Three Philosophical Questions for Travelers

He retreated.

This move is not only incomprehensible to Ba Gu, but also to other generals and even the enemy.However, Lan Chu had just withdrawn from Ming Jin, and he said to Ba Gu: "Let's stop here for today, my goal has been achieved."

"What purpose?" Ba Gu's eyes widened, "Don't you want to take this opportunity to attack the city wall?"

Lan Que smiled: "What are you in a hurry for, Your Majesty? As I said, this battle will be a protracted one. If the Allied Forces of the Sea God Cult can attack this city with us on both sides, we may be able to break the city in three days, but now we are alone. It will take at least a month to capture this city."

"I think if you rush up today, the city will be broken!"

"As I said before, what I want is not just to destroy the city. It is meaningless to us just to capture this city. Instead, it will restrict our hands and feet, Your Majesty!" Lan Yu spread his hands helplessly, and said, "The reason why the Northern Guards It has not been broken for a hundred years, not only because the city wall is strong, but also because a complete defense and mutual defense system has been formed here. What I want is not only the Eastern Acropolis, I want to destroy their entire defense system."

Ba Gu asked: "Isn't it going to be delayed until summer?"

"It's best to wait until summer, Your Majesty." Lan Zuo smiled, "At that time, I will make them miserable."

After today's incident, Ba Gu suddenly felt that Lan Zuo's smile became a little permeable.

Immediately after, Lan Zuo caught a messenger over, and he ordered: "Ask Karen to send two thousand infantry soldiers to the engineer battalion, and then divide the engineer soldiers to cut down trees and dig sand. We need a lot of resources!"

"Oh, that's right! Tell Sour Eye to pull out all the arrows from the ladder and the canvas. We will keep this for our own use, so don't waste it!"

Chapter 14: Trail of the Oz, Part [-]

Chapter 14: Trail of the Oz, Part [-]

The air is very fresh today.

Hyacinth wore new straw sandals and walked on the spring soil, feeling happy physically and mentally.There is a green fragrance in the air, the sun is hidden behind the clouds, and the sun shines on the body, as if there is warm water flowing through the skin.

The land underfoot was dry, and as far as the eye could see, there were shrubs and towering rocky hills everywhere.This is rare in swamps.The orc guide "Greyhorn" told her that this was only the case in the northwestern part of the swamp.They call it "The Feet of the Mother Earth".The climate here is relatively dry, with plenty of sunshine, and it can bear a kind of wild fruit shaped like grapes.However, this fruit called "spicy heart fruit" is completely different from grapes. Its skin and pulp are all poisonous, but the core is an excellent spice.Orcs often pick them for cooking.

"Those shrubs are full of spicy apples," said Grayhorn, stretching out a bruised arm. "The rocky mounds next to a man's height are all insect nests. There are poisonous bees, ants, and mudfish in them, except Long-billed turtles, no one dares to mess with them."

Grayhorn was an excellent guide.It is said that when he was young, he had a strange disease in his right arm, which made him unable to use his strength and hold a weapon, so he could not be a warrior or a hunter.However, the orcs will not discriminate against him because of this. The orcs believe that everyone has a suitable position.Therefore, after more than ten years of study and practice, Gray Horn became the best pathfinder in the swamp.The swamp is his backyard, and he can write out the map of the Great Swamp silently.

With him here, Jon, the team leader, is useless.

A few days ago, the team had a disagreement on Xunlong.Most people in the team thought that "Looking for the Dragon" was a fantasy, and no one wanted to participate.But Hyacinth wanted to go, Silver Fox Ranger wanted to go, and finally Adora also wanted to go.

Unbelievably, since Adora decided to go hunting for the dragon, Jon immediately changed his mind.He divided the convoy into two, and he ordered mercenaries, caravans and ordinary employees to follow the large force and continue to go south, while he himself followed Adora with a group of cronies.

Master Clark called him a dishonest dog and asked him to return the commission, so he returned all the commission and even paid a liquidated damages.So he resolutely followed the poetess to take risks.

