Three Philosophical Questions for Travelers

Cherry sighed: "It's like being burned by a dragon."

Lizhi nodded and said, "Yes, yes, it's the same."

Adora said: "No, it was done by bandits. This year there is drought in the north and floods in the south, and the winter is so cold, people who can't eat will become bandits." She pondered for a while, "It may also be done by those deserters from the north. After the Battle of Tianfuguan, the northern soldiers were scattered, and many of them fled to the Gulflands and became rogues."

But none of that matters, Hyacinth thought, I just want some hot soup and a thick coat.The cotton padded clothes that Violet prepared for her were given to her weaker sisters, so she has been frozen for two days.

Jon and the fat businessman were still arguing, and the others were moaning and crying as they watched the scorched earth.But Hyacinth is an optimistic girl, she thought to herself: Why don't you go in and have a look?What if the robber left behind?

So she said to Adora, "I want to go in and have a look."

Adora shook her head and said, "There's nothing there, girl. Robbers don't leave anything useful."

"Then I'll pick up some useless things and come back." She smiled, showing her white teeth, "It's better than nothing."

Adora nodded and said, "Okay, then you should call—"

"Balut is going with you!" a thick voice said behind her.As soon as Hyacinth turned her head, she asked the strong man Barut to stand behind her like a giant rock.

"Balut is strong, Balut is carrying things, and Balut wants to eat!" He patted his big belly and shouted loudly: "Balut is hungry! Balut wants to eat!"

Hyacinth's ears were buzzing from the loud voice, "Okay, let's go together." She said to Balut, "See if there is anything that can be brought back."

"I'm going too!" Cherry said.

"Going to go!" Lizhi said.

So they greeted the leader and walked into the ruins together.

Black smoke is still rising from the ruins of Baihua Town. It seems that the looting happened last night.The cold air was filled with the smell of coke, and there were crying everywhere.Hyacinth saw many homeless people.These people huddled under the burnt eaves, a few people curled up into a ball, some were sobbing, and some looked confused.There were several neatly arranged corpses on the ground, and a monk in white was carrying the dead alone, chanting scriptures to save them; there was also a fat woman who was treating the wounds of the wounded, she was very agile, she seemed to be a doctor.

At this time, the monk saw Hyacinth and the others. He came up and saluted, then glanced at the convoy and said:

"Travelers, unfortunately, there is nothing here for you."

Hyacinth and Winter, II

Hyacinth and Winter, II

Hyacinth asked him, "Is this place... ransacked by robbers?"

The monk nodded, and he took off his hood, revealing a young face.He is handsome, with regular features, but has a pair of melancholy small eyes. "Girl, as you said, this place was ransacked by a group of robbers. There were thirty of them, wearing leather armor and horned helmets, holding scimitars and maces, and five of them rode horses!" He said. Using his hands to show how tall the horse was, "Girl, have you ever seen a robber on a horse? I thought only knights ride horses." He sighed.

Hyacinth nodded and said, "How is it going here now? How many people are left, and how many things are left?"

The monk sighed again and said, "Everyone who can go has gone. They left with their last rations and took refuge in the big cities. Because they can't survive the harsh winter here. The rest... are dozens of corpses , and some old, weak, sick and disabled waiting to die here."

Cherry interjected and asked, "Is there nothing to eat?" Lizhi then said, "No? No?"

The monk shook his head and said, "It's all gone. Tomorrow I'm going to go hunting in the mountains, but it's freezing cold, so what can I catch? Try your luck."

At this time Balut yelled: "Ah! No food?" The giant man sat on the ground and cried like a child, "Balut wants to eat! Balut is hungry! Balut! Eat! ah--!"

Hyacinth stepped on him hard and said, "Get up, you big baby!" However, Balut couldn't get up, and Balut sat with his knees hugged. Balut had no food, and Balut sniffed aggrievedly. .

