Three Philosophical Questions for Travelers

"An abandoned shovel, an old oak tree. The shovel grew into the trunk and became his lover."

"Monkeys steal honey, their lips are swollen like sweet potatoes; bears roar under trees, but they can't scare monkeys in trees."

"The fish don't want to swim, the birds don't want to fly, the lazy forest, the languid morning."

Gerrit felt the existence of all these, but when she opened her eyes, the yellow sand was still yellow sand, and the ruins were still barren.Red stars twinkled overhead, and the air was so dry it was hard to breathe.

"Did I fail?" Geralte asked disappointedly.

"You didn't fail, you just woke up." Duni said with a smile, "When you think: 'I want to see my spell', you wake up from your dream. Don't think , Just immerse yourself in it. Touch the fur of the little beast, catch the butterfly, smell the fragrance of flowers, drink the clear spring——I just drank it, the spring water in your dream is extremely sweet.”

"I see, I'll try again if I have the chance."

"Master Gerrit, you are really powerful." The maid Du Ni praised, "Maybe you can solve the mystery of Dadalas."

"Well, I'll have to ask about all this when I meet the lunatic and the hag later, it's so interesting." Geralte said as she boarded the carriage.

Duni conjured up a veil and a robe, then sat in the front and started driving.Gerrit sat alone in the carriage, looking back at the huge "Nicholas' Head".She thought to herself: This guy is not like a simple sculpture, but more like a living...alive, buried giant.

Half an hour later, the carriage drove out of the desolate ruins.Gradually, the desert turned into a wilderness, but still there was not a single living thing to be seen.There were no flowers, plants, trees, or any animals. Gerrit couldn't stand the solitude, so she asked Du Ni: "When will I arrive?"

"It's already here." Du Ni stopped the car in a wasteland.Gerette looked ahead and saw a sailboat stuck in the mud.

"Why are there boats here?"

"Who knows, this is all imagined by Dadaras." Du Ni got out of the car, and she changed into the tone of a noble lady, and said, "That old witch is doing some ridiculous and boring witchcraft here all day long. To be honest, I I really don't want to come. If I were the master of the dream, I would conjure up palaces, temples, and bustling streets. Hmm... at least there must be velvet, chandeliers, and wine, right?"

Gerrit got out of the car, looked at the boat, and thought to herself: Sailing boats in the wilderness are really magical.

They boarded the boat along the rope ladder, and Du Ni turned into a vigorous savage, and climbed to the top in two or three strokes.Gerette followed behind and boarded the boat slowly.

The lunatic and the hag were waiting for them on the deck.As soon as they met, Gerrit complained: "This is the eternal dream of Dadaras? Is she having nightmares every day?"

The crazy woman said to her: "It's about the same. Let's go into the cabin first."

The four of them entered the cabin, and Gerrit suddenly felt that the space was enlarged.The cabin looked like it could only hold about a dozen people, but when you walked in, there was something special about it.It was a large cabin capable of accommodating tens of thousands of people, and it was not much bigger than the "Nicola's Brain" that Gerrita was in before.

"This is space magic." The hag said, "The space magic of the eternal dream."

They walked down the hall and found that there were glass boxes one after another.There were live animals in glass cases, and she saw mice, lions, longhorns, snakes and sharks.Each glass box has intestine-like tubes inserted into it, and the tubes are connected to a large iron box with small lights of various colors.There are words she can't understand on the iron box, and there are complicated buttons.Geralte asked, "What are these things?"

"This is the last ark, Dadaras said. I don't know the details." The hag just walked forward.

In this way, they walked for several miles in this cabin. Along the way, Gerrit met countless animals locked in glass boxes.From wyrms to ants, from whales (really in the box, a big box) to scallops, and even ghouls, vampires, and orcs.The glass box is filled with green potion, and the animals seem to be very comfortable soaking in it, neither making noise nor making trouble.But Ge Lite didn't understand, why can monkeys survive in the potion?Doesn't it have to breathe?

The road seemed to have no end. Gerrit saw all the animals, and she thought to herself: Could this be the workshop of the Creator?He created everything here?

Finally, they came to the end of the hall.There Gerrit saw the last set of glass boxes.

There are people there.

Elves, humans, orcs, and various other races she had never seen before.These people were locked in glass boxes filled with green liquid, with their eyes open and mouths open, and they squirmed occasionally.Even in a dream, this kind of thing is too scary, Gerrit thought.

