In the mountains in the afternoon, Hesta glanced aside from time to time on the driving car.
Beside her, Si Lei had a bruise on his forehead. She held her arms in her arms and her face was ashen.
At this time, half of the passengers in the carriage had been reduced, and the girls who had been riding with them had also got off the train together. They left a large bag of food for Si Lei and the two of them, both as a gift and as an apology.
"I'm sorry," Hesta said again, "I really shouldn't have heckled like that, I was wrong."
"What's the need? Let me ask you, what's the need?"
"...I didn't expect them to really hurt you."
"That was my fault!?"
"It's me, it's my fault," Hesta whispered. "My fault entirely, officer."
"Why do you have to reveal your identity when you come up? Is it fun to watch other people fight?"
"I feel like I have a better chance of winning that way," Hesta replied.
"The chance of winning...a game has to involve violent confrontation to have a chance of winning? It has to go to—"
"Other ways of playing are only theoretically possible and very difficult to implement," Hestad thought, "For example, as the youngest daughter, I ran for elders - but that is not winning, it is just self-protection, I am not I cannot eliminate any player from the opposing force, otherwise I will be out. The game can only continue indefinitely at this point. By then, a new game will definitely be opened, or there will be hidden rules that we didn't know about at the time. "
Just as Si Lei was about to say something, Hesta continued, "The same goes for Paka, and even Paka's situation will be worse. Every time Paka goes to hide stones at night, people standing near her You can definitely hear the noise, so when the new elder is selected the next day, Paka will be excluded from the candidates first.
"The only way to reduce the pressure may be to play first and eliminate more than two hostile players, so that when the final duel comes, the 'elders' will not be able to find all the helpers - but that requires more strategy. High, it’s not as simple and clear as direct confrontation.”
Si Lei sneered twice: "...You react quickly!"
"No," Hesta waved his hand, "Isn't this just like choosing a referee on a ship? Some people can't hold their position even if they become referees... It's not the people who have the problem, it's the rules. That’s intentional.”
Si Lei stopped talking. She looked ahead without saying a word.
…
At midnight, the car stopped at the terminal. Si Lei and Hesta got out of the car wrapped in rented coats - they were the last two passengers in the car.
Just as the girls said in the morning, it really started to snow in the mountains. The temperature outside was lower than expected. The two of them walked hard in the wind. When they finally arrived at the target cabin, they were both frozen. Not light. Without these two rented coats, I might not even be able to get out of the car.
The two opened the door, and the cold wind from outside blew into the inner room, making everyone inside shiver.
"Close the door quickly, close the door quickly!"
Several people came forward to help and took Hesta and Si Lei to a corner of the room to sit down.
This is a hut in the forest, with an area of only about 30 square meters. There is a fire in the middle of the house, and a big pot hanging on the fire. It is surrounded by backpackers. This is the only place where you can stay. 25 ro You can stay all night and take care of dinner and supper.
Hesta and Si Lei greeted the people around them. The two asked around and found that most people seemed to come here for skiing and mountain climbing. Only the two of them came here for the monument. When they learned their destination, many people made tut-tsk sounds in surprise.
The room was very lively, and most people were eagerly waiting for a bowl of soup before going to bed. Some people were reading, some were in a daze, and some people were sitting together, exclaiming and laughing from time to time. Hesta pulled Si Lei curiously, "...What are those people doing?"
"They are telling fortunes," the old man sitting next to Hesta replied in a low voice, "It seems to be quite accurate."
Hesta looked at the old man with some surprise - among the young and middle-aged tourists, this only white-haired tourist seemed particularly special.
"Do you understand me?" Hesta asked.
"You understand." The old man replied, "I teach the literature appreciation class in the third district."
Hesta laughed, "So you are a teacher...are you also here to climb mountains?"
"If I don't go up this year, I'll just go for a walk by the lake," the old man sighed. "Spring has started at this time in the past, but the weather is really bad this year..."
Si Lei had already rearranged her luggage. She stood up and pointed to the fragrant stew pot in front of her, "Which friend made the soup here? Can we share a bowl?"
"Okay," the man sitting not far away laughed, "If you're not afraid, just eat it!"
"...Why are you afraid?"
"This is widow's soup. If you eat it, you will become a widow, hahahahaha!"
The man laughed, obviously very pleased with his wisecrack.
"Don't listen to his nonsense!" The woman next to the man hit him, turned to Si Lei and smiled, "Of course, you're welcome, this is the midnight snack included in the accommodation fee, one bowl for each of you two, that's enough. "
"...Thank you." Si Lei ignored the man's words. She took out the package sent by the girls in the morning, which contained a lot of red sausages. "I also have some food here. You can see if you want to add it to it."
The woman sitting opposite her helped cut the ingredients into slices and put them into the pot. After a while, she started filling the bowls.
"Everyone is here to drink soup!" The woman placed the bowl on the ground aside, and the people sitting next to her began to pass the bowls around one by one. Whenever soup is delivered to young girls, men will come over and make fun of the name "widow's soup".
"Teacher!" A girl walked up to Hestad carrying soup. Hestad suddenly thought she was talking to herself. It wasn't until she sat down that Hestad realized that she was calling the old man next to her.
"Is this soup really called widow's soup?"
