Three Philosophical Questions for Travelers

At this moment, everyone on and off the stage laughed, and the host of the arena said loudly: "Gladiator, you shouldn't provoke the clay figurine, he can easily swallow you up. Run, run! If you run for 5 minutes, we will count you as the winner! Oh, there are still 4 minutes. Spectators, place your bets! If you think Fassnut can survive, throw the bone coin into the left chute, thinking he is dead Yes, throw it to the right! You only have ten seconds to bet! Decide quickly!"

Spectators place bets.As Fassnut dodged the flying mud balls again and again, the stage became lively. The men exclaimed and laughed at times, while the girls prayed for him and cheered him up.

Netway kept telling the time on the tower, and Fasnat kept running around the arena.The mud monster kept firing cannonball-sized mud balls at him, one shot from the left and the other right, and the arena was covered with mud for a while.When Fassnut ran to the third lap, there was almost no place to settle.

The guy's accuracy was poor, and he couldn't hit Fassnut directly; but after the mud clods fell on the ground, the mud would splash, and he still got a lot of it.He felt the mud solidify on his legs and joints, making his movements more and more sluggish, and running more and more strenuously.

However, he is not only running away blindly, he is still observing.Since breaking his hand, Fasnat has paid more and more attention to fighting with his mind.

At first he wanted to use up the mud on the monster's body, but after observing for a while, he found that the mud on the monster's body was infinite, and the mud that fell on the ground would slowly crawl back into the body of the clay figurine.

This gets tricky.

Obviously these muds are conscious, they are composed of countless small bugs, these small bugs are very smart, they know where to crawl.

its not right.It suddenly occurred to him that it is impossible for worms to have such high intelligence. Whether it is reality or legend, worms are stupid.The smaller the brain, the lower the intelligence, it should be like this.

So why can these little bugs have a collective consciousness like an army?

What is directing them?

Just when Fassnut thought of this, a huge ball of mud flew in front of him. He threw himself forward in a hurry, and then the mud ball flew towards the auditorium.There was a burst of screaming from the stands, and people ran away one after another. Many people were unable to dodge and were stained by mud, and the audience immediately cursed.

Fassnut looked towards the audience and found that those who were polluted by the mud were not harmed, and the black mud seemed to turn into ordinary mud after reaching the auditorium, which surprised him.

However, when he looked around the arena, he found that the sludge on the ground was wriggling.

Why are some muds dead and others alive?He frowned.At this time, he found that the mud on his body was alive and dead, and the mud in the palm of his prosthetic limb had also turned into dry lumps. The bugs were dead and no longer wriggled.Strangely enough, the sludge on the surface of his clothes was still wriggling, trying to get into his body.

Why is this?

What determines whether these slime bugs live or die?

Fassnut had to think about the result as soon as possible, because his time was running out—the dried mud made his body slower and slower, and if this continued, he would be hit head-on by the mud bomb sooner or later.He looked towards the auditorium again, and then looked down at the ground under his feet—what is the difference between these two places?At this time, he suddenly found that the auditorium was pitch black, and the huge chandelier above his head seemed to only illuminate the arena.

Is the light giving life to the clay figurines?

Yes, it's the lights.The light can't reach the palm of my prosthetic limb, so the worms inside are dead; but the light can reach my coat, so the worms on the surface are alive.And didn't this clay figurine just fall out of the chandelier?It is very likely that its fate is also on that chandelier!

Thinking of this, Fassnut had an idea.

He rushed to Netway's tower.

Seeing him running towards this side, the host on the tower immediately said: "You only need to hold on for one minute to win—don't do stupid things, my gladiator!"

Fassnut first came to the back of the tower, and then quickly climbed up the tower. At this moment, he was not far from the chandelier on the zenith.The priest was smiling at him, but Natway panicked, and she said loudly, "Okay! I know what you're going to do, this time it's you - did you hear me?"

Fassnat had already stepped on the railing on the edge of the tower with one foot. Netway reached out to grab him, but was stopped by the priest.The clay figurine roared at him and pointed the mud cannon at him. At this time, Fasnat exerted force on his feet and jumped towards the chandelier on the zenith.

