Three Philosophical Questions for Travelers

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ps: The pov of Delaire Hansrock will be updated tomorrow, don't miss it

Chapter 23: Eat and wait to die Dreyer, a

Chapter 23: Eat and wait to die Dreyer, a

Delaire Hanslock felt very confused.

After a month of traveling, he finally arrived at the destination of exile.He walked here in shackles along the way, had never been in a car, and his feet were covered with blood blisters.And the two militiamen who escorted him pretended to be uncles and made things difficult for him along the way.Needless to say, all kinds of labor, every now and then he would tease him and expose his wounds.

From a housekeeper to an exile, then from an exile to a housekeeper, and finally back to an exile—Dreyer has gone through ups and downs in his life in the past two years, and he has already developed a calm attitude of not taking pleasure in things or sorrowing himself.To be honest, Master Haiwen still misses the old feelings very much. The general exile has to travel for a year, and people often die before reaching their destination.It takes only one month to arrive, which is really not a heavy punishment.

But these are not important, for Dreyer, it is the same wherever he goes, it is nothing more than eating and waiting to die.

He was very disappointed in himself and the world.

So far, Dreyer doesn't think he's done anything wrong.

I made the most suitable choice at the most suitable time, and this is the optimal solution.If the old earl hadn't come then, he thought, I would have been the only one who would have survived.

Haiwen's approach is very just, but not correct - justice does not mean correct.Dreyer is a rational person, he only chooses the most correct thing.

So he couldn't accept this ending.

Now he has no goals to strive for, and no volunteers, so he is left to eat and wait to die.

He and two guards stood on the road leading to Mud City, and a dilapidated small city could be seen in the distance.

Just like the name of this town, the road leading to Rotten Meat Beach is also rotten.The muddy road is covered with wheel marks and footprints, so wet that it can stick people's shoes off when walking.Before arriving in Mud City, there was a stench in the air. There were rotten, sour, fishy smells... All kinds of stench were mixed together and drifted in the air. Dreyer couldn't tell what it was like.

The guard released his handcuffs and ankles and said, "You are free here, get out!"

There were two guards who came with him, both of them were militiamen from Mustang Town.One was Custer, a young man with long, messy hair; the other, Punk, was a stocky, bushy man.Lord Haven thought these people were trustworthy, but he didn't know that these guys also hated Delaire the most, so Delaire suffered a lot along the way.

"Where's my money?" Dreyer asked them.

Custer smiled and said, "Where do you have money?"

"Haven gave me money before he left."

Punk said in a rough voice: "Lord Haven is kind to you, but you don't deserve his kindness, this money cannot be given to you!"

Oh, I don't deserve it, so you do?Delaire sneered, and said, "Then please leave, my lords! Gold coins bring disaster, please be careful."

"Damn it, you crow's mouth!" Punk shook his face, "Let's go, let's go back and leave him here to starve to death!"

After all, the two left without looking back. Delaire watched them leave, but he knew that most of them would not be able to go back. When they left, the two proposed to keep the property for Delaire. Dreyer guessed that they would sing this out.So when they came to Hessen, Dreyer deliberately tricked them into taking a detour. If they returned the same way, they would encounter a problem.

The trouble is this: when they came, they took the Xiaolu River, which had forked two or four roads, and went down the river to the Tianguang Lake in Hessen, all of which were fine.However, the Xiaolu River will inevitably flood during the rainy season in July every year. At this time, a strange phenomenon will appear. If you walk along the river, you will circle around a place called "Yuzui Reef". If you turn around, you will deviate from the original route and enter the road leading to the swamp.

It was May when Delaire set off, and now in mid-June, the two of them will definitely go to the wine city to spend a lot of money, to experience the pale beauty and world-famous red wine there; when they leave, it is estimated that It was July, and after the river flooded, they could only take a boat. If they took a boat, they would be led into the swamp. When they got to the swamp, it was not easy to figure it out.There are man-eating swamps, poisonous beasts, and ferocious swamp orcs, but enough is enough for them.

Of course, they can also wait for the Xiaolu River to recede before leaving. In that case, they will have to wait for three months. They must not have enough money in these three months. It is estimated that they will have to beg all the way back to the bay in the end.

Dreyer watched the two people turn right at the fork in the distance, and the corners of their mouths couldn't help curling up—the right turn is the road to Wine City, it seems that these two bastards want to have a good time.go!The longer the leisure time, the better, I'll see how you go back.

