Chapter 128

As soon as Zuo Feichen's black horse appeared, everyone jumped in surprise.

You should know that in Shang Jing, Zuo Feichen is also a celebrated figure, a youthful talent of divine-doctor caliber, though he is aloof and arrogant; even when high-ranking nobles seek his medical help, they must wait for his mood.

He has always been low-key and mysterious in Shang Jing; although he is the young master of Treasure Herb Hall, he spends half the year away from Shang Jing, supposedly out gathering herbs, which is understandable.

The medicinal herbs produced by Treasure Herb Hall are all divine medicines, almost able to cure all ailments; the term "divine medicine" can be used to describe them.

Zuo Feichen is handsome, exceedingly arrogant, and moreover mysterious; his first appearance in a public setting has truly surprised everyone.

Xiao Yin glanced at Zuo Feichen, who was riding a horse close to his other side, and a flash of coldness crossed his limpid peach-blossom eyes.

Another fool seeking death!

Tuoba Heng didn't bother with Zuo Feichen, this insignificant figure merely a rag-tag troop pulled together by Gu Jiu Ling in her haste; he's nothing to fear.

Lin Jingyuan slowly walked to the central position; a polo match lasts half an hour, one game decides victory or defeat.

He glanced at his own sister, riding a tall, sturdy horse with a heroic bearing, and instantly felt a headache; his sister is already at marriageable age, and making a scene before so many people will likely make future matchmaking difficult.

He steeled himself, raised the dragon flag in his hand and swung it down hard; the watching crowd erupted in applause and cheers, the scene extremely heated.

Gu Jiu Ling was so excited she couldn't stay seated, she rose to her feet, her gaze locked onto Xiao Yin, who was riding his horse with soaring vigor on the field.

Xiao Yin gripped the polo mallet tightly; around him rose tsunami-like shouts, and suddenly his vision flickered with the faces of his former brothers.

Wang Xiaoqi, skilled at enclosing opponents; Qiao San, whose ball control is precise, always able to accurately pass the ball to him; and his eldest brother, his best, An Cheng Hu…

"General! General, look! We scored! General! Hahaha…"

Xiao Yin's forehead instantly beaded with cold sweat; those people appeared before him again.

They accompanied him in battle across the desolate Mo Bei for many years, and in the end they were all framed and killed in Qi Sha Gu.

The hooves of the Bei Di iron cavalry trampled their corpses into mud; their lives ebbed away before him inch by inch, countless souls burned to ash.

"General! Save me... it hurts so much!"

"General! Save us…"

With a crack! Xiao Yin's polo mallet was knocked from his hand by the galloping Tuoba Heng, and the ball that Crown Prince Xiao Ting had passed to him was also taken away.

Whoosh! The polo ball broke through the gate on Xiao Yin's side.

"Bei Di! Score one goal!"

"What the heck?"

Around them came the murmurs of the crowd: "Prince Rui, why are you running and then spacing out?"

Not only was the ball snatched away, but even his mallet was struck down; could it be that Prince Rui truly can no longer lift a mallet?

Xiao Yin drew a hard breath, bent over and hung upside down from his horse's back, then reached up to pick up the mallet.

He panted heavily, the defeat from seven years ago tormenting him for over two thousand five hundred days and nights.

He cannot participate in the polo match; he had thought he could, but seven years have passed, he should have forgotten.

But he cannot forget; he rides his horse in a daze, planted in the middle of the polo field, time and space inverted—past and present overlapping completely.

Those good brothers died miserably before his eyes; he was powerless, unable to lift the mallet, clutching instead his brothers' lives.

He realized he could not overcome the obstacle within his heart.

Xiao Ting was furious to the point of near death; the Imperial Uncle was no longer an uncle, he cursed Xiao Yin as an idiot, grabbed the ball and charged toward the Bei Di side, only to have it snatched away by Cheng Ming.

"Are you sick?" Xiao Ting shouted.

Cheng Ming loudly declared, "Crown Prince, on the field there is no hierarchy; let me, your humble self, take over—Your Highness, you can't!"

When the two weren't fighting over the ball, the Bei Di players coordinated perfectly, directly stripping the ball from Cheng Ming's hands; Cheng Ming, enraged, chased after them ready to draw his knife.

In an instant, Bei Di scored another goal!

Xiao Yin's side fell into complete chaos.

Xiao Yin's mind and body were out of sync, like a sleepwalker.

Xiao Ting and Cheng Ming fought fiercely, yet they loved infighting; each wanted to be the brightest star on the field, all caring about face and seeking grand achievements.