Hyacinth couldn't figure out the reason for this—could it be that Jon loved Adora?It shouldn't be, old Jon didn't show any admiration when he was with her.They seem to be just partnerships.

So why on earth did he want to take risks with Adora?

Hyacinth couldn't figure it out, but Silver Fox Ranger's guess helped her out of confusion.

"There are treasures in the dragon's lair!" When he said this, the ranger's expression was as cunning as a thief. "Jon must value treasures. If he can get a few of them, he won't have to go to the trade route for the rest of his life."

This also makes sense, Hyacinth thought to himself.

Not many people came out to look for the dragon, only a dozen or so.Hyacinth, Silver Fox Ranger Fine Timnard, poetess Adora, Eight Finger Jon, and Jon's cronies.

Lychees and cherries also followed, lychees cannot be separated from Ranger, and cherries cannot be separated from lychees.In addition, there are camellias.This little girl is Hyacinth's younger sister, she clings to Hyacinth, and Hyacinth has nothing to do with her, so he has to take her with him.And she's seen dragons before, maybe she can help.

The dragon-hunting team does not take the main road, but often walks through wet swamps. The carriage cannot travel in this environment, so they carry mules and horses alone, and carry luggage.Hyacinth didn't have any luggage on her body, and walked briskly along the way, humming a little tune from the southern country while walking.She is in a very good mood now.

"Ahead is the Mushroom Forest," the orc said. "Before you go in, you have to rub the juice of herbs on your body every day, otherwise you will get sores on your body. In addition, you should stay away from the red mist, which will kill you." Makes people crazy."

Hyacinth looked forward and saw a mist in the distance. She said: "The mushroom forest is in the fog?"

"In the clouds." The orc said, "Under the clouds is the sky. If the Heavenly Father wants to accompany the Earth Mother, let the blue sky fall here. This is the hand of the Heavenly Father."

Hyacinth couldn't understand what he said - what is mushroom forest in the cloud?How can the blue sky fall?

The orc said that the last time the swamp-folk saw the dragon was near the Mushroom Forest; Adora also said that divination guided her to come here.Jon said that this place is so weird, there must be strange beasts; while Shan Cha cried, she said she was afraid and did not dare to go in here.

All the signs show that the clue of the real dragon is here.

The morale of the people was high, and the ranger excitedly told the story of the real dragon. Balut carried the weeping little camellia on his shoulder and made faces to make her laugh.Mrs. Rawin was checking the first-aid kit, and Sassen the Dervish was praying.

An hour later, they passed through the thick fog and saw the mushroom forest.

"Is this a mushroom?" Hyacinth murmured, staring at the scene ahead.

"Oh! Super big mushroom!" Ranger blew a whistling whistle.

The purple mist flows slowly like a veil, and behind the mist are huge shadows.Those shadows are taller than the trees, showing the umbrella shape of mushrooms.Hyacinth wanted to take a closer look, so he stepped into the water.She was startled, and when she looked down, she saw water on the ground, which seemed to seep out of the soil, showing a strange blue color.She asked the orc, "Can I go forward?"

"Just be careful with the red mist," the orc replied.

She walked forward cautiously, and the others followed into the mist.I saw big mushrooms growing crookedly in the water one by one, with overlapping canopies, exuding a mysterious and weird aura.The color of the mushrooms is mostly dark purple, and occasionally some red and green. There are holes and circular lines on the canopy. Hyacinth reached out and touched it, and found that the mushrooms were smooth and soft, and felt very comfortable.At this time, the mushroom squirmed, and she quickly withdrew her hand.The ranger whistled and said, "It seems that you have a good time with Mr. Mushroom."

Gray Horn saw it and said, "The mushrooms here are all animals. They can breathe, eat, and walk."

"Walking?" Adora asked.

"It's very slow." Gray Horn said, "It's only a few meters a year."

It is not easy to walk through the mushroom forest. The path is rugged and uneven, and only two people can walk side by side.The hyphae hanging from the mushrooms are thicker than the vines of old trees, and many silk threads are entangled between the mushrooms, and they have to pull the silk threads to move.

