Shushan: Extinction

Chapter 166 Human Tragedy
However, the most terrifying thing happened. The blank battlefield created by the Xuantong wood with all its strength was refilled with monsters and beasts that rushed in within just a few minutes!

It was a frenzy with people rushing forward one after another, it was a greed with liberation and joy!

Some of them were attacking, while others were greedily snatching the corpses of their dead companions.

Such a fierce attack really makes people despair!
In just a few minutes, the black tung tree let out a helpless and long wailing sound, and then creaked and collapsed helplessly. It was like a desperate whale fall.

The densely packed small black dots around it rushed forward and began to devour it continuously. In an instant, more than half of the giant tree was gone.

The soldiers who were originally guarding there also fled, jumped, flew, and resisted. The atmosphere was extremely tragic and heroic.

Fortunately, the next thing the enemy will face are three black tong trees growing close together. They are bigger than the previous one and have more guards on them!
At the same time, if you want to besiege it, you must encircle it from the rivers on both sides.

However, the river channel here is not like that of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, but is similar to that of the Tiger Leaping Gorge of the Jinsha River. The riverbed is located under a cliff with a drop of dozens of meters below the river bank.

Although the river is now almost dry, there is still a lot of silt in the riverbed, making movement difficult. Even after wading through the silt area, one still has to climb the high river bank and attack from above.

Therefore, although the attackers are numerous, they can only attack from one direction.

Under such circumstances, the precarious situation was finally stabilized, and Gong Tianwu breathed a sigh of relief. He had come thousands of miles to help, it would be too outrageous if Mujiang City was destroyed before he even arrived.

As the wine gourd descended rapidly, Gong Tianwu could also see the attackers below. These demon victims looked emaciated, with bloodshot eyes, skinny limbs, and strangely huge bellies. Only their mouths full of fangs revealed a white, tragic light.

This is because they are so hungry that they have no choice but to eat dirt. They are really eating dirt!

The soil that is eaten cannot be digested and excreted in the stomach and intestines, so it accumulates in the intestines, causing the belly to become bloated and feel severely bloated.

Once they eat too much dirt, they will eventually die of hunger and bloating, which is a horrible sight.

After arriving in Mujiang City, both Gong Tianwu and Hua Manlou felt that the atmosphere was not right, because there were sounds of wailing everywhere around them, and an atmosphere of despair shrouded the surroundings.

Before, Hua Manlou thought that everyone was pessimistic because the war situation was not going well, but when he saw his son Hua Silang, he took a breath.

Because Hanashiro looked very embarrassed at this time. Although he was wearing clothes, his left chest was exposed. He also drew a bloody cross on the left side of his face with a sharp weapon, and also drew a bloody cross on his heart.

This look seems very ritualistic, and even gives people a sense of indescribable barbarity.

After seeing this scene, Gong Tianwu could feel that Hua Manlou beside him suddenly froze, or to be more precise, he was frozen in place - it was as if his entire soul and beliefs collapsed in an instant.

Then Gong Tianwu knew what happened:
When Hua Shilang saw the old man, he burst into tears, then crawled over and hugged his legs tightly.

"Ada (Dad)!! Ada!! The Grand City Lord has passed away. The Grand City Lord is dead!!"

At this moment, Gong Tianwu was shocked. When Mujiang City was in turmoil and unable to hold on, it unexpectedly received bad news again:
Bai Ze, the city lord and one of the two pillars, also fell at this moment.

This is really adding insult to injury.

After facing this shocking news, it was obvious that Hua Manlou found it difficult to remain calm. After standing there in a daze for a few minutes, he apologized to Gong Tianwu, asked someone to receive him well, and hurried to the City Lord's Mansion.

Gong Tianwu had always had a very close relationship with the dog demon clan, and he did not consider himself an outsider, so he said to Hua Shilang:

"Can you change your clothes? Walk around with me. I need to understand the current situation more intuitively. Of course, if it's difficult, forget it."

