"You must be wondering why I chose this as the meeting place." Roland picked up a piece of sausage with a fork and put it into his mouth.
"According to the saying in our hometown, you are a public figure, so you naturally need to avoid the eyes and ears of others. This tavern is very inconspicuous and not a place where important people would come. I think it is a good choice." Xiao Chen said.
Roland laughed, cut off a piece of sausage with a knife and said, "You may not know that I am from the capital. My childhood home was not far from here. The Golden Tail Bird Tavern is the place I long to go to the most. The owner at that time was the owner's great-grandfather. He had a unique skill, which was making sausages, which tasted much better than those made at home. My father only brought me here twice, but it was the happiest thing when I was a child. Later, I became a priest and came here several times a year. Today is the first time this year, and it is also the first time I invite guests to eat this together."
"Is this the kind?" Xiao Chen looked at the sausages on the plate in front of him.
"No. Little Pande's skills are not yet perfect, and he is far inferior to his great-grandfather. But sitting here, among these people, allows me to stand down and think about problems as an ordinary person, not as a priest of the Temple of Nature. Just like today, I can listen to the stories of young people as an old man with some curiosity."
"So this is the place where strong people like you can get close to the masses." Xiao Chen said.
"Go deep into the masses? That's a fresh term. It seems that this is a very common practice in your hometown?" Roland asked with some curiosity.
"Our mainstream view is that there are many officials who cannot do this, but there are also many who practice this. Because in our view, they are the ones who hold the real power."
"You mean them?" Roland raised his eyes and glanced at the guests in the tavern. These people were drinking and having fun, completely unaware that a strong man was observing them.
Xiao Chen nodded and said, "Yes, the ones who possess the real power are neither the priests nor the magicians, nor the temples and kingdoms. It is these ordinary people who are the main body of the real power I am talking about."
"It only takes you or me less than a minute to kill everyone in the tavern." Roland cut a piece of sausage with a knife, as if killing everyone was as easy as pressing the knife.
"Real power does not lie in killing, but in construction and production. Otherwise, how could human beings go from eating raw meat and drinking blood to where they are today? The river in front of our door divides the capital into two halves. It seems that the king, ministers, priests and nobles on the other side are more powerful. But if the people on this side disappear, how many days can these 'nobles' survive in their gardens and palaces without support? On the contrary, if the people on the other side disappear, I believe the people on this side can survive forever, and maybe even live a better life. Who do you think holds the real power?"
"However, these people are confused in mind and weak in body. How can they have the ability to judge right from wrong?"
"Yes. I believe that if you reveal your identity and then identify me as a gangster, I am afraid that everyone in the tavern will believe it. They are often confused, muddled, and easy to manipulate."
"I have confidence in this matter." Roland said with a smile.
"But what I'm talking about is not right or wrong at a particular moment. Rather, the standard of right or wrong actually comes from the will of these people. For a lion, eating an antelope is right. For an antelope, escaping from the lion's predation is right. For humans, allowing the species to continue better and more efficiently is right.
Even if the kingdom has made laws, if everyone opposes them, they cannot be implemented. The so-called rule is that the ruler and these people reach a consensus and form a kind of "right".
Including you and me, everyone knows only a limited amount of things. They can be deceived for a while, or even for a lifetime, but they cannot be deceived from generation to generation. Dynasties have collapsed, strong men have passed away, and even spirits have fallen or fallen asleep. Only they have always existed, which in itself shows that they have always been on the right path, or in other words, the path they have taken is the right path. "
"If that's the case, then what's the meaning of our existence?" Roland asked. "According to what you said, everything is ultimately decided by ordinary people. Then what do wise and strong people need to do? Is it just to use our wisdom or force to live a life that surpasses theirs?"
Xiao Chen was savoring the meaning of the other party's words. During the conversation, he found that he had absolutely no understanding of this temple priest. Perhaps what he saw in the slave camp was only a small aspect of him. It seemed that the things he paid attention to were far beyond Xiao Chen's expectations of him.
In this case, Xiao Chen decided to express his thoughts more openly: "Because the wise and the strong can lead people to move forward faster. We may see a little further than them, and then lead them to take fewer detours and overcome more difficulties faster. Besides, who says we are not one of them? You sometimes think of yourself as an ordinary person, don't you?"
“Only sometimes.”
“You are the strong one now, and maybe sometime in the future, most people will be able to do what you can do.”
"Will it be so?"
"The so-called wise or strong are just people who are one step ahead in certain aspects. In ancient times, those who could make fire were wise, and those who could throw stones farther were strong. Later, those who could count were wise, and those who could shoot arrows were strong. Until now, only those who read a lot of books can be called wise, and those who have fighting spirit, bloodline or magic can be called strong. It can be seen that the definition of wise and strong has been changing all the time."
“Magicians can summon fire, freeze rivers, read minds, and tear through space. If one day, ordinary people can do these things, then magicians will just be ordinary people. We help them advance and let them catch up with us. This is the ultimate meaning of our existence.”
Roland ate the last of the sausage, put down his fork and said, "It's wonderful, I agree."
"What did you say?"
"I agree. Any problem?" Roland asked.
"Uh, no, it's just..."
"Do you think I should be more stubborn and argue with you? No, this is the true way of nature. Survival, growth, evolution, making a species more and more perfect. How can a priest of the Temple of Nature like me disagree?"