Three Philosophical Questions for Travelers

Blood and Fire, II

Blood and Fire, II

Everyone knelt down before this miracle, but Bone Kahn was still standing.The god of war is not intimidated by another miracle.He drew out the sighing sword, pointed at the goddess in the sky, and said, "Who are you?"

The goddess in the sky replied: "I am the god who came to stop this atrocity. I am the messenger of the sky. The supreme god couldn't bear to see the people suffer, so he sent me to stop it."

Ba Gu looked at her and said, "God? When Lan Qu died, why didn't you get out?"

The goddess replied: "Every life has a definite number."

"Then you're saying that Lan Chu deserves to die? I'll fuck you!" Ba Gu roared, "If life has a definite number, then the definite number in Eagle Head City is death! I will execute this definite number!"

The goddess shook her head and said, "The fate is not decided by you, nor by me. You can only decide your own destiny."

"Then I'm going to be a butcher." Ba Gu said to her, "I'm going to let this city be stained with blood, I'm going to destroy this place! You..." He stared at the goddess, "Is it you? It's you Are you pretending to be a ghost, Laya of the White Club!"

The goddess was silent and looked at him blankly. After a while, the goddess said to him: "Laya is just an incarnation of thousands of gods. The real god of mercy walks in the sky. She can't bear to see these people die. That’s why I was sent to save you. Ba Gu, put down the butcher’s knife, and you will be forgiven.”

Bagu laughed and said: "Stop talking nonsense, I can't be forgiven, and I don't need to be forgiven! I will bear all the sin and glory. If there is a god, let her fight with me! Let me Let's see who is the real God of War!"

The goddess said to him: "You will be punished by heaven."

"Then punish me." He sneered, "If I'm afraid of this kind of thing, I'm not the overlord."

The image of the goddess blurred...

************

Raya momentarily disrupts the feed, putting her hand to her forehead and looking like she's about to faint.Eros took advantage of this moment to go up to support her, "My lord, that's enough, you've done well enough! Let's go!" Eros begged.

Raya pushed her away gently and said, "No, it's not enough."

Eros didn't understand, she asked Laya: "Then what do you want? You can't convince this mad king."

Raya replied, "It's not what I want, Eros, but I must stop him."

"It has nothing to do with you, my lord."

"Who does that concern?"

"It has nothing to do with anyone." Eros said, "It is the fate of others, let others decide."

"No, I don't believe that they should have such a fate. My appearance is also a part of the fate of these poor people—well, let's turn on the water drop device."

**********

The screen reappeared 1 minute later, and Bugu smiled and said, "I thought you gave up, Laya."

Laya said: "Bagu Kahn, you don't worship God, and you don't fear retribution."

Ba Gu nodded and said, "Yes, the king is fearless."

Laya sighed and said, "But the king also has feelings, otherwise you wouldn't slaughter the city for your best friend."

Ba Gu didn't speak.

Above the sky, the huge goddess' body flashed and became the size of an ordinary person.She was suspended in mid-air, standing right in front of Ba Gu.She said to Bugu: "Then I won't try to deceive you anymore. I sincerely beg you to show mercy and let these innocent people go." After saying this, Laya bowed deeply to him.

Ba Gu looked at the woman in front of him. After she took off her sacred cloak, she became more like a goddess.Her expression was more resolute than Ba ​​Gu's, and there was determination in her eyes, which moved Ba Gu's face.Bagu admires brave people, and it is obvious that Laya has the courage not to lose to men.

He thought to himself: I massacred the city to avenge my best friend, why did she save these people?

Bugu looked at the city that was gradually disappearing into darkness, and said, "Laya, there are no innocent people in this city. If it wasn't for their tenacious resistance, I would have captured Eagle Head City long ago, and I would have Many soldiers can be killed less. Moreover, the murderer who killed Lan Cu is hidden among these people. I must kill him and avenge Lan Chu."

Laya looked at him and said, "Your Majesty, do you recognize loyal people?"

Bugu said: "Of course I agree, I even admire them."

"These people are just loyal to their old lord. They are not at fault. If Eagle Head City opened the city yesterday and surrendered and turned its back on the old king, then His Majesty can kill these treacherous people. But now, they Fighting to the last moment, among them were children, women, old people, disabled people, everyone fought like a warrior. Your Majesty, if you kill such a person in a moment of anger, some day in the future , you will regret it."

Ba Gu stared at her, and said in a deep voice: "Then I won't avenge Lan Chu's revenge?"

"You can send someone to find the murderer without killing them all."

"What if you can't find it?"

"I can't find it..." Laya shook her head, "Then there is no need to look for it."

Overlord stared at her: "What did you say?"

"Because revenge is meaningless, even if it is revenge, Lan Que will not survive—Your Majesty, even if you kill the people in Eagle Head City to be buried with him, he will not survive."