The cherries and lychees hugged each other, and the younger sister said first: "If we still can't find food later, you can burn me and eat me." Then the older sister said: "Yes, yes... huh?" She glanced Cherry, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no! I won't eat you! Litchi won't eat cherries!" Then she also started crying.

If it was in the past, Hyacinth would panic like these people, and then hug and cry into a ball.But she had been a countess, she had read a little, and she had seen a little of the world.She had seen wars, bandits, and the dead, she had escaped, she had been in prison.These experiences made her much stronger. Now she calmed down and asked the monk, "Where is there a place for supplies nearby?"

The monk shook his head, then asked the fat woman over there, and said, "Mrs. Levin, do you know where else is there to sell food around here?"

The woman yelled at the monk with a loud voice like rolling thunder, saying, "Sell shit! The surrounding villages have been robbed. As for the villages that have not been robbed, they are so poor that they cannibalize people!" She was very angry. She kicked it hard and hit a charred wooden board, which was split in two by her with a "bang".

The sad monk lamented again, and Hyacinth couldn't help asking the woman, "Mrs. Leiwen, whose fief is this? Why didn't your lord come to suppress the bandits?"

Mrs. Leiwin yelled: "Because of the dog Bugu Kahn!" Her voice was louder than Barut, and Hyacinth had never seen anyone with such a loud voice.With her roar, the beams of the dilapidated house next to her were knocked down, and the girls who were still frightened frowned, and the fruit sisters stuck together, trembling.

She continued: "My baron wants to suppress the bandits! But the soldiers and horses were conscripted to Jinshan Fort! Without soldiers and horses, how can we suppress the bandits? Our town originally had a militia, but the city came to arrest the strong men. They were all taken to Sand Castle!" Then Mrs. Lei Wen cursed a series of dialects, which was really unbearable.

At this time, an old man lying on the ground shouted: "There is still food! Food, cotton, and iron! They were all confiscated by the little trident. Jinshabao doesn't care whether we live or die!"

After he finished cursing, a lame beggar screamed: "The little trident is going to suck our blood dry! He doesn't want people to live!" Then people cursed one after another, and the public resentment boiled over. became a noisy market.

Hyacinth only knew that fighting was bad, but he didn't expect it to be so bad.Birch Town is located in the south of the bay, and she thought that the war in the north would not affect this place.After thinking about it, even this peaceful southern town has been harmed like this, what would it be like in a place where the real war is burning?

If war is so bad, why do they still fight?Hyacinth didn't understand.

At this time, she felt something tugged her skirt, and when she lowered her head, she saw a little girl with dark skin.The child was as dark as she was, and must have been from the South.She didn't have any clothes to keep out the cold, and she was so thin that she could see the shape of bones through the thin clothes.

Her heart throbbed suddenly, and then tears flowed down her cheeks.

Hyacinth immediately picked up the little girl and asked her, "Where's your family?"

The girl shook her head.At this time, Cherry said: "She may have just come here, and she can't speak the northern dialect yet." So Cherry asked her in the southern dialect: "Where is your home?" Lizhi opened her mouth, and then chose to remain silent.

The girl must have understood this time, because she began to cry.Hyacinth and Cherry looked at each other silently.

Her home must be in the south, in the far away land of high summer.

The young monk said: "Most likely this child was also kidnapped. We picked her up at the entrance of the village a few days ago, and I took her in. I wanted to raise her well and turn her into a nun of the White Clothes Society, but ..." the monk sighed, as if he was about to breathe out his whole life, "I can't help it, can you take her away? Take her home."

"Yes!" Hyacinth said without thinking.

Then she said to the girl in southern dialect: "We will take you home."

The girl nodded, she looked at the hyacinth, her eyes were as bright as black pearls.

She suddenly thought: It was like this when Hai Wen took Mirsalu in, ah!I don't know how she is.Did Tang De'en take her out?

At this time Barut said: "We are here to find food, not to take a mouth back."

Hyacinth said: "You can share my rations with her."