His legs were stronger than before, and he flew into the sky like a bird. At this moment, he was more than ten meters above the ground, and the audience gasped in amazement.Among them, Netway's voice was particularly piercing: "Stop! You little bastard!" The woman gritted her teeth and said, "You can't afford it!"

But Fassnut didn't care about this, he hooked the chandelier with his left arm, and the chandelier shook accordingly, and the people below were amazed.Fassnat tried his best to climb up, but it was too difficult for him to rely on only half of his left hand. He was shaking with the chandelier and might fall down at any time.Every time he swayed, there was a cry of exclamation. He caught the chain of the chandelier with the knife in his left hand, and then pushed himself up.This movement was very difficult, and all the muscles in his body were tense. In the end, he also hung half of his right arm on the chandelier. Using both broken arms together, he finally climbed up.After doing all this, he was already sweating profusely.

After arriving here, he found that there was something hidden in the chandelier.

In the center of the chandelier grew a huge red sarcoma, the thing had a radius of one meter, and there were tangled and intertwined blood vessels distributed around it like tree roots.These blood vessels spread to the eight rubies of the chandelier, wriggling constantly, transporting some kind of substance into the gems.

It seems I guessed right.Thinking this way, Fasnat stabbed into the sarcoid with a knife.

Blood flowed from the sarcoma immediately, and the clay figurines below let out piercing screams at the same time.Fassnat was determined to kill this monster completely. He inserted the knife in his left hand into the deepest part of the tumor, and then slashed it out fiercely. With a "click", the disgusting tumor was split into two.The blood of the cancerous tumor splashed everywhere, the red light of the chandelier went out, and there was a rain of scarlet blood in the sky.

Fassnut stood on the top of the blood rain and watched all this. The entire arena was stained red with blood, and the fierce demon turned into a pool of black muddy water under the baptism of blood rain; most of the audience were immersed in great shock. In the middle, he was stunned at the place, at a loss; on the high tower, Netway was dumbfounded, and the priest smiled and said nothing.

"Did I win?" Fassnut asked Knightway.

The master of the arena was silent.

"How long have I been using it?"

"Four and a half," said Knightway.

Fassnut jumped from the chandelier and landed on the tower.He shouted to the audience: "Now, are you satisfied? You monkeys!"

The entire auditorium was set on fire by him.Those whose heads were drenched in blood shouted, some were excited, some cursed.Someone screamed, someone slapped the seat, and someone clapped hard.Then a woman shrieked, "Fasnut! Fasnut with a broken arm!" and everyone followed suit.

His name floated above the arena, under the rain of blood.Then Netway raised his arm and said loudly: "A new champion is born! Let us shout his name!"

Then people shouted in unison: "Fasnat! Fasnat!" The sound was deafening one after another.Natway leaned into his ear at this time, exhaling like blue, "I look forward to your coming again, don't make me wait too long." After she finished speaking, she kissed Fassnut's face, and the audience screamed again. cried out.

But Fassnut just wanted to go home now—he was sore and dirty, and he missed cooked food, hot water, his bed, and his stupid slave.

I don't know if she came to see it, well, it's better not to come, this place is too dirty, he thought to himself looking at the blood stains all over the floor.

Chapter 21: Isrit has a mission, a

Chapter 21: Isrit has a mission, a

This morning, Isrit was woken up again by the sound of sawing wood.

Recently, the orcs have been busy early in the morning. They seem to be repairing the totem poles dedicated to the gods.It started beating early in the morning, and an old craftsman would be busy from morning to night, making Isrit so noisy that he couldn't sleep.

She rubbed her eyes and sat up on the bamboo mat bed.She saw Gerrit standing at her door with a cup of herbal tea, and the witch came to her and said, "Drink this."

It was a herbal tea with complex flavors of grass, yellow stamens, resins, and many other things.For the past few days, Gerrit has given her a drink every day.Isrit asked her what it was, but the witch kept her mouth shut.Although Estelle was puzzled by this, she didn't doubt anything, her mentor would not hurt her.

So she drank her herbal tea in one gulp, washed up a bit, and went to have breakfast.These days, she didn't have a good appetite, so she ate some liquid food casually. After eating, she went to visit those orc patients.

