The world controlled by dice [Western Fantasy]

After this kind of thing happened, they naturally couldn't continue to eat peacefully in the tent.Several people left the tent in a hurry.

Outside the tent, Angus's companions had gathered together nervously, talking in low voices.The language they used was quite mixed, making it impossible to understand what was going on for a while.

The three people suspected to be the Dreyson family stood not far away, looking at the group of people with calm or even dull eyes, completely unaware of what happened.

Siles whispered to Qindo: "Pay attention to those three people."

"Okay." Qin Duo nodded.He understood that Siles was referring to the three people who were suspected members of the Dreyson family.

Now it was Angus' companions who broke into the tribe. They didn't know the real situation of the graves in the oasis, they were just looking for wealth.The motives of the other three were quite different.

From this point of view, the person who acted recklessly today is much more harmless.They need to pay more attention to the other three people, in case these three people break into the tribe when they are not paying attention - or even go directly to the grave bag.

Angus's only remaining eye - it was through this one-eyed feature that Sirius recognized Angus - was exuding vigorous anger, and he asked about the situation loudly.

The tribal buildings not far away still looked calm, and no one knew where the man had gone.

They gradually understood what was going on.

There is only one person who acts recklessly.When he was in the mist, he had already fallen into a state of near madness. It should be said that it was his yearning and ambition for wealth that allowed him to barely maintain his sobriety.

When they came to the oasis, the explorer almost went crazy.He was the only one among them who insisted on staying here to find the "treasure" that might exist.Even if other people are moved, they are not as firm as this person.

Therefore, the appearance of Siles and others made him resentful almost instantly.He thought that the wealth he had fought so hard for--even though it was now unknown--was about to be snatched away.

And Angus was negligent at that moment.He thought that these people were his companions and subordinates, and they were completely trustworthy, so he didn't explain the identities of Siles and others clearly.This creates this misunderstanding.

Angus' expression was cloudy and uncertain.Of course, the fog also affected his mental state. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

He looked at Siles first, and said, "Sorry, Professor, I made you laugh."

Siles was slightly taken aback, but he didn't expect that Angus would choose to apologize to him immediately.Of course, the explorer's suspicion of Siles and the others was indeed an offense, but Angus' apology also made people feel a little surprised.

...Here, Siles seems to be the leading figure faintly, and he needs to assume the responsibility of leadership.On the one hand, there are many people on Angus' side; on the other hand, Alfonso has more information about the oasis.

A balanced choice would be to let Sirius be the center of the group.

If Siles realized something, he asked, "How long has that man been in the tribe?"

The dozen or so explorers talked in a hurry.Just now Angus had explained the identities of Siles and the others clearly, and cleverly attributed the purpose of their appearance to Dunbar's death.

"Less than 10 minutes." Angus concluded.

Siles looked at Alfonso.

Alfonso said at the right time: "As long as the explorer doesn't break into the forbidden area, he will at best be beaten up by the natives."

This "most" statement seems to displease some explorers.But no one really said anything at this moment.They all felt tense and a fit of unbearable restlessness.

"...can we, can we get him out of it?" asked one of the explorers.

"I don't recommend doing this, after all, we can't communicate with those residents." Siles said, "They may suspect that we want to occupy their territory."

Alfonso said from the side: "The residents will soon find out the intrusion of outsiders..."

As he was speaking, there was a sudden commotion from the buildings not far away.

Alfonso shrugged: "Look."

A group of ragged and poorly dressed people lifted a person on their shoulders and walked outside.There were already many wounds on the man's body, and his nose was bruised and his face was swollen.The residents lifted it outside, stood it in a certain place, and then threw it on the ground hard.

This is the aborigines of this oasis tribe.Siles watched them, and thought.

He noticed a subtle detail, the group of people wore woven straw hats on their heads.The brim of the hat is a bit big, as if it was specially designed to block the light.

A familiar feeling flashed through Sirius' mind.He frowned remembering.

The aborigines reprimanded something loudly, none of them could understand.Several explorers went to the front to check on the situation of the reckless explorer.Alfonso stepped forward and struggled to communicate with the aborigines.

