Two days had passed since the first time Feng Yongrui entered the stables and took care of the stallions for the first time. After working these past few days, Feng Yongrui thought his job was pretty good.
Every day, after he greeted the stallions, he got to work almost immediately. First of all, he would give the Phantom Stallions hay as their breakfast.
The appearance of the hay was similar to the ones on Earth, but Feng Yongrui knew that it wasn't an ordinary hay. Feng Yongrui could feel a soft but sharp demonic energy emanating from the hay.
While the stallions were eating, Feng Yongrui would enter their stalls and take the water buckets that they used to drink. He would bring the water buckets outside and wash each one of them. After that, he would refill it with water and carry them back to the stables.
At first, Feng Yongrui thought that refilling and washing the buckets would make him tired, but then he realized that this was a fantasy world. Since he had water-based powers, then he could use his cleaning spells on the buckets!
After he refilled the buckets with water and brought it back to the stables, the Phantom Stallions would most likely be finished with their breakfast. Feng Yongrui would give them the water, and the stallions would drink eagerly.
The next step would be the daily exercise time. Feng Yongrui would let the stallions out of the stables and lead them to a patch of grass.
Now the stables were relatively far from the main hall and main buildings in Xu Chao's mansion. This was because the stallions had to exercise and bathe in the sun every day, so they needed a spacious and grassy area.
Feng Yongrui did not know how or why, but Xu Chao had a moderately large field of grass near his mansion. This was the place where Feng Yongrui would bring the stallions to every single day. He would let them run around and stretch themselves in the grass.
After the daily exercise, Feng Yongrui would lead all four stallions back to the stables and make them wait outside the stables.
Feng Yongrui would then use his water magic to clean the stables as quickly as he could (after all, he couldn't make the stallions wait for too long).
Once the stables were clean, Feng Yongrui would clean up the stallions one by one using his water magic. Since he could use magic, washing the stallions wasn't too hard or tiring, and it didn't take too long either.
Next, Feng Yongrui would bring the stallions inside the stables and lead each one of them to their own stalls. This was the part that was rather tricky: he would have to brush their mane gently.
Unlike when he was washing them, Feng Yongrui had to brush the stallions' mane manually, and he couldn't use magic. After all, he was actually a spy, and he was posing as a Yon, so he couldn't use more complicated spells to brush the stallions' mane.
Usually, during this time, Feng Yongrui would give the stallions snacks such as fruits and a lump of sugar. As long as Feng Yongrui was gentle when he brushed them, the stallions wouldn't complain.
During those two days, Feng Yongrui could see that each stallion was actually different and had his/her own temperament. For example, Violet was shy, whereas Blossom was energetic, enthusiastic, and inquisitive.
Starmane was strong and the one with the strongest temper amongst all the stallions. If Feng Yongrui brushed his mane too roughly, even just by a little bit, or if Feng Yongrui took too long in washing the stables, then Starmane would start snorting and grow restless.
As for Dreamer, this guy was pretty aloof, but he was gentle as well.
During these past two days, Feng Yongrui had also managed (to survive), ahem, to write the letters that were meant for Chen Tengfei.
Every time he started writing, Feng Yongrui would cringe at the words that he wrote. He also struggled to write in the same flamboyant, arrogant and strange manner that the original 'Feng Yongrui' used to write.
In fact, Feng Yongrui felt like taking care of the Phantom Stallions was much, much easier than writing those "reports".
Previously, the System had said that Feng Yongrui's task for this world was easy, but now, Feng Yongrui was convinced that the System's definition of "easy" was not normal!
Today was the seventh day of the week, meaning that today Feng Yongrui would send his letters to Chen Tengfei, his boss. Feng Yongrui gathered all the letters and tied them into a bundle.
He then clasped his hands, while holding the letters, and said the opening lines.
"May this be sent safely to you... CHEN1213..."
Once Feng Yongrui finished saying those words, he heard a 'swooshing' sound and the papers in his hands disappeared.
"Congratulations, Host! You have successfully delivered the letters to your Boss~~" the System exclaimed.