The door at the end opened slowly, and an old woman's voice came from inside.

"Come in, forest witches."

The door was pitch black, and Zhe Lite swallowed, suddenly afraid to go in.But everyone else had already walked in, and Gellette herself didn't dare to stay in this weird hall, so she followed.

The moment she stepped through the door, the light came on.Looking from the side, she saw an old witch sitting in front of a table and chair, tapping her fingers on the front of a metal plate.In front of her, there was a glowing flat box with glowing symbols like bugs running inside.Every time she tapped the metal plate, the characters moved one frame.There are many buttons on the metal plate, and each button has a character on it.

"What is this?" Gerrit felt very curious.

"This is the legacy of the Creator God, a great device that has nothing to do with magic." The old witch said, "Please sit down, young witch. I know the purpose of your coming here. Now, let me divination for you."

song of the liberals, ten

song of the liberals, ten

"You..." Zhe Lite looked at the old witch, "Are you Dadaras?"

"I am billions of Dadaras, and I am the collection of all living beings." The old witch stood up from her seat.It was an old man dressed in a very different way.She has permed silver curly hair, a platinum monocle over her left eye, lipstick, and a sharp-edged rune tattoo on her right cheek; The high heels are knife-sharp - she looks like a fashion-forward socialite.Her old face is full of confidence, even the wrinkles are sharp.

She's like an evergreen tree that's lived ten thousand years, Gerrit thought.

"Tell me first, what did you see in the head of Nicholas?" Dadaras asked her.

Geralte recalled the empty hall, and she replied, "Nothing."

Dadaras raised her little finger with dark green nail polish and pointed it at Gerrita, "Are you sure? Nothing?"

"Empty hall, huge stone bricks, oil lamps, very high ceiling..." Gerrit tried to describe what she saw, "Does this indicate something?"

"This is weird." Dadaras scratched his lips with the nail of his little finger, "Everyone should be able to see a dream of their own when they first come here. This dream reveals your future destiny." She looked To the other three, "Witches, what did you see this time?"

The hag replied, "I see the amusement park and the carousel."

The lunatic replied, "I see sweets, ladies and luxurious houses."

Du Ni replied: "I see myself going to the East, I see the sea."

"Your symptoms are normal, but I don't know how to interpret them. Only you—Gerette!" Dadaras stared at her with a pair of sharp eyes, and said, "Your fate is gone!"

Gerrit broke out in a cold sweat, and she asked, "What? Are you saying that I'm going to die soon?"

"No! If you are going to die, then you will see signs of death. But you don't see anything... It is your destiny that has disappeared, and your destiny has deviated from the original path."

"What do you mean?"

"In this world, everyone's destiny is fixed. From the moment everything is created, everyone's destiny is written into the world lock like mathematical formulas. When and where should happen, Everything is predestined." She showed the machine to Gerrit, "This is the legacy of the Creator God, a part of the world lock."

Gerrit seemed to understand half understood, so she asked Dadaras, "Then why did my destiny disappear?"

"There is only one reason, your fate has been interfered by some kind of program outside this world." Dadaras snapped his fingers, and a round table and five chairs appeared in the center of the room. There were various hot drinks and sweets on the table for serving Everyone eats.

"I do not understand what you are saying."

Dadaras took a sip of the hot drink, which smelled of leaves and herbs, like some kind of southern tea. "Programs outside the world, things that don't belong to this world." Dadaras said to them, "A century ago, I studied this matter with the Priest Dara Kasha of the Ancient God Sect. We are sure that this world is It operates in a very precise environment, this world has its own programs and laws, but the precise program may also go wrong, in order to repair its own mistakes, our god—” She scratched her face with her little finger, "—I have to interject that by God I do not mean some great humanoid being, nor some metaphysical substance. I mean the laws of nature, of the world, and even of the universe .It is the operating principle of all things. We temporarily call it 'world lock', which is a name left over from ancient times, and we also call it that."

"The law...is like an apple will fall when it's ripe?" Geralte asked her tentatively.

"Yes, it's like water will freeze when it's cold, just like ice will melt when it's hot." Dadaras continued, "I've told madwomen and hags about these things, Duni should have heard of them too, but You haven't heard, Gerrit, so I'll tell you again. I am the teacher of all liberal witches today, and every witch who enters the eternal dream is my apprentice. Let's talk slowly, Ten days in the dream and one day in reality, so we have plenty of time."

"Thank you so much," said Gerrita.

