Chapter 2576: Chapter 797: The Magical Race Between Horse-Men and Unicorns

"Was I being a bit too much just now?"

After pulling Zheng Qing into the dance floor, Jiang Yu swept away her previously aloof and proud demeanor, showing a hint of unease on her face, yet she resisted the urge to look back at the reactions of those witches, and instead whispered softly in Zheng Qing’s ear.

Zheng Qing turned his head and noticed a few strands of hair falling on the side of the witch’s face, so he lifted his hand to tuck them behind her ear.

Jiang Yu’s ears immediately turned red.

"Not at all, not the slightest bit!" The boy didn’t hesitate for a moment, his gaze firm, and decisively said, "In fact, I think they were more overboard than you!"

The witch’s eyebrows raised again slightly, but she still couldn’t help but let out a small sigh, "Really? I always feel my tone was a bit harsh just now, if the etiquette nanny were here, she would definitely scold me again... Moreover, if Su Councilor knew about my nonsense in Shanglin Garden, would she trouble you?"

"Nonsense?" Zheng Qing furrowed his brows, reminding her, "That word doesn’t sound good... What nonsense did you say? Why would she trouble me!"

When the person involved wasn’t present, he dared to act tough however he wanted.

He still had that bit of courage.

Jiang Yu glanced at him but patiently explained, "It’s about whether Su Councilor knows you came to Shanglin Garden today? I just lied to them, saying I discussed it with her before the New Year..."

"Didn’t you?" Zheng Qing interrupted her explanation, raising three fingers and seriously emphasizing, "I can testify, you did discuss it with her, I was right beside... Two to one, if she doesn’t remember, it’s definitely because she stayed in the lab too long and forgot about it!"

The boy’s words were so certain that Jiang Yu even started to doubt whether she had actually discussed it with Su Shijun.

But shortly after.

After Zheng Qing dropped his fingers, a hint of unease similar to hers immediately appeared on his face, "...Even so, hopefully, no one really goes to her to verify this."

The witch couldn’t help but feel a bit amused.

Click, clack.

A burst of subtle and crisp hoofbeats interrupted the whispering between the young wizard and witch. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Zheng Qing looked in the direction of the sound and unexpectedly saw several beautiful horses sauntering around the dance floor, dressed in elegant silk garments, their hooves inlaid with intricate magic script, manes in black, red, or golden shades, neatly trimmed together with their tails.

One of the brown foals was cautiously approaching the two.

"Is there a dressage performance at the ball?" Zheng Qing asked softly to the witch beside him—his first reaction after seeing those beautiful horses.

"Dressage?" Jiang Yu apparently didn’t understand the meaning of the term.

Zheng Qing pointed to those horses, his tone carrying a touch of confusion, "Aren’t those horses there for a dressage performance? If not, why are they dressed so beautifully, and allowed into the ball venue?"

The witch grabbed the boy’s hand and pressed it down.

"Don’t gesture carelessly, be careful not to cause trouble." She quickly explained with a mix of tension and realization, "They’re not horses, they’re representatives of the Hui Zong! Hui Zong is an ancient magical life form, a wonderful creature between Horse-Man and Unicorn, very kind, noble, proud, and sensitive... Treating them as horses is like others treating us as monkeys! If they hear it, it would become a very serious diplomatic incident!"

"Hui Zong?" Zheng Qing repeated the slightly unfamiliar term.

"Yes, in their semantic system, this term means ’nature’s epitome of beauty and perfection.’"

Saying this, the witch shook her head slightly, "Of course, this behavior is like us looking in a mirror, inevitably beautifying ourselves... Hui Zong, like Horse-Men, are very good at astrology, with unique insights into totem magic and shaman magic. Also, you need to be careful not to mention your origin from the Mortal World in front of them... Hui Zong refer to commoners as ’Yehus,’ considering them to be a filthy, ugly and despicable lot... Don’t ask me, I don’t know what happened initially to cause them such deep-seated resentment, but I know that the first wizards who dealt with Hui Zong had to use transformation to turn into horses before finally successfully communicating with those fellows who have eyes on their foreheads."

As she was speaking, the brown foal clip-clopped up to them, lifted its head, and said something in a deep, confused tone that Zheng Qing could distinctly hear contained heavy nasal and throat sounds, differing significantly from a horse’s neigh.

Zheng Qing looked at Jiang Yu.

Only to find Jiang Yu looking back at him.

"What is it saying?" the boy blinked, looking innocent.

"How should I know!"

The witch responded somewhat irritably—Zheng Qing suspected that even if she could speak Hui Zong language, she’d claim not to due to the phlegmy way it seemed to be spoken—after a pause, the witch finally spoke, emitting a series of graceful and melodious trills.

Though he couldn’t understand, Zheng Qing knew she was likely speaking Phoenix Language; this term had appeared in her course schedule this semester, and Zheng Qing had heard her recite it during her studies.

However, the little brown horse obviously didn’t fall under the jurisdiction of the king of birds and showed no reaction to the pleasing bird-call.

Jiang Yu then proceeded to try Ningfu Language, Mermaid Language, Ghost Language, and Demon Language— all languages wonderfully melodious—yet the little foal across from them remained as confused and innocent as ever.

"I think its pronunciation resembles German... wanna try German?" Zheng Qing suggested, slightly admiring the witch, while racking his brain for cultural references, trying to seem less ignorant, "I remember Charles V of Habsburg said he spoke Spanish to God, Latin to wizards, Italian to his mistress, and German to his horse..."

Jiang Yu was still hesitant.

Then a somewhat stiff voice corrected, "Not German, it’s Highland Dutch... but only the pronunciation is somewhat similar. In terms of elegance and semantic richness, the Hui Zong language far exceeds those barbarian tongues."

The two young wizards looked at the little brown foal who suddenly spoke, suddenly somewhat stunned.

"You can speak our language?"

Zheng Qing tentatively asked, speculating that the creature’s sensitivity to the distinction between ’German’ and ’Highland Dutch’ might reflect an effort to differentiate Hui Zong from ordinary horses.

"Tch, how novel!"

The foal spat out the "tch" distinctly, filled with disdain, "Isn’t mastering a few common languages basic courtesy between wise beings? You may impolitely ignore the guest’s language, but we wouldn’t disgrace ourselves at the host’s ball."

At this, the two young wizards’ faces darkened simultaneously.

Zheng Qing thought Jiang Yu’s description of Hui Zong as ’proud and sensitive’ was way too understated.