These words pierced Bawang's heart like a sharp knife, he thought to himself: That's right, Lan Chu can't survive, even if I kill everyone in the world, he can't survive.

What is the point?

I avenged him, I killed him and buried him with him, but this is just my own pleasure, Lan Zuo can't survive.

"If you can find the murderer, you will avenge Lan Zuo. If you can't find the murderer, you can continue to investigate, but blind revenge is meaningless—not only is it meaningless, but it will also make the murderer laugh at you secretly." Laya bowed , "Also, revenge can only give you a little comfort in your heart, but it can't change anything. Soothing pain with the joy of revenge is like using wine to relieve sorrow. It is an escape, which is a coward's approach."

"I'm not a coward," said Bow.

Laya replied: "Then you should face up to the pain in your heart - Lan Zuo is no longer here, Your Majesty."

gone.Ba Gu repeated those three words in his heart, he is gone, and he will never come back again.This sour feeling lingered in his heart, and he almost cried out in front of his own army.

"How can I heal this scar?" He said in a very low voice.

Raya answered him: "Time heals."

Bugu said: "But I can't wait, I want to use blood to heal this wound."

Laya looked at the city, pointed to the ordinary people in those corners, and said: "Your Majesty the King of Eagle Head City, you already own this castle, and everyone in the castle is your subject." It's over. The king shouldn't slaughter his people. If Lan Que were here, he probably wouldn't agree to this matter."

But he is gone.

Ba Gu put down the Sighing Sword in his hand.

"For the sake of the future, for your empire, and for this world...Bug ​​Kahn, the great king, the invincible overlord, I implore you to put your sword into its sheath."

Laya raised her head and said loudly to the people below,

"The war is over! Soldiers in the Gulf, have you heard my words? The war is over, and the suffering is over! If we continue to kill, we will only have nothing." She said to Bagu again, "Your Majesty Ah, put down your sword, don't hurt your people anymore, don't hurt your children anymore. You should rebuild this city so that people can eat, drink and wear clothes... To make both the Gulflands and the northern borders rich and powerful is what a virtuous king should do."

Bagu nodded and said, "Laya, you are right, this matter..."

"Wait, Your Majesty!" someone shouted from behind.

They looked towards the voice, and saw a sailor in a three-cornered hat stepping up to the roof of the castle.That was Kilpus, the admiral of the Gulflands, and Bugu's right-hand man.

Ba Gu asked him: "Master Captain, what's the matter?"

The captain glared at Laya and said, "Your Majesty, do you want to listen to this witch and change your decision?"

"I..." Bagu murmured.

Kilps came to the front. The man had a machete pinned to his waist and boots on his feet, exuding a rough smell of sea salt.He drew out his knife, pointed it at the army in the bay below, and said to Ba Gu: "Your Majesty, you just ordered the massacre of the city against your own army, how can you change your decision now because of one or two words from this woman?"

Laya quickly shouted: "You—"

"Your Majesty!" The man suppressed Laya's voice with a thunderous roar, "You are not joking!"

Hearing these four words, Ba Gu's eyes suddenly changed.

The captain said to him: "This is your reputation and the dignity of the country! We have just captured Eagle Head City, and we have just won this country. Are you going to break your promise on this first day? How will we build our prestige in the future?" ? The whole world is watching you!"

Laya's face turned pale, she stretched out her hand to the captain, and said in great pain: "No, Captain, please stop talking!"

Yet the captain's words were as merciless as the storm.

The captain said: "No one can change the decision of a king with just one or two emotional shouts, otherwise the country will not be able to rule."

Laya's shadow flew down in front of Bagu, she lifted her dress and knelt on the ground, pleading: "Your Majesty! If you don't go to massacre the city, no one will say that you broke your promise, and people will only be grateful for your mercy! "

The captain shouted: "What's the use of being merciful? Just relying on 'mercy' to offset our hatred? Do you know how many brothers I have sacrificed? Bitch!" At this point, the captain burst into tears, and he He begged Ba Gu, "Your Majesty! It's too early to show mercy. We will conquer the world in the future. If we don't have the heart to kill people, then the overlord is no longer overlord!"

"Your Majesty!" Laya prostrated herself on the ground and saluted the most, she said hoarsely, "You can swing your sword at the wicked, but you should not kill your people! You are already the only king of Eaglehead City, these People finally got rid of the rule of the mad king, they are waiting for a wise king like you! But you want to swing the butcher knife at their necks. Your Majesty! The king should not let the people down!"

Both of them are right, they both have a point!Bagu has never been so entangled, who should I listen to?Who should I trust?If... If Lan Zuo is here, he will definitely be able to tell me what to do.

But he is gone!