...Finally, Siles remembered where that familiar feeling came from.

hat.

When he went to sea with Cindo and Foster Langhe, the two sailors hired by Foster also wore hats in common.

Of course, the hats worn by the two sailors did not have exaggerated brims like these aborigines.

Alfonso's communication with the aborigines failed.They were still swearing furiously, but the people on Sirius' side couldn't understand, so such insults had no effect.

Although Siles could understand, for Siles, he would not have any emotional fluctuations because of those words.He noticed that these residents seemed to use some kind of ancient language, and some words and sentences seemed quite uncommon.

Regrettably, these words are basically venting emotions, and there is no noteworthy information.

Alfonso walked back, and Siles asked him in a low voice: "Is the straw hats worn by these residents their custom?"

Alfonso was stunned for a moment, looked at the aborigines, recalled for a moment, then shook his head: "No, no. It seems that only those who work will do this.

"According to my previous observations of them, they seem to be divided into three categories as a whole. The first category is working people. They are responsible for all farming or house repairs in the tribe. There will be some people wearing straw hats in this group .

"The second category seems to be the rulers of the tribe, or the group of rulers. There are about a dozen people, and the core consists of three or five people. They are very dignified and decide everything in the tribe.

"The last time I was here, you know, we happened upon a man who broke into the middle of the village, and he was killed. And it was these men who made the decision.

"The third category...is a group of people who stay at home. In fact, this group of people appeared only when the execution...the person who broke into the forbidden area was executed.

"They looked like a collection of older people and younger people. They... each took a piece of meat... I mean... well, you should understand. They each took a piece of meat and then went back .

"...Because of this, we can only rely on the clothes on the body to identify him. The guy died very badly, and he yelled before dying to let each of us know that it was a Weird...weird, small...I don't want to say that word again.

"Anyway, we just heard a scream, a low laugh...then, we found a human body that was inhuman, full of tooth marks and knife marks, broken into several pieces...

"His meat was distributed to the third type of people. We saw those people eat the meat with our own eyes... We saw it with our own eyes."

Angus and his companions were also listening.Their expressions all changed, some became more indifferent, while others showed frightened expressions.

"They eat people?!" an explorer couldn't help asking.

Alfonso nodded expressionlessly.

In an instant, in the wilderness outside the oasis tribe, there was only dead silence and people's rapid breathing.The abuse from the aborigines continued, but they soon became bored and turned around to walk back.

"What are you going to do?" Qin Duo said suddenly.

Qin Duo's words made everyone feel strange.But when they looked around, they suddenly saw that the three people they had ignored had quietly approached the edge of the tribe, almost crossing the dividing line where the few villagers were standing just now.

They also froze when all eyes were on them.There was a stiff, dull light in their eyes, as if they were about to do something, but in fact, even they themselves didn't know what would happen in the future.

They're just chasing an ignorant, wondrous pull.They think they need to do something.

The gazes of the others seemed to wake them up suddenly at this moment.The middle-aged woman took a sharp breath and fell to the ground, looking at her hands in disbelief.

The two men also showed a confused and shocked expression at this moment, as if something terrible had ruled their bodies just now.

An explorer looked at them and said, "You are not revelators, why are you here?"

The middle-aged man almost lost his mind and said: "For the sake of the family..."

"Family?" Another explorer sneered.

The old man said almost angrily: "Of course! Of course it's for the family! My grandson has already died, and so has my wife. We can't let them die in vain! We must come here!"

"So you understand the situation here." Siles said suddenly at this moment.He is keenly aware that this is an opportunity to learn the truth.

For the time being, he can't reveal everything he knows as Mr. Ghost, but these three people have actually exposed their own lies.

They are not enlighteners, but they can pass through the fog; they seem to be here for the first time, but they know that they are here for the "family".

"...Who are you?" Angus asked vigilantly, "... Followers of the old gods?"

They don't look as crazy as the Followers of the Old Gods, but they're just as disturbing.

On the side, the beaten explorer wailed in pain. He woke up, but he had to meet the indifferent eyes of his companions and the complicated situation.