Today is her fourth day in the orc village, and she has been taking care of the injured orcs for the past few days.There was good news yesterday that the orc who had a fever from a festering wound had gone away.Isrit didn't expect him to recover so quickly. It seems that the physique of the orcs is indeed much stronger than that of humans.The other three people also improved, including the fractured orc——Gerette healed his bones. According to the witch, he could get out of bed and walk after about two months, gradually turning into a healthy orc.

These things Isrit did earned them a reputation, and the orcs treated them with courtesy, giving them the best food, fur, and shelter.Someone took the initiative to clean them up, and everyone would say hello to them when they saw them.And the old witch doctor came to apologize to Isrit.

"I'm sorry, I... I'm old and confused." The old orc said to her with his head down. "You are not a lewd woman, you are... a great Virgin, a virtuous mother. I thank you, I hope you forgive my mistake."

Isrit said to him: "If you are willing to learn medical skills from us and do your best in the future, I will forgive you."

So the old witch doctor had been her apprentice since then, Geralte's grandson—even though the witch doctor was older than both of them put together.The witch doctor's real name is long and awkward, so people call him by his nickname: Frog Eye.Estelle also followed suit.

Isrit imparted all her knowledge to the Frogeye witch doctor, including surgery, basic herbal medicine, and hygiene concepts. In addition, she also taught the orcs some advanced agricultural knowledge and alcohol extraction methods.

Frogeye asked her, "Where does your knowledge come from? Is it innate?"

Isrit told him, "Part of it was taught by Gerrit, and the other part came from a man named Haven Ambleside, who is my husband."

Frogeye asked her, "Oh Haven, is he a great doctor too?"

"No, he's the Earl of Bear Mountain." Speaking of her husband, Estherite couldn't help showing a smile, "He knows a lot, not just medicine. He also knows law, farming, alchemy, Astronomy, geography, architecture, military tactics..." As she counted Haiwen's various knowledge silently with her fingers, she became more and more surprised-he knew so much.

Frog Eye listened in amazement, "Then he must be like you, a deity descended from the mortal world."

"We are all ordinary people." I am an ordinary person, but Mr. Haiwen is not sure.

This morning, while she was consulting patients, she was explaining the knowledge to the old witch doctor.While eating lunch at noon, two wounded orcs came from the neighboring village.The orc elder told Estherite that these people came here for fame and asked Estherite to see a doctor for them.

Isrit is free to eat and stay here, and the orcs treat her very politely, so she is willing to repay these people.So she took Gellite to open a free clinic booth together, and she planned to stay here for a few more days and do more good things.

Since it is a free clinic, there is no fee for the consultation.However, Estherite still put a "charity box" and told patients that they can donate voluntarily.

When Laya taught her medical skills in the past, she once said that she should have a benevolent heart and not treat medical skills as a craft of eating.

"For consultation fees, the rich charge more, and the poor charge less. Not only can the poor not charge, but you should give them alms." Laya said so at the beginning.

Since that afternoon, various patients have come to her clinic in an endless stream.Most of the people had minor injuries and illnesses, but at night they also met a mother who was dying of illness. This female orc was scorching hot, her body was covered with tumors, and even her horns were beginning to rot. Isrit was really helpless.She took good care of the patient all night, and finally she gave the patient a vial of poison with anesthetic in desperation, ending her suffering.

The critically ill had six strong sons, and four stronger brothers, who had sent her here.Based on professional ethics, Essrit truthfully reported the condition of the female orc to these people.He was worried that those family members would make trouble, but he didn't expect the orcs to be grateful to her.One of the orcs with a bone necklace said to her: "You ended her suffering. Before that, she had been enduring the fumigation treatment of the witch doctor, and she could not survive every day. Some witch doctors said she was Cursed, some say possessed by the devil, but no matter which one is telling the truth. Our Lady, you tell us the truth, we thank you. The whole Bangka family thanks you." After that, the ten orcs The soldiers saluted her together, and Isrit was stunned.

It made her realize that these swamp orcs were kind.In the past, people always stigmatized orcs, saying that they are evil and savage animals, that they are cruel and tyrannical, killing people, drinking blood and eating children.But in fact these swamp orcs are very simple, they are simple and honest, and they have nothing to do with the world.