Once, when Cherry pulled the mycelium, the mycelium suddenly moved and opened its mouth to tell her that it was a gray python disguised as mycelium.Cherry screamed in terror, and the ranger went up and chopped off the beast.

Huijiao said indifferently: "That snake doesn't bite people, it only eats bugs."

Trail of the Green Dragon, II

Trail of the Green Dragon, II

The ranger replied, "But it scares the girl, and it deserves to die."

The orc sneered disdainfully and said nothing.

This greatly slowed down the progress of the team, and they walked for an hour without making much progress.Jon complained: "We're going around in circles again! We haven't walked a hundred steps this morning!"

Gray Horn scolded him, saying: "You old monkey! Are you questioning my sense of direction? If you don't believe me, you can go by yourself!"

Jon had nothing to say, he could only sulk.

Gray Horn is indifferent and reticent, the people in the team don't like him, and he doesn't care about them.But he is still very good to Hyacinth, after all, Hyacinth is the sister appointed by the Spirit of the Earth Mother.They chatted a lot along the way. Hyacinth asked him about the history and customs of the orcs, and Gray Horn patiently told her about it.Gradually, Hyacinth discovered that Huijiao was actually a very talkative person, but this made Hyacinth a little puzzled, so she asked Huijiao: "I think you are very talkative, why don't you chat with other people? You don't like them ?"

Grayhorn replied, "I hate their arrogance."

"Arrogance? Is there?"

"You're human, you can't feel it. Someone asked me yesterday if an orc's husband would use horns to..." He coughed dryly and said, "It's a stupid question anyway, they're arrogant, ignorant, and— "

"Ah!" Lizhi suddenly screamed.

People hurried over to her and asked, "What's the matter?"

Pointing to the mushroom, the girl shouted, "I see a yellow eye in the hole of the mushroom!"

"Yes, yes, I saw it too!" This time it was Cherry's turn to repeat her words.

Gray Horn said: "That's the fungus, don't worry about it. They are very timid and won't take the initiative to offend you." After saying this, he continued to walk forward.But no one followed, people pointed at his back and whispered about him.Hyacinth felt this hostility, and she shouted: "Let's go! He said it's fine, so it's fine!"

Jon said: "But I don't think it's that simple. We should beware of these barbarians and savages."

The others also agreed with Jon. At this time, Gray Horn had already gone far away. Hyacinth looked around and said, "If you don't leave, I will go!" As she said that, she caught up with Gray Horn.After a while, others followed suit.

The atmosphere became depressing, and Hyacinth tried to start a new topic with Huijiao.

She thought for a while and asked, "Mushroom people, are they human?"

"People..." Gray Horn repeated the word, "Do you think I'm a human?"

Hyacinth froze for a moment, and said, "Of course you...are an orc."

"If the orcs are humans, then the fungi are also humans. If the orcs are not, then they are not."

"Then they are."

"Well, do they have a language? Do they have villages and fields? Do they wear clothes?"

"They have a language, and I don't know anything else. The fungus people are a mysterious group. Even I rarely deal with them. I only know that they will flourish during the rainy season, and occasionally they will trade with the surrounding orcs. , they exchanged some mushrooms, hides and herbs for the orc wine, as well as cured meat and pickles. They like pickled things."

"Then they must be human," Hyacinth said.

Gray Horn sneered, and said, "But they won't have citizenship in the four duchies."

Hyacinth also smiled, but not a sneer, "Me neither!" She showed Gray Horn the tattoo on her face, "Do you know this one?"

"You used to be..." Huijiao frowned, but didn't say anything.

"Look, am I human?" Hyacinth asked him.

"Of course you are."

"That's right. Whether we are human or not is not decided by the people in the castle, but by you and me. Gray Horn, are you right?"

The orc smiled at her for the first time, "You are right, sister of the Earth Mother Spirit, you are as wise as the Earth Mother Spirit."

"My name is Hyacinth," she said.

"I know, my name is Gray Horn." Gray Horn replied.

