Jiang Ci pulled on the reins, and the disordered formation behind him came to a messy stop.
A low whisper, suppressed with anger, drifted clearly into Jiang Ci's ears.
"This is just like playing house."
"Does he even know how to ride a horse? He's as soft as a woman."
"Making a movie like this? This is courting death!"
Jiang Ci did not argue.
Yuan Kui announced a break on the spot.
He dismounted, tossed the reins to the anxious Sun Zhou beside him, and walked alone to a withered tree. Leaning against the trunk, he closed his eyes.
He was replaying it.
[Micro-level Motion Capture], activate!
This time, the target of capture was no longer a single person.
It was twelve people, twelve horses, and the chaotic whole they formed.
In his mind, the entire charge formation transformed into a three-dimensional battlefield composed of countless data streams.
The first rider on the left rear, Brother Li, would subconsciously lean left by 0.3 degrees during a charge. His horse control habit relied on leg strength, not the reins.
The second horse on the right rear had explosive power ten percent stronger than the other horses, but after thirty meters, it would show a 0.1-second rhythm lag.
The third... the fourth...
Everything was being disassembled, quantified, analyzed, and reassembled within Jiang Ci's brain.
Half a day passed in this cycle of repeated charges and brief rests.
The stunt riders' impatience had turned into numbness written clearly on their faces.
Jiang Ci turned a deaf ear to all of this.
He just grew more silent after each failure.
In his brain, that dynamic data model containing twelve people and twelve horses was becoming increasingly clear.
Afternoon.
The scorching sun hung directly overhead.
"Continue!"
Yuan Kui's voice rang out again.
The stunt riders numbly mounted their horses, preparing for another frustrating failure.
Jiang Ci once again took the position of the Formation's Eye.
This time, when Yuan Kui's red flag swung down,
he did not immediately urge his horse to burst forth at its fastest speed.
Instead, he anticipated by half a second, slightly slowing the initiation rhythm.
An extremely abnormal command.
It was this half-second delay that allowed the most explosive warhorse behind him to perfectly connect its strongest kinetic energy.
Immediately after, he lowered his body to the right by an extremely minute angle.
The rider behind him on the left, who habitually leaned, almost instinctively corrected his posture to maintain balance.
*Whoosh!*
The entire wedge formation clicked perfectly into place the moment it launched!
The twelve stunt riders were simultaneously stunned.
The feeling... was different!
Jiang Ci began to accelerate.
Every command he gave, every subtle speed adjustment, every shift in his center of gravity,
uncannily and perfectly predicted all the riding habits and subconscious actions of the twelve men behind him.
He was no longer the "actor" who needed others to adapt to him.
Jiang Ci had become the commanding brain!
He was forcibly "formatting" the entire formation with his own rhythm!
That feeling sent a shiver down the spines of the twelve seasoned veterans behind him.
They no longer needed to deliberately coordinate.
They only needed to trust their body's instincts and follow the rhythm of that figure at the front to execute the smoothest, most efficient movements!
"Turnabout charge!"
Yuan Kui's voice finally carried a trace of undeniable fluctuation.
This was a high-difficulty exercise.
It required the entire formation to execute a deadly turn at high speed and then charge in the opposite direction.
Jiang Ci heard the command.
At fifty meters from the earthen slope, he sharply pulled on the reins!
"Neigh—!"
His warhorse reared up with a long neigh, forcibly changing direction!
And the twelve riders behind him,
at the same instant, replicated this terrifying collective maneuver!
Finally, they came to a precise halt before the white starting line.
The final step taken by the hooves was exact to the millimeter.
The dust settled.
The entire training ground was left with only the heavy panting of men and horses.
The twelve top domestic horse stunt riders all stared at the back of the young man at the front with looks of utter disbelief.
Scrutiny, disdain, impatience...
All these emotions were washed away by a more primal shock.
Replacing them was reverence in the face of absolute skill.
The lead stunt captain, his face bearing a scar, silently watched Jiang Ci. Finally, facing that back, he solemnly clasped his fists in a formal salute.
During the break, Sun Zhou rushed over excitedly, holding up his phone.
"Brother Ci! Brother Ci! The box office! The box office for *Palace Conspiracy*!"
He shoved the phone screen right in front of Jiang Ci's face.
"It's broken! Eighteen billion! It's already hit eighteen billion!"
Jiang Ci's gaze swept over the glaring number, and he merely nodded calmly.
His attention was still immersed in the absolute sense of control he had just experienced, leading the thirteen riders, achieving that state of Horse and Rider Becoming One.
Physical exhaustion had reached its peak, but his spirit was frighteningly exhilarated.
On his system panel, numbers were silently updating.
[Heartbreak Value continuously harvesting...]
[Current Balance: 2850 points.]
[Remaining Lifespan: 990 days.]
Evening.
The setting sun dyed the entire open field a solemn, tragic blood-red.
Everyone thought this day of brutal training was finally about to come to an end.
But Yuan Kui waved his hand.
Several stagehands immediately understood. They began moving bundles of prepared dry haystacks onto the charge route.
Then came sharp wooden cheval de frise and obstacles.
Under the startled and uncertain gazes of the crowd, Yuan Kui turned around.
The bloody sunset cast deep shadows on his furrowed face.
In those turbid eyes, flames seemed to burn.
He spoke to Jiang Ci, issuing the final command of the day.
"Tomorrow, I want you to lead them through the fire."