"You don't have any rations yourself, little girl." Balut wailed, "Not only are you out of rations, but Balut is going to be hungry too! Balut is going to be hungry! Ah——!" He cried again stand up.When he cried, the little girl cried too.After the two cried a few times, Barut suddenly stopped crying, and then the little girl stopped crying.The two stared at each other, and within a few seconds the strong man started giggling, and the little girl also giggled.

Hyacinth asked the monk, "Sir, haven't you asked your name yet?"

"Sarsen," he said.

"Can we take her?"

"Of course." Brother Sassen said with a wry smile, "I hope you can take some more people away."

Hyacinth thought for a while, and then said: "I have to go back and ask our captain."

"Thank you."

So Hyacinth returned to the convoy, and Eight Finger Jon and the fat businessman stood at the front of the convoy.The two seem to have finished their quarrel and are now in a cold war.

Seeing them coming, the old man asked Hyacinth, "What did you find?"

Hyacinth pulled out the little girl hiding behind her, and said, "This."

Captain Jon's face suddenly darkened, "This?" He stared at the girl, "Can this be eaten?"

"Don't eat her!" Cherry stopped in front of the girl. "No, no!" Lizhi followed closely.

The old man smiled wryly and said, "No matter how poor we are, we won't eat people. I just want to tell you that we don't have any extra food to feed this girl..." He glanced at the strong man Barut, "Say, we Is there enough food for you?"

Balut patted his gradually deflated stomach, glanced at the skinny little girl, and muttered in a low voice: "A little saving, it's enough to eat...probably."

"Then deduct it from your ration!" The old man laughed, and Barut also smiled, but the smile was a little sad.The old man squatted in front of the little girl and asked, "Son, what's your name? What will you do?"

The child just shook his head.Eight-fingered Jon asked her the same question again, but the child still shook his head.

"Is this kid dumb?" Jon asked Hyacinth.

Hyacinth shook his head and said, "I don't know either."

At this time, Adora's voice came from behind the caravan: "Put her in my place, such a small child can't eat much."

Jon said: "Okay, then you take care of the little dumb."

So the little mute followed Adora back to the caravan behind.Hyacinth asked Jon again, saying, "There are still some homeless people in Baihua Town, we..."

"No!" said Jon to her. "As I said, I want the bread, not the mouth that eats it."

Cherry and Lizhi also came up to intercede. They had witnessed the tragedy and could not help but sympathize with these people.However, Jon put on an iron face, and he refused to take more than one person.

Hyacinth also understands this truth, but she feels that one more person means more strength. If everyone concentrates their strength, they can always find a way.She remembered what Jon said when he took her in: We only want useful people.

"There may be doctors and monks among the victims, and perhaps blacksmiths and tailors and ex-soldiers. My lord, we must keep these at least."

Jon asked, "What do you think they can do?"

Hyacinth's face froze, and he said, "The doctor can... heal the disease!"

Jon said: "We are short of herbs, bandages and kang mats, and it is useless for us to ask for a doctor."

Hyacinth said again: "Monks...can they recite scriptures?"

Jon laughed and said: "I can also recite scriptures, and I can recite whoever I miss, and I don't need him."

Hyacinth bit her lip and said, "A blacksmith can forge iron, and a tailor can make clothes!"

"We have neither iron nor clothes—we don't need them."

"but……"

"But they do work, Jon." Adora's timing was perfect every time she appeared, "Doctors and monks can stabilize the army. Doctors let people know that even if they are sick and injured, you will not abandon them; monks make people believe that things will Going in a good direction. We are indeed short of food and clothing, but most people don’t know the extent of the shortage. Before the last moment comes, you must do something to make everyone optimistic. Otherwise, before the supplies are exhausted, Our team collapsed. As for the others..." Adora glanced at the ruins of Birch Town, "The blacksmith can repair cars, and the tailor can mend clothes. Since you can bring singers and dancers into the car, then you can Take these people with you."

Jon's old face was wrinkled together, and after thinking for a while, he said, "Then bring them over, I'll pick the most useful people."

