Three Philosophical Questions for Travelers

At this moment, the sky is bright, and the two of them walked all night under the stars and the moon, and they were exhausted.In the swampy wetlands in the dark, it is difficult to distinguish where is the road and where is the mud.And many places have to wade through the mire.They had to roll up their pant legs and walk across barefoot.Isrit was sucked by leeches four times, and was bitten by mosquitoes countless times. Herbal remedies for repelling insects were really mediocre.The wound on her foot hadn't healed yet, so her feet would be rotten after such tossing. After walking through the wet dirt road, they had to light a fire to dry their feet immediately, and then put on dry shoes.

According to Night Owlman's guidance, there should be a village of swamp orcs ahead.It is said that the swamp orcs are gentle and hospitable. They plan to stay there for a day and continue their journey the next night.

"We'll be there in a while," Gerrit encouraged her, "Come on, if it doesn't work, I can carry you on my back."

Isrit wanted Gerrit to carry her on her back, but she still refused. "I'm okay, it's just..." She felt something was wrong with her legs, and when she lowered her head, she saw a leech thicker than her fingers. She was startled and slapped her calf hard, but the thing wouldn't let go.At this time, Gerrit brought some salt water and poured it on, and the bug let go.

"You're so thin, you don't have much blood, and you're going to be an adult after being sucked." Gelie squatted down in front of her, "Forget it, I'll carry you, come up."

Isrit nodded silently, and then lay on her body.

Zhe Lite walked forward slowly with her on her back, each step was deeper and shallower, with a very difficult expression on her face.Estelle felt sorry for her and said, "I'll come down."

"No." She pushed Isrit back a little further, "Don't underestimate the power of liberal witches!"

This has nothing to do with witches, does it?Eastrat thought while lying on her back.

In this way, they walked for about ten minutes. They climbed up a small mound and looked into the distance.Behind the reed pond, there is a small village hidden.The smoke from the breakfast kitchen is rising faintly, the white-skinned orcs are working in the fields, and the children are playing, all is quiet and peaceful.

Estelle got off her back, and the two of them walked towards the village.There was a single-plank bridge over the reed pond, and the two walked carefully across it.The single-plank bridge swayed, and there were frogs clamoring underneath.

After pushing aside the reeds and chasing off the dragonflies above their heads, the two of them finally came to the village.

This was the first time Essrit saw the swamp orcs.

Orcs, both male and female, have pointed fangs, and they are all equally thick.The orcs lived in tents made of banana leaves and vines, which were shiny and must have been oiled.The tents are surrounded by a circle, and the totem worshiped by the orcs is enshrined in the center, which is a reddish-brown idol.There are some orcs sitting next to the totem, they are nimbly weaving straw sandals and bamboo hats, they are probably women in the village; next to them is a shirtless orc who is drying the spotted animal hide, his (her) skin is pale, and his or her back is dry and caked with mud, I don't know if it was a boy or a girl; then there were some children playing war games with branches, and a sharp-eyed child saw Isrit and screamed loudly.

The little orc probably spoke in orc language, which Isrit and the others couldn't understand.Then the orcs all looked here, and a fat orc with plump breasts pointed at them and laughed, the flesh on his body shook accordingly; the woman weaving straw sandals put down her work and came over, and one of them had red hair women questioned them in Orcish.The orc language sounded like the roar of a wild animal, and Isrit didn't know whether she was asking or threatening.

Geralte tried to communicate with the orcs in ordinary animal language, but only received a burst of laughter.

At least the orcs are not hostile to us, Isrit thought.

At this time, she heard an old voice in the crowd saying, "Women, where are you from?"

Following the sound, the orcs all moved out of the way.Isrit saw a tortoise bigger than a bull slowly crawling towards them. A chair was tied to the back of the tortoise, and a hunchbacked old orc sat on the chair.The orc was short, less than half the height of the orc women, the wrinkles on his face were enough to kill flies, and there was no hair on his head.

That must be the elder of the orc, Isrit thought, I remember that the lifespan of an orc is at most 40 years, after 40 years, the muscles of a strong orc will atrophy, and they will age rapidly, and no matter how powerful a warrior is, they will inevitably die.However, there are also a few orcs who can pass the 40-year-old threshold and become elders. It is said that such orcs can have the wisdom bestowed by their ancestors and live for a long time.