Dadaras took a sip of black tea and said: "Come back to business. The world lock has the ability to repair itself, but there are some defects that it cannot repair by itself. So in order to repair the defects of this world, it introduces programs outside this world. This Programs are special souls, we call them aliens. The destiny of these people is free, they are not bound by any laws, and their appearance will lead the world to an unpredictable direction— —Then, Gerrita!" she exclaimed suddenly, "now you shall know why your fate has vanished!"

Geralte suddenly felt cold sweat break out on her forehead, "Could it be because..." she murmured.

"Yes, your fate has been interfered with by a traveler from another world." The witch said in a cold tone.

Haven Ambleside! "I don't know." Gelie replied in a low voice, but she felt that her flustered expression had already betrayed her.

"It doesn't matter if you don't admit it, Gerrit. In the near future, everyone's fate will be interfered with by the time traveler. This is a doomed thing."

Zhe Lite thought to herself: If what she said is true, then Haven must be alive!He is a saint on a mission, and he will not die easily.

"So now, do you have any questions, Gerrita."

"Please accept me as an apprentice and teach me the profound and grand law of liberalism!" Zhe Lite got up and saluted, "Master Dadaras, I need your strength."

The old witch showed a smile that was not a smile. She seemed to have guessed what Geralte was going to say. "Why do you need power?" she asked.

Gerrit replied: "I want to save this world that is about to be destroyed, and save my friends who are in suffering."

"Then I can't help you, because I can't even save this dream." Dadaras smiled bitterly, "Have you seen the barrenness outside? Have you seen the creatures in those containers? You have seen this world Is it? This used to be a testing ground for world locks, but now it is my dream, and the future will be hell."

Zhe Lite said in surprise: "But this is just a dream, what do you care about it?"

"If this world is just a dream of mine..." Dadaras looked at the screen with straight eyes, "Then whose dream should the real world be?"

Lines of characters on the light screen are running automatically, and the machine makes a rustling sound; the witches are silent, as if they have been immobilized.

Song of the Liberals, Eleven

Song of the Liberals, Eleven

This is an unanswerable question.No one answered, what broke the silence was Dadaras' laughter.

Dadaras picked up the tea tray and said, "Gerita, you have a taste of this black tea and a bite of cake. The sugar explodes on the tip of your tongue, and the hot water rushes down your throat into your intestines. At this moment, you Dare to say that this world is false?"

Gerrit did as she was told, and then said, "It couldn't be more true, Master Dadaras. Let me ask you, what is going on in this world?" She paused, then said, "Besides, This cake is quite delicious, let’s have another plate.”

Dadaras said: "The first person to discover the eternal dream was not me, but my teacher, Maria Mafa Macent. After discovering here, her life came to an end. At that time she had Two hundred years old, and I was only 23 years old. However, when I figured out the eternal dream, I was already over 300 years old. This is not a simple dream, it was a testing ground for world locks at first."

Gerrita listened intently.Dadaras continued: "Before the World Lock created this world, countless experiments were conducted in many virtual worlds. The eternal dream we are in now is one of them. Later, the test site was abandoned, and this world disappeared. At the edge of the dimension. My teacher, the Witch of Truth, Maria Mafa Macent, she found this place, entered here, and tried to use this place to explore the essence of the world."

"However, this world is not friendly, proving grounds, experiments! Experiments are bound to be accompanied by failures, and this world is a cycle of destruction and rebirth. Every Monday, the world is divided into light and dark; on Tuesday, stars are born; on Wednesday, oceans and vegetation are born; Flying birds and fishes, reptiles and beasts; people are born on Saturday; weekends... are destruction. The world lock seems to have abandoned this testing ground, so the living beings are tortured forever in this living hell. Today is the seventh day, and destruction is coming."

"Teacher!" Zhe Lite raised her hand, "If it is destroyed in seven days, who built the buildings on the ground? I saw a lot of ruins, and those things were not built in a day."

Dadaras didn't answer her question for a long time. Du Ni was reading a book, the mad woman was drinking tea, and the hag turned back into a black cat, lying on the table to sleep.Gerette realized that no one wanted to talk about it.

At this moment, Dadaras spoke, and she said: "The creatures in this world have a different concept of time from ours. We see it as a day, but to them it is 1000 years, or even longer..."

Gellette felt a burst of horror, and an extremely terrifying thought appeared in her mind, and she asked, "How long?"

