Lu Zhi said cautiously, "There are many lovely animals in this world, and everyone has different preferences. Without any hints, it seems difficult to guess your satisfactory answer?"
The little girl glared, "You humans are so scheming. The hint is that this animal has four legs and runs very, very fast."
Lu Zhi chuckled and deliberately feigned hesitation before answering, "Hmm, the horse statue outside the divine tower, which is as pure white as jade, is very beautiful."
The little girl's eyes sparkled, and she excitedly said, "Right? You also think that the most beautiful animal in the world is a horse?"
Lu Zhi nodded, feeling that this little girl's emotions were indeed easy to discern.
The little girl quickly retracted her thoughts and said with a solemn expression, "Very good. Your answer, I... I am very satisfied. Now, please answer the next question."
Lu Zhi exclaimed, "Didn't you say there was only one question?"
The little girl felt guilty but said with conviction, "I am the owner here, and I make the rules!"
Lu Zhi's eyes flickered. The owner of this place.
It was highly likely that this little girl was one of the twelve zodiac gods, the Horse.
"Alright, continue."
The little girl asked haughtily, "What is your favorite color of horse?"
Lu Zhi pondered, "After answering this question, can I pass the trial and cross the river?"
The little girl nodded, "Of course. I... I never lie, unlike some mad dogs."
Lu Zhi: ... Shen Qi, what on earth did you do to the little deity?
"I think..." Lu Zhi's gaze fell on her pink princess dress, and he decided to answer strategically, "A pink horse should also be very beautiful. Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any pink horses in this world."
The little girl covered her mouth with her hands, her grape-sized eyes sparkling. She stomped her feet in place with joy, "Really? You really think the most beautiful horse in the world is pink?"
Lu Zhi: ... The question was about my favorite color of horse, wasn't it?
But it didn't matter. Seeing the little girl smile so happily, Lu Zhi couldn't help but smile too.
"You, you're quite good," the little girl awkwardly traced circles on the ground with her toes, pouting shyly and coquettishly, "But you must be lying. How could a man like pink horses in this world..."
Lu Zhi asked in surprise, "Why do you say that?"
The little girl huffed, "I knew it! Alright, alright, I won't talk to you anymore. You can cross the river and complete your mission."
With that, the little girl skipped away. Although there was a vast and boundless plain before them, the little girl slowly disappeared from sight.
Lu Zhi mused that this divine Horse didn't seem difficult to get along with, he just wondered what the trial would be.
Without further thought, Lu Zhi stepped on the stones in the river to cross. He was no longer hindered.
As soon as he stepped onto the opposite bank, the river behind him instantly widened, and the water became much more turbulent. To cross again, one would have to rely on a boat.
"Wait, wait, wait... Don't run, wait for me!" Wang Caotian's voice came from behind a yurt.
Lu Zhi saw Wang Caotian chasing a small black horse, charging through the yurt. The 'horse people,' who seemed to be villagers, let out neighing laughter.
"Senior Wang," Lu Zhi called out. This time, Wang Caotian heard him and excitedly said to Lu Zhi, "Lu Zhi, you're here at the right time! Quickly, quickly, help me stop the little horse."
The direction the black little horse was escaping was directly towards Lu Zhi, who was standing outside the wooden fence entrance.
Having had experience taming horses before, Lu Zhi easily hugged the less than a meter tall little horse by its neck. However, the strong impact still sent Lu Zhi falling onto his backside.
Lu Zhi groaned in pain, frowned, and instinctively scolded the struggling little horse, "Be quiet."
The little horse's struggles lessened. Its clear little brown eyes stared at Lu Zhi with curiosity and affection. It stopped struggling and even nudged its head into Lu Zhi's embrace.
Lu Zhi, who was about to get up and was knocked down again: ...
"I'm so... so tired," Wang Caotian arrived then, slipping a rope around the little black horse's neck. This immediately drew the little black horse's displeasure. It shook its head a couple of times before reluctantly stopping, pacing in place.
Lu Zhi stood up, dusting off his clothes, and asked, "What's going on? Where are the others?"
Wang Caotian, holding the reins, replied, "I asked the clan leader here. The deity has many types of tests. Jiang Yue and I were assigned to the horse training grounds. I didn't expect you to be assigned here too, but why are you two days later than us?"
Lu Zhi was astonished, "Two days? I'm less than half an hour behind you."
Wang Caotian exclaimed, "Holy cow, so time passes differently inside the divine tower compared to outside!"
Lu Zhi hadn't expected that either.
"Let me tell you about the mission trial first," Wang Caotian led the little black horse into a semi-open yurt, tied the reins to a stake, and finally breathed a sigh of relief, "If it weren't for you, I would have been exhausted again today."
Wang Caotian led Lu Zhi further inside, explaining the mission as they walked.
The horse training grounds, as the name suggested, were primarily for horse training.
There were many newborn foals in the training grounds, and Lu Zhi's main task was to choose a foal he liked from this group and train it to grow.
Secondly, after the horse matured, it had to participate in competitions with other adult horses to pass the trial.
"That's it?" Lu Zhi asked in confusion, "Did it not mention the ranking required for the competition?"
Wang Caotian said, "Jiang Yue also asked. The clan leader said the horses in the training grounds don't care about rankings. They only like to race with other horses and feel the thrill of galloping."
Lu Zhi mused and asked again, "Then what's the reward for passing the trial?"
Wang Caotian shrugged, "We asked. The clan leader said we can choose our own rewards, very mysteriously."
"We're here. This is where you choose a foal," Wang Caotian pointed to the largest yurt in the entire clan.
"You can only go in alone. I'll wait for you outside," Wang Caotian clenched his fist, "Good luck, be sure to pick a fine horse."
Lu Zhi smiled and nodded, lifting the yurt's curtain and walking inside.
He expected to smell the odor of animals, as the yurt looked airtight from the outside. To his surprise, it was exceptionally clean inside.
More importantly, in such a large yurt, there was only one foal.
And the color of this foal was pink.
Lu Zhi's first thought upon seeing it was surprise.
Could it be that the second question the little girl asked, about her favorite color of horse, would determine the color of the horse she would raise?
Thump, thump, thump...
While Lu Zhi was still surprised, the pink foal slowly walked towards him. Its head seemed to tilt, and its grape-sized eyes stared at him nervously.
Lu Zhi: ... Could this horse be the little girl?
The little divine horse is quite the playful one, huh?
Lu Zhi smiled innocently and stroked the little pink horse's head, saying, "Let me give you a name. How about Pink Barbie Q?"
Divine Horse: ... ???