The free clinic life in the past few days has also accumulated a wealth of practical experience for her.Although she had learned a lot of theoretical knowledge in the past, she hadn't dealt with patients very much. This time, she took advantage of the free clinic to understand many things that she didn't understand before.Not only that, but the medical skills of the orc witch doctors are not useless. For example, the herbs prepared by these witch doctors are very effective in treating asthma, and there is also a cooling ointment that can treat ringworm.In addition, the orcs also raise leeches for bloodletting treatment. Lord Haiwen once told her about this treatment. According to Lord Haiwen, the scope of bloodletting therapy is actually very narrow, like this kind of "bloodletting when in doubt" It is absolutely wrong, but leech bloodletting can indeed be used to remove congestion and treat arthritis.Therefore, Yisrit proposed to learn the method of raising leeches and the formula of herbal medicine.

Her apprentice witch doctor thought for a while after learning about this, and then said to her: "These things are originally secret recipes that are not passed down, but since you have taught me everything, I should return it to you."

This conservative orc is changing, Isrit thought.

After another four days, she took care of the patients with all her heart every day, and more and more people came to see the doctor.Eastraet suddenly felt that she was in a difficult situation, the orcs needed her, and she couldn't leave.So from the fifth day, she handed over the free clinic work to her apprentice: the witch doctor Frog Eye.She hopes that the witch doctor can take over this job and continue to benefit the people.

On the fifth day, the swamp orcs said they would hold a grand sacrificial ceremony.Estelle was very interested in this, and she planned to see what the culture of the orcs was like.However, the content of the sacrificial ceremony shocked her.

The protagonist of this sacrifice is not a god, but she—the Mother of the Earth, Isrit.

Isrit has a mission, two

Isrit has a mission, two

At night, the villages of the swamp orcs are brightly lit.

The orcs planted green sprouts around the village to represent sacrifices.They coated the stakes with a mixture of white catfish and bubble algae and set them ablaze, so the green shoots became huge pillars of fire.The flames of these pillars of fire seem to be huge, but in fact they will not hurt people. The temperature of these flames is very low, just like taking a hot bath.

The orcs call this fire: Mother's Warmth.During the sacrifice, the orcs would dance around the pillar of green shoot wood fire, and draw this harmless flame to themselves, dancing a beautiful flame dance.

The orcs from the neighboring villages also came today. These orcs painted their bodies with various oil paints, put on beautiful spotted furs, and brought bone and silver jewelry, and sang and danced together under the campfire.

Dishes began to be served on the long table one after another. On the days of sacrifice, the orcs did not eat dinner.They would party all night, they danced, sang, wrestled, tug-of-war... Whenever they were tired they stopped to eat something, drink a few glasses of wine, and then went on to the carnival.The orc sacrifices were completely different from the solemn sacrifices that Essraet remembered. The sacrifices in the bay area were serious rituals, while the orc sacrifices were carnivals.

Geralte was having a carnival with the orcs, dancing in a hula skirt and wrestling with the strongest of them.Estelle sat on a chair and watched all this, she also wanted to sing and dance a little bit, but obviously she couldn't.

Because she is sitting on the highest position, there is soft and smooth fur under her buttocks, she is wearing a golden robe of beasts and a crown of flowers on her head; four orc elders who are older than her grandfather are all sitting under her, her feet enough to step on their heads.

Isrit, she is the protagonist of this sacrifice.

Beside her is a wooden totem pole with a very magical picture: a huge woman sitting on a chair, and there are many orcs as high as her knees kneeling under her. Those orcs are either missing arms or legs. , or have a tumor on the body, blind eyes and ears.The woman's hand shone with light, and the light shone on the little orcs.The orcs all knelt on the ground, kissed the woman's feet, and kowtowed to her.

Although Estelle didn't want to admit it, it was obviously her that was painted.

The swamp orcs have descended upon me as a god.She looked at the totem pole and thought, what a shame, how can I explain this to Master Haiwen when I come back?

"Mother! Mother Earth! Please enjoy!" A little orc climbed up the elevated shelf and brought her fresh wine and roast wild duck.