"Maybe... just like we experienced an era." Dadaras finally uttered the most terrifying words, "In their view, today is the end of the era, a mass extinction."

These words stunned Gellette like a slap in the face.She felt that the world was spinning, her previous memories had faded, and the old world had become fragments.She asked Dadaras, and said, "Then...then I want to ask..."

"Don't ask." Dadaras blocked her mouth with sharp eyes, "I know what you want to ask, but I don't know the answer either."

It's best not to have an answer, Gerrit thought, if our world is also such a "testing ground", then where should we go?

Is there any point in what I'm doing?

Gerrit asked loudly, "Crazy, hag, and Donny! Did you all know about this?"

Du Ni was silent, the hag stretched her waist, and the lunatic said to her, "Yes."

"Our world is also a testing ground?" she asked that sentence.

"Not necessarily, but it's almost the same. Otherwise, why did the gods destroy four eras in a row? Sheng Gu, demon refining, sea people and tree elves may all be his experimental products. And we are the fifth batch, the most stupid Batch of products, Quack!" She laughed.

"Is this ridiculous?" Gelette felt chills all over her body.

The lunatic said: "It's ridiculous! Of course it's ridiculous, isn't it, Lord Dadaras?"

Dadaras smiled and said: "Of course I have to laugh. If I don't laugh, why should I still cry? Teacher Maria has understood the essence of all this, so she set the tone of the liberal school - freedom, debauchery, laugh."

The crazy woman raised her eyebrows and said, "Yes, the most important thing in life is to be happy. When you know the truth of this world, everything you do will be meaningless. So, be happy! Quack quack! "The lunatic laughed wantonly, but Gerrit felt a trace of sadness and despair in her laughter.

But for Gelette, everything lost its flavor at this time.What is the dispute between the North and the Gulf, what is the Bear Mountain coup, what is justice and peace... everything becomes dull

"Witch, liberal witch!" Dadaras woke her up, "Has your will been broken?"

"I..." Gelie didn't know how to answer.

"The will of liberal witches is born with nature. As long as nature is still there, the will will not collapse. Remember, dreams are not terrible. When you regard all dreams as real, there will be no dreams in this world. .everything is true and everything can make you work for it. You learn to deceive yourself, liberal witches deceive themselves all the time. You lie to yourself that you are a fish, so you can swim ;You lie to yourself that you are a monkey and you can climb trees. We have always been this way."

"Isn't that stupid?" Gerrit smiled wryly.

"Stupidity is great wisdom," she said. "Self-deception is stupidity. It's stupidity to do what you know you can't do. Liberal witches are all fools and lunatics—but we're proud of it, and you know why?"

"All ears." Gerette drew an equilateral triangle with her fingers, and then sat upright on the chair.

"At the beginning, there were three major sects: druids, academics, and liberals. They all knew the truth of the world, and then druids chose to be hermits and savages, academics were obsessed with noble games, and liberals were the only People who fight in this world!" Speaking of this, Dadaras stood up, and suddenly she had the wild and unruly temperament of a liberal witch, just like a vigorous eagle and a ferocious wolf.

She stood like a crane, her chest turned up, her waist was straight, her legs were straight, and she put her hands on her chest. This [-]-year-old unyielding soul said: "My teacher Maria said: 'If it is a catastrophe, it will happen naturally. The choice is fine, but the world lock, it is also a man-made thing! It is no different from a chair or a toilet! I, the witch of truth, Maria Mafa Massente, why should a toilet dominate me life?'”

Dadaras, carrying the rage of liberal witches for 500 years, asked Geralta and the world: "Gerita! And other witches! Tell me why human beings obey a toilet, why ?”

There was a loud noise outside the house, and the floor floated up. Dadaras calmed down and said, "The great flood has come—let the ark set sail!"

Outside the ark, the wilderness turned into an ocean, and the tsunami was higher than the mountains.The last witch set sail, carrying the dreams of thousands of creatures, to the distant place.

Chapter 3: Saviors, a

Chapter 3: Saviors, a

(This chapter is interspersed with multiple pov characters——)

"We all know that the world will be destroyed. I have dreamed about it countless times. But I only know about the destruction, but I don't know why it will be destroyed, and I don't know in what form it will be destroyed."

Farn Timnard sat cross-legged in the caravan, telling his anecdote.Cherry and Lizhi sat beside him, hugging his arms from left to right, Cherry lowered her head with a shy face; Lizhi looked up at You Xia's face, her eyes overflowing with love like honey.