The mushroom forest is huge, and Gray Horn said that he would take them to the central campsite to camp, and then they would split up to find the dragon.Around noon, they arrived at the place Gray Horn said.

It was an enormous mushroom, with a stipe thicker than a tower;There are no other mushrooms on the ground around this large mushroom, and it is obvious that the nutrients here have been sucked away by it.

Hyacinth looked up at its cap, and saw that the gills were neat and even in texture; she took a deep breath, and her nostrils were filled with strange visions, the smell was like cooking petals, and it was like fresh milk; unconsciously , an inexplicable awe rose in her heart.She thought to herself: The Creator can create a small human being, and he can also create this giant.

At this time, the ranger kicked the stalk, "It's so hard!" He said, "This thing is harder than the dry bark of an old tree."

The orc scolded him, saying, "You ignorant monkey! You will piss off the fungus king!"

"This thing also has a king?" The ranger laughed, "The king is really cheap."

Grayhorn ignored the ranger.The orc came under the big mushroom, kowtowed respectfully, and said, "King Mushroom, I am the son of the heavenly father and the son of the earthly mother. I will spend the night on your land today, and I hope you will give me your blessings." Tolerance." After saying this, the orc took out a kettle and sprinkled some green juice next to the big mushroom, and the hyacinth smelled a herbal medicine.Then he handed the medicine bottle to Jon next to him, and said, "Just follow my example."

"Why?" Jon asked.

"You have arrived in the land of King Fungus, you should meet the king."

Jon lowered his head and glanced at the ground. The ground was covered with blue-black muddy water, and the soil he stepped on was bubbling.He frowned and said, "Do you have to bow down?"

The orc sneered and said, "It's okay to do your courtesy, but you must keep your sincerity in your heart, and the king can see it."

So the people in the convoy saluted in turn, Jon gave the chest touching salute, Hyacinth and the sisters curtseyed with both legs of a southern girl, Adora curtseyed with one knee, the ranger saluted with aristocrats, and others bowed and some bowed alone. Kneeling down on his knees, the giant Barut was the most devout. He "plopped" on the ground, splashing countless water, then kowtowed eight times in a row, and said in his mouth: "Please bless the big mushroom, so that Barut can eat enough. meal!"

People came one by one, nothing went wrong, but at the end a man said, "I don't ask for a mushroom!"

That was one of Jon's guards, named Sanko, a middle-aged man with beards, a face narrow and wide, and a chin like a bad egg with long hair.

The orc said to him: "This is the land of King Fungus—"

The mercenary leader shouted: "Go to your mother's mouth, isn't it just a big mushroom?"

Trail of the Dragon, [-]

Trail of the Dragon, [-]

"I'm a believer of the Lord of Seven Colors, we don't worship mushrooms!" He pointed his finger at his crotch, "Mushrooms? What's so good about this thing!" . (Note: In Western slang, mushrooms allude to men's genitalia)

The girls turned their faces away, embarrassed to look at him, while the man laughed.When the man saw that there were people cheering, he became even more excited.He took off half of his trousers, and said, "Look at the size of my mushroom, do you want to pray too?"

Hyacinth saw that Huijiao's hand was holding onto the hilt of the sword, she hurried over to grab Huijiao and said, "Don't do this, Huijiao. I'll go and talk to him."

Gray Horn glanced at her and said, "Okay."

So Hyacinth walked towards the wretched man. When the guy saw a girl coming, he put on his pants and said, "What? You want to try my big mushroom too?"

Hyacinth said to him: "Sangke, it's not shameful to worship mushrooms. The king of mushrooms gave us land and protection, so we should treat him with courtesy. It's like staying in a hotel and always paying for it."

"I don't salute mushrooms!" He made a funny face.

Hyacinth said: "Then you can live elsewhere alone, we will live here."

"I don't!" The rascal was unreasonable, "Why can you live and I can't?"

"You have to pay for a hotel stay."

"This is not a fucking hotel, it's a big mushroom. I don't pay money, I don't salute, and it won't do anything to me! It's you savages who are meddlesome, and you just made up some mushroom gods to scare people." He said. He kicked the big mushroom hard.