Siles pinched the bridge of his nose, and said calmly: "We need to sort out the information. Qindo and I are in charge of these three people, Angus, please ask the explorer who entered the tribal range and see Did he notice anything.

"Alfonso, I need you to share with these explorers the rules of action in the oasis, so that they can calm down and realize what is going on here.

"……Do you have any other questions?"

Angus and Alfonso shook their heads at the same time.So they scattered.

Siles and Qindo walked a little further away with the three of them.

"Please introduce yourself." Sirius said in a low voice.

Those three people were still dazed, and they didn't even realize what Sirius meant immediately.

"Name." Qin Duo said coldly.

The word finally woke them up.They said their names in turn.

Their surnames are both Dreyson, unsurprisingly.The old man's name was Adolf, the middle-aged man's name was Derek, and the middle-aged woman's name was Enid.

After they said their names in turn, Adolf sighed.He had already realized that they had to confess their situation and... the truth at this moment.

"... Dreyson is a family from the north. We set off in the Silence Era, passed through the Sea of ​​Folio, and finally arrived at the Principality of Constance." Adolf said in a low voice, "After that, we were in Constance. Stay down."

Siles commented objectively: "It doesn't sound like it has anything to do with this oasis. Why do you have to come here?"

Adolf did not answer this question immediately.

Instead, the woman said with a trembling voice, "Because...that lake."

"Lake?" Sirius asked unexpectedly, "Is that related to the Sea of ​​Folio?"

"No...not." The middle-aged woman denied the statement in a low voice, her tone gradually calmed down, with an emotion almost telling a story, "That is, the source of our life."

Siles looked at her, thought of the lake, and all kinds of related stories, and felt a sense of almost comicalness for a moment.

"The source of life?" Qin Duo raised his eyebrows and asked suspiciously, "Are you pointing at Pessonari?"

The middle-aged woman shook her head vigorously, and she said in a tone of words: "He was born here, and He fell here; He is the source of our lives. Our lives were born in darkness, and our lives are also born in darkness." will end in darkness. He is waiting for us in darkness."

……"shadow".

It was only at this moment that Siles came to his senses.

Why is this a holy place?

Because, in the minds of this group of believers who know the story of "Children of Death and the Stars", this is the temporary residence of "Shadow".This place is like the paradise of the old gods, but it is a paradise that has been barren and dead.

...I really don't know what "Shadow" will think.His failed attempts, long forgotten, have left such a deep and unshakable impression on the hearts of human believers.

Because of this, the Dreyson family came here.They came to "plead guilty" for their family's failure to complete the May attempt to bring their god back to life.Because Hurd Dreyson did not die as promised.

...How is Hurd doing now?Siles suddenly had a moment of concern.

Thinking back to his original question, he asked, "What has the lake to do with the birth of this god?"

"He should be born in the lake in the center of this world, and become the darling of this world." Enid said in a very pious tone.

The darling of the world.The word made Sirius frown.Ginto let out a rather contemptuous sneer.Their behavior did not irritate the three people in front of them, because even these three people seemed to be confused about something.

A god from beyond the world... intending to be the darling of this world.Such practices and statements are disturbing.More crucially, His followers seem to really believe.

Siles turned his eyes to the right, and he looked at the place blocked by many houses.That grave bag.For a moment, he felt subtle confusion and anxiety, and felt that the many problems in this world had nothing to do with the gods.

He sighed inwardly.

He turned to this matter.

"Shadow" originally wanted to be born in the lake in the center of the world in the name of the child of death and the stars.

This approach alone has already implicated Thaddeus, Ruthmi, Pessonari, and Akamala-if you think of the lake in Kanyo Farm that reflects the planet-this is already four an old god.

This incident happened in the Shadow Era, and at that time, the Land of Never Ember was not yet Ever Land of Ember.According to Cynthia's legend, this place may have once been a forest.Therefore, this also involves Trisley.

Coupled with the faint connection between "Shadow" and Huddoka, the meeting between Menawaka and Huddoka, and the concept of "cold wind" in the north simultaneously pointed to Amois, Temiafa, Erkoo...these are the five old gods again.

Among the remaining old gods are Lygardia, Brancani, and Atkinia.