Feng Yongrui's lips twitched. "Hopefully, Chen Tengfei doesn't think my writing is rubbish," he muttered.
"Hahaha~ Host, I hope he hangs your report in front of his house, so that everyone can see how ridiculous it is~~" the System giggled.
Feng Yongrui: "..."
"System, I remember previously you said something along the lines of 'Everyone has their own writing style, you cannot judge others like this'... Now, you're saying it's ridiculous... Aren't you contradicting your own words?" Feng Yongrui chuckled.
"...Host, people can change," the System replied wearily. "After seeing you write the daily 'reports' these past two days, even I have to admit that it is tiring..."
"If you know it, then you should help me," Feng Yongrui grumbled.
"Hahaha... Knowing something doesn't guarantee you'll do something about it, Host," the System said wryly.
Feng Yongrui rolled his eyes. Anyway, he had pretty much adapted to life in Xu Chao's mansion, so he should be able to live well...
***
At the same time, in the heart of the Phantom Realm, a black bird flew inside a large, well-decorated building. The bird flew past the numerous guards that stood still and entered a room.
The walls of the room were already dark to begin with, but with so little lamps and night-pearls to illuminate the room, the light only made eerie shadows appear on the walls and floor.
Black, gauze-like curtains fell from the ceiling, separating the room into two areas. In the depths of the room, there was a young man lying on the bed. He was lying on his side, like a mermaid basking in the depths of the dark ocean.
The young man had exquisite features, but his eyes were cold and dark, like the murky depths of the sea. His long hair was sprawled on the bed, scattered like a waterfall, and his long eyelashes cast shadows on his face.
The young man looked like a normal person at first glance, however, there was a pair of dragon horns on his head; smooth, scaly, and reminiscent of obsidian.
The black bird flitted into the room and transformed into a young boy who looked to be in his early teens. The "teenager" bowed towards the man on the bed.
"Master," the 'teenager' spoke. He waited for a long time, but his Master did not respond at all.
It was at that moment that the "teenager" saw some papers held in the man's hand.
"Master... those are..." the 'teenager' paused, not daring to say anything.
The Master sighed and threw the papers ruthlessly into the ground. The "teenager" heard the sound of paper cutting through the air, and the papers scattered like flowers and fell to the floor with a soft thud.
The "teenager" did not understand his Master's meaning, but he obediently bent down and took the papers. He stacked the papers neatly and skimmed through the contents.
"These are..." the 'teenager' could not understand and looked questioningly at his Master.
"'To the person to whom this letter is meant to be given to'... How terrible..."
"Xiao Niao," the Master whispered lowly. "Tell me... which one of our incompetent subordinates was sent to Xu Chao's mansion?"
Xiao Niao, the "teenager", pursed his lips and racked his brains, but he could not find the answer.
"Master, I apologize... I do not remember who was sent to Xu Chao's mansion to spy on him..." Xiao Niao finally replied.
The man on the bed sighed and sat up leisurely. As he moved, some parts of his white, unblemished skin was exposed, revealing a patch of dragon scales on his arms.
"Huh," the man scoffed. "Of course you do not know who was sent to Xu Chao's mansion... After all..." he drawled.
"I've never sent my spies to Xu Chao's manor," the man said, enunciating each word slowly with his ice-cold voice.
The man swept a glance at Xiao Niao -- it was a simple glance, but Xiao Niao's heart began to tremble violently.
Recalling the contents of the letter he had seen, Xiao Niao cursed silently inside his heart. Just who was the idiot who sent such flimsy reports to his Master??
***
Note: The black bird is often referred to as a "teenager', with quotation marks, because he isn't really a teenager. His face looks like a teenager, but since this is from a fantasy world, the "teenager" is actually a few hundred years old, hence the quotation marks.
***
Xiao Niao: Who was the idiot who sent such flimsy reports to the Master??
A Certain Idiot: *sneezes*
***
Which one is harder:
a) Physical tasks that make you tired
b) Writing a 5,000 word essay
c) Writing "daily reports" in Feng Yongrui's style
Comment below~~