"Shut up!" Ba Gu roared angrily.

Overlord looked at the two people and said, "Maybe you are both right, but I can only listen to one person. In that case, show me your courage."

Laya wondered: "Courage? What should I do?"

In fact, Ba Gu didn't know, he just wanted the two to compete so that he could make a decision.

At this moment the captain stepped forward and said, "You mean woman, I will tell you what to do."

After saying this, the captain suddenly drew his knife and cut off his left hand with one blow.

The bloody wrist fell to the ground, and blood flowed down the wrist.There was exclamation all around, and Laya covered her mouth in fright.

"Captain!" Bagu was shocked, "What the hell are you doing? I didn't let you do this!"

Kilps gritted his teeth, his face twitched, he gritted his teeth and said to Ba Gu: "This is... my courage, Your Majesty!"

Then he asked someone to bring up a branding iron, and the man pressed the wound on his severed wrist against the red-hot soldering iron. With the terrifying hissing sound and rising white smoke, the blood soon stopped.

Bagu was so distressed that his chest was tight, he said: "Captain, you and Lan Chu are my right-hand men, Lan Chu is gone, and you broke another hand, what will I do in the future?"

"It's okay!" The iron-like man said in a muffled voice, "I'm a man from the sea, and it's more convenient to have an iron hook than a hand!"

After saying this, he glanced at Laya and said:

"Bitch, it's your turn."

Laya remained silent, staring at the severed hand on the ground, her body trembling uncontrollably.She must have been intimidated.After waiting for a while she didn't answer.The captain asked her: "Don't you dare? Your courage is not as good as mine, isn't it!"

At this time, the voices of civilians came from below the city, and a woman screamed: "Goddess! Help me, save my child! My son is only one year old, and he has never left this city in his life! I beg is you!"

Then a beggar with leprosy shouted, "Goddess, isn't the war over? I want to get out of here, I don't want to die! Have mercy."

Then children cried, men knelt down, and civilians hiding in buildings flooded the streets, shouting words like "goddess," "mercy," and "salvation."Several old men knelt on the ground and sang hymns, and some beat themselves severely with whips in order to atone for their sins.

Laya cried, and her tears wet the skirt of her clothes.She looked at the captain with the broken arm and said, "If I do the same thing as you—"

"Then I'll show you my courage again," the captain glared at her. "Bitch, don't come here with your Madonna! Thirty thousand of my brothers died, my father, uncle, two My son still has many friends...they are all dead. If I don't avenge them, I will die with regret!"

Bugu sighed and said, "Laya, you give up. This is your destiny."

"No." Raya said.

She stood up and said to Ba Gu: "Your Majesty, do you know about Saint Monk Limo and the expedition to the Western Regions?"

Ba Gu said: "I seem to have heard of this name."

Laya looked at the civilians below who asked for orders, and said: "A long time ago, Limu, the patriarch of the White Clothes Society, once set himself on fire in front of the city gate in order to prevent the expedition to the Western Regions. The two kings were moved by his noble soul, Stopped the war. He exchanged his own life for the lives of thousands of people."

The sun was about to set, and the last twilight light shone on the saint.She is shrouded in that golden light, she condenses the most sacred beauty, she is an inviolable goddess.

"I am his apprentice, this is my destiny."

She turned to someone and said:

"Eros, bring fire and oil."

******************

"Eros, bring fire and oil."

Eros could not understand this sentence, perhaps she understood every word, every word, but this sentence she just couldn't understand.

"My lord, what are you talking about?" A twitching smile appeared on her face, "Fire and oil...is it too cold here?"

"Bring fire and oil, Eloise, we don't have much time."

"No..." Eros shook her head, "No, I don't understand, I don't understand what you mean..."

Raya looked at her and smiled, and then Raya ordered to the soldiers outside, "Bring fire and oil, please!"

The soldiers were also stunned, no one moved, Eros even shouted: "Who dares to do this, I will kill him immediately!"

Laya said loudly: "White Shirts! If I don't do this, thousands of people will die. Your little kindness will be a big mistake! You swear allegiance to me! You must obey my orders." Order, bring things, oil, fire, ah, and firewood! Two more men, hold Eros down."

"No!" Eros shouted loudly, but at this time several people were already carrying out the order.She rushed to fight the men, but she was soon overpowered.She's just a weak woman, she doesn't have much strength.

"No! No! No!" Two strong soldiers pressed Eros, allowing her to struggle, but she couldn't move.She dug the ground with her nails, and her face was covered with mud and ashes.

"My lord!" Eloise hissed, "Does it have to be you? If that madman wants to see courage, let me do it!"

"No, you have to live well," Laya took the oil, "along with mine."

"I can't live for two, my lord! Live with me, Laya, please..." she began to cry.