This feeling of calculating others is still good, he thought to himself, better than being calculated by others.

With these two gone, it's time for Dreyer to think about the rest of his life.He picked up the handcuffs and shackles, thinking: This thing can sell for a few pennies, but this is my only capital.

He thought about what to do with the money.

These shackles can be sold for about three silver coins. This money is enough for me to live on for a week, and the next step is to do some coolies, eat and die.

Or you can buy some spirits and hang yourself when you get drunk, which is also a way of relief.

Another thing is gambling.

The place with the most Rotten Meat Beach is the casino. I gamble hard. It is best if I win. I can do business with capital. If I lose, I will run away. If I can run, I will die. !

Well, gambling is okay.

He immediately went to Rotten Flesh Beach.This place is a dilapidated little town surrounded by fences. It's not small, it must be as big as Bear Mountain, but it looks really bad.The ground in Rotten Meat Beach is also a piece of mud, the houses are crooked dilapidated wooden huts, and the streets are arranged in a mess like a pig's intestines. Walking here, you can't tell the difference between southeast and north.The periphery is surrounded by shacks for the poor, where the elderly, orphans, and lepers all live. This place is cleaner than a latrine and worse than a prison.Dreyer saw an old leper with a rotten face sitting at the door. He had two thin and dirty chickens, which were so dirty that no one would steal them.A child also leprosy ran past the old man and spat at him, but the old man ignored him.

After passing the shack, I finally saw a few shops, and then there was a spacious street paved with old bluestone bricks, and a row of people lay on it.Each of these people looked decadent and dead.

Dreyer saw that there was still a sign on the side of the street, which read: Paralyzed Street.

paralysis?What kind of paralysis?

Goofy Dreyer, [-]

Goofy Dreyer, [-]

Although the group of people on Paralyzed Street were all dressed in shabby clothes, they didn't look like beggars begging for money, because they didn't have bowls in front of them, and beggars didn't gather together to beg for food.Most of these people were too skinny, and some of them had injuries on their bodies. They looked like they had been beaten.These people sat in rows on the street, or lay down in rows, anyway, their faces were ashen.

Dreyer was a little confused, so he stopped a passing child and asked, "Little brother, what do these people do?"

It was a very provocative child with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks. He shouted at the top of his voice: "These are all paralyzed! Don't you see that this is Paralyzed Street? Are you blind?"

Dreyer asked: "I don't think there's anything wrong with their limbs, why are they paralyzed?"

The child smiled and said: "Can't you be paralyzed if you don't have a disease in your hands and feet? These old guys have a disease in their brains. If they gamble, they still gamble. If they win, they gamble. If they have no money, they borrow money to gamble. They gamble and lose. It’s a big debt, and I can’t pay it back, so I can only be paralyzed here?”

Dreyer smiled and said, "Don't run away when you owe debts, and stay here waiting to die?"

The child also laughed, and said: "If you die, you will die! If you beat him to death, he will be able to pay off the debt! If some old man here gets lucky one day, he may be able to pay back the debt, but if If you die, there is no hope at all, don't you think?"

Well, quite right.

Dreyer thought for a while, and he would also be paralyzed with these old brothers.

So he just sat there, joining the ranks of the paralyzed.

Paralyzed Street is quite sunny, and it is a good place to bask in the sun.Across Paralyzed Street is a tavern and a gambling house, which is very lively, with bursts of shouting and laughing from time to time.Many "paralyzed" elder brothers looked over there with envy on their faces.Dreyer sat next to an old brother, thinking to himself: I will stay here for a while and ask for some information.

Dreyer didn't dare to walk blindly by himself, and if he walked further in, he would be the rotten fart-eye pier, also known as the horse-eye pier. It is not a good place to hear the name.This kind of place gathers thieves, robbers and mercenaries. They walk on the street in broad daylight. If they say they are stolen, they will be stolen. will eat a knife.There is crime, violence and bloodshed here all the time.

Paralyzed Street, by comparison, is pretty safe—who would want a bunch of paralyzed dudes?Beggars are richer than them.

Dreyer was paralyzed there, put his hands in his sleeves, shrunk his neck and bent over, and put on a crippled look.Sitting next to him was a paralyzed elder brother, that elder brother also looked decadent, his lost shoes were gone, and his clothes were covered in patches.He looked at Delaire and asked, "Brother, did you lose too?"

"Ah." Dreyer deliberately approached him and said, "I'm not lucky today."