Hanashiro first looked into the distance, then immediately revealed a painful expression, and began to take out the wound medicine and apply it to the wound on his chest:
"It's not difficult, not at all. Ouch, it hurts so much."

Gong Tianwu also watched his actions, then smiled and said:

"To be honest, your acting was really good before."

Hua Shilang took a deep breath and said:

"Fifty percent is acting, and fifty percent is real. Once the city lord dies, I, and even the people in the entire Mujiang City, will be terrified. This is absolutely true."

"But if I say I'm so sad and grief-stricken, I'd be lying. You know, the Grand City Lord has never been a gentle and kind person."

Gong Tianwu nodded and said:
"I thought so - was your self-mutilation, exposing your chest, a ritual?"

Hua Shilang said:

"Normally, this would only happen after one's father or brother dies, but that idiot from the Gengshi family took the lead in doing this. What else can I do? I can only learn to do it."

"After all, although the Grand City Lord is dead, the Junior City Lord is still here. He may not remember everything he did, but you probably remember the things you did without following the crowd very clearly."

After quickly treating the wound and changing into new clothes, Hua Shilang accompanied Gong Tianwu out the door.

It can be seen that the situation in the Dongya District is not bad. After all, this is the core area, and all the residents here are members of the dog demon clan, so the cohesion and combat effectiveness are very good.

However, once you get to the street, what you see is dead silence, bleakness and desolation.

An indescribable rotten smell permeated the streets. The doors of the once bustling shops were almost all closed. Even if there were people walking around, they looked extremely panicked and had pale faces.

Every few meters, there are demon soldiers sent from the City Lord's Mansion patrolling. Their eyes are all red and they look very alert.

Gong Tianwu twitched his nose twice, then frowned and said:

"Has the city started to see large-scale starvation? Is this smell the stench of corpses?"

Hanashiro shook his head and said:
"There were definitely people who starved to death, but they were probably those who were already in poor health or had serious illnesses. There were probably no people who died simply from starvation."

"Because, although the food in the city is tight, there is still no shortage. After those guys outside come and besiege us, there will be even less shortage."

"We monsters are not like you humans, who have the habit of not eating our own kind."

After hearing this, Gong Tianwu smiled and said, "In fact, people also eat each other, they just change the way and the tricks."

"For example, before eating it raw, they would add seasonings such as 996 blessings, you are poor because you are lazy, etc."

Hua Shilang said:

"I do not understand."

Gong Tianwu was about to speak when he suddenly heard a series of loud crying. He turned around and saw that the crying was coming from a shop.

More importantly, this shop is a barbecue shop, and its owner even has corresponding entanglements and causes and effects with Gong Tianwu. It is Zhu Laofei whose fate was changed by Gong Tianwu.

Therefore, it was natural for Gong Tianwu to want to go and take a look, so he winked at Hua Shilang and said:
"Go, have a look."

Of course, Hanashiro had no reason to object, so he walked towards the butcher shop with Gong Tianwu.

It can be seen that the door of the butcher shop was ajar, and it opened easily when pushed. Then the crying sound became clearer, and it was indeed Zhu Laofei's.

Continuing to walk further in, Gong Tianwu saw the pig monster and was shocked.

This is because in Gong Tianwu's impression, this guy is like a short and wide meat mountain, in the shape of a standard wine jar, the kind that makes the ground shake when he walks.

Its face and body were shiny and greasy, and the end of each black hair on its body seemed to have condensed a drop of crystal clear lard.

However, in reality, Zhu Laofei is not short at all. His height is estimated to be at least three meters. The reason why he looks short is simply because he is too wide and too fat.

But what about now?

Gong Tianwu saw a strange tall and thin man who seemed to be wearing a bulky leather robe?
The key point is that this guy was lying on the chopping board in front of him with his back to him, crying loudly.

To be honest, if Gong Tianwu hadn't seen the memorable leather apron on Zhu Laofei, he really wouldn't have dared to confirm his identity.