Zerette saluted with Isrit, and then Isrit said, "Dear orc elders, we are passing passengers from the Bayland,"

"As long as you are not from the south." The old orc nodded, "Then let me ask you, travelers passing by, do you have anything for the orcs?"

Isrit and Gerrit looked at each other, they didn't know what the local customs of the orcs were like.They have gold coins, herbs, potions, and some sundries.Logically speaking, giving gold coins is the safest way, but the society of orcs is different from that of humans, and they don't know if this will work.

They looked at each other, and then Estherite said: "We know medical skills and can heal your people; we also have gold, which is used to rent houses and buy food; we are still witches, and we have all kinds of poisons on us. , but the poison is reserved for the enemy, not for you.”

The old orc pondered for a while, and then said: "Then please heal our hunter; we don't need gold, let alone poison."

The old orc said, "Urla, Madrahan, take the guest to find a clean house."

Then two orcs stood up and saluted him.Estelle saw that the two men had a missing corner and one eye. They were both wearing leather armor and were strong warriors.

So they followed the orc to a wooden house in the east.Compared to the simple tents of the orcs, this wooden house is already a mansion.It is well ventilated and faces the east. It is indeed a nice house.

Isrit said to her: "Teacher, you go to bed first, I want to go around the village."

Isrit unexpectedly, two

Isrit unexpectedly, two

"Then I'll go with you," Geralte said.

"No, I can do it by myself. Teacher, you can't accompany me in everything - don't worry, I'm just going to see the wounded orcs."

Geralte was indeed very tired. Her curly hair was fluffy when she was energetic, but now she was so tired that it drooped like withered seaweed.There were dark circles under her eyes, bloodshot eyes, but she still stared wide-eyed and said, "I can't leave my lovely apprentice alone with a group of orcs whose chickens are longer than horses!"

ah?Is the orc's... er... longer than a horse?

Isrit was silent for a moment, then brought a quilt and threw it on Gellette's face.Zhe Lite took the quilt, and then Isrit said to her: "Hold the quilt and close your eyes."

"No!"

"Be obedient." She whispered, then went over to take off Geralte's robe, and pushed her down on the bed.The tall witch acted like a child: "I don't want to sleep! Don't, don't!" Estherite persuaded her mother, saying: "Just sleep for a while, just close your eyes I'll count to three two one, and you will fall asleep."

"No!" Geralte said loudly.

"Be obedient!" Isrit said louder, "Close your eyes, I will count to three, two, one, and you will definitely fall asleep!"

"No!"

"Try it, if you can't fall asleep, I won't force you."

So Gerrit closed her eyes and lay down on the pillow, while Isrit counted down: "Three, two, one..." By the time she counted to the third number, Gerrit was already snoring loudly.

Nobody knew Gerrit better than she did, and vice versa.

Isrit stretched her waist, and then rubbed some refreshing potion on her temples.The orc warrior was waiting for her at the door, she took her bag and followed the orc.

As soon as they went out, many children and women flocked over. I'm afraid there are not many outsiders here, so the swamp orcs all looked at Isrit with strange eyes.The orcs had pale skin, many painted with red potions, and others with dried mud.They all have horns, and they like to hang various decorations on the horns - bells for women, and animal skins for men. Isrit also relies on this to distinguish between men and women, because orcs and men and women are similar in length.

There was a big tent at the end of the road, and the old orc was waiting for her there.When she walked over, the old orc opened the curtain for her and said, "Save them, our witch doctor is powerless."

She took off her shoes and stepped into the tent.There are soft animal skins under her feet, which is very comfortable to step on.However, there are all kinds of smells mixed in the tent, including the bitter smell of herbs, the smell of sweat, the sweet smell of blood, and the stench of beasts... There are four orcs lying there, two of them are strong men, and one is a child. , a woman.An orc witch doctor sat cross-legged in the middle of the tent, with three dried herbs stuck in his collar and a skull necklace around his neck.He raised his eyelids, looked at Isrit, and asked in common language, "Who is this?"

The old orc introduced her and said, "This is..."

Isrit said: "Isrit, the liberal forest witch."

"Oh." The witch doctor nodded.

The orc elder said: "I want her to treat these people."

The old witch doctor frowned and said, "I've only heard that witches can dispense poison, but I haven't heard that witches can cure diseases."

"She said she would, let her try."

The witch doctor came over, sniffed Isrit with his thick nose, and said, "Unclean woman."

Estelle was immediately annoyed, and asked, "Why do you say that?"