Although Zuo Feichen is valiant, displaying a spirit wholly unlike that of a divine doctor, now that he is playing polo rather than fighting the Bei Di, he seems to hate the Bei Di even more than Xiao Yin does, aiming his mallet specifically at the heads of those Bei Di braves, only easing up after being warned six times by Lin Jingyuan.

Yun Duo is fierce, having once killed a tiger, but she's a bit rash, charging forward relentlessly; sometimes she rushes so hard she ends up inside the opponent's goal, only to realize the ball isn't even in her hands.

The most absurd Lin Rujun, seeing Princess Yuan Qing's arrogant and overbearing demeanor displeasing, whipped up her whip and lashed at Princess Yuan Qing, feeling as if she were striking a spinning top.

Bei Di! Third goal!

Gu Jiu Ling slowly covered her eyes, unable to look any further; it was nothing but a loose heap of sand.

She strode quickly to Lin Jingyuan's front and said, "Halftime break!"

Lin Jingyuan was dumbfounded; is there even such a thing?

He was somewhat confused, and Gu Jiu Ling rushed at him, shouting urgently, "The rules for selecting players were set by the Bei Di, but the rules governing the match should also be up to us to decide—halftime break!"

Lin Jingyuan's ears hurt from Gu Jiu Ling's shout; he hastily waved the dragon flag, standing at the sidelines and loudly announcing halftime, despite the Bei Di side's cursing, Xiao Yin and his companions on horseback withdrew, unable to continue the match.

Tuoba Heng lifted his head and laughed arrogantly: "Halftime break—even if you rest a year, you'll still be my defeated vassals, Xiao Yin; it seems your words were no empty boast, Prince Rui truly can't even hold a mallet steady—hahahaha…"

Xiao Yin came over to Gu Jiu Ling's side with a grim face, not speaking to anyone, he dismounted, sat on a bench drinking tea, his eyes icy as frost.

He hates the Bei Di people, he hates the murderers who killed his brothers, but he hates himself even more.

He thought seven years would be enough to grow strong, but he cannot get past the hurdle within his own heart.

The defeat at Qi Sha Gu trampled him into mire; his body is shattered, to the point he must rely on Southern Border gu poison to sustain himself, the domineering gu poison makes him lucid at times and delirious at others, and in his delirious state, even if he kills someone or does something wrong, he doesn't know if it was his own doing.

Everyone around him has died; he dares not approach anyone.

He even dares not have friends or lovers; anything normal for a person, he dares not try.

From the youthful general seven years ago who loved life, loved his country, was unrestrained and flamboyant, spirited and fervent like a blazing star, he has become the living monster he is today.

Now he hides in the mire, companion to dark slaughter, trusting no one, believing in no light, a downright murderous demon.

Xiao Yin never expected to meet Gu Jiu Ling; little by little she entered his heart, prying open, inch by inch, the bloody hard shell encasing him, letting in a sliver of light.

He thought he could manage, but found he simply could not.

He will have to stay in hell for the rest of his life, merging with those wronged souls.

They are dead; what right does he have to live a normal life? He ought to die as well.

They are all dead; how can he still play polo, take part in such a match? He should...

Xiao Yin's slender fingers clenched the tea cup tightly; with a crack, the cup was crushed, tea and blood trickled down his slender palm.

Ling Feng rose to check, but Gu Jiu Ling grabbed him.

"Princess Consort?"

"Let him be alone for a moment!" Gu Jiu Ling's brows knitted; she had never seen Xiao Yin like this, and it frightened her.

Even that night, Xiao Yin held her while slaughtering many, rescuing her from hell, yet now he wants to kill himself.

Mental illness! Severe mental illness!

Gu Jiu Ling instantly thought of that term; after Qi Sha Gu, no one helped him with psychological counseling, he actually never got over it—though his body lives, his soul remains stuck in Qi Sha Gu seven years ago.

Gu Jiu Ling's brows knitted tightly; she knew this polo match was not only her tribulation, but also Xiao Yin's.

If Xiao Yin cannot overcome this psychological hurdle this time, he will truly never be able to stand again, nor pick up a mallet.

She understood that Xiao Yin still had to return to the battlefield; the psychological barrier is his life-and-death line—if he cannot stand on the field this time, he will likely find it hard to return to the battlefield ever again.

Her heart ached terribly—how could he alone bear hundreds of thousands of wronged souls and survive seven years?

If it were her, she would probably have already killed herself; she simply could not go on.

It's too painful.