The man nodded and said, "Oh, brother, do you still have money?"

"What are you doing?" Delair asked.

"Lend me some money and I'll go find the book."

Dreyer smiled and said, "If I want to be rich, why should I be paralyzed with you?"

The man nodded and stopped talking.

After a while, Delaire asked him, "Brother, let me ask you something. Take a look at this place. Which casino has the best luck?"

"Hey, you're asking the right person!" The old man suddenly became angry, "Let me tell you, there are three casinos across the street: Lucky Dog, Stepping on Money, and Golden Dice. Don't go to the first two. Two of them are black shops, one has a banker with thousands of dollars, and one has a babysitter. I let them blackmail the money; the last one, Jin Dice, is fine if you win a small amount of money, but you will be slaughtered if you win a lot of money. This casino is fairly well-behaved, but there are some arrogant and ruthless people inside, so you have to be careful when you go there."

Dreyer probably had some ideas in his mind, he said: "Brother, I have an idea to make a fortune, do you want to try it?"

The man glanced at Dreyer and said, "What? Isn't he going to cheat? Have you seen that one?" He pointed to a paralyzed man not far away, and this man was really paralyzed , both legs were discounted, lying there waiting to die, "He was a cheater, and now he is beaten like this, do you want to die too?"

"No, we don't pay Qian, let's go catch Qian—brother, how long have you been betting?"

"Three years." The man sniffled at this point, and his eyes turned red. "Three years ago, I had a wife and children, and now I have nothing—ah, what did you just say? Catch a thousand?"

Dreyer nodded and said: "Yes, you and I will catch thousands. Let's go to the casino to stay. Those who make thousands will guard against the dealer, but they may not always be wary of us who are 'paralyzed'. They will definitely be caught."

"What if you catch it?"

"You can read mine later."

The man looked at Dreyer suspiciously, and said, "Don't be secretive!"

"I really can't tell you this, but brother, if you think this way, you are penniless now, and no one is willing to lend you money, you can only wait here to die; but if you are willing to make a deal with me , Maybe you can earn some gold, and with gold, you can make money, and if you make money, you can get your wife and children back. Brother! There is no loser in gambling for a long time, they can make money, why can't you?"

This is the mentality of a gambler, with a strong fluke mentality, always staring at the small probability events, and also greedy.Delair didn't gamble much himself, but he'd met plenty of gamblers before, and all of them were.

So is this old man.His face was tangled for a while, and he asked, "Is there really money to be made?"

This is as meaningless as asking "Is your watermelon sweet?" Dreyer must nod and say, "It really is!"

"There must be?"

"Heh, you just gambled once. If you win, you will get rich. If you lose... you will just continue to be paralyzed!"

Hearing this, the man laughed and said, "Okay! Brother, I bet you, tell me what to do next."

Dreyer asked: "Oh, I haven't asked your name yet?"

"Sariva."

"Okay, my name is Delaire, Delaire? Hanslock. Now, you follow me, do whatever I ask you to do, and make a fortune together!" He then went to shake hands with Sariva , The two hit it off, and since then Delaire has his first subordinate - the gambling ghost Sariva.

Sariva has lived in this place for ten years and is familiar with the mud flat and even Hesse.At first he was a liquor dealer, and his family was not bad, but later he became addicted to gambling, lost his house, wine shop, wife and children, and became a paralyzed elder brother.

With him leading the way, Delaire wouldn't go wrong.So under his leadership, Dreyer came to the pawn shop in Rotten Meat Beach. He sold the shackles for three silver and seven coppers, bought a hat and two plasters, and went to the casino.

Sariwa asked him what is the use of buying these junk?

Says Delaire: "These things make us a lot of money!"

Goofy Dreyer, three

Goofy Dreyer, three

The gambling house in Rotten Meat Beach is naturally a smoky place. The room reeks of sweat and alcohol, and the weather is so hot that it can't stand people.But the gamblers didn't care about it, sitting around the table with fanatical faces, yelling and throwing money.Dreyer and Sariva stayed together for an afternoon, and they saw all kinds of life - some fell on the table with a smile after touching a straight flush, some came in standing up and went out lying down, and some lost their underwear.Among them was a prostitute who opened his eyes. This woman did not bring any bet money, so she sat on the table with her skirt up and paid her debts on the spot.