Since Akamala was already involved in this matter, Siles believed that Lygardia must have known about it at that time, and even Lygardia was also the earliest known old god who took countermeasures against "Shadow".

As for Brown Carney, judging from the location of its fall (probably a little east of Middleton) and time (both Brown Carney and Temiafa fell in about 400 years of the Silent Epoch), this god may have died because of Tie Mi. Yafa's relationship is involved.

And Atkinya... Considering the tragic circumstances of this god's fall, it is unbelievable to say that this matter has nothing to do with the "shadow".

Moreover, in the previous investigations on the foreign families in Lamifa City, those families were all related to art. I am afraid that this is not a coincidence.

Therefore, as long as it is sorted out in a general way - even ignoring many details - then Siles can easily find that "Shadow" has been related to all the old gods.

Moreover, the fall of the old god must also be related to the "shadow".

Siles thought carefully about the birth of "Shadow" failure.

According to the vague statement of Forrest of the Historical Society, "Shadow" actually almost achieved his purpose, but Pessonari, the god of fertility and life, "cursed life" on him, so his birth failed .

That is probably within the scope of Pessonari's authority.And this incident also happened in the Shadow Era.

...However, when the time came to the Silence Period, Pessonari's attitude seemed to have undergone a subtle change.He devoured Trisley.

Regarding this "swallowing" practice, although Siles has not received any evidence to confirm it, he believes that this group of old gods may be affected by the "shadow" and will do this.

Before this, such as in the Imperial Age, life and death had disagreed on the issue of the August Empire.But even if the human empire fell apart because of this, and even their divine kingdoms attacked each other, the situation never developed to the point of devouring this life-and-death situation.

Therefore, after the failure of "Shadow"'s attempt to be born in Fisher's world, what would he do, which led to the successive fall of the silent ancient gods? This is a very disturbing question.

In the final analysis, apart from the devoured old gods, why did the other old gods fall?What happened to their power?

Siles was distracted for a moment, and roughly sorted out some information. When he came back to his senses, he realized that he seemed to have been silent for too long.

Adolf suddenly let out a cold, bleak laugh.He said: "Young man, are you scared stupid? When I was young, I just found out about these things, and I was the same way.

"I can't believe that my life will be dedicated to an inexplicable god...a god, not even recorded in historical documents. I have lived my life in fear that the shadow is almost gone.

"I originally thought that I would be able to end this life well, but... as a result, my brother in the Land of Eternity sent a letter at this very moment!

"I'm really not reconciled. Why is it at this moment! Why? In the end, we have to come here. We have to accept our fate like crazy..."

As he spoke, his expression gradually twisted.

"Father!" The middle-aged man Derek showed a surprised expression, "I thought you..."

"You think I'm already a follower of the old gods. Do you think I'm forcing Hurd to die? Do you think I'm willing to come here to die? No, of course I don't!" Adolf retorted almost fiercely, and then violently He stopped and said in a daze, "But, we have no choice."

They all fell silent for a moment.

"So what are you going to do?" Qin Duo asked suspiciously, "Just now you seem to have completely lost the ability to control yourself, and just wanted to enter the scope of the tribe in a daze. Are those villagers willing to accept you?"

Until now, if these three people can still maintain their sanity, then they can communicate, and they can't even be regarded as followers of the old gods, but vacillating left and right.

Although they seem to accept this tragic fate resignedly, if someone can give them a hand, they can more or less stop in their tracks and fall into conflicting considerations.

... Siles suddenly felt that the members of the Dreyson family seemed to have similar personalities.

So does Hurd.If Mr. Phantom hadn't stopped Heard at the beginning, then this young man would have ended his life in a smooth manner, just like the three people standing in front of them now.

Enid whispered: "Yes...we will integrate into this tribe, become the inhabitants of this tribe, lose our self-knowledge, punish ourselves with such a hard, boring life, and finally, when death really strikes, Die in the lake. This is the punishment we deserve."

Although she said so, Qin Duo didn't seem to care about the "punishment" itself at all.His expression changed, and he said in an indescribable, mostly disgusted tone: "So...the lake..."