The little orc was about seven or eight years old, still ignorant.He looked at Estelle with a look of awe.Estelle felt a little guilty, and thought to herself: I am not their mother of the earth, I am just an ordinary woman, and I cannot bear this kind of worship.

People are still singing and dancing to celebrate the arrival of Mother Earth.But Estelle felt that she had to tell the truth. She drank the red wine and used the alcohol to muster her courage.She stood up and said, "Orcs, listen to me!"

She spoke the common language, and the elders below immediately translated it into orc language for her.As soon as the elder opened his mouth, the orcs below immediately fell silent.

Estelle took a deep breath and said, "You guys are mistaken, I'm not—" When she said this, she felt a pain in her forehead, as if something was pushing out.She reached out to touch it, and found two hard bumps.She was wondering when she heard the orc below shouting loudly.Then the orc elder shouted in Common Tongue: "The Earth Mother has grown horns! The Earth Mother has revealed her real body!" Then he shouted again in the Orc language, and immediately the orcs all knelt down and shouted Yi Si Ritter's name.

Estelle touched the two small hard corners on the top of her head, and blinked her eyes blankly.

Why?I...why do I grow horns?

Then she saw Gerrita, the witch making faces at her with her hands and horns on her head.

Esriette immediately remembered the herbal tea that the witch made her drink these days.

Geralta!You... you crazy witch!

Seeing thousands of orcs prostrate at her feet, Esrit felt overwhelmed.At this moment, Zhe Lite came over and said to her: "Earth Mother, let's take a step to talk."

Estelle laughed angrily at her, "Okay, Grandma Witch!" She said with raised brows.

Saying that, the two left the scene of the sacrificial ceremony and came to the shadow of no one.Immediately the sacrifice began again, and the orcs reveled.

Isrit asked Gerrit, "The herbs you gave me..."

"Yes, that's the medicine that will make you grow horns," Gerrit said.

Isrit asked: "What's going on with all this? Teacher, can you give me an explanation?"

Gerrit coughed dryly, at this time Owlman also came over, the owl landed on her shoulder, the witch pondered a little, and said: "I did all this, let me tell you briefly. These God, you are in the free clinic, and I am spreading rumors, saying that you are the earth mother, the incarnation of the gods. You also know that I am a master at fooling people."

That's right, Esriette couldn't help covering her face and laughing when she heard this, after all, you have been the god of pigeons, coo!

"I used some little tricks to fool these orcs, making them really think that you are the mother of the earth. But after all, you are a little girl with delicate skin and tender flesh, and the earth mother should be an orc with hard breasts, So the orcs were a little skeptical. For this reason, I asked them to hold today's sacrifice, and I told them that as long as you sacrifice sincerely, the Earth Mother will reveal her true body today." The horn on the top of Isrit's head bounced.

It hurts!Isrit covered the two small horns on her head with both hands.The thing was only two fingers long, and it was crooked, but it was a genuine horn.

Isrit asked: "Why are you doing this? Teacher, the orcs are not bad to us, why are you teasing them?"

Gerrit laughed and said, "This isn't a tease, it's a blatant deception."

"what?"

"This is a white lie! Little girl!" Gerrit said with a smirk. "These orcs have never been to school, have never read books, and few of them are even literate! They are ignorant, and I can't reason with them. We must rely on some religious power. You will not get sick if you drink hot water with them, but they only take what you say as fart. But if the mother of the earth tells them to drink hot water, they will definitely obey. This That's the meaning!"

Estherite murmured: "But... I think I should tell them the real knowledge, not in this way..."

"This is an expedient measure, Isrit. I got this knowledge from Haven, and as you know, Haven is not from this world. Many of his ideas are beyond the limits of this era. If you want to integrate In this era, we must use some simple methods. Are you right?" Gerrit suddenly became serious when she said this, "And you should know that we need the power of orcs!"

"Why do we need it?"

"It's not what we need, it's Haiwen who needs it. The population of the swamp orcs is at least 10,000+, and almost all the orcs are soldiers. Don't you think this force is terrible? However, they lack a unified organization and no leader. Now for us This is an excellent opportunity for them. The Mother Earth is their only belief, if you can become a convincing Mother Earth, then you may lead the orcs in the future!"