The heavy rain hit the top of the Pegasus Hall stables in the west of Chang'an City, making a crackling sound, as if the heaven and earth were roaring.
Mud water trickled down the eaves in streams, turning the entire racecourse into a chaotic swamp.
The other horse slaves had already retreated into the sheltered huts, drinking and gambling around the fire, cursing the weather. But in front of the shabbiest horse stall in the corner, there was still a figure wearing a ragged raincoat squatting.
The man was so thin that he was almost swallowed up by the large raincoat. Rain dripped down the brim of his hat, wetting his shoulders and the yellowed coarse cloth in his hand.
He was kneeling in the mud, wiping the ulcerated hoof of an old horse with salt water bit by bit.
The old horse is completely black, with mottled mane, and its cloudy eyes still reveal the majestic horse of the past. It is the "Zhui Dian" who once galloped through the border with the famous general Wei Zhao of the former dynasty.