All five were silent for a while.

Adolf seemed to want to say something, but couldn't.Derek muttered something under his breath.

Siles sighed and said, "Looks like we have to leave as soon as possible."

If there is enough food and water, then it is not a problem for them to stay here for a few days, and they can slowly study what is going on.However, the food and water in this place are obviously not very "clean".

What they experienced in Fuliou Sea not long ago is a lesson from the past.

"Tomorrow?" Qindo suggested, "Some of the food we carry with us will last for a while."

Siles nodded and said, "Tomorrow at the latest."

When they set off, Alfonso didn't expect them to arrive so smoothly, so the water, food, etc. they carried with them were enough for them to get through the day without relying on the resources of the oasis.

However, the situation on Angus' side may be much more difficult.

Siles thought about these things in his mind, and then turned to ask Adolf: "I just heard you say, the sacrifice of your wife and grandson?"

Pain flashed in Adolf's eyes, and he said, "Yes...my wife and my grandson."

At this point, he was a little bit speechless.Enid felt a little distraught.Finally, it was Derek who explained.

"My uncle, that is, my father's brother. He stayed in the Land of No Embers all year round and kept in touch with some other people... We have been living in Lamifa City, with these people outside—these old gods follow Or, there is no connection."

There was a subtle contempt lurking in Derek's tone. He didn't actually have faith in the gods.Rather, it was the family and some invisible force that restrained him, and he himself did not believe in gods anymore.

He continued: "At the beginning of the year, my uncle sent a letter asking my son, Hed Dreyson, to go to the sea north of the Never Ember. We were caught off guard...to be honest , we don’t want Hurd to die either.”

Qin Duo mocked: "But he went anyway, didn't he? It seems that you are quite hypocritical."

Qin Duo can always say some very real, harsh and cruel evaluations at such moments, but these words only made the three members of the Dreyson family smile bitterly.

Derek said: "Is it hypocritical? Maybe ... it is. When we discussed Heard's death, we even felt that it was the death of someone who had nothing to do with us."

"...so you do know that death awaits Herd if he goes to the Everlands," Sirius said.

This question made Derek's expression stiff, and finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "Yes." It seemed to make him feel better to say this, and he smiled wryly, "Just like we are now."

"If you choose the opposite path?" Qin Duo was a little confused, "If you don't want to come to the land of no embers?"

"Then we'll be 'useless people'. They'll kill us. That's what Hurd is about to encounter." Adolf said in a rather calm tone. "My wife, she set off with some other Looking for Hurd.

"My wife and my grandson, they're going to be killed. And so are we, because we failed and we caused them to fail.

"...these are two ways, to be killed directly, or to come to the oasis and wait for death. Two ways of punishment and atonement. The three of us are cowards, and we don't want to die like this right away, so we decided to come here.

"As for my wife, she didn't want to continue the torture, so she decided to follow the group to find Herd and die with him. Their sacrifice will buy us some time, so that we don't have to go to the oasis immediately.

"Of course...we did it in the end, and decided to come to the oasis right away...as if there is something attracting us here."

Enid closed her eyes and said tremblingly, "The power of the gods."

Derek lowered his head without saying a word, his body trembling slightly.

Siles was silent for a moment, giving the three members of the Dreyson family a little time to calm down.

Then he asked: "'They'. What kind of group is this?"

It's rare that members of the Dreyson family can still communicate, so Siles decided to take this opportunity to ask more questions and collect as much information as possible.

Judging from the information revealed by these three people, the "Shadow" group of believers is a rather strange organization.They seem to be willing to let a family like Dreyson live in the city in an ordinary way, but they are required to keep up with the action at a certain moment.

This kind of loose and tight control...

Like a spider web.Siles thought.

Although the Dreyson family seems to be living peacefully, when the spider wants to open its mouth to swallow its prey, they can only act with the fiddle of the spider web.They have no choice, they are just impotent prey in a spider's web.

The middle-aged men and women looked at each other, and then looked at Adolf at the same time.Given their age, it seemed that Adolf knew more about this matter.