"Some people would call it that," the old man replied softly. "In the past, some families were unwilling to share food with their daughters, but they were afraid that their children would steal it, so they would give the food some strange names and make some unreasonable claims - "
The man on the side hissed, "There are some things that you would rather believe than believe that they don't exist. Nowadays, children are difficult to control because they have no respect for things passed down."
The girl sneered: "Then how can you, a man, drink widow's soup?"
The man touched his belly and said proudly, "It's okay for men to drink. What man is afraid of widows - hey, some weak ones are really afraid -"
"That's enough." Si Lei looked at him coldly, "There are so many young people here, what are you talking about?"
The originally lively hut suddenly fell silent.
Hesta looked around and couldn't help but feel a little anxious - seeing that the people on both sides seemed to be fighting for some reason, she didn't understand what was going on.
The woman who was helping everyone with the soup was a little embarrassed. She quickly got up and pushed the man aside, "It's almost time for you, don't do me any favors here!"
The man did not dare to glare at Si Lei, but he glanced at several female students before sitting back angrily.
The woman smiled compensatingly: "He is just a bitch, don't worry about it."
Several young people did not speak.
The old man glanced at his students and said with a smile, "Have you finished asking questions? What is the result of the calculation?"
"Excellent!" one of them said, "The master said that I am suitable for traveling in other places in the second half of the year, and it is easy for me to have an affair with a noble person!"
"Then you don't have to worry about your internship in the second half of the year."
"Hahahahaha, you still have to worry about it," the young man said with a beaming smile, "I'm just happy."
Several students took turns to tell their results. At this moment, a woman sitting on the edge also got up and came to get the soup. Si Lei couldn't help but look over there a few more times - that was the "Master" the girls called him. , she looks to be in her forties, but has a very ordinary temperament and no "fairy spirit" at all.
The master noticed Si Lei's gaze and looked over, "...Do you have anything you want to settle?"
Si Lei shook his head, "Thank you, I don't believe this."
"What about the little friend next to you?"
Hesta keenly felt that the topic was turning to her, and looked at Si Lei expectantly - she had been bored that night, and now someone suddenly appeared and seemed to want to chat with her, which she couldn't ask for.
Si Lei explained helplessly, and Hesta agreed immediately, "Okay, how to calculate it?"
The master couldn't understand Hesta's words and asked Si Lei with his eyes. However, before Si Lei could speak, the girl on the side took the initiative to explain to Hesta in the language of the third district: "I need your birthday, accurate to the hour." That kind of thing, and then you ask the question you want to ask, and the master will give you a very clear answer."
"That's a little difficult," Hestad shook her head. "I don't know the exact date of my birth."
"How could you not know?" The girl was very surprised. "Didn't your parents tell you?"
Si Lei looked at the master and said, "She can't count. She doesn't know her birthday."
"No need for a birthday," the master replied. "If this little friend counts, she only needs to write a word to me. If she can't write, she can just draw a symbol."
After listening to Si Lei's account, Hesta thought for a moment, then picked up the iron tongs used for pulling charcoal and wrote a "one" in the ashes.
"I have some special wishes that I want to realize now," Hesta looked at the master, "but I don't know where it is easier to realize them. Do you have any suggestions?"
The master looked at the ashes and listened to Si Lei's narration, with a slight smile on his face.
"Your current job is very dangerous, right?" the master said softly.
"Yes," Hesta looked at the crutch beside him, "Can you see it from my hands and feet?"
Si Lei was startled for a moment, feeling that Hesta's words were a bit too straightforward, so he changed his question, "...how did you see it?"
"One is the end of life and the beginning of death. Therefore, one is between death and life, with life hanging by a thread."
"What do you mean?" Hesta looked at Si Lei.
Si Lei picked up a piece of charcoal, wrote the word life and death on the ground, and said softly, "The one you wrote is the last stroke of 'life' and the first stroke of 'death'. There is a It means 'between life and death', so she guessed your daily job was dangerous."
Hesta's eyes showed a bit of surprise when he heard this, "Can you still explain it like this..."
"The ashes have burned out, and even if you try hard, you can't raise a spark. No matter what your wishes are, it's too early to talk about it now. But the ashes don't just mean death, like the North The Firebird of District 14, mythology says that when she is about to die, she will ignite flames, swoop down from the highest snow mountain, fall on the oldest cedar in the forest, and turn into ashes. Then, the new Firebird Born from the ashes - this is the reincarnation of the firebird, the cycle of death and life.
"So, since you want to ask where it is easier to go to realize your wish, the answer is obvious. You have to go to the place where life and death are on the line, to the dangerous place that ordinary people avoid, to the gap between reality and nothingness... You can neither indulge in life nor indulge in death. The space between death and life is your blessed place.
"...Probably, that's it."
The whole room was silent. Although Hesta couldn't understand what the other party was saying, she realized from everyone's reactions that the woman in front of her must have said something very powerful. She kept tapping Si Lei's thigh and blinked curiously. Eye.
However, this long sentence really made Si Lei feel a little at a loss. She made a few difficult "uh..." sounds, unable to find the right word to start with.
The old man on the side laughed, and she raised her hand and touched Hesta's right arm, "Let me tell you what she said."
Hesta turned her head and said, "You said it, I'm listening."
"She said," the old man said with a smile, "you will be a person who will do great things in the future, so when that time comes, you will go to a place where you can do great things."