"You are not a virgin," said the witch doctor.

"Of course, because I already have a husband."

"Married women shouldn't hang out in the jungle, you are dirty." The witch doctor's face became ferocious, and the beast pattern on it also distorted, "You smell lewd, I can't let you touch my patient !"

Estelle looked at the elder orc, hoping that he would come to rescue him.But the elder shook his head at her and said, "This is the witch doctor's tent, the witch doctor's patient, I have no right to order him."

"Who is your village chief?"

The elder shook his head and said, "There is no village chief, everyone is their own king."

Estelle had no choice but to try to communicate with that ignorant witch doctor again.However, the man was extremely stubborn. He insisted that a lewd woman would bring bad luck and cause the patient to die.In the end, Estelle had no choice but to say, "Okay, I won't touch them anymore."

"That's right." The witch doctor said, "Life and death have their own destiny. If the land calls their souls, they must leave the world."

"No, I'm going to teach you the way of healing, you do it, and I'll guide it—that way I can't touch them."

The witch doctor was stunned, and said, "What?"

"I'll provide the appliances and the medicine, and you just have to do it."

The witch doctor glared at her and said, "You...what are your plans?"

"Human life is the most important thing—you are a doctor, don't you even understand this kind of thing? I may be lewd and evil, with bad luck on me, but my medical skills and knowledge are innocent—what do you think?"

The witch doctor was so choked by her that he couldn't speak.A few orcs next to him pulled his sleeves and said something in a begging tone. There were children and women here, and Yisrit guessed that they were the families of the injured.After pondering for a long time, the witch doctor nodded, and the bone necklace around his neck rattled.

"Okay, I'll listen to you, come with me." He brought Eastrat to a patient.The man was already in a semi-comatose state. There was a large wound on his arm, which had already suppurated. It was covered with some black and green herbs. When she smelled it with her nose, she felt the stench!This kind of thing can poison the living, let alone the wounded?She looked at several other wounded, most of whom were traumatized, one had a broken bone, and the other had a severe cough and a fever.

Estelle thought for a while and said, "First of all, we need to move these patients to a well-ventilated place. It's too stuffy and humid here, which is not good for their health."

"But……"

"You said you would listen to me." Estherite said.

So the witch doctor beckoned and called for someone to carry the wounded.Seeing that they were going to move it by hand, Estelle stopped it immediately.She yelled, "Don't you know he's got a broken bone? It's going to break his bones!"

Everyone else looked blank, but the witch doctor asked angrily, "Then what should I do? Use magic?"

"Use a stretcher!" Estherite gritted her teeth and said, "Make a stretcher out of bamboo and animal skins! Give me the things, and I'll make them!"

The stretcher was finished very quickly, of course it wasn't her hands, but she commanded the orc woman to make the stretcher.She moved people to a clean, ventilated place before officially starting medical treatment.Many orcs came to watch, but Essraet only had patients in her eyes.

Isrit unexpectedly, three

Isrit unexpectedly, three

The voices of people were noisy, and the orcs talked about her in rough language; the hot and humid wind blew by, and Esrit's head and nerves were "thumping".I'll have to go to sleep later, she thought.

"Make a fire," she said to the witch doctor, who did.

Then she took out all the things in the bag, including gloves, masks, scalpels, steamers, alcohol, various herbs... The witch doctor had never seen these things before, so he asked her, "What are these things for?"

"It's for you." Yisrit set up a steamer on the fire, and used high temperature to sterilize the surgical instruments.The orcs didn't understand the meaning, some were laughing, some were shaking their heads.

It is better to give someone a fishing rod than to give someone fish meat - this is what Hai Wen said to her before.Knowledge and technology are more important than anything else, so while waiting for disinfection, she explained the principle to the orcs: "Most of the things we use on weekdays are covered with a small bug called bacteria, which is smaller than an ant. Many, many, so small that the naked eye can't see it at all." She asked the old orc to translate for other orcs as she spoke, "If you eat this kind of thing, you will get sick. If you touch a wound, they will grow in your wound, multiply, and then the wound festers and rots..."

"Festering and rotting are caused by evil spirits," said the witch doctor.

"The essence of bewitched by evil is the erosion of bacteria." Yisrit continued, "Before I treat people, I have to use a steamer to steam all the utensils, because this can kill bacteria with high temperature-this kind Bugs, like other bugs, cannot stand the high temperature of boiling."