At this time, Zhu Laofei also heard the noise outside, and then turned around, his face full of snot and tears, he looked over in astonishment, and after a while he said:

"Fifth Master? Why are you here?"

After Zhu Laofei turned around, Gong Tianwu realized that the "bulky leather coat" he was wearing was not there. It was actually just the skin that was hanging on his body after he lost weight quickly. It was folded up on his body and looked extremely strange and even a little creepy.

Gong Tianwu smiled bitterly and said:

"Isn't there a little trouble in Mujiang City? I thought I might be able to help, so I came here specially."

"Then I was walking down the street and heard crying in your shop. I was afraid something had happened, so I came to take a look."

When asked by Gong Tianwu, Zhu Laofei closed his eyes in pain, and said after a while:

"My wife is dead."

Zhu Laofei's wife is a big black sow demon. She has four or five big hot water bags hanging on her body. She often walks around the store with a boning knife. She is best at pointing at and scolding impatient diners.

Gong Tianwu was stunned for a moment and didn't know what to say for a moment. After all, too many people had died in this natural disaster.

Then he noticed that Zhu Laofei had tilted his body to the side, and discovered that there were some sacrificial items such as incense and candles in front of the chopping board, and in the middle was a pale skull. It did not look like a human, and was rather hideous, emitting an unpleasant odor.

Gong Tianwu took a look and to be honest it was hard to connect her with the proprietress in his memory, but he still walked up to her and bowed, then looked at Zhu Laofei and said:
"What's going on? Is there anything I can help you with?"

Zhu Laofei said miserably:
"She committed suicide."

At this moment, the pig demon seemed to have a strong desire to talk, and said painfully:

"Our business has been bad since more than a year ago. The number of people coming to eat barbecue has gradually decreased, and the price of meat has been rising. We can only rely on our previous savings to get by."

"I later realized it was due to the drought, so I still had a hope in my heart that as long as it rained, life would get better again."

"Two months ago, my wife couldn't stand the hunger anymore, so she clamored to go back to her parents' home. She thought that although the food would be worse, at least she could go around the mountains and plains looking for food, and the pig grass would be enough to fill her stomach."

"But I couldn't bear to leave this shop. If I was away for ten days or half a month, it would definitely be taken over by the donkey across the street! So we had a big fight, and then she left."

At this point, Zhu Laofei burst into tears again:
"I was so stupid, why didn't I go with her?"

At this time, Hua Shilang whispered to Gong Tianwu:
"Not long after, the plague-ridden guys outside arrived, so the city began to block entry and exit, and food was rationed, so people could barely avoid starvation."

"Fat Zhu used to have a good appetite, but with that kind of ration, he was starved to death. The old man was very strict about this. The only thing I could do was to give him two more bowls of soup."

Hearing this, Zhu Laofei sobbed and said:

"Don't say that. When the rations were distributed, everyone was so hungry that they even caught flies flying around as snacks."

"Others don't have those two bowls of soup, but we do. So it's not just two bowls of soup, it's your great kindness!"

After hearing what Zhu Laofei said, Gong Tianwu thought to himself that although this guy looks stupid, he actually knows everything in his heart. There is a reason why he can make his business so big.

Hua Silang sighed and patted Zhu Laofei's shoulder, which made the one or two foot long folds of skin hanging down from Zhu Laofei's body shake again.
Then Hanashiro added:

"Just like that, the entire Mujiang City lost contact with the outside world for more than a month. Then a turnaround occurred, which eased the situation for about ten days, and traffic between the city and the outside world was restored."

"At this time, someone came into the city and delivered a package to Zhu Laofei, and then left. The package contained Zhu Dasao's skull and a suicide note written on tree bark."

"Oh, by the way, Sister Pig can't read, so she could only ask her nephew to deliver the message. But her nephew's brain is not very good, so he ran a hundred or two hundred miles to find an intelligent sparrow demon to write the letter, so the letter was written by guesswork."

(End of this chapter)