This gambling house is called "Ye Shen's Blessing", and it is one of the most popular places in Rotten Routan. I don't know how many people have lost their fortunes here, and I don't know how many people have become rich overnight.People here are as crazy as if they have been enchanted, only dice and dominoes are left in their eyes.The heavily made-up dealer dealt the cards until his hands became callused, and the shirtless security guard had to beat out three people an hour.

Dreyer observed for a while, and found a little way in the casino: the winner will shout loudly, and the banker will beat gongs and drums to celebrate him. Everyone in the place drinks for free; however, if you lose money, no one cares, no one asks, the bartender will silently invite him out, and if you don't observe carefully, no one will notice.

This created an illusion of prosperity. Dreyer sat there for two hours and witnessed three "big wins". Whenever this happened, the eyes of other gamblers would turn red, and the enthusiasm in their hearts It will swell a little-not to mention the gamblers, even Delaire's eyes are envious, and he can't wait to get out of the game.

But he has reason, and Dreyer is a man of great self-control, and he never gets emotional.

Today he didn't come to gamble, but to arrest people.

This gambling house is very large and can accommodate almost two to three hundred people.It is divided into private gambling and public gambling. As the name suggests, private gambling is a few poker players get together to cheat each other. The store only charges a licensing fee or a drink fee, which does not make much money; public gambling is different. In public betting, the store owner sits on the banker, and a circle of gamblers surrounds the outside to play games with the banker.This public bet is riskier and more profitable. Of course, if you calculate the accounts carefully, it is the banker who makes money anyway.

If you gambled thousands of dollars privately, the bartender might not care if he saw it, but if you gambled thousands of dollars publicly, he would have his fingers chopped off if he caught it.

So Dreyer wanted to catch these people who gambled, and it was only meaningful to catch them.

As for the matter of catching cheaters, it still depends on the old man Sariva.Sariwa is wearing a hat at the moment, and plaster is stuck on the left cheek, which can be regarded as a change of makeup.The two of them were watching from the side of the public betting place.

There is a large round table in the center of the casino, which can seat about twenty people.The middle of the table was hollowed out, and inside stood a female dealer in a tube top and short leather pants, who was constantly dealing cards to outsiders.These people play a game called three-three-touch. The rules are not complicated, but the bets are around ten gold coins each time. If they are lucky, they can earn hundreds of gold coins. minute thing.

At the beginning of a round of gambling, someone loses and someone wins, the hard-hitting banker, the water gambler, and the people below change round after round.There are those who go as far as they want, and those who lose. Dreyer is not in a hurry, he is observing silently, and finds the person who has made a fortune.

Suddenly Saliva came close to his ear and whispered, "Brother Delaire, look at that." He pointed with his hand lightly as he spoke.

"Which one?"

"The thin one with the long hair," Sarivar said.

"he?"

Dreyer looked at the man.The gambler sat at the corner of the card table with a large pillar behind him.This man held the cards in his hand anxiously and scratched his hair from time to time. He didn't bet much each time, and he won or lost. There was nothing unusual about him.Delaire has also paid attention to this person before. In Delaire's impression, this person loses more money and wins less. Why does Saliva say that he is a scammer?

"Why him?" Dreyer asked, "I think he's just an unlucky guy who loses his face. Why do you think he's a good guy?"

Sariva smiled and said: "Brother, you know, I have gambled in this place for three years, and I have gambled with hundreds of people. No one is more familiar with these gamblers than me. Look That person, he sits in the darkest corner, with a pillar behind him, this kind of place is the most hidden, no one behind him can see him, and all people like to sit in this kind of place."

"Is this all it takes?"

"Of course it's not just this." Sariva narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice. "Look at his face, he has always looked anxious, right? It's like a poor man who is careful—but he has already I’ve been anxious for two hours! Besides anxiety is still anxious on my face——brother, people’s expression should be very exciting when gambling, how can it be like this all the time? One more thing, you see that he loses more than he wins, right? ?Actually, he just loses more times and wins less times! But in fact he has made money. He is just deliberately controlling the amount of money he makes so as not to appear so exaggerated. I dare say this guy is not just an ordinary player Those who are old are still cheating, cheating! Brother Dreyer, just arrest him."

Dreyer said, "But you don't see how he's cheating, do you?"

Sariwa was stunned for a moment, and said: "His technique is too clever, maybe... Anyway, I think he has a problem!"

Maybe this is an innocent man, Delair thought, maybe he just had a good day today, Sarivar's reasoning is far-fetched.

But does it matter?