Temple Sword

Chapter 191 Freedom
The man stood there, waving the results of the past year and a half of hard work in his hands, and he had no other thoughts in his mind, just wanted to teach this brat a lesson.

"Ten acres of high-quality farmland for 50 years," he repeated hoarsely, "bet all the money you win tonight..."

"Don't be stupid, Tibberg!" Several men persuaded, "Don't do such a stupid thing, you have been blinded by anger! Calm down, take back what you said! Otherwise, you will definitely regret it..."

"Don't promise him!" Corta whispered in his brother's ear, "we came here with almost nothing, and now we have a lot of money with which we can do anything, we can heal Lubbock, don't promise him!"

But how can people who are desperate to lose and those who have won big listen to the persuasion of their companions?The former does not believe that he will always lose, while the latter believes that he will always win.

And now, both Sepke and Tilberg feel their honor and manhood are threatened, and they stare at each other like enemies on the battlefield.

"Okay, come!" The boy agreed with a nod, and his brother covered his face with his hands, because he was sure that the miracle that had lasted until now was coming to an end.

Although Tiborg's drinking buddies felt helpless at the man's reckless choice, none of them wanted to miss such an exciting final showdown.Even the barefoot man who had been drinking alone came over and watched the game with interest.

"Here are my dice," the vineyard owner took out his wooden dice, "try them, they are not tricky!"

Sepke rolled the dice five times and got different points each time, nodding in satisfaction.

"Good sir!" said the boy to the tavernkeeper, who was also watching, "get your quills and ink ready, because if I win, we'll sign the deed on the spot! And you and two others will be the All witnesses, so that everyone knows we are not cheating!"

"You haven't won yet, brat!" Tilberg scolded. "Who throws first?"

"Sir is getting old," Sepke taunted, "Let's throw first!"

The man slowly put the wooden dice into the cup, blew into it, murmured words that no one could understand, then closed the cup and began to shake it, first slowly, then more and more faster.

The entire tavern was silent, the onlookers were like the two in the game, their hearts were jumping into their throats, and no one dared to make any noise.

In this tense atmosphere, the sound of the dice hitting the wall of the cup is like a bell.Tiborg and Sepke stared at each other fiercely, the man continued to shake and shake, and then slammed down the cup, at this moment, not only the words were stuck in people's throats, but even the air was trapped Stay, the whole tavern is eerily quiet.

Sepke felt something rush up his throat, and a sick feeling swept over the boy's body, while the owner of the vineyard slowly raised his glass and said with a smile:

"Eleven o'clock."

An unbelievable exclamation and a deafening roar echoed in the tavern, as if there were hundreds of people watching the game, some voices were happy, while others were disappointed.

Sepke stared at the two wooden dice in horror, and Corta collapsed on the floor, crying helplessly like a child whose toy was robbed, because he knew that they were penniless again. Poor worms, soon they may be cooking and slicing their own shoes to fill their bellies...

Heaven and hell are close at hand, whether they touch beauty or despair, they are as unreal as dreams.

"Tsk tsk, this is wonderful," said the barefoot man for the first time that night, putting his hand under his arm. "Now there's only one point left that's bigger than eleven..."

Sepke's face had turned white, even his lips were bloodless, and the boy put the dice into the cup with trembling hands.He knew very well what a rash and fatal mistake he had made, and he felt that he was doomed, and he should stop in time.

So he picked up the cup, covered the mouth of the cup with the other hand, shook it gently, trying to hold back the tears in his eyes, not wanting to cry in front of everyone, then, as if he had accepted his fate, he used a weak The action threw the dice on the table without even looking at the count.

There was another moment of silence in the tavern, and then everyone burst into cheers, and the whole wall trembled.

"Twelve o'clock!" Those who were regarded as friends by Tilberg also cheered unscrupulously, "He rolled a twelve o'clock! He won! This damned little bastard won!"

Sepke later only vaguely remembered what happened after that, and he was so dizzy by the miraculous victory that he almost passed out.

However, he clearly remembered that his and his brother's names appeared on the contract paper. They became the owners of ten acres of land and enjoyed the right to use it for 50 years. Signed on the scrap paper.

He remembered Tilberg prostrate on the table, sobbing, buried his face in spit and snot, and the tavernkeeper hurriedly sent the boys out, because it was easy for a man with such a fortune to be eye on.

"I suggest you get out of here as soon as possible," the boss whispered in the twins' ears, "If I were you, I would stay away from everyone in this place."

It wasn't until they stood under the starry night that the boys realized that they had been away from camp for a long time.Sepke quickly put his hand into the bag, and gave the boss a handful of silver coins without counting.

"We shall never forget this night," said the boy at parting. "Please do us one more favor, good sir, and tell them we have gone north!"

"I will," the boss promised, "God bless you, boys!"

Just like that, the twins looked at each other, and they could understand each other without words. They nodded, and then ran towards the camp in the southwest direction with all their strength.

By the time they got back to camp, the boys were sweating and out of breath.They collapsed in front of the small tent, covering their bodies, panting with their eyes closed, listening to the surrounding noises to make sure no one was following them.

They could hear nothing but the chirping of crickets and cicadas and their own breathing, and the night was silent.

"It's strangely quiet here." Corta broke the silence after a long time.

"Because we stayed in that noisy tavern for several hours," Sepke said, "finally no one yelled in my ears, and those drunks almost deafened my ears!"

"I still can't believe what happened," Corta grinned happily. "Come on, let's see what you won with your little silver coin! Lubbock won't believe it..."

The boy interrupted himself, suddenly realizing why he found the silence so strange.He looked at Sepke, who looked back at him with the same worried eyes.

Doubt arose in both of them, for they knew well that Lubbock had never slept so peacefully, even in perfect health.

They got up from the ground and approached the tent cautiously, as if afraid of what they might find inside.In the end, Corta directly pulled the cover at the entrance open with one movement.

The summer night sky was clear, and the silvery light of the full moon clearly illuminated Lubbock in the tent.The old man was lying on his back comfortably, staring at somewhere on the roof of the tent with lifeless eyes, maybe the starry sky above the tent, with a happy and sincere smile on his face.

He walked away calmly and contentedly, but the twins stood in front of the tent, leaning on each other's shoulders, as if the dead man was their real father.

Towards morning, when the boys awoke from a brief slumber to discuss how to place Lubbock, they realized that the old man was holding two crumpled, leaf-like pieces of papyrus in his stiff right hand.

They finally opened the fingers and got the papers, and then they saw that the old man's fingers were black with ink.

"He wrote it here by hand," Sepke said. "I think he wanted to leave a letter for each of us."

"Well, read it!" Corta said, but his brother handed him both letters, since he was the better reader.

So the boy took the two pieces of papyrus and ran over the lines written with his fingers as fast as he could.Corta's expression became more and more agitated, and the turbulent emotions were reflected on his face. After reading, tears welled up in his eyes again.

"We should bury Lubbock in the most honorable way possible," he told Sepke. "He may be an odd old man, but he was always a good man."

"What's the matter, what did he tell us?" Sepke asked curiously.

"He didn't say anything," Corta said with a smile, tears streaming down his cheeks. "He set us free at the end of his life," he waved the papyrus. Liberation of the name, we are no longer slaves, Sepuk!"

"No longer a slave," repeated the other, with a twinkle in his eyes, "if I were to be a slave again, I would rather die! I promise you, we will never be slaves again!"

"Never again," Corta agreed, and while he was trying to be as excited as his brother, what he really wanted was something completely different from Sepke's.

As for what it was, he hadn't dared to tell him yet.

(End of this chapter)