"...As far as I know, they don't have a lot of core people." Adolf thought for a while, and then said, "By the way, it's like the structure of this tribe."

Siles froze for a moment.

"Those who work, those who decide, and those who hide." Adolf whispered, "In a family like ours, we belong to the 'hidden people'. Only at certain moments can we play a role.

"However, in our family, there must be a living family member who becomes a 'worker'. Workers may be scattered all over the world to fulfill their needs. This is their puppet and their A way to control us and connect us."

Siles nodded, and he asked: "The people who work... do they have any iconic characteristics?"

"Hats? I met my brother once when I was young, and I thought it was strange that he wore a hat." Adolf said uncertainly, "But it could be something else. They probably don't use the same one all the time." feature."

Siles nodded.He thought to himself, then, the two sailors he met in the sea to the north might also belong to the "workers".

He asked again: "Has anyone met the person who made the decision?"

"Maybe my brother has seen it. But we, we can't see it." Adolf said with a wry smile, "We are like... like this group of hidden people in the tribe.

"We usually live in a safe house, and only appear outside at certain moments to 'divide the meat'. We are the things they raise, and we have no autonomy."

Siles frowned involuntarily.He asked again: "Besides this group, do you know of the existence of other people?"

Adolf was taken aback for a moment, and he said, "What do you mean?"

"The believers of this... unknown god." Siles said, "Are they a complete group, or are they scattered?"

Adolf still didn't seem to understand what Siles meant, he tried to understand: "You mean...a definite organization?"

Siles didn't deny it.He wanted to hear what Adolf had to say.

His gaze was looking at the billowing fog not far away.They were talking about these things, and the body of "Shadow" was less than a thousand meters away from them.The feeling of danger is always lingering in his brain.

"As far as I know, there doesn't seem to be such a clear-cut organization. The 'deciders' run everything," said Adolf, his voice old and tired. "I know there are other families like ours, but I Their surnames and past are not clearly known.

"Only when necessary, we will contact each other or know each other's existence. For example, what happened in May this year... Do you know what happened in May this year?"

"I know." Silas replied simply.

Adolf nodded: "Strictly speaking, the few of us were not involved in the May incident. Only Hurd was involved. We didn't know what happened in May until after this incident was over.

"At the same time, we have to atone for this -- the fact that Hurd's death didn't happen, this event --."

He showed a bitter expression.

Then, he went on to say: "I'm afraid there are only a few people at the core. They will communicate with each other and control the overall situation. But we don't know it. We... are like their marionettes."

Siles maintained a calm expression, even though he thought of it—look at how many concepts of the old gods have been involved in "shadow"!

Death, stars, life, puppets...

Maybe this is what he and his believers did on purpose?

He thought about this, and then said: "So, the most core people, and then they each contact the 'workers' like your brother, and finally the 'hidden people' like you."

Adolf nodded silently.

"Are they going to make the exact same decision to have you all do the same thing?" Sirius asked. "One big move?"

"I don't know." Adolf said frankly and bitterly. "We have a one-way connection. They know us, but we don't know them. What happened in May, although we didn't know it and didn't participate in it, has changed. everything.

"Before that, we were just living an ordinary life; after that, we had to get here to atone for our sins... This place is full of atonement people. We will gradually integrate into it, forgetting the past and ourselves.

"The things outside, the things in the past... have nothing to do with us."

Siles was silent for a moment, and then sorted out the experience of the Dreyson family from beginning to end.

This is a family that originally lived in the far north.Their original origin may have been farther north in Middleton, closer to the poles.Life there was evidently harsh, so they decided to head south.

That's a matter of Silence.Siles suspected that at that time, the "shadow" had infiltrated many places, including the location of the Dreyson family.

So, when the elders in the village guided them to the island where the snake in the mist lived and told them that it was the paradise of the north, the Dreyson family didn't know that it was the beginning of their future tragedy.

They did find the northern paradise, but at this time—perhaps caught off guard, or entirely voluntary, they became believers in the "Shadow".Afterwards, they left the island, continued to migrate, and finally arrived at the Principality of Const, becoming the "hidden people".

In fact, it is the long time that has corroded their belief in the "shadow", not