Cherry said: "Then I'll take someone!"

Lizhi said: "I will go too, I will go too!"

The fruit sisters ran into the town, but Hyacinth didn't follow. She was a little tired and didn't want to run again.

At this time Adora stroked her head and said, "You are very smart, Hyacinth."

This is the first time someone praised me for being smart, Hyacinth thought.

"But that's not enough," continued the bard. "You need more wisdom. You need more books."

"I don't like reading."

"Then travel more." Adora is not as strict as Violet, she always has a motherly smile on her face, "Words are not as real as pictures, and the truth that you experience is the truth."

She was right, Hyacinth smiled, I like to travel, rather than sitting in the library reading, I prefer to observe and touch with my own hands.

At this time, cherries and lychees brought refugees from Baihua Town, and Jon asked one by one: "What can you do? What can you do?" Just like this, one by one, dozens of refugees came. three people.Two of them Hyacinth had seen, the sad white monk and the fat woman with the loud voice, and the last one was a hunter who showed off his skills in archery and trap-making, so Jon let him in too.

As for the rest, they can only wait here to die.

Hyacinth is in the distance to those who have been sentenced to death. In the past, she might continue to plead for these people.But after so many things, she is no longer that "silly girl" - she knows that she can't save everyone.

Hyacinth took the mute girl back to the caravan, and she introduced the new little sister to the others.But this time everyone was not so enthusiastic. A southern girl with long braids asked Hyacinth: "That's it? Didn't you find something to eat?" Then the person next to her asked her: "Where is the cotton? Doesn't it mean that there is a lot of cotton here?" clothes?"

Hyacinth could only answer truthfully, saying that the place had been ransacked and nothing was left.Then there was a moaning in the caravan.

It didn't take long for the convoy to continue on the road, and they decided to pass directly through the frozen Yinma Lake.Morale was very low along the way, so Hyacinth sang for everyone.But the singing could not fill their stomachs or warm their bodies, and the girls only felt colder and weaker.The girl who just arrived was silent all day long. She didn't speak or smile.At first people still cared about her and asked her well, but it didn't take long for everyone to lose interest in this sullen child.Someone called her little mute, and she didn't refute, and people called her that.

The next afternoon, when the snow had subsided, the sun shone in from behind the caravan, which made it a little warmer.

Hyacinth looked at the east, and the moment the sun touched her cheek, the gloom in her heart was swept away.She turned to the girls and said, "Shall we sing?"

No one responded to her, and the faces were full of haze.Cherry looked at her in surprise and said, "How can you still laugh?"

Li Zhi also whispered: "Yes, how can you still laugh?"

Hyacinth shrugged her shoulders and said, "Why don't you smile?" Then she took the little mute's hand and said, "Shall I teach you how to sing?"

Cherry smiled helplessly, and said, "She's dumb, stop teaching her!"

"That's right! He's a mute." Lizhi said.

At this time Adora spoke, and the bard said, "I don't think you guys want to sing, so let me continue with the story."

"I want to hear the story of the dragon!" Hyacinth was the first to raise his hand, but there was no second.

Cherry said: "The dragon is fake, there are no dragons in this world."

Lizhi said: "That's right, that's right, it's fake."

"The stories are [-]% false and [-]% true." Adora smiled and said, "Just listen to it."

So she told the story of the dragon again.

This time she told how the dragon slaughtered the northerners and helped the warriors of House Karn to victory.In the story, the giant dragon is invincible. It goes to the sky and enters the sea, and it can destroy an army of [-] with a breath of fire.Hyacinth was fascinated by what she heard, and she thought to herself: If I had a dragon, would I still be afraid of the mermaids of the Sea God Cult?I will soar through the sky on it and burn our enemies to ashes.

Hyacinth asked Adora, "Where can I find a real dragon?"

Adora smiled and shook her head, and Cherry said helplessly: "I've said it many times, dragons don't exist." Lizhi was impatient this time, she sighed, and didn't bother to repeat her sister's words.