The witch doctor asked her, "Are you saying that we are sick because of this little bug?"

"Yes."

"But how do you know, you can't see!" The witch doctor said loudly, "I think you are lying!" Then he shouted a few more words in the orc language, and the other orcs followed suit.

Estherite asked: "If I can cure them, does that prove that what I said is right?"

The old orc translated this to everyone, and the swamp orcs fell silent.The witch doctor and Estherite looked at each other, and from that look, Estherite felt that he was afraid.He is afraid of me, Isrit thought, he is afraid of new things, afraid that I will take away the doctor's job.

Isrit said to him: "If I can cure them, then I will teach you all the medical skills."

"Why...why did you do this?" the witch doctor asked her.

"I'll be leaving in a few days, and you'll be living here for years. What if someone gets hurt after I leave?"

The witch doctor's eyes became very strange, and then he whispered to the elder in the orc language, and immediately the expressions of the two became very serious.Isrit ignored them and started to make herbal medicine.

The wound of the first patient was festered, and a large area was rotten. Judging from the wound, it should be bitten by some kind of wild animal.He kept panting heavily, his forehead was flushed, obviously having a fever.At this time, the sterilization of the steamer had been completed, and Yisrit took out the sterilized medical equipment to cool down, and then boiled another pot of boiling water.She said to the orcs: "This kind of worm also exists in the water you drink. Boil it and drink it, which can reduce the occurrence of diseases."

After the water boiled, she began to debride the patient's wound.She gave some anesthetic to the orc, but the anesthetic couldn't completely remove the pain, it still hurt.

She told the witch doctor and the elder about this in advance, and the elder woke up the feverish orc and talked to him a few words.Afterwards, the elder said to Isrit: "Won is a warrior, he is not afraid of pain. As long as you can save his life, you can do anything." After he finished speaking, there was an orc who was taller than Isrit. The child came and grabbed her arm, with teary eyes and her begging for something.The elder said to Yisruite: "This is Weng's daughter. Her mother has passed away, and her father is the only relative."

Estelle felt a heavy sense of mission, and she picked up the scalpel.However, at this time she suddenly remembered what the witch doctor said to her before. She said to the witch doctor: "If you don't let me touch him, I can't debride him. I will give you the scalpel and teach you how to do it." Do."

The witch doctor hesitated for a moment, then said, "Come on."

Isrit asked: "Aren't you afraid that I will infect bad luck?"

"You... it doesn't matter if you use a knife, just don't touch him with your skin."

Isrit sighed helplessly, and said, "Okay, okay!" Everything was focused on saving lives, so she calmed down and prepared for the operation.

"Then you must look carefully and listen carefully, this is very important." She said to the witch doctor.The witch doctor nodded to her with a serious expression.

"His wound is festering, which means that the bacteria have been eroding his flesh. We must first clean up these necrotic and rotten places, and scratch off the dirty things."

"But that's his flesh," said the witch doctor.

"The meat is already rotten, and the rotten meat will kill him." After saying that, Estherite began to operate on the orc. The orc's face tightened in pain, and his daughter wept silently beside him.The elders were explaining all this to the orcs, but many orcs still questioned them.Isrit prayed that they would not interfere with the operation.

She had learned a lot from Laya in the past.Although Laya is not proficient in various herbs like a witch, she is an excellent surgeon.Since the beginning of Mustang Land, Estherite has often followed her around to see how to do surgery.It took her 5 minutes to debride the wound, cutting open the rotten flesh, pouring out thick water, and scraping off the rotting herbs.After the wound was completely clean, she used alcohol to thoroughly disinfect the orc.

"It will hurt." She warned again.

The orc nodded to her, his eyes very firm.This orc named Weng was a true warrior, and he just gritted his teeth during the debridement process, but he didn't groan.So he didn't yell or cry when cleaning the wound, and Esriette finished the job easily, and the next step was bandaging.She applied the prepared herbal powder mixed with toner on the wound. The herbal medicine is used to stop bleeding and promote muscle growth, and the toner can absorb tissue fluid to prevent re-infection.Finally, she tied the sterilized bandage to the orc and tied it in a beautiful knot.

The witch doctor has been watching seriously, and occasionally said something to the elder in orc language with a solemn expression.The orcs around were also watching carefully, and gradually the environment became quiet.

After finishing all this, Essrait said to the witch doctor: "Do you understand what I did just now?"

Isrit unexpectedly, four